Path to Becoming the Greatest Space Mercenary

"Has the package been delivered?"

"Yes ma'am. I received confirmation of its arrival a half hour ago. It can be activated whenever you deem necessary."

"Good. Have our insiders bring the target as close as possible during the next shift change. We are not going to make any mistakes this time. That traitorous Baccigan is never so much as going to say a single word against us."

…

The moment Avery stepped out of the Dauntless a salty breeze reached him and caught him completely off-guard.

All his life he had lived out in space, a place where the only thing that could be considered wind was the blowing of air conditioning units.

The tase of the air was also vastly different from what he knew.

There were so many unfamiliar smells, and when he breathed in, there was a hint of saltness.

"What is this?" Avery muttered to himself.

This being his first time on a planet and close to an ocean, he was experiencing a bit of sensory shock from how different it was to his usual environment.

As for Kasandra and Jasmine, they were nowhere near as overwhelmed as Avery was.

This place was Jasmine's home. She may never have been to this exact location before, but her surroundings were still familiar.

In a distant memory, she could remember coming to this same ocean when she was a kid. That was her first experience visiting such a large body of water, and she recalled reacting similarly to how Avery was now.

"You do know that we've literally just stepped off the ship. We haven't really even seen anything yet and you're already gawking. Come on, let's go explore a bit and give you something to actually be surprised about."

Kasandra grabbed a hold of Avery's arm and began dragging him towards a nearby building.

They had received limited permission to roam around the base, but first they needed to check-in and receive their guest passes.

Fortunately, Commander Berk had had one of his subordinates send them the information they needed and even included a partial map of the base that would give them directions.

When they reached the designated building, a guide robot that looked like a small floating disk approached them and brought them to a clerical officer that quickly completed the procedures for their stay on the base.

It was all so seamless that it was a little underwhelming.

Of course, the Alliance Police would not normally be so accommodating to mercenaries, but Avery was a recipient of the Silver Cross of Heroism and had received approval from Commander Berk.

Plus, just a single look at his record showed how much he had helped out the Alliance since becoming a mercenary. While he may not have been fighting for any valorous reasons, that did not change the outcome of the results. The only Alliance Police members that had any reason to dislike him were the ones in the accounting department.

"The other members of your team have already finished their registration and are currently eating in the mess hall with some of the officers from Commander Berk's squad that are enjoying some shore leave. You can use the map on your terminal to find them, and one of our guide bots will be accompanying you at all times to give directions if necessary. Also, please stay away from any restricted areas."

After the clerk had given them an explanation and warning, Avery, Kasandra, and Jasmine were free to do as they liked.

"So, should we go meet up with the others?" Kasandra asked.

However, while Avery agreed, Jasmine wanted to do something else first.

"Sure, that's fine. But let's update the rest of our team first."

His terminal in hand, Avery sent a short message to Ezra, Kaiden, and Olivia.

As the group's representative, Ezra promptly messaged him back.

With the guide bot, that was also doubled as a surveillance bot, leading the way, Avery' Kasandra, and Jasmine made their way to the base's main transport system.

When they arrived, they found a small terminal that was devoid of anyone else. The system was completely automated, and it seemed that no one else on base was currently in this area.

Thanks to the program that had been downloaded onto their terminals, the three of them were easily able to access the system.

A few moments later, their ride had arrived.

It was a small metal capsule shaped like an egg that could seat up to eight people.

Above and below were metal rails the vehicle was connected to, and it used electromagnetic propulsion to swiftly move around the base.

Only a couple of minutes later did they arrive at their destination.

Since this Alliance Police base was on an island, a recreational area on one of the beaches had been established for the personnel to use.

This was by far the most popular spot for the members on this base to unwind. It was a nice enough perk that most the Alliance Police members in the sector wanted to be posted at this base. Many worked extra hard so that their superiors would recommend them. That was simply how desirable this base was.

"So, this is sand. It's got a softer feel than I was expecting." Avery said, crouched down at the edge of the beach and picking up a bit of white sand that filled this beach. A curious expression on his face as he fiddled around with the foreign substance he had only heard about until now.

"Yes well, this isn't natural sand by any means. It was manufactured in a lab to be pleasant to touch and not get too hot even when exposed to extend periods of sunlight." Jasmine explained, familiar with how the beaches on Azade were constructed.

Being a terraformed planet, everything had been modeled into an ideal form for the people that lived on this world. So, while it may have seemed natural, it really was not.

"It really is bright here though. I feel like I can hardly see."

Avery held his hands over his eyes and looked up.

He did not stare at it directly, but he could see the intense light of this system's larger star illuminating everything around him.

The smaller star was far less pronounced, but if one focused, they could see a slight orange glow in the usually blue sky above.

As for the sky, it was truly marvelous for Avery to see something like this.

Not being able to see off into the distant space as he was used to was a bit odd for him, but Avery could not deny the beauty of the planet's sky and the fluffy looking clouds floating above.

Before these had all just been things he had read about and seen pictures and videos of. But now he was really standing on the surface of a planet and surrounded by things he had only learned about.

Once Avery had had his fill of looking around at everything like an excited dog, Jasmine dragged her two companions to where the water of the ocean met the beach.

Along the way they ran into a few members of the Alliance Police enjoying their own leisure time.

All of them were friendly and welcoming, with some of them even telling Avery, Kasandra, and Jasmine where they could procure swimsuits if they wanted to take a dip.

Unfortunately, they did not have that much time to indulge in this little excursion. Soon they would need to meet back up with the rest of their team.

Though Avery was truthfully revealed that they were not able to get into the water. He had no idea how to swim after all. There were facilities on Yuson II that housed pools and where people could learn to swim, but he never felt that it was necessary to do so.

'I won't have to show them an uncool side of myself today.' Avery thought as they left the beach after merely looking at it.

Still, just this little taste of her home had Jasmine beaming. It had been several years now since she had left, and she had nearly forgotten how lovely Azade was.

"Hm, they're on the move for some reason."

As the three of them were heading to the mess hall where the rest of their team were waiting, Kasandra noticed that the mark on the map that was indicating the group had started to move.

Since they were all part of the same team, they had enabled tracking between their terminals to be able to find each other should they get separated for any reason.

Along with the map of the base, Kasandra had been keeping an eye on their position just in case they went somewhere else.

"Looks like we're going to need to go this way if we want to meet up with them. Though, I'm not sure where they're going. From what I can tell by looking at the map, they're just heading towards storage units where spare nonessential equipment parts are held."

The area was not restricted since it was of little importance, and Avery, Kasandra, and Jasmine figured that the other might just be going on a walk.

This base was a bit different than the ones that could be found on colonies. There was far more space since it was located on a large island, and it almost felt like the place was designed with comfort in mind.

They were starting to think that this base might have been more meant to be a retreat for members of the Alliance Police rather than having any actual strategic significance.