“That was much quicker than our first visit,” Bulco said.

  Nori nodded. “Understood, Hammerhead. Following course.”

  The asteroid slowly rotated as they approached it, revealing its many towering spires and protective domes.

  “Hmm, looks like this time we don’t get to land in the administrator’s tower,” Bulco grunted.

  “No,” Nori agreed. She examined their destination and her face clouded. “It’s a docking tower next to the Underdome.”

  “Wonderful. What could possibly go wrong there?” Cattie asked dryly.

  Lana looked at her. “You think it's a trap?”

  “We were targeted by the Syndicate before we left the station,” Nori said evenly. “And NO_ONE made it clear our options here are slim unless we cooperate. I think it’s safe to assume he arranged for us to land here. I wouldn’t be surprised to find him waiting outside our docking bay.”

  “Scaly-faced motherfucker,” Bulco growled. “If he’s planning to double-cross us, I’m gonna make him regret that we let him go the first time we met.”

  “We need leverage over him,” Nori said. “Something to keep him honest.”

  “Unity,” Nathan said softly. Everyone looked at the unassuming young man.

  “Yes, Nathan?”

  “Can you split the formula and place each part in a self-contained storage space in our database?”

  “Of course, Nathan.”

  “If someone tries to hurt us or board you …” He stopped, hesitating.

  “I will delete the information at once. Understood.”

  Nori nodded. “Nice.” Several of her screens flickered. She turned to the main viewscreen and assumed the manual controls. “We’ve reached the landing tower. I’m bringing us down.”

  ***

  The ship’s massive hangar door lowered, revealing Unity’s crew. All armed and alert.

  Bulco stood at the front, his puncher in one hand and a beam rifle in the other.

  Behind him, Cattie had deployed her armor’s sniping mode, and her advanced alien rifle was pointed out, ready to take down any enemies.

  Nori was crouched, standing upside down on the ceiling. Two of her most advanced pistols were pointing outward.

  Behind them stood Serk’s giant mech. The machine’s ranged weapons were still inoperable and its mobility severely reduced, but it stood with two giant fists raised, ready to crush any invaders.

  Lana and Nathan remained behind, safely tucked away on the bridge.

  The view here was much less luxurious than that of the administrator’s tower. The landing pad’s balcony reeked of neglect. An assortment of garbage and broken parts were scattered everywhere. The floor was dirty—parts of it even scorched. A single console stood next to the door into the tower. It was fading as if about to die out.

  A squat alien stood calmly, leaning at the doorway.

  “Guys,” Lana’s voice spoke through their comms. “That alien is the same species as the pirates who originally shot down Unity back on Earth.”

  Trax, Kordlin, Level 15, Faction: StarfFaux

  Path: Mercenary → Captain → Tactician → Strategist

  Highest Attribute: Intelligence

  No. of implants 5

  Trax lifted both his short arms in the air. “Hold your fire, I’m not an enemy. I work for NO_ONE.”

  “Now that’s an oxy-moron if I ever heard one,” Bulco growled, adjusting his weapon’s sight on the alien.

  “Hold your fire.” Nori deactivated her grav-boots and landed lightly on the floor.

  “I’m glad to see one of you has got some sense, or haven't you noticed my level yet? I deactivated my obfuscation implant specifically for your benefit.” Trax lowered his arms. He looked at their ready stance and chuckled. “What, you thought we’d charge your ship as soon as you landed? The Syndicate is more subtle than that.”

  “Sending a high-level mercenary to meet us on landing isn’t much better,” Nori said.

  Trax shrugged. “I’m just here as an errand boy. NO_ONE sent me to see if you got the info he wanted and to deliver it back to him.”

  “We got it,” Nori said evenly. “But we want our payment first.”

  “Is that so?” the mercenary said in a dangerous tone. His hands started slowly reaching toward his belt.

