Path to Becoming the Greatest Space Mercenary

It only took a around half a minute for Avery to locate Bastion Cuach.
The man was trying his best to blend in with the crowd, but there was an obvious nervous energy to him that drew attention to him if someone watched closely.
’Hm, he seems to be trying to get close to Rowan Listig, but the older senator’s guard is keeping him at a distance.’ Avery thought as he analyzed Bastion’s body language.
Every few seconds he was glancing at Rowan, though the other man was paying him no mind as if he did not exist.
This did not prove anything, but Avery had a gut feeling that the two of them may have been working together somehow.
’Honestly, that might make more sense why Bastion’s plan today was so sloppy. If he was instigated by the old man, then I doubt that their goals are actually the same. Rowan probably just wanted to create a scandal to weaken Regina.’
’If Jasmine had ended up killing or seriously injuring me, then that probably would have been enough for him. No judging by the slight smugness in his expression even the commotion he caused already is something he considers satisfactory for his goals.’
Unfortunately, Avery only had the loosest of connections to come to this conclusion.
It was conjecture at best and would likely sound like a full-on fantasy to most.
The only thing he had to go on was Bastion’s behavior and the bad feeling he got from Rowan Listig when they first met.
Still, this gave him a direction to move towards.
Rowan Listig may have been keeping his cool, but Bastion was clearly one push away from going into a full-blown panic.
Obviously, whatever the outcome he had been hoping for did not happen and now he afraid of getting caught.
"Ma’am, I’m afraid that no one can find Kokkas. He’s not on the premises anymore. He apparently told the other kitchen staff that he was not feeling well a little before the food was served and hastily left. We’re trying to track where he went now." Regina’s head of security whispered to her.
This caused her to frown, since he was the best lead that they had.
Without Kokkas, it would be more difficult to connect Bastion to this incident.
Just because they believed he was the culprit did not mean that they could just arrest him and claim he was guilty.
He was still one of Azade’s senators, and he had power and connections. Without some solid evidence, even Regina could not do much.
"Can you lift the lockdown in three minutes and announce that you’ve taken a likely suspect into custody. I’m going to go and rile Bastion up and see if I can’t force him to make a mistake."
"You really want me to let him just go? Kokkas can’t have gotten far. Once my personnel find him, we can get the information out of him. I’m sure that he’ll spill everything about Bastion easily enough. And even if he tries to keep quiet, I have means to force him to talk. I don’t want to give the man that drugged my daughter a chance to get away." Regina said, her voice filled with loathing.
Jasmine was the only immediate family that she had left. Regina may not have fully realized it until Jasmine showed up again after having run away, but her daughter meant the world to her.
After managing to repair their strained relationship, having to watch Jasmine in such a state at her own wedding reception had been the most stressful thing Regina had experienced since her husband had passed away.
Not knowing whether her daughter would be okay or not had filled her such strong emotions that she had nearly broken down several times already.
It was only her dignity as Azade’s Chancellor and her drive to see retribution that kept her going.
"If we can get proof of his crimes, so long as he’s on Azade you’ll be able to have him tracked down. And if he flees into space. Then he’ll be in my domain. Honestly, I’d prefer that because I’d be able to do whatever I want without worry of getting any authorities involved. For what he’s done, I’d chase him to the end of the galaxy to make him pay."
Seeing how serious Avery was, Regina shrugged her shoulders and agreed to follow his lead.
"I’ve already entrusted Jasmine to you, so I’ll entrust this to you as well. Don’t make me regret putting my faith in you."
"No need to worry. I’m positive that he’ll be squealing like the swine he is soon enough. You can count on me, mother-in-law." Avery said, flashing her a confident smile.
He already had a good strategy in mind to break Bastion and was looking forward to it.
Intently he walked towards the fidgeting man, doing his best o put on the saddest expression he could and not let his anger show through.
Eventually, Bastion noticed Avery approaching and stared at him with a fearful look.
No doubt alarmed by this, wondering if he had been found out, Bastion attempted to get away.
At first, he tried to walk away naturally, but as Avery closed in, his steps became a bit more hurried, and he drew attention to himself.
’He must be an idiot. What he’s doing right now makes him look guilty as hell. The other guests have taken notice that you’re trying to avoid me. Well, I suppose that it’s better for me if they start thinking he’s the culprit.’
It took longer than Avery expected, but after around forty seconds, he finally had Bastion cornered.
Finally noticing the confused and suspicious gazes on him, he straightened up his posture and faced Avery with a dignified façade. Although, it was a little late for him to try and act cool and collected now.
"Bastion Cuach, right? We haven’t been formally introduced, but I’m Avery Asteria. T-there’s something that I need to tell you. J-Jasmine mentioned you in her last words. She wanted me to tell you something." Avery said, forcing out a few fake tears and wearing a mask of anguish.
Of course, hear Avery say "last words" was enough for Bastion to parse together what was going on.
"No. There no way that she could have died. That’s not possible."
There was an immediate drop in Bastion’s face, and there was a look of horror in his eyes.
Though one might not have been able to tell by the way he had acted towards her, Bastion at least claimed to love Jasmine. So, when he heard Avery talking about her as if she was gone, this was obviously going to have an effect on him. Especially if he believed that it was his fault that she was dead.
In what Avery considered to have been the stupidest thing he could have done other than yelling out that he was guilty, Bastion accusatorially glared at Rowan Listig.
’Rowan must have been the one that gave Bastion the drug. And now he thinks that he was tricked into actually dosing her with a lethal poison. I can see now how he was manipulated into doing everything he has. He’s way too easy to trick.’ Avery thought, having to hold in a snicker at how stupid bastion was.
Nevertheless, people like him could prove themselves to be very dangerous due to their unpredictability. And that was only more so apparent when being controlled by someone that was actually conniving.
"Would you mind coming with me to somewhere quieter. I don’t want everyone else here to hear what my wife had to say in her last moments."
Avery pushed out a few fakes tears to sell his act, and Bastion did not seem to doubt him for a second.
Willingly, he followed behind Avery and exited the reception area into a side room that had been prepared for anyone that ended up getting too drunk and needed to lie down.
Just as Avery and Bastion were walking in, Regina announced to the rest of the guests that a suspect had been apprehended and that they were all free to go.
She apologized for the inconvenience and asked that they not leave the capital for at least a few days as it was possible that they may need to prove testimony in case they saw something pertinent to the case that they may not have realized was important.
Of course, Avery made sure that Bastion heard all of this, but it was now too late for him to just leave.
He had already walked into the room that Avery had opened for him.
’This guy really might be the worst case of nepotism I’ve ever seen. With how he wears his emotions on his face, I can’t believe he’s cut out to be a senator. His mother should have thought a lot harder about whether he was ready before retiring and endorsing him for the position she had held.’ Avery thought, badmouthing Bastion in his head as the door closed behind him and he isolated the man.