Slums Junkyard, Kudan.

1310 Hours, 30th July, 3039.

Bzzt!

Sparks flew in Ventura's workshop. A silent Dee wore a pair of protective goggles as she worked on a couple of blasters for one of her most persistent customers. The young woman's furrowed brows and harsh gaze belied her deep concentration. Dee took great pride in her engineering work. She always gave it her all, no matter how great or small the given task.

"Hmm?" Dee looked up for the first time at a series of blinking lights on a board. "They're back?"

"Yo, Dee!" As if summoned, the devastatingly handsome Dayle waved as he walked into the room. The radi wore his trademark grin as he jerked a thumb towards the ceiling -or more aptly, the dining area above. "Did you clean up? It's spotless!"

Dayle was pleasantly surprised. Ventura's interiors were beyond nasty when he logged out. In just over a day, Dee had somehow cleaned the entire ship? He could almost see his reflection on the walls. That's how good a job she'd done.

"I didn't," Dee denied and then turned her attention back to the blaster. "Hired a few grifters off the slums to do the job. Figured if we're gonna work together, might as well make this place a bit more hospitable." The sparks hid her expression as she muttered, "It's nothing fancy, but it works, right?"

Dayle chuckled as he picked up and then examined a busted rifle. "Yeah, well, it ain't the Ritz, but it certainly works for us." The young man smiled and then added, "A little paint, and a bit of love, and she'll be a real beaut in no time."

The sparks momentarily stopped, revealing Dee's bright smile. "Thanks."

"Careful Dee, that's how he snags his victims," Raines warned the young woman as she walked in with Arthur.

"Good morning, Dee." Arthur greeted with a smile warm enough to thaw a snowman.

Dee returned his smile with one of her own. "Morning, Arthur. You rest well?"

"Mm-hm." Arthur nodded in affirmation and then walked over to her side. "What are you working on?"

Dee raised the blaster. "A friend of mine jammed her blaster while running from a creep the other day. Luckily, she managed to put one through his legs before it jammed. She needs it fixed before she goes out to work tonight. You can't leave home without a blaster in the slums. Especially at night."

"Oh. That sounds terrible." Arthur's brows furrowed in worry. "I hope your friend is okay?"

"Psh. June's made of the stern stuff." Dee snorted as she ran diagnostics on the blaster. "This barely counts as a regular Tuesday Night." The engineer heaved a sigh of relief when the diagnostic results turned up positive. "You'll come to feel the same after spending some more time here." She then smiled and knocked on the blaster. "Fixed. This oughta last her a few weeks, at least. Unfortunately, no amount of maintenance can save this low-quality trash. But, we've got to use what we got, right?"

"Mm." Arthur nodded. He then gestured at the blaster with worry. "Are you going to deliver that now? Do you want us to follow you?"

Dee smiled and then patted Arthur's arm. "That's sweet, but, except for illegal materials, I try not to do physical delivery these days."

"Oh?" Dayle looked up from the weapon he'd been eyeing. "You use drones?"

"Kinda." Dee nodded and then tapped an instruction into her gauntlet. Seconds later, a small robot sat up from a nearby bench. The clunky looking machine had a flat platform that sat on a pair of thick, sturdy synthetic legs. "I call them workers. Drones are strictly prohibited within the Dome without prior authorization. These babies can carry out my deliveries for me via land."

"Woah." Raines crouched next to the walker as Dee placed the blaster into a box. "You aren't afraid folks'll steal your deliveries?"

Dee securely strapped the box onto the walker's platform. "They'll have to catch them first. My walker can run pretty fast and can adhere to most surfaces, giving them increased maneuverability. I've only lost five deliveries in my six years using them." She then shrugged, and then added, "Besides, most folks don't dare mess with them."

"Cause of the Mambas?"

"Vega, to be exact." Dee snorted. She inputted the coordinates, then watched as the walker jogged out of the room. "Vega might be a piece of shit, but he's good to his workers. His protection is the only reason no other gang has tried to force me into working for them."

Dayle raised a brow. He thought back to his first meeting with Dee and Vega. "You two have a bizarre relationship."

Dee wore a wry smile. "Yeah, well, as I said, he's a piece of shit."

