Path to Becoming the Greatest Space Mercenary

Chapter 567 - 567 Crippling the Odium Syndicate

"This is the last check-in. Is everyone ready to proceed?"Avery tapped a button on the console in front of him responding in affirmative to Cerise.

She was currently displayed on the Intrepid's main viewscreen, with several smaller windows open surrounding her.

These were the commanders for the upcoming raid on nearly every prominent member and base the Odium Syndicate had in the Dramid Alliance.

After Delia had delivered on her end of the deal, Avery, and by extension the Alliance Police, now knew far more about the criminal organization than ever before.

They had spread their roots deep and wide, and the level of influence they had gained throughout several of the border sectors with the Zatis Consortium was staggering.

The number of officials and influential members of communities that secretly worked for the Odium Syndicate reminded Avery of Azade before Grito testified.

There were plenty of people willing to take extra money and allow drugs to be disrupted to the masses.

It would never affect them, so they did not care about how much damage was done.

Perhaps this would not have been as prevenient had the Odium Syndicate been a normal criminal organization, but it was basically an open secret that some of the ruling cooperation's in the Zatis Consortium were backing them.

Even if they vehemently denied this and publicly condemned the Odium Syndicate's actions.

There was no hiding that the Zatis Consortium was still eager to take some the Dramid Alliance's territory as its own.

The border between the two major powers had been influx for as long as the two existed. Most of it came from the Zatis Consortium's aggression, but the Alliance had made plenty of moves of its own.

It would have been difficult to decide if either side was right or wrong.

At least until the Odium Syndicate got involved. Spreading drugs with the express purpose to weaken the Dramid Alliance's population and preparing them to be turned into mutated monsters.

With that in mind, it was easy to peg the Zatis Consortium as the villain.

"Okay, I've received everyone's response and we are ready to go ahead. This is going to be a large-scale operation across hundreds of systems. Do everything that you can and best of luck to you all. Let's catch these bastards that have poisoned our home for their own benefit." Cerise said before cutting off the call.

She had her own mission to complete, and she trusted everyone to do their jobs. There was no need to babysit the elite personnel that had been chosen to crush the Odium Syndicate.

Avery for his part had been given a special assignment.

Thanks to Delia's cooperation, he had far more information on the Odium Syndicate, as well as a higher clearance that he could use to go places he normally would not have been allowed access to.

To that end, he was headed to a secret faciality that served as the primary hub for the Odium Syndicate's leadership in the Dramid Alliance, and a sort of fallback bunker where they could hide in the case of emergency.

Thanks to Delia, they had scheduled the raid when most of the top members would be present for a meeting.

Had the Alliance Police tried to attack them, several early warning sensors would have alerted the people inside, and automated defenses close to the level of a habituated planet's would intervene to stop them.

Delia had also informed them that there were several established hyperspace entrances around the base that was located in interstellar space.

If the people onboard the station felt threatened, they had the ability to flee in several different directions. Making it tricky to corner them.

Which was why Avery had been given the assignment to apprehend the criminal bigwigs.

Acting in his identity as Ferdinand Karas, he was a known smuggler for the Odium Syndicate, and with Delia vouching for him and disabling defenses along the way, he was able to reach the base without disturbing the nest so to speak.

"This isn't the part where you suddenly betray us is it?" Avery asked Delia, only half serious.

Naturally she was not on the bridge but confined to her room during the operation.

Still, it had been necessary to keep in contact with her and allow her to send signals to the Odium Syndicate's security to disengage it.

Of course, every single message and transmission she sent was monitored and reviewed. If it ended up being outside of what had already been discussed and agreed upon, it would not end well for her.

"No. I need the Odium Syndicate destroyed just as much as you do. Betraying you would only come back to harm me." Delia responded, the innocent mask she often wore on her face.

While what Delia might have just said sounded reassuring, Avery did not like the implications of her words.

She had not quite said it in such a way, but he almost felt like she was telling him that she would most definitely betray him once the Odium Syndicate was dealt with.

'I hope I'm just overthinking things. Despite the initial impression I got from her, she's been nothing but helpful for the last several days. It's almost unnerving, and sometimes I have to remind myself to not relax around her. If I start to trust her even just a little and let my guard down the slightest bit, my instincts tell me she'll stab me in the back.'

Avery shook his head and stopped focusing on Odium Syndicate executive that had gone turncoat.

He had more important matters to think about right now. Like the large station his ship was currently approaching.

Thanks to Delia, they had managed to slip by without any issues, but that would only take them so far.

The moment that they arrived; a battle was bound to break out.

To avoid any of Odium Syndicate members from escaping, the first order of business was to disable all of their ships. Obviously, once they started doing that, it would be impossible to continue pretending to be an ally.

"We'll be dropping out of hyperspace in one minute. Prepare for reentry to normal space." An automated voice said throughout the entire ship.

Each second seemed to drag on for Avery as he kept his focus ready to respond to any crisis that might occur.

They were deep into enemy territory, and while Cerise had prepared backup for emergencies, it would take them a while to help. They would not have the benefit of slipping past the Odium Syndicate's defense systems.

Soon the light of hyperspace faded away, and the Intrepid found itself surrounded by an almost impenetrable blackness.

The only light other than a few far-off stars was coming from a large outpost around three to four times the size of the Intrepid.

As soon as they arrived, Delia started sending out access codes that would buy them some time to get into position.

"Target the docked vessels and the hangar, we can't let anyone escape. As soon as the first volley is fired, all squads have permission to disembark and engage."

It was not long before the Intrepid was in position and their opponents were none the wiser to what was going on.

Delia had played her part perfectly, pretending that she had run here to escape the ongoing raid from the Alliance Police.

Naturally, there was panic among the gathered Odium Syndicate members when they learned what was going on.

No doubt it was not just Delia's explanation that had reached them at this point, but also transmissions from the bases and people that were under attack.

Of course, they all believed that this base was currently safe, since there had not been any Alliance Police activity detected nearby.

No doubt there was a great deal of surprise when "Ferdinand's" cargo ship suddenly underwent a startling transformation.

Hundreds of weapon systems appeared from hidden compartments, and missiles and lasers began saturating the base.

From the call that Delia was connected to, Avery could hear the muffled shouting of the people she had been talking to.

Many of them were demanding an explanation from their supposed ally, while others threw accusations of betrayal at her.

For Delia's part, she just laughed at and derided them for their own incompetence.

Seeing all of this, Avery was glad that he had decided to monitor their collaborator himself. Because he felt certain that he was getting a glimpse at who Delia truly was. This was not all just a means to an end to her. She was enjoying the distress of her former associates.

'I'll address that later.' Avery thought, before turning his full attention back to the battle.

Not that it could really be called much of one.

Their opening assault had done major damage to the station and the ships around it.

All of the defense systems had been disabled and would take around a minute to come back online. By that time, everything would likely already be over.