Path to Becoming the Greatest Space Mercenary

Avery decided to stick around Dr. Raiti's base for five days to focus on his recovery and getting used to his newly augmented body.

At this point he was able to walk around on his own for a few minutes at a time. The soreness was still ever-present and all over his body, but it was not so debilitating anymore.

As for Kasandra and Jasmine, the two of them were starting to get close to making full recoveries. Kasandra was doing especially well since her procedures had taken less time and she had been through augmentation recovery before.

Already she was testing out her new physical capabilities in short bursts.

Still, though they could stick around for a couple more days, Avery was ready to get going. The biggest deciding factor being that he was now confident in his ability to pilot the Dauntless.

Just sitting in a chair and moving his hands and arms was not too much trouble. And he knew that if he made any mistakes while getting used to moving his enhanced body that Kasandra and Jasmine would be around to pick up the slack.

"Don't slack off and forgot to use your medical pod every day and send me the scan data. I still need to monitor the conditions of all three of you for a bit longer. If I don't get those daily transmission, you can bet that there will be hell to pay." Mercedes said as she saw Avery, Kasandra, and Jasmine off.

Her tone had conveyed a bit of jest, and the smile on her face was far from serious. The look in her eyes though, told a different story. She really would become upset if they did not keep up with transmitting their medical information daily during the designated monitoring period. If that happened, there was no telling what retribution she might have waiting for them.

"Don't worry, Dr. Raiti. We'll make sure to keep up with things at our end. It would be foolish to sour a relationship with someone as talented as you." Avery said.

He then told her that if she ever needed their help for any reason, that his team would do what they could.

There was a high possibility that they might want to use her services again in the future, for themselves and their team members. It was not going to hurt being friendly with an augmentation expert of her level. There were not many as capable as her in the entire Dramid Alliance.

Once they had finished up with their goodbyes, Avery, Kasandra, and Jasmine stepped aboard the Dauntless for the first time in over two weeks.

"Yeah, this chair just feels right. I almost don't even notice the aches now." Avery muttered, his lips unconsciously turning up into a grin as he sat in his ship's pilot chair and brushed his hands over the controls.

With the all clear signal given, Avery slowly powered up the Dauntless engine and eased his ship out of the hangar.

It had been a while since he had last piloted his vessel, and the movements of his hands felt completely different now, but Avery had no difficulty maneuvering the craft. To him this was natural. As if he had been born to fly amongst the stars.

"So where has Ezra taken everyone to?" Avery asked after taking a few moments to refamiliarizing himself with the Dauntless' controls.

Since his team had already been idle for a while on account of Grito's involvement in a high-profile trial, Avery had given command over the group to Ezra while he, Kasandra, and Jasmine were preoccupied receiving their bionic enhancements.

A mercenary group that stopped making money and building up their reputation were bound to collapse. It was best to keep their skills sharp and Krenin flowing into their accounts.

Avery was feeling especially antsy since he had just incurred a nearly thirty million Krenin expenditure. It had been necessary for his and his crew's advancement, but he still had bigger plans in the future that would require a great deal of capital.

"From the transmissions he's been sending, it seems that he and the rest of the team were hired for a job seven systems away." Jasmine said, informing Avery of the details.

He had needed the longest out of the three of them to complete his augmentations and recovery, so Jasmine and Kasandra had been handling anything related to work. Only giving Avery occasional brief updates.

Now that he was well enough to pilot the Dauntless, though, it was fine for him to turn his focus towards mercenary activities again.

"I was expecting it to be a pirate hunt, but it looks like it's a monster hunt instead. And a very lucrative one at that."

A company by the name of Frukrate Mining had recently bought the rights to a large, icy planet that had been caught in the gravitational pull of the star in the Etania system.

Around fifty years ago, the planet in question had been a rouge planet flying through space, but now it was solidly stuck in orbit around the Etania system's star.

Having been far from any sources of heat for a long time, but being composed of a large amount of water, the planet in question had been completely frozen.

Over time though, it was starting to thaw slowly from the heat of the star it now orbited, and around a year ago, a prospecting mission found that the planet's crust was rich in both iridium and titanium. Two highly sought after metals that there never seemed to be enough of.

However, something that the first expedition had failed to find was that the planet was a nest for a particularly hardy type of space beast that was dangerous and a pain to deal with.

They had probably been frozen over and trapped in a sort of cryosleep for thousands if not tens of thousands of years.

Still, the space monster in question lacked a complex nervous system and was robust enough to survive something even as harsh as that.

"Ah, I managed to pull up some information on the things." Kasandra said, displaying an image of the space monster along with an article detailing its characteristics.

The creature in question was called a Jallla.

They were massive as most space monsters were, and their rounded bodies were shaped somewhat like an upside-down cup and could reach lengths of over eight hundred meters.

Out from their main bodies sprouted thousands of tendrils that could extend to over ten kilometers long that they used like nets.

"So, they're giant space jellyfish."

"Yep, no doubt about that."

Avery and Jasmine nodded their heads at this apt description of a Jallla.

Jellyfish were a common type of marine animal that could be found in the oceans of a couple of planets. They were simple but effective creatures that could propagate quickly if left to their own devices in areas without enough predators.

Of course, while a Jallla may have resembled a jellyfish, their size and ability to cause havoc far outweighed any of the ocean bound animals they looked like.

Often times the most abundant prey out in space were humans and their creations. Swarms of Jallla's were known to surround stations or fleets of ships.

Their tendrils may have looked flimsy, but they could easily tear through the hull of a vessel if they caught one.

They also emitted a powerful bioelectric field that they could use to emit some pretty powerful discharges. Honestly, they were pretty nightmarish monsters, and the planet Ezra had led the team to was crawling with them.

The structure of their translucent bodies allowed them to disperse the energy of lasers, and it required a concentered barrage to bring even one down.

Fortunately, Jallla's were weak to physical weaponry. Their bodies were not particularly tough, and even weaker multicannons could tear them to shreds with ease.

"We might want to get our auto turret reinstalled and maybe consider changing out our primary laser cannons for something else." Kasandra suggested.

The Dauntless' plasma launchers and scatterguns would prove quite effective, but neither of those armaments could be fired in incredibly rapid succession.

Considering that their current target was nearly immune to laser weaponry, it made sense to adapt since they had the information.

"Let's make the switch quick. The others have already been there for a couple of days, and it's going to take us nearly thirty hours to travel that distance. Oh, and I only want to replace two of our laser cannons. Best to be ready in case something unexpected happens."

With Avery approval, Kasandra started working on the requests to refit the Dauntless with new weapons and purchase a few decent multicannons along with some cheaper ammo.

While she did that, Jasmine crafted a hyperspace transmission to send to Ezra. Since he was already there and had dealt with the client, it would be easier for him to have the contract amended for when the three of them arrived.