“We’ll be in and out before Captain Mani even knows it,” Wren points down at the star chart displayed on the main counsel of the ship. Wren grimaces; he just jinxed this entire trip. In a movie setting, it would immediately split to the part where they were definitely not "in and out" before their captain knew it.

Antic and Raj, crew members on the Valah Voyager, nod their heads in agreement. Wren tried not to be enthused by their agreement- they would agree to just about anything if he asked. The only one who did not agree was their new medic, Render. 

“I am not worried about Captain Mani’s approval. I’m concerned this plan comes from a place of insanity.” Render’s energy bloomed a purplish color as she shared her hesitant stance to this truly insane plan. 

Wren looked their new medic up and down. After nearly dying on their last mission, Captain Mani made it a requirement to have a medic on board at all times, even on simple delivery runs like this one. The problem with medics, in Wren’s opinion, was that they tend to be very attached to being alive. 

“Oh don’t be like that, Render. We’ll be fine.” Antic says with a flip of her third hand. “This is an opportunity of a lifetime!” Antic’s energetic demeanor so early in the morning was fueled purely by her caffeine addiction. As the resident technology whiz, caffeine seemed to be her drug of choice when it came to late night coding and engineering. Wren swore that she practically vibrated with caffeine-induced energy. Though, with four arms and a brain capable of true multitasking, it was probably a huge benefit to be up on caffeine all of the time. At least it was not Gaialien blood she was addicted to. 

“Right, because all we have to do is break into a highly-secure mystery transport and steal whatever they are guarding. Easy.” Render shot back. For a Hendrenian, she at least had some venom to her. 

“Then it’s decided,” Raj says, missing the intoned sarcasm altogether. 

But no one was about to argue with Raj. As the enforcer on the crew, his job mostly dealt with throwing his weight around. Not that he was ever aggressive when it wasn’t necessary- Wren considered him a pacifist most of the time. But despite his calm and collected demeanor, when Raj spoke, people listened. 

They had a small window to ‘seemingly pass by another ship’ without looking suspicious, so Antic is quick to make the ever-so-slight course adjustments to intersect the other ship. Two of her hands glide over the machinery of the ship like it’s as easy as breathing, and the other two hands fix her pink hair into a ponytail. 

After Wren has made sure the course adjustments would allow their Valah haul to seemingly pass by without crashing into the unmarked ship, he heads toward his quarters to prepare for the battle. Of course, he always kept his traditional conig knife strapped to his outer thigh, but in an unexpected battle, more armor and weaponry would be necessary. 

“Wren,” Render calls. Wren stops in the narrow corridor when Render grabs his wrist. The energy pulsating from her hand made his skin itch from the tiny unintentional zaps. “I must ask to be sure,” she hedges. “This isn’t about revenge, right?” Render is scared to even utter the last part. She points her gaze downcast. 

“Render, you are a great medic. We will be fine.” Wren assures her. Render watches as he continues down the ship’s corridor. She is all too aware that he didn’t answer the question. 

Back in the main cabin, Antic and Raj are also preparing themselves for the inevitable fight. Having known Wren for longer, they were less hesitant to say yes. They would do anything for him. 

Antic loaded the packs on her work belt with destabilizers and energy field tablets, while Raj donned the armor sacred to his people. Render stared at them as she tried to make sense of this ridiculous plan. In Render’s opinion, these two were too complacent in going along with Wren’s insanity. Twice now, she has watched them follow happily behind Wren’s bad ideas. 

“Don’t either of you think this is crazy? Captain Mani said we did not do illegal transports or illegal things at all, for that matter.” The energy she was made of had flushed a bright green that almost matched Antic’s fluorescent skin. But Render reigned herself in, and her energy returned to its normal soft electric blue. 

“First of all, who are you to question second in command,” Antic points out as she adjusts the sleeves of all four arms. 

“And second, Captain Mani lied to you because she knows how Hendrenians can be,” Raj finishes as he holsters two pulstar I-80’s on his hip. Perhaps the guns were old and worn out, but he appreciated how the warn handles seemed to fit his hands just right. 

Render narrowed her eyes at the Hendrenian comment. Raj hadn’t meant to be rude- it was just a fact. Hendrenians are incredible healers but are also raised in extremely conservative societies. They lacked the drive to ever take any risks or even leave their home planet. To have a Hendrenian medic aboard a ship was near unheard of. 

“Fine. I will await your return aboard the ship.” Render decides not to point out how dangerous this was, because it would only further alienate her from the rest of the crew. She storms out of the main cabin without another word. 

“I can see why Captain Mani hired her,” Raj tries to lighten the mood. “She’s trying to get us to behave even when she’s not here.” He laughs as he straightens the antennas on top of his head and pushes the bright white hair follicles back into a ponytail. With the hair out of his eyes, he was ready for battle.

“What a stick in the mud,” Antic growls under her breath. She’d never say it out loud, but a Hendrenian on the ship offended her down to her Pracylecan core. The two groups shared historical animosity between them, making it near impossible to work together in a team. Antic figured the Hendrenian would quit right after this mission though, since the risks were clearly making Render uncomfortable. 

Antic shrugs the rest of the gear on and follows Raj down to the transport bay. 