  “Before you do anything rash,” Nori said, not letting herself be intimidated. “We’ve fragmented the data and set it to delete if something happens to us or anyone tries to board our ship. We’re willing to hand over the first part now, but you’ll get the second once we’ve received our payment.”

  “Smart!” Trax chuckled. “NO_ONE said you weren’t pushovers, but taking care of those joke mercenaries he brought onto your ship didn’t impress me. Don’t worry, I have strict orders to conclude the deal you’ve agreed upon. So hand over the first part. We’ll remove you from the faction’s enemy list and release the freighter you chartered along with its cargo. Once it's out of the station, you’ll hand over the second part. Agreed?”

  Nori nodded. “Lana, transmit over the first part of the formula.”

  Trax’s wrist chimed. He looked down at his arm and nodded. “Seems legit. I’ll forward it for analysis. If there are no problems, the freighter you charted will launch in two hours. It will be necessary, of course, to keep your own ship grounded until you deliver the second part. You understand.”

  “What about the information NO_ONE promised us,” Nori said. “We were looking for a couple of Inthidlon pilots.”

  “As I understand it, that has to do with the second part of the deal,” the alien said calmly. He looked up at Serk’s mech. “One, I believe, was demanded by your Aky crewmate. Once you’ve executed the second phase, my employer will give you the information you seek.” He checked his wrist console one more time and nodded. “Looks like the data you sent me passed the initial scrutiny. I’ll be going now.”

  “What the hell are we supposed to do till then?” Bulco asked gruffly.

  Trax shrugged. “You’re free to roam around the station. Go sightseeing for all I care.” And with that, the short, robust alien turned and disappeared into the tower.

  “Arrogant little prick,” Bulco muttered. “Thinks he can take us all down by himself.”

  “He was probably right,” Serk remarked as he exited the mech through a piece of broken plating. “A person’s Path abilities increase in power exponentially every five levels, and he has two crossroads over all of you.”

  “Why did he only have five implants, though?” Cattie asked. “Shouldn’t they have more powerful ones the higher level they get?”

  “They do,” Serk said simply. “Some advanced implants have demanding prerequisites, often requiring the removal of lesser, incompatible implants.”

  “So how are we going to spend the next two hours?” Cattie asked, disengaging her armor’s sniping mode.

  Lana came over from the bridge. “We still have 227,000 piTec,” she said with a smile. “And there were a few personal items that caught my eyes.”

  Bulco groaned. “Oh no, don’t tell me …”

  “Well,” Cattie said with a straight face. “We were interrupted the last time.”

  “Might as well finish it.” Nori nodded.

  “What are they talking about?” Serk looked at Bulco in bewilderment. Then his eyes widened. “Dear gods, you don’t mean …”

  “Yeah.” The Engineer nodded gloomily. “We’re going shopping.”

  ***

  First on their list was visiting the freighter they charted.

  They didn’t have to go far. The vessel was occupying one of the larger landing pads below them. It mostly looked like a giant metal box with tiny dorsal wings.

  They arrived in time to see a few beaten containers being loaded by mechanical arms. There were no crew members around.

  “Ah, looks like the parts I bought are all here.” Bulco nodded in approval.

  Lana brought up her wrist console and tapped it several times. “This ship is completely automated. The fabricator and most of the stuff we bought was already loaded. They’re still waiting on the 200 engineering kits and the rest of Bulco’s junk.”

  “Junk?” he asked, offended.

  “Sorry,” Lana said. “Semi-toxic, radioactive-leaking components sound better?”

  “It’s not that bad,” he grumbled.

  “That’s what it says on the manifest.”

  “Looks like NO_ONE is keeping his part of the deal,” Nori said. “Let’s get into the station. Is there anything else we need to buy—other than Lana’s personal items?”

  “A couple of auto repair drones would be nice,” the Engineer said. “Unity can regenerate her plating and bulkheads now, but the delicate parts still need manual tinkering. Shouldn't be more than 20k apiece. I’d also like to upgrade Unity’s power core so we can get advanced shields and weapons, but we don’t have that kind of money to spare.”

