I was apparently in the healing tank for about two hours. In that time my clothes were mended and reinforced. My armor was also repaired.

After I put it on Miyo appeared again and said "Congratulations on reaching a combat rank of four point zero! It's quite rare to earn such a high rank on your first try!"

"Oh yeah..... I assume that I would have earned a decimal ranking if I had beaten that last opponent?" I asked.

"Yes, and you would've skipped right to level twenty three since he was halfway to legendary status. Although there are other tests you must take to learn your other ranks."

"Other ranks?" I asked.

"Yes, your combat rank only determines how strong you are as a fighter. Two more tests await you. An intelligence test and leadership test. Although I am only level three point one in combat, I am level four point seven in intelligence and three point nine in leadership. All three are important but they determine how you fit into society. You for example so far scored very high in the combat ranking so any situation involving force and violence you hold quite the authority. Unfortunately we still have high demand for such things even with how we have improved over the countless years our society has existed. There is still war, disputes, and advanced races with barbaric ways. However just because you are physically strong does not mean you are intelligent. Sure there are the basic scans that we get, but it is wise to know to what level and where to improve. The four point seven I have is my average score in all the types of intelligence and it's normally what people ask of you.

Finally and most importantly when discerning status in the empire is your leadership rank. It measures many things. Your understanding of political matters, your ability to lead, and most importantly....."

She froze and touched her ear communicator.

"Yes, I'll bring him right away!"

She grabbed my hand and started quickly leading me to the other side of the ship.

I noticed either she was sick, or her internal body temperature was much higher than a human's.

I'll spare you the details of the intelligence test. Before it was even calculated I knew I probably wasn't even a three on the general score. I will tell you I scored decently on perception, reaction, and imagination.

I did pretty good on the dimensional/spatial awareness.

Everything else on the other hand? I did horribly. Don't get me wrong, by earth standards I was above average in intelligence, but this was beyond leagues above earth standards.

Honestly with the fact that the fucking floor's material baffled me spoke volumes.

So my total score was a 2.0 in intelligence. Pretty dumb by most standards, but still smart enough to not have my hand held all the time.

Finally my leadership test. It was a simulation that put me in increasingly more difficult situations, making hard decisions, and managing underlings strategically.

I did pretty decently and got a 3.1.

So my ratio was 3.1, 2, 4. According to Miyo that was very good as most started off with low numbers all around.

The best fit for my skills was a mercenary.

"If you choose to be a mercenary you will be authorised to accept contracts from anyone you are willing to deal with. You may also hunt down bounties. The job is incredibly flexible and pays as much as you are willing to work. To start you off we can give you a dwarf class ship, plenty of ammo and clips for your weapons, and a starting budget of fifteen thousand credits. Once you are registered and trained to fly your ship you will be on your own for the most part. The on board A.I. will guide you and help with any information you may need that is in our database.

Is this acceptable?" She asked me.

"I'd like two swords to go with my guns. One a plasma sword and one a hand and a half sword. Otherwise that sounds perfect." I told her.

She nodded and said "They will be synthesized shortly. What colors would you like?"

"The hand and a half black, the hilt of the plasma sword white, and the blade be the same color as the stripes on my armor."

She nodded before saying "Follow me."

We walked down several corridors. I was given my swords, proper holsters for them, and my supplies before coming across what I assume was a docking bay. There was nothing but a transparent field of some kind separating us from space. At the same time ships were coming and going freely.

Miyo walked over to one of the smaller ships.

It was incredibly sleek in design. It had twin cannons on the front, a cockpit that was ten by four by five feet, several compartments going along the sides of the craft, and had a strong looking rear jet.
It reminded me a lot of a jet, but with no landing gear, was floating, had four symmetrical wings in a cross pattern, and had a similar color scheme to my armor but reversed.

"How do you like it?" Miyo asked.

"It's perfect! Do I get to name it?"

She nodded and said "Come over here and put your hand on this terminal."

I looked over and saw a small terminal sticking out of the ground next to the ship.

I walked over and placed my hand on it. It scanned me and I felt a little prick.

"Hand shape and bio signature accepted. Please state the name of this vessel.

"The Sky Viper." I told the computer.

"Accepted. Welcome Will. Awaiting command."

I told it "Open port side storage."

The hatch on the ship popped open. I deposited my weapons there, but kept my armour. I did the same for my supplies on the starboard side.

"Close storage please."

The compartments closed right up.

Miyo spoke up "Now you are registered, we need to go over the controls of this vessel. Don't worry, they are simple to learn, but difficult to master."

After a quick tutorial on how to run the small solar powered ship I told it "From now on I will refer to you as Scales understood?"

The A.I. beeped before saying "New designation confirmed."

