Path to Becoming the Greatest Space Mercenary

"You don't have to accept the call if you don't want to. I imagine that you're in for quite the tongue lashing if you do."

As much as he appreciated Hartel's concern, Burke felt that this was his burden to bear.

Whatever harsh words of rebuke Avery might have for him, it was his duty to accept them.

Doyle may have been the one to attack them, but he was the one that had allowed things to get this bad.

Maybe if he had been sterner or tried to help and understand his friend with his pain rather than leave Doyle alone to work things out on his own, he could have prevented the tragedy that had occurred today.

Unfortunately, his regrets were just that. Nothing Burke could do now could change what had happened.

"Please connect the call to Avery. I deserve whatever it is that he has to say. I'm the one that met with him and his team and tried to smooth things out only to fail to hold up my end. Even after Doyle assaulted them the first time on Etania II, they were willing to let things go easily. There's nothing that they did wrong." Burke said, clenching his hands together so tightly that they went white.

He felt upset with himself that things had escalated so far. He knew that Avery and his companions were good people. There were a lot of higher-ranking mercenaries that would have made certain to ruin Burke's company after the first incident. Yet they had been willing to bring things to a close amicably after assistance with only a single job.

Nodding his head, Hartel told the captain that had contacted him to patch Avery through.

A few moments later, and the holoscreen in Hartel's office displayed Avery, sitting in his chair and wearing a neutral expression that was hard to read.

'Is he so angry that he can't even visually express it.' Hartel thought.

During his time with the Alliance Police, he had seen his superiors furious to the point that they were unable to probably show it on their faces. To any onlooker, they would have seemed to be uncaring, but on the inside, they were seething.

Except that did not seem to be the case this time.

Avery did not greet Burke with any scathing words, but instead expressed sympathy for the situation he found himself in. It seemed to be a miracle. Avery showed no intention of blaming Burke for Doyle's and his followers' actions.

"Are you really not mad at me?" Burke asked, unable to just accept Avery forgiveness so easily.

To him he had committed a horrid sin that would eat away at him for the rest of his life. His patterner and subordinates had tried to kill Avery and his team. That should have made him want to condemn Burke for his incompetence at the very least.

"Yeah, I'm kind of pissed right now, I won't deny that. However, all of my feelings are directed at Doyle and the spinless cowards that followed him. Even when you weren't the one directly involved and had actually come to my team's aid, you put yourself at a disadvantage to make right the wrongs that your friend and partner had committed. If I did not know you, I might have cursed you as well. You reached out to us though and warned us about Doyle's plans. Had you not, we really might have been caught off guard and killed. So, I would rather thank you for helping us instead."

Avery's words touched Burke but also made the pain he was feeling worse. A part of him wanted to be rebuked. He wanted Avery to yell and curse at him. To call him worthless and spineless. To be the voice that said every thought currently going through his head.

Yet Avery did not hold him responsible at all. He easily forgave Burke and even thanked him for his assistance.

"That's a pretty grim looking expression you've got there considering I just told you I'm not holding you responsible for what Doyle did." Avery said, easily having noticed how Burke was feeling.

"Well, that's beside the point now. I want to discuss something with you soon. Make some time to meet with me later. I'll reserve a private place for us. Contact me when you're able."

With those last words, Avery cut off the call and left Burke looking confused.

Hartel almost made a comment about how lucky Burke was but held his tongue. He could tell that his longtime acquaintance was experiencing a bit of shock due to Avery's words.

Nevertheless, there was still work to be done, and once he had recovered enough, Burke continued to fill out the necessary forms to move along the proceedings in the wake of Doyle's attack on Avery's team.

Once he was finished, Burke left the Alliance Police station and immediately contacted Avery. He was not sure what the other mercenary leader wanted. Still, he felt it was his duty to agree to whatever it was.

"With all that went on today, my team and I are a bit tired, so we're going to try and rest for today. Tomorrow, I'd like it if you could meet us at this establishment. We've rented the whole place out so it will just be us." Avery said, sending Burek the information for the private hospitality station his team had recently celebrated at.

The next day, Burke found a much warmer welcome waiting for him than he imagined.

Sitting at a table with lavish food and drinks already on it was Avery and the other leaders of his team.

Being offered a seat, Burke sat down, but he could not hide the befuddled expression on his face.

This was all so far from what he had been expecting.

"Now that you're here, enjoy whatever you want. I'm sure that you've been having a hard time concerning what has happened." Avery said, treating Burke like a friend rather than the partner of the man that had tried to kill him just the day before.