Tamara Aramat watched as the tall Vaulkarian in front of her blinked once, then blinked twice. The poor boy looked lost for words as he tried to process what she just said. Instinct and personal experience told her he was a hair width away from laughing in her face and blowing her off. She knew how Neo felt about The Sonar and she couldn't blame him. The Sonar had been crawling even under her own skin these days, and those were the days she wasn't molting.

The Sonar were a Universal group that kept the peace. Or at least they used to. Back in 3300 they were a noble group and did what they were made to do. They protected the solar system from the planets that refused to ally together and formed an Alliance. Simply put they were a military force that had the most exotic, to the most lethal, and the most deadly humanoids and aliens inside them. No one did anything without speaking to them first and it was this exact attitude that slowly began to corrupt them from the inside out. It wasn't until around 3337 when The Sonar began to slip. Starting from shady accidents to obvious cover-ups, it was so bad at this point they practically admitted to every misdeed that was thrown at them with a smile on their faces. All for the greater good, they would say. Let us enslave you for your best interests, I live to punish and serve later. A basic description for The Sonar that even a poor man would say.

"Your joking right? Why in Gods name would I ever work for The Sonar? You know they hate me right?" Neo walked behind the bar table and pulled out another bottle of Ale.

"No, I'm not joking and before you scoff and do your signature eye-roll... Just hear me out." She took a deep breath and pulled up her Hyper link. "These, are all the renovation records and several different blueprints of the royal house here in Crex. All you have to do is steal their military codes and drop them in the dumpster behind Uesha, that Physoldi strip club just down the road from here. Your payment will be sent to your link after you make the drop."

"So you want me to break in, steal high security militia codes, and then hand them over to the group I hate the most? I might as well go over to Trevain and accept my death sentence while I'm at it. What in Varsaria hell makes you think I'm going to help them?" He chugged half the bottle and then slammed it down. "What's with the codes anyway? Sonar finally getting scared that planets are going to start separating from them and free themselves of their mind control?" He let a cocky grin fill his caramel features while Tamara let out a low huff.

That was when he realized that something wasn't quite right.

For starters Tamara would never let him get away with bashing The Sonar so openly, only because she was bound to protect The Sonar's reputation by oath. She hated them just as much as he did, but once you're in you can't get out. Unless of course you wanted to die some sort of gruesome death the Head of Command personally chose himself. Secondly, she was pacing. Tamara never paced. She was always calm and well collected no matter what. The only time she paced was when she knew something he didn't and she had no way of telling him. That something had to be huge if it had her of all people pacing a new pattern into the floor.

"Tamara, can you translate a letter for me?" He spoke calmly and slowly, his eyes scanning the room, taking extra care to watch the aliens and Physoldi from behind the cloth blinds over the windows. If anyone was watching them then this code wouldn't work.

This got her to stop pacing. She had to hide the smile that wanted to come out when she knew what he meant. It was their code from when they used to ride together. She was grateful that he hadn't forgot it.

"Sure. Where is it?" She walked to the bar table and leaned over the counter and blinked twice.

Good, so they weren't being watched, only listened to. He quickly grabbed a piece of parchment and pen and scribbled down his 'letter'.

"All I need to know is into what language and I'll translate." She winked at him and slightly nodded her head.

"Vaulkarian." He said.

"Got it."

Tell me what you know.

Was all the letter said and she couldn't help but roll her eyes at his straight-to-business persona.

Neo leaned over her shoulder while she quickly scribbled down her response in the native tongue of Valeria, Vindamese. It had been a while since he last read his own language, he was glad he hadn't forgotten the basic form of it.

It's as you guessed. The Sonar need the codes because if the Physoldi's remove themselves from the system then Sonar will lose a LOT of military power. And that says a lot about the cute furry bastards. They know how to handle themselves in a fight. The codes will give Sonar a steel grip on them and will prevent them from ever thinking about leaving again.

She flipped the paper over, knowing that Neo was reading over her shoulder.

The Sonar are becoming weak in their power, sure they have their connections and have everyone and their mother under them at their disposal, but everyone and their mother are getting tired of being bossed around. These guys are getting way out of hand. Just last week they sent out what was supposed to be a simple patrol for the Pix System, and turned it into a grab and go, cargo featuring---small children and wives. All next in line for the Slave auctions I'm sure.

