’So, she’s the six star rcenary Zefield brough in. Quokka Montclair.’
Standing at only one hundred fifty-seven centiters, she was not particularly tall.
Her features also were far from intimidating as she had cute, rounded ears with brown fur covering them on top of her head, and chubby cheeks and small eyes.
Being a Setonix Therianthrope, she had an undeniably adorable out appearance.
However, for those capable of judging another person’s strength, she was unmistakably dangerous.
’That’s so pressure that she gives off despite looking like. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think that she was just so innocent young woman.’ Avery thought, warily keeping an eye on Quokka Montclair.
She was powerful, there was no doubt about that. No one beca six star rcenary without the skills to back up the ranking.
When one of Avery’s crew mbers ca to lead Quokka to her seat, she did not even spare a glance at them and kept walking.
Avery wondered what she was up to, but it beca fairly obvious soon enough.
Quokka walked all the way around the circular table to where Avery was sitting.
Currently their heights were about at the sa level, so the two of them ended up staring into each other’s eyes in a sort of standoff.
"Are you sure that’s where you belong?"
"Yep. This is my ship. Zefield may be leading the eting, but I’m sure I’ll have a part to play. Your seats over there if you want to take it." Avery said, pointing at a chair two down from him on his left side.
Quokka glanced over at it briefly before turning her gaze back towards Avery.
"Hm, I guess you’re not just a punk that got a bit lucky."
With that she turned around and sat in the seat that had been designated for her.
Avery let out an internal sigh of relief that nothing major had gone down.
rcenaries were known to have strong personalities among them, and the higher-ranking ones could apparently be pretty difficult at tis.
Had Quokka determined that Avery was weak and not deserving of the position he had taken here, she probably would have knocked him out of his seat and exerted her dominance. That was the impression Avery had gotten at least.
More of the lead rcenaries trickled in after that before all twenty-eight of the five star representatives had arrived.
Not long after, Zefield himself showed up with Tuuali along with him.
He was wearing a stern expression that caused so of the other rcenaries present to tense up.
However, for those in the know, it was pretty apparent that he looked so nacing not because he was trying to be, but because he was nervous.
’I guess Quokka must know him pretty well, considering the way she’s smirking right now.’ Avery observed.
Zefield sat down next to Avery on his left, while Tuuali sat next to him, and ended up next to Quokka as well.
"It’s been a while Ze. And you as well Tu. Glad to see that you’re both okay. It must be serious if you called in for this." Quokka said to the two of them in a familiar manner.
"Yes, it’s been since that ti in the Dorain System. That was one nasty creature we fought there. It was the size of a small moon and had a colony of parasites in it that attacked people that hard their host. I hope we never see anything like it again. Fortunately, we’re not up against sothing like that this ti. There are just too many space monsters for us to handle on our own."
While Tuuali responded to Quokka animatedly, Zefield rely nodded his head in acknowledgnt.
This interaction made Avery wonder about how close these three were, but he focused on the matter at hand rather than sothing that was ultimately trivial.
"I suppose that since this is my ship, I should get things started." Avery said. "We’ve all been hired by Zefield, one of the rcenary Association’s seven star rcenaries. My company was specifically brought on to serve as a mobile maintenance and repair station for the upcoming mission. Of course, we can hold our own in a fight as well if it cos down to it."
"I know that we’re the only ones that haven’t worked with any of the rest of you before, but my team won’t be holding anyone back."
After saying his piece, Avery turned towards Zefield for him to follow up.
"I trust his abilities. Avery’s strong, and his vessels are impressive. I’m sure most of you have seen him in action already."
There were several nodding heads from those in the room as Zefield said this.
Naturally, as upper ranking rcenaries, they had watched the broadcast of the competition held in the capital system.
Except, there was one individual that clearly had not seen or even heard of the event.
"I’ve no idea what you’re talking about. He seems decent, but he’s still only a kid." Nali, the veteran solo rcenary with fiery red hair said.
So of the other’s present seed to agree with her though they did not say anything out loud.
Avery’s Intrepid was certainly impressive, but he was very young. So of those present had been rcenaries longer than he had been alive. It was understandable that they might question his abilities.
"Do you doubt ?"
Zefield actually unleashed so real intimidation this ti as he said this. Most of the rcenaries present stiffened up at this. Though, Nali remained calm. She was only a five star rcenary since she worked solo. Had she gone about creating a force of her own, she definitely would have been ranked higher.
"No, I just don’t want to put my life in the hands of soone wet behind the ears just because they own a fancy ship." Nali said, shrugging her shoulders.
"This is why you’re a lone wolf Nali. You never try to get along with anyone." Tuuali said, shaking her head." We’ve already done a thorough vetting of him. Avery’s more than qualified for this job. And if this helps you accept him, he and the guy next to him are Urs’ students."
When she heard the na Urs, Nali’s eyes widened and she glanced towards Avery and Ezra.
It was pretty clear that she had not just heard of him but knew him intimately.
"I see. Then I suppose that they’ll be able to handle their position. If they can’t then it would be a major disgrace to Urs."
After that remark, Nali went silent and no one else had anything else to say on the matter.
The reason they were here was not to discuss Avery’s company’s qualifications in the first place. But the assignnt that they would soon all be undertaking.
Tuuali handed Avery an encrypted data drive and had him plug it into the computer held within the table.
A second later, the holoprojector in the middle of the room sprung to life and displayed five distinct images of creatures.
"These are the enemies we’ll be facing in the system that we’re going to. I’ll inform you all of their characteristics. Each type is dangerous in its own unique ways."
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