"Heh, no one's perfect." Dayle made his way to a standing fridge. He opened it, but then scowled when he saw the cans and bottles of dirt-cheap beer. "Alright. The first order of business: we need to get some real alcohol in this ship if we're to function as a team."

"Shut it, you raging alcoholic." Raines relaxed on the couch and then shot Dayle a scathing glare. "More importantly, what's our next move, oh, great team leader? Surely, you don't plan to spend all day drinking and sleeping with skanks?"

Dayle's eyes turned dreamy. "Raines, you just described heaven." The young man then sighed in disappointment. "Unfortunately, I'm still stuck with you." He chuckled and then looked at Arthur. "Alright, Art. Time to paint out our plans." Dayle looked at Dee. "Do you have something like a board lying around?"

"Should have something similar." Dee walked over to a pile of junk and carefully pulled out a transparent glass frame. "You can use this. It's electronic, so you don't have to worry about cleaning it." She fished out a light pen and then drew across the board. As expected, her drawing was reflected on the board. She demonstrated how to erase portions or the entire screen, and then handed it to Dayle.

Arthur dragged over a table, upon which Dayle propped the board with help from some junk lying around.

"Alright, gang." Dayle wrote 'Plans' on the board, and then looked to the assembled squad. "Quick recap on everything we've achieved so far. We earned 2 million credits from the Hasuni job. We've spent 590,000 credits, which leaves us with just over 1.4 million credits. We've got an assassination job from Vega for some shmuck in the crucible. Dee, what's the date on that job?"

"In two weeks. Friday, 10th of August." Dee looked at the information on her gauntlet. "It's in Nadiv, about half a day's ride from here on Sprites. But, at our current trajectory, Kudan should only be 2 hours away on that day. The monsters en route are about 8-10, so there's basically no danger during the commute."

"Alright. That's perfect." Dayle put 'assassination' on the board. "Failing any major interruptions, we should be assassinating the target on that day. Our primary objective is to earn as much money and power as possible in a short amount of time. Vega will most likely be key to that, so any plans we make cannot put this mission at risk." Dayle placed an asterisk on Vega's name. "Vega's our ticket to power in the underground world. The money we gain from his missions is not as important as power and influence."

"Hold on." Dee raised her hand. "You keep saying power. Do you mean fame?"

Dayle shook his head. "Fame paints a target on your back. I prefer to hold meaningful power in the shadows. Makes it a lot easier to get away with the more unsavory stuff. The underworld is a perfect place to gain this kind of power without overexposing ourselves." Dayle circled Vega's name. "Plus, we have a convenient shield that wants to be all sparkly and shiny. Why deny him that?"

"Huh." Dee gave Dayle, Raines, and Arthur weird looks. "You guys are very different from most Augurs."

Dayle chuckled. "I wouldn't say that. We just came in here with a different mission that doesn't lend itself too well to extreme exposure."

"What shall we do about the girl, Viper?" Arthur looked at the board. "You said you wanted her to build an intelligence agency?"

"Mm-hm. Information's a vital part of our job, you know?" Dayle wrote Viper's name on the board. "She'll be a great asset if trained well. Of course, I'll take it upon myself to raise her properly, so you don't have to worry."

"Yeah, no. I'm worried cause it's you," joked Raines. She pointed at Arthur and then said, "Arthur'll help you out. You know, to make sure she doesn't pick up your sleaziness."

Dayle rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever. Anyway, getting Viper up and running should be a secondary goal. We'll tackle it as opportunities come, but it shouldn't be at the top of our list." Dayle then wrote Hasuni and in brackets, 'V.O.K.' "More importantly, we need to figure out who these VOK Hellboy's are. They appear to have some of the intel we need. I'd say stealing intelligence from a couple of their bases should be at the top of our list." Dayle paused and then glanced at Dee. "Speaking of which, did you learn anything new from the encrypted data."

"Yeah." Dee nodded. She brought up a holographic map on which five markers were placed. "Was able to extract a few coordinates before the preservation virus deleted the files. I'm not sure what's there, but I'd wager something important."

Dayle looked at the coordinates with a heavy gaze. "What's the closest one?"

"This one." Dee zoomed in one of the markers. "It's about 24 hours by Sprite in Low Guruk. It's a hot Nexus zone, though, so I wouldn't recommend it."

"Hot?"