"Scales open the hatch."

"Yes Will."

The hatch opened right up and I floated myself inside.

"Close hatch and make all preparations for liftoff Scales."

"Yes Will. Do you have a destination in mind?"

"Not yet, bring up a list of offers I have for my services." I told my computer.

"Here are three offers within your skill level."

The glass of the window to my right lit up. I turned my seat to face it and looked through the offers.

One read "Targarian Noble needs protection from assassins while en route to peace treaty signing with the Heratians. All above a combat skill of three point five are allowed to apply. Reward: ten thousand credits per tick (every two hours.)"

The second was.... "On planet X2354 an infestation of deadly creatures known as Kimira have overrun several settlements. Several level four and above combatants requested. Five thousand credits for every Kimira killed."

The last one read "Needed hired gun to escort resources to the Terrim Nebula. Combatants level three point five and above wanted. Eighteen thousand credits for a job well done."

I selected the first one and Scales said "Mission selected. Downloading coordinates......"

"Coordinates loaded. Setting coarse for planet D7650 also know as Drakus five."

I nodded and shifted to the piloting position.

"Estimated time until arrival is two ticks."

"In that case plot out a stop at a restaurant in the middle of the trip. I'll be hungry by then."

"Yes Will."

I activated the switches before waving goodbye to Miyo. We took off at crazy speed.

The stars starting off as streaks before the entirety of space slowly changed colors as I reached light speed.

While I waited I decided to use Scales to learn some more about the universe. Just some basic and important information on what means what.

I put in some extra information and commands into Scales's data banks.

By the time we landed Scales automatically scanned the environment, told me it was safe for me to breath, and opened the hatch.

I floated myself out, but made sure to grab at least my pistol before going in to the Restaurant.

I walked in and was greeted by a bipedal squid creature that I guessed was female by her voice.

"Welcome to Kek's family diner! What class of lifeform are you?" She asked.

"Class H-45." I told her.

She pulled up a menu and took me to a stool at the front. I was next to a similar blob to the one that operated the healing tank.

Restaurants had to ask what class of lifeform you were so they could give you something that wouldn't hurt you. H-45 referring to carbon based lifeforms like myself.

I looked at the menu and saw nothing I recognized so I asked my waitress "Sorry I was very recently added to the Galactic Union. Could you describe some of these to me?"

She gasped and said "Of coarse sir!

That right there is a slab of Gerrrunk steak with mashed Cakunja.

That is a grain called Pryti and it comes topped with gravy and ground Gerrunk......"

She continued to explain and I got that Gerrunk was a lot like beef, Cakunja were like potatoes, Pryti was like rice, and this thing called Nujo was like poultry.

"I'll take the Pryti with Gerrunk and gravy."

She nodded and asked "What to drink and what would you like for dessert?"

"For the drink a carbonated beverage and for dessert something chocolate would be great."

"I'm sorry sir we don't have this chocolate you speak of. Could you describe it so I could get something similar?"

"It was a bean that was ground up into powder, combined with sugar, milk, and other ingredients to make a creamy substance. Depending on the concentration of the powder it tasted either bitter or sweet. The less the sweeter."

She smiled and said "That sounds just like weja! And it's safe for your kind so I'll get you a Weja dessert that is quite popular here."

I nodded and she left. I looked over the menu and saw what I had chosen would equal eighty credits.

So either this place is ripping me off or the galactic credit is worth about one third less than a dollar.....

The guy next to me asked "Hey man, what's a thing like you doing in these parts?"

I said "I'm taking up a contract on Drakus five. I'm gonna protect some nobility."

He chuckled and said "Small universe my friend. I'm going too. What combat rank are you?"

"Four for now. You?" I asked back.

He gasped "You're a master?! It's an honor to meet you. I'm only a 3.6. My name is #&$!#& Nice to meet you."

I tapped my translator and said "translate that as Wade from now on."

The translator beeped so I asked "So Wade did I do that right?"

He said "Yep. So what's your name?"

"Will."

He told his translator to change my name to something I couldn't understand and chuckled.

"I guess that goes to show how different our Species is. Your name originally sounded like absolute gibberish to me."

"Same."

We both sat in silence for a moment when our food came over.

What I ordered definitely looked and smelled like meat and gravy over rice. And my drink looked like orange soda.

I started eating and found it was pretty bland. I didn't complain though. I took a sip of my drink and was surprised it tasted more like Dr. Pepper than orange. Although it did have more of a creaminess to it.

When dessert came around it looked like a bubbling bowl of vomit. Although when I tried a bit..... it actually tasted just like chocolate ice cream.

I tapped my translator and said " Weja is chocolate."

