Path to Becoming the Greatest Space Mercenary - Chapter 392

Chapter 392: Chapter 392 Ending in Complete Failure
Clarien ground his teeth together in extreme frustration.

He was racking his mind quickly for what to do.

Even in the most dire simulations that he had run, nothing at this level of bad had occurred.

Betrayal from Delilah and Adder had been something he had considered, but not to this degree.

When and how Delilah had left a virus on every one of his and Rook’s fleet’s vessels that targeted their cloaking devices was a mystery.

There was supposed to be all manner of protections against such a thing.

The only explanation that Clarien could come up with was that she had found a weakness in the cloak that was given to her and used that to infiltrate Clarien’s and Rook’s systems.

‘But how would she have delivered it. I made sure to have her carefully monitored whenever she was onboard. If she had ever accessed anything to upload the virus, I would have known.’

This led Clarien to conclude that that there was a mole onboard that had betrayed him for Delilah.

“Begin preparations for departure immediately. We’re getting out of here.” Clarien commanded.

“But sir, what about those still on the station?! Your partner, Rook is still there!” One of the bridge staff said frantically.

“It’s unfortunate, but we’re leaving them behind. There’s no time for a retrieval. They’ll have to figure out something on their own. Now, the next person to question one of my orders will be relieved of duty. Permanently.”

Clarien pulled out his laser pistol and set it down on the arm of his chair.

The implications of this were clear to everyone on the bridge.

If they spoke out of turn, or maybe even if they were just bit too slow in executing their tasks, they could end up dead.

Of course, there was always the possibility that such an action could lead to a mutiny, but Clarien was confident that would not happen.

While there were plenty of crew members that had friends still on the station or were more loyal to Rook than Clarien, their sense of self-preservation was stronger than anything else.

They had only about five minutes now until the forces from Azade reached them.

Those thirty ships might not be able to beat them, but it would certainly slow them down tremendously. Long enough that the Alliance Police could catch up.

Should that occur, they would have little to no chance of escaping. Either death or imprisonment for life was all that awaited them if they were caught.

Swiftly, Clarien’s fleet turned around and fled from Yuson II.

They had already chosen several different escape routes ahead of time and were aiming for a hyperspace entrance that would take them to the edge of the Dramid Alliance.

From there they would skirt around its border until they could reach the Vanmir Republic.

That was where Clarien’s main base of operation was located and they would be safe from Alliance Police pursuit there.

‘Now that I’ve got a moment. Let me find the traitor.’ Clarien thought, pulling up the logs of anyone taking a small craft out of one of the hangars.

Considering that Delilah planned on everyone being killed or captured, it was obvious that the traitor must have fled at some time during the battle to escape this fate.

Had they done so earlier, they would have been easily caught, but during the attack, everyone would have been too focused on the mission at hand to worry about one missing crew member that had stolen a small ship. It was the opportune time to slip away.

“It was Taryon. That bastard really betrayed me.”

It did not take long for Clarien to find the perpetrator.

Only one person had taken out a small craft from the hangar that was not accounted for.

Taryon was one of Clarien’s lieutenants, so he had high enough access to open the hangar and fly out with a ship without setting off any alarms.

Had Clarien’s attention not been elsewhere, he would have noticed for sure, but Taryon had chosen to make his move when Clarien was furiously trying to get back in contact with Rook.

‘You two messed up though. I made sure that my property couldn’t be taken from me easily.’

Clarien smiled maliciously as he pulled up the tracking data on the stolen craft.

There was a normal homing beacon on every ship in his fleet, but he had also had another one that only he knew about installed.

“He removed the standard one, but the other is still in place. Time to take control.”

Through the special homing beacon, Clarien could take remote control of any ship in his fleet.

For now, though, he did not do anything overt and merely patched into the sensors and began sweeping for the signal of a cloaked ship.

“I figured that this is how it would be. He always sued to follow me around like a loyal dog. Now he’s doing the same for his new master.” Clarien said, a hint of spite and glee in his voice.

The traitor was moving in close proximity with Delilah, and through his ship, Clarien had been able to locate her.

However, as he was about to order that they change course to go after the two of them, one of the bridge staff delivered some untimely news to him.

“Sir, the vessels from Azade have just entered weapons’ range with us. They’ve trying to lock on and are about to open fire.”

A few moments later, the ship’s viewscreen displayed dozens of red flashes from pulse lasers flying their way.

The entire fleet began taking evasive actions, though a few of their vessels took some hits.

Quickly and callously, Clarien ordered two thirds of his fleet to engage the forces from Azade.

There was a momentary pause as his bridge crew looked at him like he was crazy.

Nevertheless, when he jostled the gun that was still next to him, they got to work relaying his orders.

Some of the captains that were being asked to sacrifice themselves tried to disobey Clarien’s commands, but he just remotely took control of their ships.

It would be impossible for him to focus on so many vessels and have them fight like this. However, all Clarien needed to do was change the ships’ course.

Once they were face to face with the Azadian fleet, they would be forced to fight for their survival. Serving as the proper decoys they were meant to be.

“Now, change our course to this heading. We’ll be aiming for this hyperspace entrance instead now.”

Clarien’s latest set of orders put what remained for his forces on the trail of Delilah and Taryon.

The two of them were trying to escape through a hyperspace entrance that would bring them back to Delilah’s main territory, so it was not the most ideal. Still, even if it chaged his plans, Clarien had no intention of letting them escape.

‘They’re only about fifty kilometers away from the entrance now. It’s the perfect time. I’m sure that the two of them think they’re about to get away scot-free.’ Clarien thought as he took full control over Taryon’s craft.

From there he had it lock onto Delilah’s cloaked vessel and fire.

He made sure to aim for her thrusters so that the ship would only end up disabled rather than destroyed.

What he wanted was to capture her alive. He had no plans on letting her die easily.

“You may have betrayed me for that witch, Taryon. But for your past service, I’ll make it quick.”

With the press of a few buttons, Clarien depressurized the craft.

Within just fifteen seconds, the man onboard had fallen unconscious. And not much longer after that, he was dead.

This brought a momentary feeling of elation to Clarien, but it was short lived.

Yes, he had dealt with the traitor and would be able to capture Delilah.

Except, most of his fleet would be lost and it was likely that his partner was already dead or would be soon.

The losses this time were far too great. Much worse in some ways even compared to the failure during the competition.

Though, Clarien was not captured this time, which he considered to be more important than anything else.

He was still alive and free, so while it would take time, he could rebuild.

“Prepare the tractor beam to pull her in.” Clarien said as they closed in one Delilah’s disabled ship.

What remained of Clarien’s fleet stopped for just a minute to bring Delilah onboard and then covered the last little bit of distance between them and the hyperspace entrance.

There were pursuers still after them, but Clarien was confident that with the head start that they had, they would be able to give them the slip.

Soon, the familiar sight of hyperspace surrounded the ship, and the tension in the air noticeably eased.

“Celelie, I’m leaving the bridge to you. Have some escorts bring Delilah to my office. It’s time that I settle my accounts with her.”