Next to go was the pilot representing De Vlak.

Their pilot turned out to be an older gentleman that had been one of the Alliance Police's ace pilots before his retirement a couple of years ago.

"There's not much on him." Avery mumbled as he searched the man's name.

There was a record of his enlistment within the Alliance Police, but not much else.

He did not seem to have ever been featured in any news stories or done anything particularly notable.

Avery also did not find any posts that the man had ever made on any public sites. He was basically as much of a ghost as one could be considering how much information was constantly being propagated.

When he searched his own name, Avery was able to find hundreds of articles about himself.

His involvement in some high-profile incidents had seen his name making the rounds around certain news stories, though nothing too big. Just local networks of places he had been to and made an impact.

"He's the first one I can't collect any real information on. I didn't think that any of the participating corporations would hire someone with almost no notoriety."

This competition not only served as a means to pick the winner of the major Alliance Police contract, but as an advertising campaign for the companies involved.

Most of them had brought in people with at least some name recognition to help promote themselves.

'If they hired him knowing that he has no fame, that must mean that he got the position on pure skill. And considering what I've seen of his performance, he is very good.' Avery thought.

Unlike Avery, De Vlak's representative had managed to take first place in one of the events.

During the target shooting competition, he came out on top by taking advantage of the others working to surpass the top contenders.

Plus, while he might have currently been in fourth place, he was only a couple points behind Avery in the scores. If he continued to consistently rank high, there was a good chance that he could eventually take first place by the end of the competition.

The interview went about as expected.

The host focused on questions about the pilot and the ship he was using.

Whenever De Vlak's representative talked about himself, he was always humble. He did not try to boast about any of his achievements like the others before him had.

The only things he had to say about his police work was that he had been doing his duty and that he was happy to have been able to help his community. Though, he never gave any specifics about missions he had been on.

As for the ship, he made sure to praise its capabilities and went into detail about what its systems were capable of.

From his own personal experience, he said that it was at least twice as good if not better than the vessel he used to fly back during his time during the Alliance Police.

"I get why they wanted him now. His knowledge and humbleness are receiving positive responses from those watching. He may not be getting the explosive support like someone as famous as Jack Huxley, but he's more relatable to the everyday people." Kasandra said, voicing her opinion on the matter.

Avery agreed with her assessment.

The Alliance Police had a pretty good reputation throughout the Dramid Alliance overall, since everyone knew how hard they were working to keep the population safe from the innumerable threats in the galaxy. A man that used to be a part of the force and acted modest about his achievements naturally came across well to most.

After a bit longer, the interview of De Vlak's pilot was nearing its end.

At this point, a member of the production staff came to get Avery and led him to an area just off stage where he would be making his entrance from.

There he waited for a few minutes before being directed to make his entrance.

For a moment he just stood there and steeled his nerves.

This would be his first time making an appearance like this.

He may have been in the media a bit due to his actions, but this would be hist first time being interviewed like this. And it was on the largest network in the Dramid Alliance. Obviously, he was feeling a bit of pressure.

Still, this was part of the job that he had signed up for and it would be a massive help for recruitment later. He had a big ship being built, and it was going to take a sizable crew to man all of the systems properly.

With the most confident and charming smile he could wear, he walked out onto stage and greeted the host.

They shook hands momentarily and introduced each other before Avery sat down in a chair next to the host's desk for the interview.

Thankfully, he had already watched the six that came before him and knew generally where the line of questioning he was going to receive would be going.

Considering this was for a competition, the focus would be on his skills as a pilot and the ship that Storren Corp. had made.

"So Avery, your one of the fastest to reach the rank of five stars within the Mercenary Association and among the youngest in history. I'm sure that I and all of our viewers watching want to know what sort of amazing achievements you've accomplished to attain such a meteoric rise."

Of course, Avery already figured that the host knew about his record as a mercenary but went on to explain some of his more notable achievements.

He started with his defeating a queen energy lifeform solo, then his involvement with stopping the terrorist attacks in the Phregon System. Though, he made sure to only keep to what was on the public record. A lot of his team's accomplishments had been handed over to Deputy Chief Bryrid to help smooth things over.

Soon the topic chaged to the Dauntless itself, and Avery was more than happy to praise the vessel.

Unlike the other pilots that were only using the ships for this competition, Avery had plenty of real experience fighting with his own craft.

It was excellent in nearly every regard. The only negative might have been its lack of comfort, but a bit of customization had already fixed that issue. A new autochef, some decorations, and replacing the bunks in the two crew rooms for single beds had done wonders to make it feel more like a home.

"You really do seem to be familiar with the ship Storren Corp. created for this competition. Now, I've heard some rumors that there's a bit of a complicated history with the vessel. Apparently, it came into your possession at some point and is no longer the property of its creators. Which is why you were chosen to represent them." The host said, trying to dig into the circumstances behind Avery's ownership of the Dauntless.

Fortunately, Avery had prepared himself for the possibility that this topic might come up.

He knew that there was a good chance that details of the SCXD-011's past might come up.

Unlike the other corporations, there was a bit of a scandal behind the Dauntless.

'I wonder how they got ahold of this information. Did they piece it together because I've been using the Dauntless in my mercenary activities, or did someone tip them off.'

If there was anyone within Storren Corp. that knew all the details and would be willing to release this information, the most likely culprit was Strozen. Always read from the source: M|V|LE4MPYR.

Avery had basically crushed his opposition thanks to his purchase of a new carrier ship and Kaiden buying a top-of-the-line corvette.

His team had proven themselves to be customers too valuable to want to upset them, and Dorris had made sure to spread this information throughout the corporation.

Strozen had lost most of his support for his wish to take the vessel back from Avery, and any of his plans had pretty much fizzled out.

Still, the host of the show not only knew about the theft of the Storren Corp. protype, but also the deaths of the key team members and the data on the ship having been erased from all of Storren Corp.'s servers.

This was not information that could be obtained merely by doing some investigative research. Some of these details were closely guarded secrets.

'If it wasn't Strozen, the only other party that could have leaked these details would be the perpetrators.' Avery thought, as he did his best to answer the questions coming his way diplomatically.

What he really wanted to do was start interrogating the host on where he had gotten this intel from, but he knew that was a fool's errand.

Becoming hostile on a live broadcast that would eventually reach the far ends of the Dramid Alliance would not help his image by any means.

"Yes, it was a tragic situation. And it's true that I was lucky to find the vessel and make it my own."

"So, is it the case that you only got your position as Storren Corp.'s representative because you found their lost ship and were not willing to give it back?" The host asked.

"Yes, that is the case. I'd already been using the SCXD-011 for a while by the time someone from Storren Corp. approached me and had become attached to the ship. Luckily, we worked out an acceptable deal for both parties. I may have been their only option, but I think that I've shown myself to be capable during this competition. I am ranked third after all."