Neo felt sick. He knew the Sonar were getting slimy in their greed but he didn't realize it was getting this bad. Slave trafficking was something they were supposed to be preventing, not helping. If it got any worse he could only imagine what would happen to all the innocents in the solar system. Groups like these were dangerous, especially when you had an Andorran at the head of it.

They were dark skinned creatures with blood red eyes that hated everything and knew how to hold a grudge. They were highly revered for their abilities in battle and tactics of war, but they were too hot headed to think clearly when it all came down to it. You piss off one of them you practically pissed off an entire clan. Let alone an entire nation. It's hard to imagine how an Andorran ever made it as a Commanding Officer.

"Thank you Tamara. I owe you one." He grabbed the paper and threw it into the fireplace across the room.

"By one, you mean you'll do it?" She asked in a hopeful voice.

"I guess. I swear though, if I get attacked by another female in heat I'm returning to my home planet and never leaving again." He raised his Hyper Link and waited for her to send him the details.

"The job needs to be done before 23:00 tomorrow. Okay?" She hit send and put her link away.

"Yes mom." He sighed and put his link away once it flashed green.

"Good boy. Now, I have some shopping to do so be a good thief and pay for the alcohol you drank." She winked at him again and mouthed a thank you before disappearing into the busy road outside.

"I don't see you paying for this crap..." Neo started for the door but paused by the tip jar. Oh whatever. He tossed two chits into the jar with a loud clank and then walked out.

I can't believe I'm doing this.

Neo swiped through blueprint after blueprint. There were some good openings into the palace, but they all had shit exits. Unless he found a way to bypass all of the security, go all the way inside to the top floor, which had the best, (and he wasn't exaggerating when he said best.) security plans out of all seventeen planets in the system, he was screwed. A small mouse couldn't even slip inside without being detected! The truth of it all sucked, much more than he'd like to admit, and it only got worse.

What Tamara had failed to mention was that by doing this job, he had accepted a hidden verbal contract. If he did the job well, meaning he successfully got in and out like a ghost undetected, The Sonar would let him have a free pass for the rest of his days to sleep around and steal what he wished. Whatever the hell that meant. And should he fail, get caught but still get out with the codes, The Sonar would point all fingers at him and say they caught him and would play the innocent hero card and would then use that to peacefully work out a way to keep the Physoldi nation in line. Actually they might try that anyway, now that he thought about it. The Sonar already had a hard on for him and were dying to see him executed. All the more reason it sucked to have an Andorran play CO. He had snuck in and stole a couple of important documents for one of the rivaling planets that ended up using the said documents to free some sort of high ranked criminal for their cause. It had freed a valuable asset for the Zaphrians and gained him the fiery hatred of the ruthless Commander, Dun'mar.

What could he say? Credits were credits and if you didn't have any then you'd be dead by the end of week. Life was getting harder and harder each day. So hard that even thieves like him were having trouble making enough to get by and if no one on this side was offering work, you had to go to the other side that did. In the end all the job got him was some leverage with some of the rebels in the Zerchi zone, not that you would ever hear him complain. Zaphrians were some damn good fighters and they were the one race he'd never want to fight if he could help it. They were rumored to have powers over their enemies' minds and could take control of enemy ships with just a wave of their hand, making them turn on each other. Again, not a race he wanted to piss off if he could help it.

"This is hopeless," he groaned leaning his head back against the padded bench inside the small diner he was in. He was currently waiting for one of his info dealers to meet up with him, but he had a reputation for being tardy. . . Or at least to be absent long enough so you already paid the bill so he didn't have to spend a coin. Sleazy bastard.

"Here you are, Ser," the waitress said as she came up with the bill and his refill of coffee. A human creation he could never get enough of.

"Thank you," he looked for her name tag. "F'yre," he gave her one of his dashing smiles and chuckled when her eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh, you're quite welcome," She blushed and quickly retreated, her tail wrapping around her leg as she ran to the back. Female Physoldi's were the exact opposite of their males. You could easily mistake the two for a different race if it wasn't for their cat-like characteristics. They both had tails and ears, but the females had less. . . fur. His favorite thing about them was their big eyes and soft patches of skin. On the females. The males just looked horrifying. Like giant lions that could rip you to shreds just by a quick swipe of their claws.

"Sorry I'm late," a small weasel of a man said as he hopped up onto the bench. "It's hard to get around when you're two-foot-nothing."

Liar.

