Path to Becoming the Greatest Space Mercenary
Author: MegaC
Chapter 454 Gathering of Mercenaries (2)
’So, she’s the six star mercenary Zefield brough in. Quokka Montclair.’
Standing at only one hundred fifty-seven centimeters, she was not particularly tall.
Her features also were far from intimidating as she had cute, rounded ears with brown fur covering them on top of her head, and chubby cheeks and small eyes.
Being a Setonix Therianthrope, she had an undeniably adorable out appearance.
However, for those capable of judging another person’s strength, she was unmistakably dangerous.
’That’s some pressure that she gives off despite looking like. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think that she was just some innocent young woman.’ Avery thought, warily keeping an eye on Quokka Montclair.
She was powerful, there was no doubt about that. No one became six star mercenary without the skills to back up the ranking.
When one of Avery’s crew members came to lead Quokka to her seat, she did not even spare a glance at them and kept walking.
Avery wondered what she was up to, but it became fairly obvious soon enough.
Quokka walked all the way around the circular table to where Avery was sitting.
Currently their heights were about at the same level, so the two of them ended up staring into each other’s eyes in a sort of standoff.
"Are you sure that’s where you belong?"
"Yep. This is my ship. Zefield may be leading the meeting, but I’m sure I’ll have a part to play. Your seats over there if you want to take it." Avery said, pointing at a chair two down from him on his left side.
Quokka glanced over at it briefly before turning her gaze back towards Avery.
"Hm, I guess you’re not just a punk that got a bit lucky."
With that she turned around and sat in the seat that had been designated for her.
Avery let out an internal sigh of relief that nothing major had gone down.
Mercenaries were known to have strong personalities among them, and the higher-ranking ones could apparently be pretty difficult at times.
Had Quokka determined that Avery was weak and not deserving of the position he had taken here, she probably would have knocked him out of his seat and exerted her dominance. That was the impression Avery had gotten at least.
More of the lead mercenaries trickled in after that before all twenty-eight of the five star representatives had arrived.
Not long after, Zefield himself showed up with Tuuali along with him.
He was wearing a stern expression that caused some of the other mercenaries present to tense up.
However, for those in the know, it was pretty apparent that he looked so menacing not because he was trying to be, but because he was nervous.
’I guess Quokka must know him pretty well, considering the way she’s smirking right now.’ Avery observed.
Zefield sat down next to Avery on his left, while Tuuali sat next to him, and ended up next to Quokka as well.
"It’s been a while Ze. And you as well Tu. Glad to see that you’re both okay. It must be serious if you called me in for this." Quokka said to the two of them in a familiar manner.
"Yes, it’s been since that time in the Doramein System. That was one nasty creature we fought there. It was the size of a small moon and had a colony of parasites in it that attacked people that harmed their host. I hope we never see anything like it again. Fortunately, we’re not up against something like that this time. There are just too many space monsters for us to handle on our own."
While Tuuali responded to Quokka animatedly, Zefield merely nodded his head in acknowledgment.
This interaction made Avery wonder about how close these three were, but he focused on the matter at hand rather than something that was ultimately trivial.
"I suppose that since this is my ship, I should get things started." Avery said. "We’ve all been hired by Zefield, one of the Mercenary Association’s seven star mercenaries. My company was specifically brought on to serve as a mobile maintenance and repair station for the upcoming mission. Of course, we can hold our own in a fight as well if it comes down to it."
"I know that we’re the only ones that haven’t worked with any of the rest of you before, but my team won’t be holding anyone back."
After saying his piece, Avery turned towards Zefield for him to follow up.
"I trust his abilities. Avery’s strong, and his vessels are impressive. I’m sure most of you have seen him in action already."
There were several nodding heads from those in the room as Zefield said this.
Naturally, as upper ranking mercenaries, they had watched the broadcast of the competition held in the capital system.
Except, there was one individual that clearly had not seen or even heard of the event.
"I’ve no idea what you’re talking about. He seems decent, but he’s still only a kid." Nali, the veteran solo mercenary with fiery red hair said.
Some of the other’s present seemed to agree with her though they did not say anything out loud.
Avery’s Intrepid was certainly impressive, but he was very young. Some of those present had been mercenaries longer than he had been alive. It was understandable that they might question his abilities.
"Do you doubt me?"
Zefield actually unleashed some real intimidation this time as he said this. Most of the mercenaries present stiffened up at this. Though, Nali remained calm. She was only a five star mercenary since she worked solo. Had she gone about creating a force of her own, she definitely would have been ranked higher.
"No, I just don’t want to put my life in the hands of someone wet behind the ears just because they own a fancy ship." Nali said, shrugging her shoulders.
"This is why you’re a lone wolf Nali. You never try to get along with anyone." Tuuali said, shaking her head." We’ve already done a thorough vetting of him. Avery’s more than qualified for this job. And if this helps you accept him, he and the guy next to him are Urs’ students."
When she heard the name Urs, Nali’s eyes widened and she glanced towards Avery and Ezra.
It was pretty clear that she had not just heard of him but knew him intimately.
"I see. Then I suppose that they’ll be able to handle their position. If they can’t then it would be a major disgrace to Urs."
After that remark, Nali went silent and no one else had anything else to say on the matter.
The reason they were here was not to discuss Avery’s company’s qualifications in the first place. But the assignment that they would soon all be undertaking.
Tuuali handed Avery an encrypted data drive and had him plug it into the computer held within the table.
A second later, the holoprojector in the middle of the room sprung to life and displayed five distinct images of creatures.
