Path to Becoming the Greatest Space Mercenary-Chapter 481 Preparations Before the Operation

"Victoria, you don't have to do this if you don't feel comfortable. Kaiden already said he would be willing to take over the stealth corvette for this mission."

Avery was currently meeting with the captain of the stealth ship that he had captured during Clarien and Rook's attempt to steal the experimental small vessels used in the competition.

She had taken over the position from Kaiden when his own corvette had been finished and delivered.

However, Avery had already asked a lot of her during this expedition, and now the craft she commanded was tasked with one of the most dangerous roles in the upcoming operation.

When he had first thought up his plan, Avery had figured that they could just control the ship remotely.

Unfortunately, the test with the stealth probe showed that some of the space monsters could pick up outgoing and incoming signals.

For the best results, someone was going to have to pilot the cloaked vessel.

Kaiden had already come to Avery and said that he would be willing to take up his old post for this one mission.

Normally, Avery would not have considered switching out captains so suddenly like this, but this was a special case.

He was not going to send in someone that was nervous or felt pressured into doing something that they were uncomfortable with.

The role that Victoria would have to take if she did follow through would put her in the heart of the enemy's army.

Most of their strategy would be riding on her to deliver a killing blow to at least one of but ideally two of the commander type space monsters.

That was a lot to put on anyone.

Avery had seen in Kaiden's eyes that he was raring to go though.

In part because he wanted to be an active part of the operation to help his sister, but also to relive Victoria of the burden. She had served under him as his first officer for a while, and Avery knew that his brother-in-law had a soft spot for Victoria.

"Are you offering me this because you don't think that I'm up to the task?" Victoria replied in a defensive tone.

"No, that's not it. Your work has always been exemplary ever since you joined us from Burke's company. It's just that there's a possibility of the stealth ship being destroyed and everyone onboard dying even if the plan is successful. I'm not going to force such a role on someone that's not prepared."

Victoria understood where Avery was going from. Still, her pride was a little hurt so what she said next came out a bit snappier than she was intending.

"I've been a mercenary for a long time already. Your skills are definitely some of the best I have ever seen, but I still have more experience. When I was still working under Burke, I encountered my fair share of deadly situations. This is just part of the job. I'm not going to hand over my ship to anyone else. I'll see this through."

There was determination in Victoria's eyes as she responded.

Avery had made his offer out of consideration, but perhaps there had been no reason to.

Had someone told him to hand over control of the Dauntless and to sit things out, he probably would have reacted similarly. Likely with sharper words honestly.

"Then I'll be putting my trust in you for this mission. I only asked because Kaiden was so insistent. It seems that he really cares for you." Avery said, smiling knowingly.

Victoria blushed a bit as he brought this up.

While nothing had actually happened between the two of them yet, it was obvious to everyone that they both liked each other.

For a while, everyone thought that they were not going anywhere because of the power dynamic between the two of them. Kaiden had been her superior after all.

Now though, they were both captains of corvettes and basically at the same position. So, it was really that they were both just inept at relationships.

Avery had half a mind to tease Victoria a bit more, but he held himself back.

It would not do for her to have other thoughts racing through her head when she was about to embark on a critical and perilous mission.

"Pick out as few members of your crew as you need. Try to take only those that volunteer. But if you can't get enough people, I'll assign some. You've got twelve hours left. Do your best to prepare."

"Same to you boss. I heard what position you're going to be taking. Honestly, I think that it's going to be a lot harder than what I have to do."

With those parting words, Victoria left Avery's office. There was not much time left, and still a great many things to do.

…

In the reaming twelve hours before the operation was to begin, Avery attempted to sleep so that he would be in optimal condition, but his mind was too wired to ever reach unconsciousness.

He was not really nervous about flying into danger. He did that all the time.

What really occupied his thoughts was what he had to lose.

Kasandra, Jasmine, and Liesel would be coming with him. One mistake, and they were all dead along with him. That was something he could not allow to happen.

Simulations of what was going to go down played through his mind.

The strategy had become more refined from what he had initially suggested thanks to the input of others, but the risks were still high for the people that were going to be acting as lures.

'It's not enough. No matter how many times I think about it, there's no guarantee that we'll be able to get through everything. I need something more. A trump card that will let me overcome any situation.'

Knowing that he was not going to be able to get any sleep, Avery sat up in his bed and focused inwardly.

He knew better than anyone else that he was no longer a normal person.

There was something inside of him that had been reawakened. A power from some long-ago ancestor that had remained dormant his entire life until recently.

It was something strange that he did not fully understand.

His ability had manifested as the power to see the movement of energy.

Even being the one that was visualizing it, Avery had a hard time truly knowing what he was seeing when he was in that state.

'My mother's ability manifested as some sort of aura that she can control. But she's best at manipulating metals. I can only assume that that's because when she awakened her power, it was in response to having liquid metal pumped into her body.'

Avery thought back to when he first used his own power.

It was during his battle against Atlas.

The most formidable foe he had ever fought at the time and someone that seemed almost like an insurmountable wall.

In his desperation to win, Avery had been searching for a way to counter Atlas' tricky strategies.

That was how he came to visualize the flow of energy. Because that was what he needed at that moment.

However, just recently, Avery had displayed a different kind of power.

Instead of just visualizing energy, he had managed to control something that was inside of him.

It had all happened out of desperation.

A giant space monster was trying to control his mind.

Had his will been a little weaker, he really might have succumbed to the creature.

Yet he had managed to overcome a being created with the purpose of controlling hundreds of thousands of other monsters.

That was not a coincidence. It had only been possible because of the latent potential within him.

Nianni's words echoed through his mind again. "Perhaps you are also a descendant of a god."

Avery did not particularly believe in any gods, but there were stories of powerful being that could do things far beyond the average person.

Basically, every culture had legends about entities that possessed astounding abilities, so maybe there really were such people out there.

The topic was not something that he knew much about, but apparently the Reswen Theocracy worshipped nine gods that at the very least they believed to be real.

It was possible that they were not completely made up and were actually based on real people that just had extraordinary powers.

Avery could not really deny that his abilities were extraordinary.

Not only did he had an absurdly broken extrasensory perception, but his body was incredibly strong and he healed at a highly accelerated rate.

Sometimes he wondered if it was some sort of destiny for him to end up where he was, but he knew better.

He had just been lucky.

If those priates he had met when he was still a salvager had been a little smart or more skilled, he would have been killed.

Or if he had executed the landing on the asteroid improperly, his crappy first ship could have been broken apart, and he would have died instantly.

While he may have always had the potential to be someone special, it was merely because of a string of luck. Both good and bad that had started him on the path he found himself on.

'I can't just hope to be lucky this time, though. I have to be certain.' Avery thought, focusing on the strange energy inside of him.

Before the operation began, he was going to figure out how to do more with his abilities, and use them to make sure that he, Kasandra, Jasmine, and Liesel survived.