Path to Becoming the Greatest Space Mercenary-Chapter 160 Predator and Prey

This would cause immense trouble for everyone involved, and Berk could say goodbye to any prospects of a prometon anytime soon.

"If we were still on our original schedule, it would be likely that our foes would not have had time to amass enough power to challenge us and we could have approached the warp portal without worry. But that is no longer the case. We must assume that they've had ample time to prepare for our arrival. Plus, we are now down two vessels from what we originally set out with."

Ezra's tone and expression held not criticism. He merely was stating facts.

Still, Commander Berk was well aware that his decision to use several days dealing with the strexnoid collective issue was a core reason that they were in their current predicament.

There was a possibility that the Odium Syndicate did not have enough forces to challenge them and that the probes had been placed merely for the purpose of monitoring their progress. Though, it would be foolish to assume that no attack was coming.

The Odium Syndicate was more than happy to use violence to get their ways, and the Alliance Police had plenty of records of their past transgressions. There was little doubt that they would do everything they could to stop Grito from testifying and bringing damning evidence against their influential members within the Dramid Alliance.

Eventually Commander Berk was convinced to go along with the plan Ezra had come up with. Except, everything still predicated on Grito and Vi'ivando's work with the captured probe. If they were unable to get into it, moving forward with would be too dangerous.

"Don't worry about it. You've already seen those two at work. Without a doubt, they will be able to do what we need." Ezra said confidently.

With their course of action set, Commander Berk began making preparations on his end, while Avery's team did the same on theirs.

…

"Sir, we've received a transmission from one of the probes."

Sitting in the captain's chair on the bridge of a large vessel, A man with dark red hair and sinister looking black eyes took the report his subordinate had just handed him.

"Good, it is just as we expected. It seems that they're taking the shortest path to the warp portal. What about the probe though, is it continuing to monitor their position?"

"Yes, it is currently tailing them and appears to have remained unnoticed. We are receiving constant update on their whereabouts."

A smile formed on the man's face when he heard the good news. Everything was going according to plan.

"Prepare to disembark. We need to meet them before they get close enough to the warp portal to call for reinforcements."

At their leader's command, the crew aboard the craft he was in charge of started preparing to leave their current position.

Within the vicinity were around another half dozen medium ships and ten smaller ships also preparing to move out.

This was the assassination team that the Odium Syndicate had dispatched to eliminate Grito.

The traitorous Baccigan had been a major thorn in their side. He knew too much and supposedly had collected hundreds of electronic records that would expose the crimes on some of the Odium Syndicates top members.

They had managed to scare him into hiding once before with death threats, but now the pest had resurfaced. And this time the Odium Syndicate had no intention of letting him get away.

Nevertheless, the ships that they had were likely to be insufficient to fight off the Alliance Police escorts and mercenary group Grito had supposedly joined.

To make up for this deficit in power, the assassination team had been provided with nearly seventy suicide drones.

They were small autonomous craft equipped with fast propulsion systems and a single near military grade laser cannon.

In terms of shields and armor these drones were as weak as they came. Likely not able to survive a single shot from any of the Alliance Police's weapons.

For what they lacked in defense though, they made up for in power and speed.

Along with the single powerful weapon each one was equipped with, there was also a high yield explosive planted alongside the drones' generator.

The core strategy of using these suicide drones was simple.

Have them surround a ship and blast it with lasers and then dive in and explode when the target's shields had been exhausted.

With the drones that had been provided, the leader of this assassination team was confident that he could bring down an Alliance Police heavy cruiser without any difficulty.

"Sir, the probe just sent another transmission. Our quarry has chaged course. It seems that they are now heading for a hyper lane entrance in this sector."

The leader took the tablet his aide presented to him and scrutinized the sudden shift in the target's movement.

At first, they had been following the expected shortest route, but now they were headed in an out of the way direction.

It was suspect, but not entirely unexpected. The Alliance Police had to know that the Odium Syndicate wanted to stop Grito from reaching the Cocarro System, and doing so before they reached a warp portal was paramount.

There would not be another chance to ambush them out in space should they fail now. The short distance between the warp portal on the other side of the Alliance and the Cocarro System was heavily monitored by the Alliance Police. Staging an attack there was practically impossible.

"Can we head them off before they reach the hyper lane?" The leader asked his subordinate that was in charge of navigation.

"It appears to be possible sir. But we'll only be a minute ahead of the at most. We're nearly the same distance from it as them."

The assassination team leader contemplated what to do for a moment, but he did not have much time to do so.

Every second saw them farther behind. If they missed this window, it would be difficult to catch back up with Grito and his escorts. And even when they did, it would put them a bit too close to Alliance Police monitored space for the leader's liking.

"Prepare to change course. We'll beat them to the hyper lane entrance and prepare to strike as soon as they arrive. We've been paid a lot of money for this job, so let's show the higherups what we can do."

With high morale, the assassination team chaged course and sped at full speed to cut off Avery's team and Berk's squad. Not knowing that the probe sending them information had turned traitor thanks to some tinkering from Grito and Vi'ivando, and that they were flying right into a deadly trap.