"Uh huh... you sure you weren't just across the street at the transport station until you saw my waitress come over with the bill?" He couldn't help but narrow his gaze at the small imp of a man. It was so typical of him. He'd been sitting here for half an hour already while the stingy bastard was sitting on the bench by the public transport. He'd kill the pipsqueak but his information was always valuable and more often then not saved his ass when he actually used it. And not to mention, his uncanny ability of making witty remarks in the worst of situations. Him paying for the Derk's water wasn't so bad, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to scold him for it.

"Well..," he adjusted the bench by pushing a button that slowly raised the seat. It finally clanked and locked into place allowing the small Durk able to rest on the table comfortably now. Neo watched as he sat his things down on the table beside him and greedily grabbed the untouched glass of water that had been in the middle of the table. He chugged the entire glass, his lips puckered as if he was about to speak. Neo simply held up his hand and silenced him. He already knew the answer.

"Save it. Just tell me what you got Gerald," he smirked at Gerald's reaction to his name. It wasn't his real name, his name was in his native tongue and therefore made it extremely hard to even pronounce unless you wanted to sound like you were hacking up last night's dinner after a night at the bar.

"My name is not Gerald. It's Gerkiphytlius Xerchiv the Third," he glared.

"And you know that I'm never going to be able to pronounce that so lets just get to business. Time is money," he leaned back into his bench again and took a sip of coffee.

"Fine. And just so you know, that waitress you were flirting with is mated with that Physoldi that tried to kill you this morning. His name is Ri'zaar. And he hates you," Gerald said as he started pulling out folder after folder from his man purse.

"Yikes. Good to know. That guy was pretty determined earlier," Neo shuddered. He could have easily killed the guy but he preferred not to, killing wasn't in his nature unless the matter was personal. Vaulkarians were more of a peaceful breed. Their planet was considered the most peaceful in the entire system. The only time they ever held a war or fought to the death was always over something they valued dearly. Otherwise they were willing to live and let live. All life was precious, and all females were their goddesses that commanded them to bow to their will.

"The files you sent me were decent enough but no blueprint is going to tell you how to get past the big guys they have stationed on top," Gerald opened one of the folders and slid another blueprint marked in red towards him. "Which is why I marked down their patrols. The paper attached is when and where they'll be at during those times. Honestly, if I were you I'd wait for the morning to go, instead of under the cover of night. It's here in the mornings they switch patrols so the night patrol can go in and get some rest.

"You'll have a very small window, and I'm no thief. I'm not sure if you'll even want to risk it but I'd take the chance if I were you," Gerald started searching through some more folders as Neo studied the blueprint. It was a doable plan, it was better then what he had before. Now all he needed was an entrance and an exit.

"What about an entrance? This Blueprint looks different than the one Sonar sent me."

"That's because Sonar set you up for failure. Dun'mar really hates you. This is an actual up to date print I got just this afternoon, something I'm sure Tamara wasn't allowed to tell you about," Gerald pulled out more security details and pushed them over.

"Do you just spend your days stalking all of your customers or is it just me?" Neo teased.

"Only you. Of course it's not like I have to. You've been all over the media enough as it is. I'm surprised there isn't a galactic bounty on your head yet," Gerald laughed. Neo sighed again, he felt depressed that this was something most people weren't going to let him live down.

"Wonderful..," He mumbled.

"I'd recommend the servants entrance, or even the balcony in the East wing. The servants entrance would get you past most of the security detail, but the only problem is the only door that leads to the actual building is locked and only the guards outside the door can unlock it. The East wing however offers a ventilation system that can get you all the way to the room you need to be in."

"What's the catch?"

"The catch is that the vent that opens into the room is laser protected and to top things off the ventilation system is scanned for heat signatures every 30 minutes. So unless you have a thermal suit and a vapor shield, you're not getting past it without triggering the alarm system."

Well great. This job was impossible, and he already agreed to do it. What in Varsaria hell was he thinking? He didn't even know what the exact total the pay was going to be.

I am an idiot.

"Isn't there any way to disable those?" Neo asked hopefully.

"And that my friend, makes me glad to be in business with you. I can hack into the system long enough for you to slip past, but after 60 seconds I'll get kicked out and the system will turn back on," Gerald gave his best I-love-my-computers-like-you-love-women look as he waited for Neo's approval.

"So... is 60 seconds long enough to snag the codes and get back out?" He highly doubted it.

