Path to Becoming the Greatest Space Mercenary

Four days after the assassination attempt on Grito, the Alliance Police base had finally settled down.

Every storage room had been searched for illicit items and the base staff and officers had all been thoroughly investigated.

Of the thousands of people living on the base, nearly two dozen had been found to be acting as spies for other organizations.

Most had been among the civilian staff, but a few officers were found to be dirty as well.

Checking transmission logs and payments into accounts had revealed the wrongdoings of the suspects, and a majority confessed when confronted to avoid harsher punishments.

During this time, Avery and his team mostly stayed on their own vessels.

It was a shame since the planet was beautiful and the base offered some recreational activities they could not find out in space.

Still, the safety of the people that worked for him was Avery's top concern, so he prioritized limiting any possible attacks. The Odium Syndicate had already shown how far they were willing to go to kill Grito.

Yet once the base had been cleaned up, Avery received a direct transmission from Commander Traustur.

"We've finally finished scrubbing the entire base. I can assure you now that there are no more hidden plots lying in wait, and all of the traitors have been found and detained. I can understand if you still want to stay holed up on your ships, but if you do want to leave, Commander Berk is willing to provide escorts for your team as we already discussed. If there's a particular place you would like to go, I can have it cleared out for your peace of mind."

Commander Traustur was being incredibly differential to Avery and his group. Almost suspiciously so.

Of course, after being as cordial as he could and offering Avery and his team preferential treatment, he finally came out and said what he wanted.

"Earlier today, I received a transmission from someone that wishes to meet with the three of you. An individual that I would prefer not to refuse. The Chancellor of Azade's Senate."

Jasmine was the first to react to this news. Having been born and raised on Azade, she knew that the Chancellor of the Senate was the most powerful person on the planet and the head of state.

When the planetary senate met, they were the one in charge of the proceedings and held immense sway thanks to their vote being counted twice.

"Could you give us a moment." Avery said, muting the call so that Commander Traustur could not hear them.

"Do you think that this is your mother?" Kasandra asked.

"Maybe. I don't know who the current chancellor is since I haven't kept up with Azade's politics. But when I left, the position was held by Leopold Andechs. There's no reason I could think of that he would want to meet with us. Though, I suppose that it could be a roundabout way my mother is using. Our two families have been close for generations."

However, Jasmine's speculation soon proved to be moot.

A quick search revealed that the current Chancellor of Azade's Senate to be one Regina Rhinelander, Jasmine's mother.

The motive for this meeting request had become all too clear now. At some point since Jasmine left, her mother had gone from being merely one of five hundred senators that each represented part of the planet to the one and only Chancellor.

"This isn't good. How do you think she found out you were here?" Avery said, a hint of distress in his eyes.

All Jasmine could do was shake her head. She had no idea how her mother had learned about her return to Azade. The best guess she could give was that her mother had people following her and they just tracked her down again after they used the warp portal.

"It could also be Commander Traustur. He probably knows about your origins considering he's a base commander on the planet you grew up on. You did say that some of the upper ranking officers in the Alliance Police knew about your real identity." Kasandra said, skeptical of Commander Traustur.

He may have been simply acting like this request was a major inconvenience and that he would have rather ignored it. For all they knew, he was the one that had given Jasmine up.

"I don't know, that feels like a risky move. What if we just refuse to go? Then Jasmine's mother ends up furious and he gains nothing. Just keeping quiet seems like the better play in my opinion." Avery said.

"There's no point in arguing anyone's intentions. All that matters is that my mother knows that I'm here. What are we going to do?"

Jasmine was right, so the three of them instead focused on their next move.

A part of Jasmine did want to see her mother, but she was afraid that if she did, she would never be allowed to leave Azade again.

Her mother, having become the Chancellor of the Senate, made it even more possible for her to force Jasmine to stay.

She was essentially the person in charge of the entire planet. If they were anywhere else than on an Alliance Police base that was mostly outside of Azade's jurisdiction, then it was likely that her family's personal guards would have already come to take her back. By force if necessary.

The moment they left the confines of the base; they would be at Regina's mercy.

"Maybe you can just call her instead. Do you think that she'll do anything drastic if we do reject to meet in person?" Avery suggested.

Except, Jasmine knew her mother well. She was certain that she would do whatever it took to get what she wanted. And in this case, that was Jasmine herself.

She had always been raised to be the family's successor since she was the only child born between her mother and father, and her mother refused to take another husband.

Now that her mother was chancellor, that meant the senate seat that the Rhinelander family typically held most have gone to someone else. Most likely a distant relative that had little ambition and was easy to control.

But Jasmine could easily see her mother aiming for her to reclaim the seat during the next election. Though, that would only be possible if Jasmine stayed on Azade.

Hearing her thoughts on the matter, Avery let out a deep sigh. It seemed that things could never just be easy.

"I'm so sorry. I've dragged both of you into my own problems. If you want, I'll go alone and try to resolve things with my mother." Jasmine said, her head held low.

"Yeah, that's not happening."

"There's no way that we would do that."

Avery and Kasandra responded at the same time, almost immediately after Jasmine gave her suggestion.

It was obvious what would happen if she did go by herself. She was essentially offering herself up as a sacrifice to prevent them from having to deal with any trouble her mother might make for them.

"When I let you onboard my ship and made you a part of my crew, I promised that I would always protect you. Plus, you gave yourself to me. Unless you truly want to leave, I'll fight to keep you with me. No matter who the enemy is." Avery said resolutely.

"Yeah, there's no way that we'd let your mother take you away from us. I love Avery, but there are things I can't talk about with him. I don't know what I would do if I lost my best friend."

Jasmine's eyes started to tear up as she listened to Avery and Kasandra. She felt moved to know that she had people so close to her that were willing to go against her mother for her.

After thinking it over, Jasmine decided that she would meet with her mother. It was time to stop running and face this problem head on. She had people that were willing to stand by her now, so she was not afraid of being sucked back into the world she had once run away from.

Once they told their decision to Commander Traustur, he looked visibly relieved.

"That's good to hear. I was afraid that I would be forced to expel you from the base if you refused."

This reveal caught Avery, Kasandra, and Jasmine off guard. They had not expected Commander Traustur to resort to such drastic measures.

Nevertheless, from his position, upsetting Avery and his team was a far easier pill to swallow than making an enemy of the planet's most powerful induvial. There were plenty of ways that Jasmine's mother could make his life hell if she so wished.

"So, we never really had a choice did we." Avery muttered once the transmission had been cut.

"I suppose we didn't. Well, we could have left Grito here alone and run away from the planet, but I know you would not have considered that option." Kasandra said.

Avery nodded his head at this. He was not willing to sacrifice one of his team members even if it meant protecting another one. As far as he was concerned, there were never any acceptable losses.

"Thank you both. Really it means a lot to me that you're willing to do all of this for me." Jasmine said,

A few minutes later, they received a forwarded message from Commander Traustur. It included the date, time, and location for the meeting with Jasmine's mother. In just two days, they would have to meet with the most powerful person on the planet.