Heist

Elliv and Maris crouch by one corner of the isolated warehouse. On the opposite wall should be Ketha and Annia, though there’s no way of knowing if they’re in position on time. The south wall stands completely in the shadow of the building, completely black now in the night. Conveniently, the large loading doors await them there. But inconveniently, the company keeps two sentinels posted by this door at all times. Luckily, the guards don’t seem to have heard their approach.

Elliv watches the seconds tick by on his watch. It’s time. He peers around the corner and spots a flash of silver-white hair and pale skin in the dark--Annia Koronova slides out from behind the far wall, down on one knee with its crossbow raised. The left sent points to it and they both reach for their guns. Annia is faster, and gets the sent in its sights. The bolt flies, coiled wires trailing behind, and sticks deep into his side. He collapses to the ground, shaking violently as smoke rises from his wound.

The other sent raises his pistol on Annia, but he’s startled when Maris taps him on the shoulder. As soon as he looks behind him, Maris has one hand around his arm and the other gripping his face. He slams the back of his skull into the hard door frame hard, three or four times, and throws his unconscious body on the ground.

Annia runs up to retrieve its electric bolt. “K.R.A.,” its fingers silently sign to the unconscious sent.

Now only a padlock stands in their way. Ketha kneels down and pulls their set of picks from their pocket. Elliv and Maris keep watch at the corners, with Annia looking out ahead. It isn’t long before they hear the creak of the loading doors swinging open.

No windows--pitch dark inside. Click--light fills the room, and Annia enters by the glow of its portable electric light fastened to the end of its weapon. Barrels fill the small warehouse, mining explosives surely packed full of something more potent than black powder. Each is topped with a metal box with a large spool of wire attached.

“Looks like bombs!” Ketha says.

Monstrous footsteps sound, with the creak of cart wheels. Elliv steps outside with his rifle ready. It’s Krev, and an enormous work turtle, the size of a shed.

“This old girl was not happy to be woken up, so let’s make this quick,” Krev says.

“What in toluene’s name,” Maris says. He slowly steps into the warehouse, his face alight with all the excitement of a child on their birthday. “It’s beautiful...”

“Will they work?” Elliv says.

“Will they work?! Just one of these guys will be more than enough. And it’s a stable compound, won’t ignite without electricity to light the primer. No worry of it blowing up in a rough transport. This could not be better.” He walks up to one of the bombs, standing as tall as him, and gently caresses its wooden sides. “I, I could cry.”

“Come on, let’s load it up,” Elliv says. Then he hears more footsteps coming, fast. He runs back outside with his gun held up. But it’s his comrades--Razha, Zal, and Nadia.

“Y’all, big problem,” Zal says, running back around the side of the warehouse. Elliv follows. From there they can see the train loading platforms, and a number of smaller structures. Zal hands him their spyglass.

He sees his comrades, Lein, Kalen, and Kurri, led at gunpoint by Imperial soldiers. “Fucking Hel,” Elliv says. “What do we do?”

“Y’all have to complete the mission, no matter what,” Razha says. “Get that bomb onto that train cart.”

“What about Lein and the others?!” Elliv says.

“I ain’t leaving without them,” Razha says. “Annia, Maris, come with us, we’ll handle this. Krev and Elliv and Ketha, get that bomb to the platform, as quick as possible, I have a feeling we’re leaving in a hurry.”

“Okay. Don’t let them take Lein, Razha! You can’t,” Elliv says.

“I ain’t leaving nobody behind without me,” Razha says. “But if we don’t make it back to the cart, you gotta go on without us and execute the plan, okay?”

“...Okay! Understood,” Elliv says. He knows Razha picked him for this task precisely because he wouldn’t hesitate if that time came. He’ll trust Razha to get the job done. Completing the mission at all costs is ingrained in his earliest training, for better or worse. “See you real soon, comrades!”