Martian wasn't really sure what all this was about. He had been to Prime twice before on missions, once because of Tyler's troublesome Demigod friend. Now he was going to Prime a fourth time because Sky told him to. He really didn't know what was going on, except that he was meant to be a means of travel and a getaway flyer and nothing more. He didn't mind that. He knew if Sky told him to do it, it would be fine. Probably.
     When he picked up the soldiers at the Prime Sky Army Base, he didn't expect a bunch of teenagers. One had a prosthetic arm and only three out of the five of them actually had weapons on them. They didn't seem like the type to break into a squid base and kidnap someone, but here they were.
    As they flew through the night on surveillance mode, Martian glanced back at them. "So, how old are you kids?" He asked, using the language they were all accustomed to.
    "Oh, I'm Clancy Barlow." The boy with the metal arm said as he clutched the handle on the ceiling. "I'm eighteen."
    "Vern, nineteen." Said the boy said the Roman accent.
    "I'm Andy, nineteen." The girl with the funny hair said. She gestured to the tall boy and the dark-skinned girl sitting beside her. "This is Exodus, he's eighteen in June, and Deanna, she's eighteen."
    Martian smiled a little out the windshield. "Yes, Deanna and I have met."
    Andy blinked in surprise, looking at Deanna, who was playing with magic in her hands and pretending she couldn't hear them.
    "Hm." Andy hummed thoughtfully, but didn't pursue the matter.
    Clancy was standing close to Martian, bent over slightly due to the tight space. He gestured to the rosary in Martian's pocket. "You're Christian." He observed.
    Martian nodded. "Indeed. Do you believe in God, Clancy?"
    "I do." Clancy said.
    "I don't."
    Clancy looked at Vern in surprise. "You don't?"
    Vern shook his head. "Pardon me for acknowledging accepted scientific truths."
    Clancy just smiled a little. "Alright." He said simply.
    The helicopter cabin was awkwardly quiet awhile before Exodus spoke. "I'm Daoist."
    "I'm Jewish." Andy replied quickly, glad to have something to talk about.
    "Cool, cool." Exodus said, unsure of what else to say. The awkward silence returned.
    "...So why exactly are you kids breaking into this base?"
    "To catch a fugitive." Vern said. "Her name is Star."
    Martian nodded. "What'd she do to get in jail in the first place?"
    "Murder."
    "Why did she murder?"
    "...We don't know." Vern said.
    Deanna looked up. "Well, isn't it because of the Magist War?" She said. The others looked at her. "I mean, she wouldn't have been old enough to be captured in it, but... Wouldn't her parents?"
    Exodus shuddered. "Oh..."
    Martian sighed. "I see, revenge." He glanced at the map he sprawled out over the dashboard and looked out the windshield again. "Get ready, we're only a few kilometers out."
    Clancy nodded and sat down, shuddering as he felt turbulence in the helicopter.
    Martian smirked. "Afraid of heights, Mister Barlow?"
    Clancy cleared his throat. "Fell out of a plane one too many times."
    "I see..." Martian nodded. "Maybe you should've hung on tighter, then."
    "Would that I could."
    Martian only laughed. It was only a few moments longer before Teuthidan Base Alpha came into view on the dark horizon, just on the edge of the ocean. They hovered over the flight deck on the roof before Martian very slowly flew down and landed as quietly as his helicopter could go. Everyone was completely silent as Martian turned off all the engines and ducked out of view of the windshield.
    No sooner had he done so than a squid guard walked past, looking around for the maker of all the ruckus. When he saw nothing but dark planes and some hunk of metal that he assumed probably had something to do with Star's experiment, he continued on his rounds without worry in his head.
    The six in the helicopter waited a few minutes before they started moving. "When the coast is clear, fly up and land in the woods in front of the base, maybe a mile out." Clancy whispered to Martian as his team got ready to move. "Got it?"
    Martian nodded. "Clear."
    "What are the teams?" Exodus asked Clancy.
    "Same as before. "You stay with the girls, Vern and I will stay by ourselves."
    "Are you really sure that's a good idea?"
    The others all looked at Deanna. She seemed uncomfortable as everyone looked at her in surprise for her sudden, uncharacteristic challenge. "I mean... Well, you and Vern can't fight at all and you're putting all us fighters in the same group. You'll be completely unprotected."
    "Exactly." Vern said. "So Clancy and I just run, hide, look around, and we don't fight. We don't draw attention to ourselves. In fact, last I checked, we were planning on getting disguises, right?"
    Clancy nodded. "And you have the chloroform?" Vern nodded back to him, clutching the satchel they'd brought. Clancy looked over to Exodus, Andy, and Deanna, who had an identical satchel. "We'll be fine."
    Andy smile a little. "Yeah, I know you will." She said. She tapped the mic in her ear. "Keep in touch."
    "Of course." Clancy said. He waved before he creaked open the helicopter door slowly and hopped out. He looked around him before he signaled for Vern to follow and the two snuck through the forest of silent metal planes towards the stairwell leading down into the base.
    Deanna and Exodus followed a minute later, and as Andy was fallowing, she heard Martian snort quietly. "You kids are absolutely out of your minds."
    She smirked slightly. "You are certainly not wrong. Then she followed the others and they started on their mission as the jet black helicopter soared back into the air.

It wasn't hard to find some bored guards in the Teuthidan base. They were practically everywhere. Clancy and Vern took a back door to the lab, where a single scientist was fast asleep, and attacked the guards stationed outside the lab, using some of their chloroform took knock them out quickly and quietly.
