Awesome / Jacques McKeown

Contains Unmarked Spoilers

Will Save The Galaxy For Food

• Star pilots as a whole used to have this as part of their job description. Almost all of them have stories of planets they rescued from the Malminds. This includes our protagonist, who has a number of planets that he saved and is (justifiably) proud of.
• Our Hero Protagonist may be a washed-up has been, but he comes into rare form whenever things look hopeless, reminding the reader that he’s a goddamn space hero who survived long enough to ''become'' a washed-up has been. This is showcased no better than in the climax, where he wipes out a whole swarm of blood-sucking Zoobs, deflects an entire fleet of vengeful star-pilots, and kills plying Carlos with nothing more than a crowbar, a bloody nose, a tiny I.D. chip, and some damn quick thinking (all while suffering mounting injuries and in blinding pain).
• Warden gets one near the end, even if our hero probably consider it a tad psychotic. Throughout the story, Henderson commands nothing but either absolute obedience and/or terror in everyone around him. When he shows an ounce of mercy after Daniel is revealed to be unabashedly joyful about the "kidnapping", both not-McKeownand Warden has the chance to walk away unharmed, something both of them wanted in the first place. So what did she do? Shoot one of his leg off as soon as he turned his back to them. Then calmly tell him he may be able to get it back if he flies away immediately. It's not the first time Henderson flies into a psychotic rage, but it's the first time he has no power over our heroes. She earned her resignation. There are good reasons why not-McKeown suspects she has what it takes to become a rival crime lord to Henderson.

Will Destroy the Galaxy For Cash

• The Caper is something that requires recruiting the protagonist, Gentleman Thief Derby, and Mad Scientist Malcolm Sturb to break into the Henderson Building that is constantly under guard by a bunch of gangsters. It ends up succeeding against any number of Diabolus ex Machina.
• The protagonist manages to stop Terrorgorn despite all of him and his team's incompetence. Given he is a No Nonsense Villain, it is arguably his most genuinely heroic act.

Will Leave The Galaxy For Good

• Inspector Honda managing to, over the course of the opening chapters, put down the Henderson organization for good (with the exception of Daniel), ousts the protagonist as a con-man and an impersonator and chases the protagonist out of Ritsuko city for good to keep whatever star pilot feud he has out of Honda's city. The last one deserves some extra points, as not only does the protagonist play into Honda's hand entirely by mounting his escape, Honda's plan ends up inadvertently foiling Daniel and Jimmy in the climax, ultimately saving the city.
• Not only does he see through Jimmy's deception and manipulation, the protagonist manages to save the crew of the Ponce de Leon and trapping the AI on the ship, leaving himself and Warden stranded in order to free the crew from captivity. Jimmy is only able to get out due to Daniel's unfortunate arrival.
• The protagonist, who previously tried to evade having to be the one to save the crew of the Leon, makes an impassioned speech that manages to convince much of the crew to head straight to Jimmy, because while it may not be their responsibility, they have the power to do good, and while he may consider himself a con-man, there's a star pilot in the protagonist to the end, and for all the excuses he makes, if he can save the day, he will choose to. The crew, despite being held captive for years and desperate to head to safety, sticks by him as their new captain and manages to concoct a plan that Jimmy admits probably would have worked if not for a traitor within their ranks.