Avery sat down in the pilot's chair of his ship, and his lips turned up into a faint smile.
He had spent most of his time in the training cockpit within the Mercenary Association branch and had only flown his true vessel a few times in the last couple of months.
"The Association's facilities did a good job recreating it, but there's nothing like the real thing." Avery muttered as he booted up the generator and brought the ship to life.
After running a quick diagnostic and checking that his energy and ammo stores were topped off, he sent a request to leave the station and waited for approval.
Around two minutes later, he had the green light to go and activated the craft's controls.
He moved slowly at first out of the hangar until he found himself back out in the unending expanse of space.
In every direction there was the gentle glow of stars. And off to his right, Avery could see a stunning, dark red nebula a few million kilometers away.
For just a couple of minutes he simply marveled at the amazing sights just outside of Yuson II. He had seen them all dozens of times, but he still became enraptured whenever he gazed upon them.
"This is one of the reasons I just can't stop heading out into space."
Once he had gotten his fill of the celestial scenery, Avery input the coordinates of Dirluc Mining's operation in the Varnein Asteroid Belt into the onboard computer.
The gentle hum of the lightspeed drive charging up filled his ears, and a moment later he shot forward and everything around him began to blur.
Now safely on his way, Avery fiddled with his terminal and downloaded some music onto his ship's computer. He found listening to some of his favorites tunes while he had down time traveling from one place to another calming.
"I suppose I could also check reports of pirate activity in the sector." Avery mused.
Urs had advised him to constantly be up to date on any criminal activity in the area. While there were a lot of different jobs for mercenaries to do, hunting down or protecting others from outlaws were the most common. So long as people had vices and a thirst for greed, there would always be those willing to commit the most heinous acts for their own benefit.
Still, to Avery, space pirates were basically just flying piggybanks waiting to be smashed open. A lot of them had bounties on them, and he was privy to anything of value left on the vessels after he took them down.
Within about thirty minutes, Avery finally arrived near the vicinity of the outpost set up by Dirluc Mining. This was where all of the raw ore was stored and processed before being shipped out all over the Alliance.
Immediately upon exiting lightspeed, Avery received a transmission from the outpost.
There were no pleasantries in it, and it simply detailed the sector he was to patrol and for how long.
He swiftly sent a confirmation back to the base and set course for the area he was to monitor.
"They really got back up and running quickly. Other than the increased security, you wouldn't be able to tell that Dirluc Mining lost around a third of their workforce just a couple months ago."
Naturally Avery had looked into the tragedy he had stumbled across.
Nearly two hundred people lost their lives in the attack that day between the mining vessels and Dirluc Mining's private security force.
Several dozens of ships had been destroyed by the pirate raid, and other than the four that Avery took out, the rest of the outlaws got away.
Of course, the Alliance Police got involved, but space pirates knew how to keep themselves scarce when the authorities were on their tails. They were the types that only picked fights they thought would be easy.
"This is the Two Star Mercenary Avery Asteria, ship name, Dauntless. I'm here to provide security for this area." Avery transmitted to the nearby mining vessel.
"Thanks, Dauntless. We appreciate having you around." The mining crew supervisor replied.
Avery was informed that if he had mining equipment that he was also free to collect some ore of his own. A small side benefit offered by most mining companies that hired mercenaries. Though, Avery would be expected to drop everything to respond to any threats that appeared.
Unfortunately, Avery's ship, which he had decided to name Dauntless, didn't have any mining tools equipped. It was kitted out solely for military use, and Avery lacked the funds to make any adjustments.
So, while he was grateful for the offer, Avery had to decline. Instead, he set a patrol route around the mining vessel he was guarding and let the ship's system handle the rest.
"Now it's just a waiting game. If nothing happens, I'll get paid for my time without having to do much of anything. And if something does, I can expect a bonus in way of bounties and loot." Avery said, leaning back in his chair.
To any observer it would have appeared that he was slacking off, but that was hardly the case.
The Dauntless' sensors would undoubtedly pick up any approaching craft or space monsters. No matter how alert he stayed, it was unlikely he would notice anything before his ship's computer did. Being on edge the entire time would only wear him out.
For the next sixteen hours, Avery simply kept to the area he was assigned and watched over the mining ships.
During this time nothing in particular happened, and his shift for the day finally ended.
This did not mean he could leave though, just that he was off duty for now. He now had eight hours to get some sleep and then he would be back on watch.
When one mining vessel left, another soon took its place. At all times there were at least a few people in the same area as Avery.
'Well, I can leave things to the other mercs nearby. Time for some rest.' Avery thought, crawling into the bed within the captain's quarters.
However, the moment his head hit his pillow, he received a message from the Dauntless' computer. Apparently twenty-one unidentified objects were approaching at a high speed.