    In an awkward chain of events, they stole the guard's clothes and hats and Clancy sighed as he tucked his now black hair behind his ear, having had been dyed temporarily for the mission by Deanna before they left. He didn't like it.
    "Don't sweat it." Vern said, sporting the best common Midland accent he could, ruffling Clancy's hair. "It's not forever."
    "Yeah..." Clancy mumbled, also attempting to use a Midland accent and not being nearly as good at it as his friend. "It's a pride thing, man it's like - it's like America and the freedom, y'all, it's pride."
    Vern stared at him. "...Stick with your normal accent, you'll sound less conspicuous."
    Clancy sighed. "Bugger..."
    The two left the closet side by side, each holding a squid sword, and walked down the hall easily as though they were Teuthidan soldiers, although they walked nearly shoulder to shoulder. As they walked they came across a crowd in a junction. Clancy, not knowing what else to do, blended with the crowd and walked along with them. They were all talking about Star and how she was doing some experiment. Clancy start to listen to them. Then, as they walked, Clancy looked ahead and realized where they were going: the torture chambers.
   His face paled and he slowed, falling out of their group. They disappeared behind the doors and Clancy was left standing alone. It was then that he realized that Vern was no longer beside him. His eyes widened and he looked around, but his friend was nowhere to be seen. He started walking, looking around in a panic, but it was no use. He was alone.
    He turned on his earpiece. "Andy, you there?"
    Andy's voice cut in a moment later. "Yeah. Status?"
    "Um... Lonely."
    "Lonely? Where's Vern?"
    "I-I don't know..."
    Andy sighed. "Hold on, stay where you are, we'll try and find you. Over and out."
    The line went quiet. Clancy slowed and stopped walking. He was alone, by the corner of a wall stretching around in a corner. He swallowed slightly in fear. There they go again; another failed mission in the works... Sky would never let them try again if they even lived. And Vern was somewhere in the base... What if he went in the torture room with the others? What if they discovered who he was? What if they... Tortured him...
    Clancy slid down the wall into a sitting position on the floor. His chest started to hurt as his heart pounded, too terrified to think as he stared at the ground.
    Then someone grabbed his arms. "Clancy!" He looked up, and saw none other than Vern himself. His eyes widened in relief as he saw Vern's face full of concern. "Why did you wander off like that?!"
    Clancy just hugged him, sighing shakily in relief. Vern hugged back with a sigh. "C'mon, I found Star."
    Clancy looked up in surprise. "You did?!"
    "Shh!" Vern hissed. "Yes, c'mon! And be quiet would you?"
    Vern led the way down the hall and Clancy followed timidly. He didn't know quite why Vern was so angry - probably because Clancy got lost - but he found him at least.
    They walked through the halls unnoticed by passing squids, going down several flights of stairs, until they arrived in massive room that cut off into a huge empty cavern. It was am ancient mining shaft that looked like it hadn't been used in ages. Clancy looked around the place they stood on; a stone platform that stretched on a few meters before suddenly dropping off sharply out of sight, into the unknown. Clancy looked, but he saw no one but himself and Vern.
    "Star was in here before." Vern said.
    Clancy opened his mouth to speak but heard soft static in his ear. "Clancy! We found Vern, we're on level two."
    Clancy's mouth snapped shut. His eyes widened as his mind whirred with thought. Vern was with the others? But... Clancy looked at Vern, who was looking over the edge. Clancy swallowed as he realized what was going on, his stomach dropping with fear.
    "...You tinkered with it."
    "What?" Vern asked, looking up.
    "You tinkered with the Ion Scrambler." Clancy looked at Vern . "You don't have to wear glasses with it anymore."
    Vern stared at him, then smirked. "You're too clever for me." Clancy watched as the disguise melted away, and there was standing Star.
    "Not clever enough. You got me here." Clancy glanced back over the edge. "Can't believe I fell for this."
    "Indeed." Star said. She pulled her pistol out of its holster, pointing it at it's chest.
    "Clancy?" Andy asked in Clancy's earpiece. "Something's wrong." He heard her say.
    "Just pull the trigger, Star." Clancy said.
    "Oh shit!" Andy gasped. Clancy heard a gasp and shouts from the others and a door slamming open. He heard Owlet's voice and his eyes closed as he realized they were caught. "Run, run run!" He heard Exodus shout Deanna scream.
    Star smirked. "Turn off your receiver. You don't want to hear what Owlet's gonna do to them."
    Clancy kept his eyes closed as he took his mic out of his ear. "If you're gonna shoot me, just do it." He hissed.
    Star smirked and put her finger on the trigger. Clancy stared at the gun, almost shaking with fear. But she wasn't firing. She was holding him there, just having fun watching his terrible fear and he knew it. He glared at her in the eyes, knowing what she was doing, and she looked back, knowing there wasn't shit he could do about it. Clancy's eyes narrowed.
   He wasn't gonna die in fear. He wasn't gonna die being someone else's toy. He held out his arms and in a final act in defiance, he held out his arms in defiance.
    In a split second, Star lowered her gun in surprise and someone shot past her, knocking her over. "CLANCY!"
    Clancy felt someone grab his arm and he blinked in surprise as he noticed a distinct lack of falling to his death. He looked up and saw Vern, the actual Vern, looking down at him.
    Clancy looked past him as Star came to the edge, towering over them and pointed her gun down at Vern.
    Clancy's eyes widened in horror. "Vern, let go!"
    "Why are you so determined to fall to your-?!"
    BANG.