Path to Becoming the Greatest Space Mercenary

Katarina and her team rushed through the maze of halls that made up the backstage area of the venue where the promotional concert had been held.

Considering how many people had been packed into the place, its backstage area was equally as large.

Only a small portion of the area had been designated for the after-concert events, and the rest was nearly devoid of any personnel.

Having been running for nearly twenty minutes at this point, Katarina and her team had made it quite far from where the other competitors were waiting, and where they had originally retrieved Nianni.

Had they followed the original plan and headed down the quickest escape route, they already would have boarded a craft that would have taken them out of the Dramid System.

However, just in case, Katarina had prepared a few contingency plans.

When it became clear that Kaliya had failed to secure the primary escape route, she had made the decision to abandon him and head towards a different hangar where another ship was waiting for her and her crew.

Unfortunately, what should have been merely a fifteen-minute jaunt had been extended by a few scuffles with security personnel.

With communications having been disabled in the area, it was only natural that the people in charge of protecting Nianni and the backstage quests noticed something was amiss.

Had things gone to plan, Katarina and her team would have already left the venue before anyone noticed that Nianni had been abducted.

Now though, the remaining guards that had not been directly by Nianni's side had scrambled to find her. Some managing to come across Katarina's group and getting themselves killed for the effort.

Still, this had slowed them down significantly. Adding quite a bit more tension as this mission became a race against time.

The communication blackout only extended so far, and if someone got in contact with the Alliance Police before they could escape the area, it would be over for them.

'We're almost there now. More stupid guards with no regard for their own lives haven't shown up again for a little while now. Hopefully we eliminated the last of the ones in this area.' Katarina thought as she led her team.

Going around a couple more winding hallways, they finally had eyes on the doors to the hangar their escape vessel was waiting in.

Yet, to their collective surprise, there was someone standing in front of the doors.

Normally, Katarina would have ordered her subordinates to fire immediately, but the presence of the person in their way was enough to leave her stunned for a few moments.

'What the hell is she doing here?!'

Standing between Katarina's team and the hangar was Cerise Gunvald. One of the most famous Alliance Police officers of the current time. Or at least she had been, until her sudden, supposed retirement.

"I knew that you were quite suspicious from the start, but I never thought that this was what you were up to. You've really made quite a mess of things and derailed my plans. I was supposed to be investigating something else today. But I can't just ignore a kidnapping happening right in front of me." Cerise said, venting her frustrations.

Except, despite being faced with fourteen armed and dangerous individuals, she did not show a hint of concern.

Her time as an Alliance Police officer had seen her up against worst odds countless times, and she had managed to pull through every time without fail.

"Hero or not, you're in over your head this time. Kill her."

At Katarina's command, the two crew members at the front were the first to level their weapons at Cerise.

The moment before they pulled down on the triggers of their laser rifles though, their protective shields flashed and dissipated. Followed by their heads going flying from their shoulders.

Having seen this inexpiable sight, the others in Katarina's group stopped and stared wide-eyed at the fountains of blood gushing out of their now headless comrades.

'What the f*ck did she just do?!' Katarina thought, a shocked and fearful expression forming on her face.

She had never taken her eyes off of Cerise, but all she had seen was the woman's right-hand blurring for a moment. Whatever movement she had just made was too fast to properly perceive.

After that, two of her men's heads had detached themselves from their bodies. Obviously, Cerise had just done something, though no one was able to tell what had really happened.

"Did you happen to know that while I'm hailed as a hero her in the Alliance, as you've already pointed out. I happen to have received a rather cute nickname from those in the Zatis Consortium from leading boarding parties onto their disabled ships. They've affectionally started referring to me as, Decapitator Witch." Cerise said sarcastically.

Feeling a sense of foreboding after their enemy had finished speaking, Katarina jumped back with all of her might and ordered her subordinates to do the same.

Three of them did not react quickly enough, however.

With a blindingly quick motion of her hand, Cerise sliced the heads off three more of Katarina's crew members.

When they had put some distance between themselves and the monster standing in front of them, two of the slower people to get away groaned in pain.

While they had avoided having their heads removed from their bodies, there were nearly identical cut running across their chests.

The wounds were not too deep, but they were still bleeding profusely and would likely slow the two down further. There was a good chance that the next attack that Cerise launched would finish them off.

'She's fast. Way too fast. I don't even know what sort of augmentations could give someone that kind of speed. At least I've finally figured out what she's doing.'

Katarina had focused her full attention on Cerise's right hand and just barely managed to catch sight of the weapon she was using.

She was wearing some sort of glove that had what looked like a raised disk resting on the back of her hand.

Coming out of the device, Katarina had seen five thin strands of thread flash for a moment before being sucked back into the disk that was acting a spool.

The device would quickly discharge the threads, and Cerise would manipulate them with swift and precise movements. Turning them into an extremely deadly weapon.

'I have no idea what sort of material they're made out of to rip through shields so easily. It's probably some sort of military secret. Perhaps we'll get a bonus if we turn that weapon over along with Nianni.' Katarina thought, feeling a bit more confident now that she had figured out how Cerise was attacking.

There was clearly a limit to the effect range of her weapon. Hence why two of the five people she had targeted escaped with only being injured rather than losing their heads like the others.

So long as they kept their distance, Katarina was certain that they could win with their superior firepower.

Certainly, the initial shock factor of killing two people through a seemingly undiscernible method had shaken Katarina and her team.

But they had fought through a number of hellish battles themselves.

Losing comrades was a common enough occurrence, and those with her today had all been molded by their experience. This would not be enough to bring them down.

"She's using threads of some type as her weapons. However, she can't hit us as long as we keep this level of distance between us. Don't let her get close and finish her off with your laser rifles. She's still only one person; we're not going to be beaten by her."

Katarina's quick speech helped to restore the damaged confidence of her subordinates.

They trusted her, especially when it came to battle.

Following her had gotten them through a number of dangerous jobs in the past.

"You must have some pretty good augmentations to your kinetic vision. Not many are able to see my threads after only two times. Consider me impressed." Cerise said, clapping her hands mockingly.

Despite her weapon having been figured out by Katarina, she showed no signs of being worried. As if she was assured that she would come out on top even if her opponents knew what her weapon was and its capabilities.

While moving backwards to keep their distance, Katarina and her subordinates opened fire on Cerise.

Currently they were out of range of her threads, and they planned to keep it that way.

Except, something extraordinary occurred as the first volley of laser fire was shot.

Moving both of her hands in a blur, Cerise somehow deflected the lasers aimed at her.

This was a truly superhuman feat.

In just a single motion with both of her hands, she had changed the trajectory of all lasers headed directly for her.

'That's not possible.'

Katarina and her crew were understandably astonished by what had occurred.

Had Cerise dodged their attacks, it might have been understandable. They could have just chalked it up to her prodigious speed and years of combat experience.

Yet what she had done instead was beyond miraculous. Without having taken a single step, she had forced the lasers flying towards her to bend around her.

This was not something even a master at wielding hard light weaponry should have been capable of.

"Hm, I think I'm starting to get a bit rusty. I nearly missed one of those." Cerise said, evaluating her performance.

Though, if this was her being rusty, Katarina and her subordinates could hardly imagine what this monstrous woman would have been like at her peak.