Path to Becoming the Greatest Space Mercenary

Avery was a bit trepidatious at first when Jasmine's mother brought up another job, but she already knew that he would need to head towards the capital system soon to complete a contract he had already signed with Storeen Corp.

That meant she either thought that the mission she had in mind would be quick and easy, or it probably took place around the Dramid System.

And as it turned out, this job was the latter.

"Now that we caught Senator Fena red handed, I've directed Azade's Defenders of the Peace to thoroughly investigate all of her affairs." Regina informed them. "They found a hidden room where she had stored transmissions and records of a number of her illicit dealings. Most of which involved the Odium Syndicate. However, some pertained to another matter and are of great concern to me."

It turned out that grants coming for the Dramid Alliance's central government worth a great deal of money that should have been going towards programs aimed at helping underprivileged children had instead been siphoned off directly into the pockets of several corrupt officials.

Senator Fena had only been one of many to benefit from this obviously illegal practice, and many others on Azade had been robbing the planet's children of valuable opportunities for their own greed.

"And while I've already started taking steps towards eliminating the corrupt officials here on Azade, there are certainly people within the central government that have been profiting and assisting with this duplicity. Now, as a politician myself, I can understand that no government is ever going to be absolutely clean, but this has gone too far for me to ignore."

Regina was clearly outraged by this development. As far as politicians went, she was one of the more straightlaced of the bunch. Though, considering the family money she had from generations of her ancestors, it was difficult for her to be swayed by any amount of Krenin.

Her mains goals were always towards the betterment of Azade. So, she could not quite grasp others using their positions for purely personal gain.

"Seeing as how your team is already heading towards the capital to fulfill your job for Storren Corp., I was hoping you might investigate the root of this matter for me." Regina said, before passing over a tablet that displayed the amount she was willing to hire them for.

Avery's eyes nearly bulged out of his head when he saw how much she was offering to pay them.

"Mom, don't you think that this might be a bit too much? I mean, I don't want to downplay Avery's or the team's value, but sixty million for a job like this is excessive. It's not like you're asking us to go to a warzone without any backup and beat a vastly superior force."

Jasmine was naturally concerned that this high amount was a bit too much of a show of favoritism. The details of the request did not even state that they had to complete the job. Only that they needed to endeavor to do so.

There was also no penalty for failure, and they were being offered a discretionary fund of ten million Krenin along with the already high payment.

"Heh. This might be the first time I've ever heard of mercenaries saying that they're being offered too much money." Regina said, laughing at the notion. "But you don't have any need to worry. I believe that this is a fair payment, and it is within my power to decide. Anyway, I can't be offering only mere change to a group that has three four star mercenaries and two five star mercenaries in it."

Avery, Kasandra, and Jasmine sat there confused for a momentarily what Regina had just told them.

Yet it soon set in what she meant.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?!" Avery asked excitedly.

"Yes, your promotion to five star is all but officially confirmed. I'm sure that you'll hear word about it soon."

As it turned out, Regina, as the Chancellor of Azade, had recommended Avery's group for a promotion to the Mercenary Association after they had successfully finished the job at the courthouse the previous day.

Due to his and Ezra's achievements, the two of them had already been on the Association's radar and there had been discussion about ranking both of them up.

With Regina's recommendation though, and their most recent accomplishments, it seemed incredibly likely that the two of them would be promoted to five star mercenaries. The first of the top ranks within the Mercenary Association.

This would put them at the same level as their mentor, and both of them had been greatly looking forward to reaching this milestone.

As for Kaiden and Kasandra, the two of them were also being promoted. Each of them was going to now be four star mercenaries.

For the group's third four star, that individual happened to be Olivia. She still maintained the rank since she had earned it before her unfortunate encounter with Iniquus.

Thanks to these several rank ups, the prestige of their group was going to skyrocket. And while Jasmine's mother was still overpaying for the job she wanted them to do, it was not quite as outlandish in light of this new information.

Seeing as how the pay was impeccable, and it was not out of their way since they were headed to the Dramid System anyway, Avery accepted Regina's request.

He was the only one that needed to be tied up with the coemption for the Alliance Police contract on behalf of Storren Corp., so everyone else could turn their focus towards this.

"Now, since we've finished up with business, I'd like to hear what all of you are going to be doing here. I imagine you'll be staying on Azade at least until the trial is over."

Ultimately what Regina wanted was to spend more time with her daughter. She was hoping that they would be free for at least the next two weeks.

However, Avery already had other plans. Something he had put off for long enough.

"Actually, now that things are settled and it doesn't seem like Grito is going to be at as much risk, Jasmine and I were going to get augmentations. Mercenary work can be dangerous, and we've had a few close calls where the situation forced us to have limited or no equipment on hand." Avery explained.

The recent attack by the assassin robots came to mind, and Avery still sometimes woke up in a cold sweat when he had nightmares reliving Iniquus snapping his bones.

He had managed to get through these situation and had done well considering his lack of enhancements. But he had reached his limit as a normal human. No matter how hard he trained his body and mind, he just could not keep up with those that had physical augmentations. To even the playing field, he needed to get his own.

"I see. But Jasmine, are you sure that this is what you want to do? There can be… complications during augmentation procedures. Also, being stronger is not always a good thing."

Regina was obviously concerned for her daughter's safety.

While not particularly common, some people did end up dying while undergoing physical enhancement. Plus, Regina knew that Jasmine would be more inclined to take greater risks if her abilities were heightened. She did not want her daughter to throw herself into danger just because she felt she could take on the world.

"I get where you're coming from, but I've already made up my mind. I want to be a useful member of this team, and to be able to help more people. Receiving physical augmentations will help me achieve both." Jasmine asserted, showing her mother her resolve.

Seeing that her daughter was not going to be swayed, Regina stopped trying to convince her otherwise.

Instead, she asked them about which augmentation specialist they were planning on going to. Certainly, she was not an expert on the subject, but she at least knew of some of the top companies within the Coccaro System.

"Well, we have our eyes on a specific place, but we haven't gotten any word back from them yet. The business is strange since it doesn't have any sort of site and only a number to send messages to. Still, the reviews were really good, so I figured we'd give it a shot. If we don't hear back soon though, we'll have to go with our second choice."

After Avery gave his brief explanation, Kasandra sent the contact number to Regina. Just in case she wanted to do some research herself, considering that Jasmine would also be receiving augmentations from this place depending on how things went.

Except when Regina saw the number displayed, she smiled, and a confident expression formed on her face.

"I see that you've got some good eyes. I actually happen to know exactly what business you're talking about."

Being the leader of the only habitable planet in the system, Regina made it her point to know about exceptionally talented individuals living on and around Azade.

"As it so happens, no news is actually not bad in this situation. I know for a fact that the sole person running this operation always replies to any transmissions she receive. Normally she quickly rejects most people trying to solicit her services. If she hasn't, that means she's probably still mulling over the decision. Despite her expertise on the subject of body modification, she's an eccentric who only works with people she's interested in." Regina said, telling Avery, Jasmine, and Kasandra what she knew about the person that ran the augmentation office they were interested in.

She then offered to send a transmission on their behalf recommending them. While it would not guarantee anything, her word did have a great deal of weight to it in this system. The chance of the best augmentation specialist in the region accepting them as customers would skyrocket with her backing.