Dee brought up an article. The headline read, 'Grand Expedition lost in Low Guruk. Last Transmission reveals the presence of Nexus Facilities.' "This was a week ago. I heard they were sending some high-level Augurs to investigate and then attack the site, but since there's no news, I'm guessing they haven't carried out the mission yet."

"Nexus, huh?" Dayle scratched his chin in deep thought. "Could they be in cahoots with those VOK guys?"

"I don't know." Dee shook her head. "The Nexus aims to wipe out all intelligent life and start anew. I don't see how they would ally with the VOK."

"Enemy of my enemy." Raines sat up. She looked at the article headline with a heavy gaze. "Stranger things have happened."

Dayle shook his head. "Either way, we need to investigate this place for clues. But, I don't think we can force our way in this time."

"Of course not." Dee snorted and then rolled her eyes. "That'll be suicide."

"Well, I was thinking more along the lines of we might end up crossing the level fifteen threshold by accident, but yours works too, I guess."

Dee gave Dayle the stink-eye. "You're one hell of a blow-hard."

"Unfortunately, he really believes it," Raines corrected with a wry smile. "Don't worry. You'll get used to it with time."

"Is there a way to join the expedition being sent to investigate?"

Everyone turned to Arthur, who wore a sheepish smile as he scratched his cheek.

Mmmuah! Dayle grabbed Arthur and then planted a massive kiss on the young man's cheek. "This is why you're a genius, Art!" He then turned to Dee with hopeful eyes. "Does that article say anything about joining the investigation team?"

Dee quickly scanned through the rest. "Yeah. The only requirement is a level 10 restriction and a willingness to follow orders."

Dayle and Raines' expressions simultaneously turned dark. A level requirement of 10, a willingness to follow orders, and no body limit? These people were blatantly looking for meat shields to probe the Nexus' defense.

Dayle was especially annoyed because this was a tactic he would use. It felt nasty having someone use him so blatantly.

However, Dayle was also aware that this was an opportunity he could not pass up. Not with the kind of time-sensitive mission they were on. So, the team only had one option from the get-go. Dayle sighed and then said with a sigh. "We'll sign up if there's still time. No matter what, we must get back to Kudan before the next travel cycle begins." He glanced at Dee. "...which is in?"

"Five days," Dee confirmed. "The next travel cycle begins on 4th August. So, technically, you should have more than enough time."

"You won't be joining us?" Arthur asked.

"Nah, I'm not suited for fieldwork." Dee shook her head. "At least not yet, anyway, and certainly not on something this dangerous. I'll provide support as your engineer, though. Just let me know if you'd like any modifications to your arsenal. Might not have the certifications yet, but I damn sure got the skills."

Dayle laughed. "Well, I've got a couple of mods I'd like you to look into, but first..." He tapped on Dee's hologram. "Let's go sign up. We can discuss preparations afterward."

Dee shrugged and then put away the hologram. She then marked the location on Dayle's map. "The Atrium, huh. Be careful. Lots of bigshots in this area. No one will bat an eye if you get fragged." She then snorted and added, "The Law only protects the rich in this city."

Dayle chuckled as he committed the location to memory. "Pretty sure that's all cities in all worlds, love." He then motioned to Raines and Arthur. "Alright, get your lazy butts up, you freeloaders. Time to earn your keep."

Raines rolled her eyes but ultimately chose not to say anything. Instead, she looked at Dee and asked, "Can you recommend any clothing stores?" Technically, Augur's did not have naturally occurring body-odor, but Raines could not stand wearing the same clothes every day.

Dee chuckled and then marked a few spots for Raines in the city. "There are much cheaper stores in the slums if you're interested. They're mostly knock-offs, though."

"Why didn't you lead with that?" Raines jokingly scolded the engineer. "I ain't paying five grand for a T-shirt." The young woman laughed as she stood up. Raines then looked at Dayle. "Alright, bossman, I'm ready. Let's bounce."

Dayle snorted, but then headed to the exit with Arthur and Raines in tow after bidding Dee goodbye.

After a few moments passed, Dee looked at the empty doorway. Huh, for the first time, this place felt 'lonely.' It had only been one night, but she already missed the trio's constant bickering.

Dee hummed a soft tune as she picked up a rifle and set it on the workbench...