  “We need more personal implants,” Cattie said, sounding unusually serious. “The new armor proved itself, but we’re still behind most aliens our level. While we were en route, I browsed some of the stuff available on the station: an implant to upgrade an attribute by one point costs 3k. We should get some for everyone.”

  “Sounds good,” Nori said. “We’ll head over to the Metrodome for everything, but we need to make a stop along the way.”

  ***

  It was a short walk from the foot of the landing tower to the Underdome’s entrance.

  “Why are we down here again, Nori?” Lana asked worriedly, taking in the gloomy building and red-tinged lighting. Several lone pedestrians threw them dirty looks.

  “Recruiting,” the captain replied. “It’s not far from here.” She led them through the winding streets, reaching a house that looked to be made from a small downed ship.

  Several aliens in worn-looking armor were standing at the front, talking among themselves. A couple of them were comparing dull weapons.

  Cattie narrowed her eyes. “My threat assessment just fired up. Every one of those aliens has a combat Path. They’re not very high-level, the highest is level 8, but they’re all armed to the teeth.”

  “That stands to reason seeing as this is a mercenary guild,” Nori replied calmly. “Being ambushed on our ship got me thinking. Those guys weren’t all that hard to put down, especially since we had the drop on them, but they still packed a punch. Fighters like those would be very effective taking down Warped on Earth, don’t you think?”

  “That’s why we’re here?” Bulco looked with contempt at the haggard-looking aliens. “You want to hire them to help Earth? I wouldn’t trust guys like that as far as I could throw them. And I can throw them pretty far these days, let me tell you that. Besides, didn’t we agree that Earth was too vulnerable to bring in outside forces? We don’t want outsiders to start calling the shots.”

  Nori shook her head. “That’s why I’m targeting this group specifically. And I don’t intend to hire them, I had something different in mind.”

  She led the others toward the ship-turned-house and entered through the open hatch. The open room beyond looked like a bar. Several patrons were scattered around. Everyone turned to look at the newcomers.

  “Everyone here has a combat Path too,” Cattie whispered.

  Nori confidently moved toward an Inthidlon woman who wore tight-fitting armor and a wide-brimmed hat. “We’d like to speak with the one in charge.”

  She yawned and tipped her hat upward. “You’re looking at her, sweetcakes.”

  Ter’gah, Level 11, Faction: Teardust

  Nori’s face clouded. “Sweetcakes?”

  “Maybe it’s just a translation issue,” Cattie suggested. “It could mean something positive in her culture.”

  “Not with the language pack upgrades we bought,” Lana said. “We heard what she meant.”

  “That’s right,” Ter’gah said with a lazy smile. “What can I do for the Earth Force? Want to hire a squad to escort you safely through the Underdome?” She barked a short laugh that was echoed by several other patrons.

  “Actually,” Nori said, locking eyes with the alien woman. “We’re looking for something bigger than that. I have a business opportunity to offer that I think you’d like.”

  The mercenary leader leaned back comfortably in her seat. “I have some time to kill. Go ahead, but just to make it clear, the rate for hiring a five-person squad is 600 piTec an hour. That price is not negotiable.”

  Lana frowned. Six hundred for a potentially dangerous venture sounded ridiculously low to her.

  Nori took a seat across the woman. “How many mercenaries are in your faction?”

  The Inthidlon frowned. “Why?”

  “I want every able body you can get for guard duty on our home planet.”

  “Ha! You’re barking up the wrong tree, Pilot.” Ter’gah bellowed another short laugh. “Even for us lowlifes, you won’t be able to afford that rate. Especially not for an off-station assignment.”

  Nori took the mercenary's hint at being able to see her full Path in stride. “I don’t intend to pay you at all.”

  “Then the door is over there.”

  Nori remained seated. “Earth was recently and abruptly infused. As a result, the Warped population has surged and has become the scourge of our planet. They’ve already claimed over half our population.”

