To say that their lives had changed would be a major understatement. Their lives had been turned upside down โ repeatedly. They'd literally been shoved into a spaceship without an instruction manual. Well, they knew why they were there. They were all there for the same reason, to serve the High Council. If they changed their mind, a cell awaited them in Purgatory โ a colossal prison ship orbiting the planet. They all knew what was expected of them, and yet no one knew what the hell they were supposed to do.
But they got their answer soon enough. As the eight outcasts made their way into the lounge, barely looking at each other, the giant screen on the wall lit up, and a woman appeared. "Welcome to the Firefly. I'm Aisha," she announced. Her voice sounded almost robotic, despite her features being human-like. Perhaps she was a robot? She continued. "Your first mission is to find this keyโ" A picture of a key appeared on the screen. "And bring it to the High Council immediately. It was last seen with this man, Tarkan Demhir." A picture of a man appeared on the screen, but only a few seconds later the screen turned black. Was that it?
The outcasts looked at each other as if silently asking the others if they knew more than themselves. It didn't take long for them to realize that they were all in the dark. No one had seen this key before, but some of them were familiar with the name. Tarkan was a dangerous man, although none of his crimes turned towards him. He worked in the shadows, covering his tracks. It wouldn't be easy to find him, let alone steal from him.
Since none of them had a photographic memory, they were grateful to find out that the tables in the lounge were touch screens. There they could access their mission and study the key. They also found more pictures of Tarkan, although they didn't look recent. With so many different opinions and suggestions, it was hard to come up with a solid plan. "I'll get this thing in the air," Viktor said quietly as he backed away from the others. At least he didn't need to listen to them arguing, as he made himself comfortable in the cockpit. He seemed to be the only one who knew how to fly this thing.
They set course for Xaun, which was where Tarkan's club was located. They had no guarantee that he was there, but it was the only lead they had. It wasn't like Aisha or any of the High Council members had given them much to go on. They were on their own. But getting to know each other wasn't an easy task when there was a pressing matter at hand. Finding the key seemed simple enough, but the question was how? Everyone seemed to think their idea was the best, but eventually, the crew seemed to find some common ground.
When they arrived in Xaun, they parked the Firefly at the docks with other spaceships and vessels. The new crew agreed to go in pairs and get a lay of the land. If someone stumbled upon something interesting, they would use the communication devices in their ears to inform the others. Every piece was connected, which meant that everyone would be able to hear what was being said.
It didn't take that long before Chance announced on the comms that he and Insan had found Tarkan's club โ E l y s i u m. To not cause any suspicion by waiting outside, they paid the small entrance fee and found a table in the corner with enough room for all eight of them.
Ember and Zoya arrived shortly after, they were right around the corner. "Have you seen him yet?" Zoya asked as she took a seat by the table, making room for the others to sit down when they arrived. "Not yet, but he's around here somewhere," Chance said.
"He's probably up thereโ" Insan pointed a finger at a staircase on the other side of the room, leading up to a VIP section. The others tilted their heads to get a better look. "Definitely," Ember agreed. The four of them started to brainstorm ideas on how to get up there.
Fifteen minutes later, Cรฉlestine and Viktor found them. "Where's the twins?" Cรฉlestine asked as she took a seat next to Zoya. The others shrugged. "Probably lost," Chance muttered. But only seconds later, Rumi and Roman entered the club, looking for their crew's familiar faces. Ember waved at them.
"Sorry, we're late. Rumi thought she found a shortcut," Roman announced, looking over at his twin rather annoyingly. "It was a shortcut," Rumi said stubbornly. "Yeah, just not to this place." Both of them sat down on either side of the table, and the others filled them in.
They spent the rest of the evening roaming the club. Everyone used their skills to figure out how things worked. How many security guards were there? Where were they stationed? How to get past them? What was required to get into the VIP section? How to blend in? When was it most crowded? It wasn't exactly rocket science, but by the time they got back to the Firefly, they had a pretty good idea of how the club operated. Now they only had to figure out the best way to steal the key from Tarkan and make it out in one piece.
Coming up with ideas wasn't really an issue, and eventually, they settled on the idea with the least number of negative outcomes.
B R E A K D O W Nโ O F โT H Eโ M I S S I O N
โ Zoya and Ember flirted their way into the VIP section and managed to get close enough to Tarkan to gain his attention. While Zoya entertained him, Ember might have used her ability to make him more focused on Zoya and less focused on herself, as she stole the key from around his neck. Ember signaled to Zoya that whenever she could find an opening, she should get the hell out of there before she herself slipped away quietly. โ Viktor hacked into the surveillance cameras from the Firefly and listened in on the comms. โ Insan, Chance, and Cรฉlestine kept a lookout for anything suspicious. They also kept tabs on Security, just in case any of them should seem to leave, aka be summoned to the VIP section. โ Rumi and Roman were supposed to listen in on conversations and try to figure out what the key opened, but after an argument regarding keeping a low profile, Rumi left her twin's side and disappeared. Roman tried to look for her, but couldn't find her. โ Ember stumbled upon Cรฉlestine first and gave her the key just in case someone recognized Ember from upstairs and decided to check on her. Together they found the others, one by one. When they eventually found Roman, he informed them that Rumi had disappeared. They were about to separate again to look for her when shouting erupted from the VIP section above. โ Zoya came sprinting down the stairs from the second floor. It was obvious that Tarkan had figured out the key was gone and the first he had accused was Zoya. The other crew members followed suit and the six of them left the club in a hurry. Hopefully, no one would remember their faces or follow them back to the Firefly. โ They split up in two groups and made their way back to the Firefly where Viktor was waiting for them. While Roman was going on and on about going back to find his sister, the others were more eager to deliver the key to the High Council before someone had a chance to come after them. โ After agreeing to go back to search for Rumi as soon as they had delivered the key to the High Council, they headed for Solaris. โ Cรฉlestine and Chance went into the Hightower to deliver the key and were dismissed as soon as the High Council member held the key in their hand. They didn't even receive a 'thank you' or a 'good job'.
โ
STARTING POINT:
Cรฉlestine and Chance just got back from the Hightower. The team gathers to discuss what they're going to do next.
It's just a matter of time before they receive their next mission, and Rumi needs rescuing.
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