Avery stared intently at the emblem, but it was not anything that he recognized.

The intricate engravings created the visage of some sort of avian creature, though it was an unfamiliar creature to Avery. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

’I wonder if it’s some sort of pass to a secret information organization, or a market that sells highly specialized and advanced weaponry.’ Avery thought, let his imagination run wild.

There were always whispers about places and goods that normal people could not get access to, and Zefield seemed like the kind of person that might have such connections.

Of course, Avery understood that he was probably off base here. Though he was still hoping that this might be him receiving an invitation to join society for only select high ranking mercenaries.

"A client that hired me for a job in one of the frontier sectors of the Dramid Alliance gave me this after I took care of some especially nasty space monsters called intellect reavers that were targeting the station he was heading some experiment on. It was only towards the end of the job that I found out why the creatures were so fixated on this one small colony. Turned out that there was something special about my client."

This was certainly not the direction that Avery thought that this was going to go. Nevertheless, he already had a good idea about what Zefield was getting at.

"The man had some powerful psionic abilities like you do. Not the same as what you showed me, but abnormally strong considering he’s a human and should not have any sort of psychic powers in the first place."

Zefield told Avery a bit more about the man and how he had won his trust by the time he was ready to leave the area and head off to another job.

"He ended up giving me this emblem before I left and told me that if I ever wanted to meet him again, I simply needed to go to a certain clothing store franchise and get a full body scan while wearing the emblem. It sounded a little too cloak and dagger for me at first, so I thought he was joking. Turns out he was serious."

"The man also told me that if I ever came across anyone like him and thought they were trustworthy, I should send them his way. Told me he might be able to help and have some answers." Zefield said, glancing up from the emblem to look at Avery’s face and gauge his interest.

It was clear that Avery was thinking deeply about the person Zefield had told him about. But not quite in the way that the veteran seven star mercenary thought.

’Could this guy be one of my mom’s old teammates? It’s certainly possible. Although, it could just be someone else with similar circumstances.’

Avery was more invested in learning about his origins and others like him than he ever had been before.

He had nearly killed himself by overtaxing his abilities twice now, and it was troubling how little he truly understood about his own powers.

His mother had helped him a little, but she had her own struggles to deal with, and Avery could tell that using her abilities brought her great distress.

Just keeping her previously sealed memories was already putting strain on her. Something she had done for Avery’s sake. He did not want to put any more pressure on her.

However, if he could pick up a thing or two from someone else that had thoroughly embraced their abilities, that could possibly facilitate growth in his control over his psionic powers.

From what Zefield told him though, it had been twelve years since he had seen the man and there was no telling if he was still within the Dramid Alliance or if the emblem would still work.

"But if you want it, it’s yours. I don’t have much of a use for it. Better that it goes to someone that it might help than sitting around in a draw in my room." Zefield said, sliding the emblem over to Avery.

For just a moment he hesitated before reaching out and grabbing it.

’Another thing added to my growing list of things to pursue.’ Avery thought as he put the emblem into his pocket.

It was uncertain if the bonus reward Zefield had prepared for him would ever prove valuable, but Avery was still happy to receive something like this.

There were things that money could not buy, and information and an opportunity like this was one of them.

With their business concluded, Avery fished off his drink and said farewell to Zefield.

Before he left the room though, he turned around and told Zefield that if he ever needed extra firepower for a job, that he would be happy to work together again.

He wanted to make sure that Zefield knew that he was not going to let the catastrophic failure of the expedition ruin their working relationship.

"Thank you. Should the time come that I require your assistance, I’ll be sure to reach out."

Once the door had closed behind him, Tuuali appeared from seemingly nowhere and caught Avery off guard.

She wore a massive grin on her face as she led Avery back to the airlock where the Dauntless was waiting.

"I really appreciate what you said to my husband back there. He may not show it, but he does have worries of his own. You’re someone that he’s opened up to a lot for him and respects quite a bit. He’d been concerned that you and some of the others blamed him for everything that happened. Of course, no one that actually matters would, but he still lets such stupid thoughts get to him sometimes." Tuuali said, shaking her head.

After that Avery said his goodbye to her and stepped through the airlock into the Dauntless where Jasmine was waiting for him.

Now it was just a quick trip back to the Intrepid and they would be leaving the Ainelou System behind.

It was time to head back to more central parts of the Dramid Alliance to recover and then move on to the next mission.