  “I’m sorry,” Ter’gah said though she sounded nothing like it. “But my faction isn’t a Warped extermination unit. We are a group of ragtag misfits. There is no other place in the system for us. So we’re hiring ourselves cheap, settling disputes in the Underdome mostly. Why don’t you try one of the other mercenary groups? They have the levels and equipment we don’t. Some of them could probably clean your entire planet on their own.”

  Nori shook her head. “They cost too much.”

  Ter’gah scowled. “We might not be expensive but we still demand to be paid.”

  “There are other ways of compensation.”

  “We only accept piTec.”

  “But you said so yourself, the better mercenary factions have the gear and levels your people don’t. If you work with us, you won’t have to go hunt Warped. You’ll guard our settlements against Warped attacks.”

  The Inthidlon narrowed her eyes. “And how would that benefit us?”

  “You can claim the Tec from the Warped you kill, as well as the piTec they drop.”

  “And there’s no shortage of the ugly bastards, let me tell you that,” Bulco added. “Within a month all your mercenaries will hit level 10, guaranteed.”

  “Think about it,” Nori said. “You’ll gain levels and piTec that will elevate your faction. This is your way up.” Her lips curved slightly. “Or as you put it, to find your rightful place in the system. What do you say?”

  The alien mercenary lowered her head thoughtfully. “This is … an interesting idea, I’ll give you that. Guarding settlements is much less risky than hunting monsters out in the open.” She gave Nori a piercing look then shook her head. “It’s a tempting offer, but it won’t work. The faction members’ lives are here. For better or worse, this is the home they know. They won’t leave for a place they know nothing about.”

  “So it’s better to stay in a place where you are used as bait and discarded once you’re not needed?”

  Ter’gah raised her head sharply. “What do you mean?”

  “Several of your faction members were hired to attack us on our ship. We didn’t know who they were at the time. The person who hired them merely used them to test our own capability. Once we’d proven ourselves, he simply shook off any responsibility for the surviving mercenaries and told us we could kill them if we wished and harvest their Tec.”

  Ter’gah fingers locked around the sides of her chair so hard it cracked. “You murdered our members, and you dare show your face down here?” She started to rise, reaching for her weapon.

  “We didn’t murder them,” Nori said, raising a hand to halt the alien. “We defended ourselves, but once it was over, those who survived were delivered to the station’s security. They’re still alive.”

  “So you say,” the mercenary slowly sank back into her seat. “And that makes you better than their employer?”

  “I’m being honest with you. People of power here don’t care about you. You’re fodder for them. I’m not promising you an easy life, but I am offering you a chance. You can come with us and grow powerful and wealthy. Or …” Nori looked critically around the shabby space. “Stay right where you are.”

  “I …” Ter’gah hesitated. “I need to run it by some of the others.”

  “You’re the faction leader, aren’t you?”

  “Yes, but I need the other’s support for something like this. I’ll look into what you said. If … if it checks out, I believe they will be inclined to agree to your offer.”

  Nori leaned back and nodded. “How many fighters can we expect?”

  “We have about two hundred members right now. It changes every day. I can find more.”

  “Get as many as you can. We have no shortage of Warped or places to guard.” Nori raised her arms and tapped her wrist console, transmitting her details. “Let me know when you’ve reached a decision.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “We have other businesses in the Metrodome.”

  ***

  They split again as they left the tram. Cattie and Lana went toward a row of ornament stores, while Nori and Bulco headed toward the drone shop. Nathan and Serk opted to stay behind on Unity.

  “Krinkles,” Nori greeted the Aky merchant as they entered his store.

  “Hello again.” The little green men approached them. “I’m glad you decided to return. Back to buy the Zaltec Patrol Drone?”

  “Actually, we don’t need it anymore,” Bulco said. “But we are interested in those auto repair drones.”

  Krinkles nodded. “Of course. I have an excellent all-purpose model that's suited for heavy-duty work as well as delicate repairs.”