"These are the enemies we’ll be facing in the system that we’re going to. I’ll inform you all of their characteristics. Each type is dangerous in its own unique ways."
Standing at only one hundred fifty-seven centimeters, she was not particularly tall.
Her features also were far from intimidating as she had cute, rounded ears with brown fur covering them on top of her head, and chubby cheeks and small eyes.
Being a Setonix Therianthrope, she had an undeniably adorable out appearance.
However, for those capable of judging another person’s strength, she was unmistakably dangerous.
’That’s some pressure that she gives off despite looking like. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think that she was just some innocent young woman.’ Avery thought, warily keeping an eye on Quokka Montclair.
She was powerful, there was no doubt about that. No one became six star mercenary without the skills to back up the ranking.
When one of Avery’s crew members came to lead Quokka to her seat, she did not even spare a glance at them and kept walking.
Avery wondered what she was up to, but it became fairly obvious soon enough.
Quokka walked all the way around the circular table to where Avery was sitting.
Currently their heights were about at the same level, so the two of them ended up staring into each other’s eyes in a sort of standoff.
"Are you sure that’s where you belong?"
"Yep. This is my ship. Zefield may be leading the meeting, but I’m sure I’ll have a part to play. Your seats over there if you want to take it." Avery said, pointing at a chair two down from him on his left side.
Quokka glanced over at it briefly before turning her gaze back towards Avery.
"Hm, I guess you’re not just a punk that got a bit lucky."
With that she turned around and sat in the seat that had been designated for her.
Avery let out an internal sigh of relief that nothing major had gone down.
Mercenaries were known to have strong personalities among them, and the higher-ranking ones could apparently be pretty difficult at times.
Had Quokka determined that Avery was weak and not deserving of the position he had taken here, she probably would have knocked him out of his seat and exerted her dominance. That was the impression Avery had gotten at least.
More of the lead mercenaries trickled in after that before all twenty-eight of the five star representatives had arrived.
Not long after, Zefield himself showed up with Tuuali along with him.
He was wearing a stern expression that caused some of the other mercenaries present to tense up.
However, for those in the know, it was pretty apparent that he looked so menacing not because he was trying to be, but because he was nervous.
’I guess Quokka must know him pretty well, considering the way she’s smirking right now.’ Avery observed.
Zefield sat down next to Avery on his left, while Tuuali sat next to him, and ended up next to Quokka as well.
"It’s been a while Ze. And you as well Tu. Glad to see that you’re both okay. It must be serious if you called me in for this." Quokka said to the two of them in a familiar manner.
"Yes, it’s been since that time in the Doramein System. That was one nasty creature we fought there. It was the size of a small moon and had a colony of parasites in it that attacked people that harmed their host. I hope we never see anything like it again. Fortunately, we’re not up against something like that this time. There are just too many space monsters for us to handle on our own."
While Tuuali responded to Quokka animatedly, Zefield merely nodded his head in acknowledgment.
This interaction made Avery wonder about how close these three were, but he focused on the matter at hand rather than something that was ultimately trivial.
"I suppose that since this is my ship, I should get things started." Avery said. "We’ve all been hired by Zefield, one of the Mercenary Association’s seven star mercenaries. My company was specifically brought on to serve as a mobile maintenance and repair station for the upcoming mission. Of course, we can hold our own in a fight as well if it comes down to it."
"I know that we’re the only ones that haven’t worked with any of the rest of you before, but my team won’t be holding anyone back."
After saying his piece, Avery turned towards Zefield for him to follow up.
"I trust his abilities. Avery’s strong, and his vessels are impressive. I’m sure most of you have seen him in action already."
There were several nodding heads from those in the room as Zefield said this.
Naturally, as upper ranking mercenaries, they had watched the broadcast of the competition held in the capital system.
Except, there was one individual that clearly had not seen or even heard of the event.
"I’ve no idea what you’re talking about. He seems decent, but he’s still only a kid." Nali, the veteran solo mercenary with fiery red hair said.
Some of the other’s present seemed to agree with her though they did not say anything out loud.
Avery’s Intrepid was certainly impressive, but he was very young. Some of those present had been mercenaries longer than he had been alive. It was understandable that they might question his abilities.
"Do you doubt me?"
Zefield actually unleashed some real intimidation this time as he said this. Most of the mercenaries present stiffened up at this. Though, Nali remained calm. She was only a five star mercenary since she worked solo. Had she gone about creating a force of her own, she definitely would have been ranked higher.
"No, I just don’t want to put my life in the hands of someone wet behind the ears just because they own a fancy ship." Nali said, shrugging her shoulders.
"This is why you’re a lone wolf Nali. You never try to get along with anyone." Tuuali said, shaking her head." We’ve already done a thorough vetting of him. Avery’s more than qualified for this job. And if this helps you accept him, he and the guy next to him are Urs’ students."
When she heard the name Urs, Nali’s eyes widened and she glanced towards Avery and Ezra.
It was pretty clear that she had not just heard of him but knew him intimately.
"I see. Then I suppose that they’ll be able to handle their position. If they can’t then it would be a major disgrace to Urs."
After that remark, Nali went silent and no one else had anything else to say on the matter.
The reason they were here was not to discuss Avery’s company’s qualifications in the first place. But the assignment that they would soon all be undertaking.
Tuuali handed Avery an encrypted data drive and had him plug it into the computer held within the table.
A second later, the holoprojector in the middle of the room sprung to life and displayed five distinct images of creatures.
"These are the enemies we’ll be facing in the system that we’re going to. I’ll inform you all of their characteristics. Each type is dangerous in its own unique ways."