Space Odyssey: Spectre-Chapter 469: Heist

In the darkness of space a piece of the void distorted for a moment before a thin ship of vertical design appeared. After it appeared it spun for a moment before moving to the unnamed asteroid nearby.

Oddly enough a few smaller ships were appearing going towards and away from the asteroid. This ship was no different.

Inside the ship the pilot was dressed in a gray and black flight suit. Completing the look is a breathing apparatus that was covering his face. His hands were on a shimmering blue orb. Manipulating it in order to fly the ship.

As he flew a communication device he had rigged up started to beep loudly. He pressed a button and he accepted the communication.

"Unknown ship. This is Braggar's Market, identify yourselves."

"Here for rations and goods. Sending payment now. No more questions." The man answered, his voice manipulated to sound more robotic. He clicked a few more buttons before focusing on flying the ship.

There was a minute of silence before the other person spoke. "I see. I have a discreet hanger you can use. I am sending directions and a clearance code." The call then ended.

Once it was over the man sent another message out before following the directions. Moving through traffic until he arrived at an area that was out of the way and not as busy. He passed by one hangar that was open and had a Cutter-class vessel inside. It had clearly not seen a proper dockyard after several battles but was also a newer design. It must have been stolen from the Vexical Militia.

He grunted and landed in a hangar next to the cutter-class ship. As soon as he landed he pulled his hands off the blue orb and it started landing while the orb went dark. He stood up and walked toward the back of the ship just as it opened.

He walked down the stairs and into the hangar just as a few engineers and other maintenance techs walked in.

"What do you need done for your ship? Refuel, replace a few plates, or how about ammunition?" The round man asked. He had mostly children holding the gear and equipment that they would use. The image sickened the man.

"None of the above. I have no need of your services. Leave my hangar." The man told them, his voice still morphed by the electronic modification.

The round man seemed taken aback. "No surely-"

But the man just stepped up to him and stared down at him. Being taller, he looked ominous and terrifying with his appearance. "Leave."

The round man frowned but hurriedly ran back. His entourage hurriedly ran back out of the hangar. The man followed them out before closing the hangar door and using a function provided by the station to seal the door.

He then pulled out a small communication device and saw a coded message. He nodded and then followed the directions. Eventually arriving at a more seedy part of the station. He walked up to a door and tapped twice, stopped then tapped again. The viewing hatch opened and the guard on duty looked him over then grunted and it closed.

A moment later the door opened and he stepped inside. Finding people that quietly whispered as they were already gathered around tables. He looked around for his contact stopping when he spotted him before walking across the room. Past several tables before sitting in a booth with three other people.

The man directly across from him was in a mechanics coveralls. He was unshaven with deep eyes that had bags under them. He looked around at them before grunting. "Is this all of you?"

"Yes." The man with the mechanical voice answered. "You have the goods?"

"You have the creds?" The mechanic asked. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

The man held up a paper bag and handed it over. The mechanic's eyes lit up and he reached for it with greed. But the man pulled it back slightly. "Half now. Half afterwards."

The mechanic hastily nodded. "Yeah yeah. I have everything we need." He snatched the bag and looked at the creds inside with greed. He looked over at the man. "This is my ticket out of this warzone. Now follow me." He stood up and the man followed him. The other two at the table. A dark skinned man with a facial scar. The last is a man with cybernetics that replaced most of his face and upper body, but he clearly still had pieces of organic tissue.

As soon as they were out of the door they walked deeper down the alley until they arrived at a set of stairs where he led the way into a mostly empty room but there were a few sets of clothes set up. They began switching their clothes but the man kept his mask and the few weapons he had on him.

Once they were done they followed the mechanic in their mechanic uniforms. Moving through the station until they arrived at a set of doors with a pair of guards who were loosely wearing combat gear.

"Knox? You are bringing in some new mechanics?" One of the guards asked as he held out a hand.

"Yup. I got our work order here. Apparently the crew quarters air conditioning is down." The mechanic, Knox, informed the guard as he handed over a datapad along with a coin shaped device.

"Yes you do. I have confirmed it. Go on in. I suggest you work quickly. We leave in a few hours. The captain wants us on the move. The only reason we stopped here was for replacement parts." The guard informed them.

"Yeah, and so the captain could tap the station boss's wife and mistress. Have you heard about that?" The other guard asked with a chuckle.

"I actually did. I think the only one that hasn't heard is the station boss." Knox answered with a chuckle. "Now I am going to go get that AC unit fixed for you. What broke it again?"

"Ah, some dumbass figured out a rewiring for scanning systems but neglected the power draw from other parts of the ship." The guard answered as they walked past and into the hangar.

They walked right under the cutter-class ship. Going toward a set of ramps that led up to an open airlock. Knox kept waving and talking to people until they walked up the ramp. "Knox, good luck. I heard you got the crew quarter AC units."

"Thanks I will need it. Fortunately I got plenty of help." Knox informed him as they walked past. The other mechanic frowned as they passed each other. After another minute they arrived at the top of the ramp and walked right up to the door.

They walked inside and then the mechanic pulled out a datapad and looked at it. "This way." They followed him. Moving through the maze of halls until they walked up to a pair of double doors that were being guarded by a pair of doors.

The masked man followed Knox up while making a hand sign to the cybernetic person behind him. The scarred man took up a position opposite of him on the other side of Knox as they walked up to the pair of guards.

"Knox! What are you doing here? I do not think there are any areas that need repair here." The guard spoke up and the other guard was more suspicious and looked between the other pair of mechanics.

"Ah… shit, I think we took a wrong turn. Could you point us to the crew quarters?" Knox asked.

The first guard who was far happier thought about it for only a second before responding and pointing. "Ah yeah, you want to go-"

"We are good." The cybernetic man spoke for the first time with a crisp robotic voice courtesy of an artificial voicebox.

The moment he said that the masked man and scarred man shot forward. The masked man moved past the first guard and grabbed the second guard. Quickly snapping his neck. While the scarred man pulled out a knife and stabbed the first one through the neck and up into the skull.

"Guards inside?" The masked man asked.

"No, just the goods." The cybernetic man answered as the doors opened.

The masked man dragged the body into the room and dumped it on the ground as he looked at the pedestals in the room with the two items. The other body was dumped and they walked forward, each grabbing one of the items.

"Time to go." The masked man declared as he hid the book in his coveralls.

They walked out and followed the mechanic back through the halls. As they walked he shakily brought a flask up to his mouth and down a chug of the contents. "Sorry, almost there." He told them.

They arrived at the airlock and stepped out. The mechanic took a deep breath of air. Clearly shaken. "Almost there." The mechanic mumbled. But then they heard shouting. The masked man looked around until he saw people pointing and followed the direction they were pointing at.

He could see a sleek black ship. "What the-" The masked man was interrupted as bolts of lasers and missiles flew through the hangar. Slamming into the side of the ship and the hangar walls. The air started to get pulled out of the hangar and they immediately pushed back into the ship.

As soon as they were inside the airlock door closed. "What the hell was that?" The scarred man asked in a panic.

The masked man grunted as he reached up and tore off the mask. Touching the cut on the side of his face.

"Marcus what do we do now?" The cybernetic man asked as he looked out the window of the airlock. Unfortunately for the mechanic he was a step behind. "The mechanic had the map."

"Now we split up and look for a way to survive. Let's move to this ship's hangar or wherever they are storing a ship or escape pod." Marcus Trentwood informed them as he pulled out the royal record. "Once we are out of here we can use these to get our revenge."

He had come all this way. Even against his fathers wishes. He was not going to stop just because he had gotten soft in his old age.