Path to Becoming the Greatest Space Mercenary

Chapter 563 - 563 The Odium Syndicate Executive

Avery looked out at the station he had seen a few times before when dealing with his Odium Syndicate contact.He had hoped to find some large and distinct ship that belonged to the Odium Syndicate executive he was scheduled to meet.

Yet, there were no other vessels around. The area of space was just as empty as usual.

This meant likely one of two things.

Either the executive's ship was small enough to fit in the station's hangar, or they had been dropped off already and their craft was now waiting outside of sensor range.

Avery had been told that he should expect to meet with her as soon as he arrived, so he figured that the higherup of the Odium Syndicate should already be onboard the station.

'The sensors have not picked up any anomalies. That doesn't mean this is not an ambush though.' Avery thought.

He already knew how bold the Odium Syndicate could be when trying to eliminate people that they saw as enemies.

The bold attack on him and his Alliance Police escorts when they were bringing Grito to Azade came to mind.

If they had somehow figured out that he was working against them, he would not put it behind the Odium Syndicate to set up a trap to kill him and his team.

Still, he was prepared for the possibility.

Cerise had assigned twenty-five vessels under her command to wait on standby in case something went wrong.

If Avery sounded the alarm, or their signal got cut off for more than three minutes, the small fleet would come rushing in to help.

They were around fifteen minutes away, which could pose a problem.

Still Avery believed that the Intrepid and his company's other ships could hold out that long enough for help to arrive.

The station may have been located in the middle of nowhere, but it was still in Dramid Alliance Space.

There were only so many forces the Odium Syndicate could have moved without drawing unwanted attention.

'Of course, I could just be worrying about a whole lot of nothing. This meeting could be just what it looks like on the surface. I'll go meet the executive, hear what they want, and if it can help advance the mission, I'll accept. Otherwise, it'll be best to cut our losses here. We've already collected enough information for Cerise and the Alliance Police to make their moves.'

Once he had received permission to board the station, Avery, along with Ezra, Olivia, and Kaiden headed to the hangar and boarded a recently upgraded shuttle.

They would be at their most vulnerable when traveling between the Intrepid and the station.

To help alleviate this weakness just in case they were attacked during transit, Avery had sprung for far stronger than normal shields and armor plating on the craft he used to ferry himself between his carrier ship and the Odium Syndicate outpost.

That way even if they were attacked, they could take a few hits and retreat back to the Intrepid.

'If they want to attack us once were already inside the station, well, that's why I'm brining my three best fighters with me.' Avery thought, glancing back at Ezra, Olivia, and Kaiden.

He trusted all of them to watch his back and hold their weight in a fight if that was what it came down to.

Though, if he was honest, he wished that he had Kasandra with him as well. Regrettably, she was still working on another assignment right now that had her away at the moment.

'She said in her last report that she was close to being finished and would return soon. Still, I'm concerned, considering what it is she's doing.'

Avery shook the unnecessary thoughts out of his head.

There was nothing he could do in regard to Kasandra right now.

Instead, he would be better keeping his full attention on his own circumstances.

He felt that there was around a fifty percent chance that this meeting was going to end up turning into a fight. At least that's what the bad feeling in his gut was telling him.

Nevertheless, he got into the heavily armored shuttle along with his three "guards" and set off.

Despite having been waiting for an attack, nothing happened.

Even once they had landed in the station's hangar, they found only a single person waiting to guide them to the meeting room.

Along the way, Avery kept his extrasensory perception open for any unusual energy signatures.

Yet, he got nothing.

The outpost seemed to be completely normal.

There were no squads of soldiers wearing power armor waiting to ambush them, or assassins hiding under the guise of active camouflage. Had there been, Avery would have noticed the energy fluctuations of their gear.

It was possible that there was an army lying in wait that was not equipped with any electronic devices, but that seemed almost as far-fetched as worrying that they had a queen energy lifeform in captivity and were planning to sick it on him.

'Plus, even in such an unlikely scenario, we could easily handle thousands of people if they were fighting in such an archaic way.'

After every step, Avery was feeling more confident that this meeting was exactly what it was supposed to be.

Soon, Avery and his companions were brought to the meeting room where they had first gotten into business with the Odium Syndicate.

What came as a surprise once the doors opened was that there was only a single figure sitting at the head of the table.

Not even the man that had served as their contact this entire time was present. It was just the female executive.

'She doesn't have any guards. Heck, I don't even see a weapon on her. Is she a fool or just that confident everything is going to work out.' Avery thought, baffled to see the woman here alone and so unprotected.

He was of half a mind to try and capture her and deliver her to Cerise.

That really had not been part of the plan, but he had imagined that an executive of the Odium Syndicate would have some strong guards with them, and maybe some combat capabilities of their own.

For a moment, he also considered that he might be being duped here.

That this woman was not a higherup in the Odium Syndicate, and his contact was instead trying some sort of ploy for a reason Avery did not understand.

Except, she seemed to radiate confidence, and the fact that their guide seemed nervous and afraid gave some credit to the woman being who she claimed to be.

"Please, come have a seat. We have much to discuss."

The woman beckoned to the seat to the right of her and gave Avery a far too bright smile.

She also had leaned forward just a bit, and her lowcut and tight-fitting dress left little to the imagination.

Avery was starting to wonder if Jasmine's concern that this executive might try to seduce him was justified.

He had no idea how old the woman was. She looked young, close to the same age as him. But there were plenty of ways for people with power and money to keep a youthful appearance.

Doctor Raiti was one such individual.

She was almost seventy years old, but she still looked like she had barely just become an adult.

"Greetings, I'm Ferdinand Karas." Avery said in the most neutral tone that he could manage.

He did not want to expose any of his emotions or inner thoughts to someone that could potentially be dangerous.

"Yes, I know. I've heard many great things about you. I'm Delia. One of the leaders of the Odium Syndicate. I'm essentially the one in charge of our territory in the Dramid Alliance."

Avery nodded his head as he sat down. Taking Delia's words with a grain of salt. He did not know the inner workings of the upper echelons of the Odium Syndicate particularly well, so it was quite possible that she was exaggerating her importance.

"So, would it be alright if I ask why an upper ranking executive such as yourself has called for me? I've made sure to do my job well, but I've only been working for the Odium Syndicate for a few months. I'm honestly not sure what I could have done to garner your attention. I'm just one of many hundreds of smugglers."

"Oh, you sell yourself short. You're far more special than any of the other rabble working for me." Delia said, reaching her hand out and stroking Avery's arm.

He almost reflexively jerked away, but he held himself back.

Nevertheless, as he felt her touch him, a shiver went down his spine.

"As I thought, your muscles are quite impressive. You must work out a lot. That's rare for a cargo ship captain."

Alarm bells began ringing in Avery's mind, and Jasmine's words echoed through his head.

"I do try to keep myself fit for my girlfriend." Avery said, trying to stop Delia's advances.

"You mean the prostitute you keep onboard. I doubt you care that much about her. It's not like she's actually your wife, is she?"

If Avery was suspicious before, he now was almost certain that his fake identity had been seen through.

His thoughts were racing for what to do when Delia made a suggestion that he was not expecting in the least.

"That's enough about such topics. Now, I'd like to get down to business. Your vessel greatly interests me. I would like to come abord and inspect it."