Wade spoke up and said "Oh, so chocolate tastes like chocolate huh?"

Oh wow that is weird.

I nodded and said "They taste the same. Although they look very different."

"How so?" He asked.

"Chocolate is brown and comes in square chunks. Weja looks like.... well you already know."

He nodded and said "Well..... To protecting royalty!" He said raising his glass

I raised my own before downing the rest of my drink and leaving the credits I needed plus tip.

I was about to leave when I heard "Sir wait you overpaid!"

I chuckled and said "Oh sorry. It's customary back home to give the waiter/waitress an extra twenty percent of the bill. Is that not what I do around here?"

She shook her head no and gave me back my fifteen credits.

"I'm sorry, I can't accept this. Have a nice day!"

I nodded and left to my ship.

Wade came over and said "See you at the job!"

I gave him a thumbs up before climbing into my ship.

"Close hatch and prepare to continue our journey Scales. Oh, and do you have earth music in your database?"

After the hatch closed and the ship roared to life Scales said "Yes. What songs would you like to hear?"

"Switch back and fourth between classic Rock and metal. Start off with 'Welcome to the Jungle.'" I told her.

"Understood."

And so I was off spending the two hours in light speed jamming out and only getting a tiny bit more research done.

We approached the planet and I received a transmission.

"Unidentified vessel state your business or you will be shot down."

"This is the Sky Viper. I am Will and I'm a mercenary interested in protecting the king."

"What are your abilities?"

"I can teleport, I have telekinesis, I'm a crack shot, and I have experience with a blade. I am equipped to deal with targets that have both plasma shields and physically armored foes. My combat rank is 4."

He gasped and said "Understood. You are cleared to land in bay 792. Have a good day."

The com line ended.

I told scales "Initiate landing procedures at bay 792."

"Understood."

After we landed I got out, got my weapons, and greeted the guy who came to me.

He was a huge bipedal lizard with a club-like tail. His scales were a purple color and he seemed to be snarling at me.

"You are Will?! You barely come up to my hip! How could you be a combat rank four while I'm only a three point one?!"

I lifted him up with my powers and said "Size isn't everything." Before setting him down.

He shivered and said "I apologize. I didn't know that Telekinesis was this.... powerful."

I blinked and said "I guess it truly is a rare ability if you didn't even know what it was."

He nodded and said "Please come right this way."

I followed him to the next few rooms and was put in a room with five other people. All of us were armored and armed to the teeth. I saw an empty chair my size and took it.

I could feel the distrust in the air so I made sure to keep tabs on everything and noticed our 'host' was trying to discreetly press a button. I jammed the button and he started freaking out a bit when I pulled the small device from behind him.

I asked "Hmm what might this be? And why would you want to hide it from us?"

The rest of the people in the room gasped.

One moved faster than I could see and had a blade to the guy's throat.

He had long double jointed limbs, but his armor hid what exactly he was.

He said "Where are the explosives hidden?"

The lizard nearly shit himself before saying "There's twenty of them! All around this room and on your vehicles!"

One of the other guys, a guy who looked like some kind of eight limbed snake sniffed around and found where they were.

Wade slithered into the nooks and crannies and disarmed them.

Then we all turned to the asshole that did this.

The double jointed guy asked "Who are you? Why did you try to off us?"

"It was the king's orders! We had to test you to see if you were strong enough! He doesn't trust the ranking system because all of us are lowly three's and below despite being the way we are! Please don't kill me!!!"

He tossed him to the ground and spat "You and that damn king of yours better learn."

He nodded and ran away.

I spoke up and said "Why do I feel there was a reason this job payed so amazingly?"

The rest of the mercenaries gave grunts of confirmation.

While we waited the snake guy asked me "By the way, how could you tell he was gonna do that?"

I told him "Because everyone was on edge I decided to feel around with my power. I noticed he was holding something suspicious, so I jammed it and you know the rest."

He whistled and said "Been a while since I've seen a telekinetic. What's your name?"

"Will." I told him.

He changed my name to some hissing noise.

We all decided to exchange names.

Skinny arms I changed his name to Kenny.

Snake guy I changed to Drake.

The next one was a female. She was twice my size, was a furred mammal that resembled a bat without wings, and she wielded two.... cannons for lack of a better word. I changed her name to Bertha.

Finally there was what I could only describe as a see through person that I could only see because of their armor.

I called him Trace.

Turns out they were part of a group of Mercs.

Kenny was the leader and he asked me "So what are your ranks?"

"3.1 leadership, 2 intelligence, 4 combat."

He whistled and said "You wanna join our little squad?"

I shrugged and said "Eh, why not. You seem alright."

Everyone gave a cheer before Kenny said "Welcome to the Raiders, Will."