"Not in the slightest. It'll take you about twenty seconds just to scale down the wall without making a peep so the guards just outside the door won't hear you. And don't forget, you have Physoldi's outside that door. So for you, it might even take a whole thirty seconds instead," Gerald pulled up his link and started searching through even more files. "There's a window just behind the desk, your best bet would be to raffle hook your way down once you get the codes and then hit the streets as fast as you can. To even get through the window though you're going to have to break it."

Okay it was official. The Sonar really wanted him dead, so dead they even had his partner in crime leave out just how difficult this was going to be. Fucking beautiful.

"Well... Then I guess that's that then. I can't think of any other way to get out of this alive." Neo groaned miserably.

"Well... You could always get some help from your group right? Or did you finally leave them?" Gerald asked stealing Neo's cup of coffee.

"I guess you could say I'm still with them, but I haven't actually been apart of them for so long I doubt they'd help me with this. Besides, this job is hard enough with just one thief. I don't need a shadow to slow me down." The Briella's. A high organization he was blackmailed into. They didn't require much, only that if he was called on, he would drop in and offer whatever aid he could, which wasn't ever much. Hell, he didn't mind being apart of them anyway. It was just him and not wanting to be around his home world that stopped him from being so active within the group itself in the first place.

"I suppose that's true. I hope my info helped, you have my link so when your in just give me a buzz and I'll know it's time for me to start hacking," Gerald said putting another empty glass down before lowering the seat.

"Thanks for this. I owe you one." Neo said to the retreating Durk.

"You get out alive and I'll consider us even," and with that the small Durk retreated.

Yeah... Easier said than done.

Neo scanned his card into the small apartment's locking system and walked inside once it flashed green. He didn't have much here on Crex. Probably because it wasn't exactly his favorite world in the Cor System, which was why he hardly ever stayed here long. Like the natives, Crex was more of a dry and barren dessert of a planet. The only bodies of water could be found above ground once a year, otherwise you'd have to mine it out by the bucket load from underground streams that could only be found miles under the ground. Which was what most Physoldi's who weren't in the army did. It was that or they hunted the fierce animals that stalked the cities and hid deep under the sand. Besides the good drink and occasional women, Crex didn't really have anything to offer besides a few job opportunities. That's what he had been doing in the bar that morning before Tamara showed up. And of course to listen for any news from home. . .

There were rumors of Valeria going into a great depression.

He tried his best not to care, but Valeria was, and always would be his home. He hadn't set foot there for three years now and that was during his life as a thief. But as a fellow Vaulkarian, it had been ten years since he left the life he once knew. There were his lower days when he would worry about the mother he left behind, or worry about his sisters and his father, but that life had been so. . . not him. He lived for that moment of excitement, that raw adrenaline rush you get when someone knows your trespassing but they haven't found you yet so you make a run for the nearest window. The raw lust he gets from seeing exotic and gorgeous women all over the system. It was so much more than his life as a noble.

No. . . It wasn't only that.

His life as a noble had scared him. Eight years ago, he would have been the new head of the family, his family, his clan, the largest of the entire planet, the strongest of the entire planet. . . it was just so much responsibility. He would have become responsible of over one-thousand people, over three-hundred families. Being the head had also meant he would have been given a mate he would have been forced to bind himself to, and that was the thought that scared him the most.

He wanted his mate to be someone he was meant to be with. Not someone his family wanted him to be with. He would always laugh at himself whenever he thought things like this. Lately however, he had been finding himself losing interest in women compared to him in his adolescent years, now finding his true love like some child's tale was all he thought about. They were all the same, the women who he had used, always dawdling over him, squealing and swooning just by a simple smile. He could get any female to succumb to his needs and get away with it for free. Well, sometimes. But after so long it started to get. . . boring. Maybe he was just tired of all the jealous males making his life difficult. After all, finding his true love had been the very reason he left home to begin with.

He envied those mated bastards though, much more than he'd ever admit publicly. The idea of being able to return to a home and find a smiling woman greet you with gentle touches and kisses intrigued him. He's known for a while now that life as a thief would never grant him this, but his old life would have never given him this either. Not the way he wanted.

Sighing, the large male plopped down onto the king-sized mattress, tossing a lazy arm over his eyes. There had to be something. . . better, for him. He could feel it whenever he thought about it, instinct and every other nerve told him he was right. But where could he find it? Letting out a slow exhale the black haired man slowly drifted off into a deep sleep, his last thought putting a small smile on his face.

You make this out alive Neo. . . Then we can start worrying about our future. It's time to change things up.