After giving an opening speech for the ceremony, Deputy Chief Ikla left the podium and sat down in the chair surrounded by other high ranking Alliance Police Officers.
Then, another official took his place and operated a large holoprojector set up at the front of the room to display a scale model of the space pirate raid.
’Oh, so this is how the battle unfolded as a whole.’ Avery thought, watching as the event was being replayed.
For the most part it was being sped up from the actual events, but whenever one of the officers or merceries being honored at the ceremony had accomplished something noteworthy, the announcer would slow it down and in large the map to emphasize it.
To his surprise, Avery got the spotlight treatment more than once. Three times to be exact.
The first was during the opening attack when he charged in on his own and took down several small pirate craft and four medium ships.
After that was his fight against the swarm that surged towards his squad, and his rescue of Kasandra. And finally, and most notably, when he plunged into the pirate’s reinforcements and delivered a phasic torpedo to the back row of vessels.
His first and second achievements received nothing more than some nods of approval, but there was audible murmuring during the third.
"Is that guy insane?! Who flies straight into so many large and medium ships with only a small one. Even if they were retreating that’s basically suicide."
"Where’d he even get a phasic torpedo. Those things cost an arm and leg, and you’ve got to have special permission to purchase them."
"I can’t believe he survived that. Is he some kind of monster."
Those that were not entirely familiar with Avery’s impressive feat were the loudest, and the officer leading the ceremony had to ask that everyone quiet down.
Once order was fully restored, the map swiftly changed to show another battlefield. This time, it was displaying the Prazan System and the fight against the energy lifeforms.
Since there had been a little under two hundred participants during this incident, more time was given to those that had played central roles.
Naturally, the seven top Alliance Police pilots received special attention. They had been the leaders and the authority that had kept the mercenaries in formation
’They’re really talking up captain Ais. I suppose that he did give quick and efficient orders and got us through that battle with only minimal casualties considering the situation.’ Avery thought as his squad leader’s achievements were being announced.
Of course, there were multiple mercenaries that had moments of glory as well, but most of the focus was on him and Ezra.
The two of them had simply fought too well to be ignored. Even when other mercenaries or the officers were enlarged on the map and the current focus, you could see them in the background annihilating energy lifeforms faster than anyone else.
However, attention was naturally shifted when Avery was swallowed by the queen energy lifeform.
At this point a downcast mood came over the audience. As those not in the know believed that the valiant mercenary that had proven himself in both the pirate raid and energy lifeform incident was sure to have perished.
Yet, their shock was palpable when Avery killed the powerful space monster and returned alive. Truthfully, it was a miracle. Not even the strongest capital ships could last very long when fully consumed by a queen energy lifeform.
"Looks like you’ve become the center of attention not only on the display, but in person as well." Kasandra whispered in Avery’s ear.
Having been seated in a prominent position, Alliance Police Officers and mercenaries alike were constantly glancing at Avery, while some simply stared at him in disbelief. Like he was some sort of cryptid that should not have existed.
Most were looking at him with awe and approval, but some of the looks were less than friendly.
Envy, hostility, and greed were just some of the negative emotions being thrown his way. At the very least, those that were doing so were few in number.
After the two battles had been fully shown and the achievements of those that had displayed exceptional skill and valor were highlighted, it was time for the actual awards to be given out.
Naturally, they started with the less prestigious accolades and went up.
First came the Moon Cross of Merit.
This award was for those that proven themselves to be competent and showed excellent skills during battle.
They had not achieved anything of extreme notoriety, but they had been consistent and displayed above average ability.
Most of the mercenaries present received this award for eliminating either a large number of pirates or energy lifeforms.
’Doesn’t look like Kaiden’s getting called up. He did have a better showing than any of these guys.’ Avery thought.
A few more awards in the same vein were called up afterwards, before the next tier of awards was given out.
This time it was Kaiden’s turn to go.
He received an Award Called the Planet Cross of Gallantry for his bravery fighting pirates and protecting his fellow mercenaries.
Unlike the lower awards that had been given out first that came with only a bit of bump in one’s reputation, this one came with a monetary reward.
Kaiden would receive two hundred thousand Krenin and preference for jobs posted by the Alliance Police and other official government organizations.
It may not have seemed like too much but, for a mercenary, their renown was immensely important.
With this award, Kaiden would be more trusted and offered greater sums of money by most future clients. There was a major difference between a three star mercenary with or without such accolades.
As the ceremony continued, the level of awards continued to rise, and the number of recipients dropped exponentially.
Eventually, the only ones left were Ezra and Avery.
Yet, before either of them was called up, Deputy Chief Ikla rose from his seat and took his position in front of the podium again. For the two of them, he was going to be personally presenting their awards.