*        *        *

The Valah Voyager slowly comes within range of the other massive unmarked haul as the crew all gravitate towards the transport bay. In it, sat several land-bearing vehicles, a single small spaceship, some exercise equipment and crates of deep space rations. As the most open area of the Valah, the crew tended towards hanging out there when off duty. 

Antic is quick to ready the smaller spaceship, dubbed “Mercy Me” by Wren and Antic when they had first joined up with Captain Mani. She hops into the pilot’s seat as she configures the appropriate flight patterns. Antic had completely gutted the beater of its old controls and replaced them with flight boards designed specifically for her unique multitasking abilities. Others could fly it, especially their actual pilot, Clane, but not with the same ease and finesse as her. 

Wren does a quick engine check before coming around the front to check the worn seals on the front of the ship. He had no interest in dying by space suffocation anytime soon. When everything looked ready, Antic flipped the appropriate switches and prepared for takeoff. 

With Antic in the front seat driving, Raj and Wren loaded into the single back seat with their shoulders bumping up against one another. The old ship is small and really only meant to fit maybe one other person in case of emergency- hence the name, Mercy Me. 

“Prepare for takeoff,” Antic’s voice came over the loudspeaker of the transport bay. It was meant to let others know that the bay doors would be opening into space, but she doubted the Hendrenian would be anywhere near the bay. 

But just before Antic’s fourth arm could reach over to switch the bay gate open, Render came striding confidently through the sealed bay corridor. As an energy being, her non-corporeal form allowed her to effortlessly pass through conductible solid objects like metal.  

“Wait,” Render calls as she runs up to the ship. Antic rolls her eyes but reluctantly powers down the ship just enough to hear Render’s voice over the engines. 

“You can’t stop us so don’t even try,” Antic threatened when she lifted the glass seal off the ship’s top. 

“I’m coming with you,” She declares. Antic looked the Hendrenian up and down. Render’s outfit was woefully unprepared for any kind of battle. A single knife served as the only weapon she carried- and even that was considered a risk to Hendrenians. Antic sighs, reminding herself that Captain Mani wouldn’t have hired her if she wasn’t capable. 

“Fine, get in.” Antic says as she begins powering the ship up again. Render’s energy sprites upward in an electric arc before squeezing in between Wren and Raj. A tight fit had become an even tighter fit. Wren tried, and failed, not to notice how red Render’s energy had tinted after being squished in between two men. 

“Mercy me,” Raj swore under his breath as Antic bolted the ship forward. The Pracylecan tried her best to just ignore the breath of the Hendrenian on the back of her neck. This ship was becoming annoyingly small- maybe it was time for another upgrade. 

The small ship entered the wide excess of space at unforgiving speeds. Antic flew ships like the pro she is, and even in a crowded, 100-year old ship, she still made it move like it was new. 

“How will you open their gate?” Render asks, much to Antic’s annoyance. But Antic can’t help it if everything the medic did annoyed her. 

“We don’t open it.” Wren said as Antic approached the ship. 

Without even looking, Antic’s hand found the button to launch her new favorite invention- the portkey. 

It shot out of the ship like a tiny metallic space rock and attached itself to the unmarked haul. In the blackness of outer space, a single pebble hitting the gigantic ship would be unnoticeable. However, their small ship could have been sighted either way, so they needed to be careful of landing in the unmarked ship’s bay. 

The metallic chip bursts open and creates an interdimensional rift that allows something like the small Mercy Me ship to glide through it effortlessly. And as soon as the ship had landed on the inside of the haul unnoticed, the portkey disengaged and landed on the ground of the haul. 

“The best thing I’ve ever come up with,” Antic says as she practically vibrates out of the cramped ship. She collects the portkey off the ground and reloads it into the ship’s outer machinery. 

The rest of the crew exit the ship with the same amount of vigor and excitement as Antic had. The exception being Render, who predictably, was more hesitant to leave the safety of the ship. 

“What, exactly, is the plan?” Render asks as she unloads from the ship. Her small knife was already unsheathed and ready to go. It flashed blue as her energy passed through it. 

“The most heavily guarded loot will be in the main dock. Try not to be seen..” Wren says in response. His own armor, recognizable as Aurealian battle gear, glinted in the sterile light of the haul. The single shoulder pad on his right was strapped down to his bare chest. His pants were accented by small metal knee and shin guards strapped over them, but otherwise left room for his body to move freely. No one would say Aurealian battle gear was practical, but Wren stuck closely to his traditional roots. 

The crew began making their way further into the haul, leaving their ship behind. In an emergency, they all knew it was possible they might have to take a different ship when leaving, but they all hoped they wouldn’t. The Mercy Me might have been cramped, but it was deeply ingrained in the crew’s sense of self, just as their Valah haul was. 

Wren led the group down a confusing set of narrow corridors, only guided by the inherent direction of forward. The further in they got, the less likely an undetected escape would be possible. 

Wren held a fist up in the air to signal the group to stop as he peered over a corner. Two guards, Reinicans, stood outside a door with guns at the ready. The large, hard headed species would be hard to beat without some distractions. 

The two Reinican guards were relaxed and chatting as they stood though. Reinicans were stronger than most terrestrial creatures and likely did not believe their haul could ever be a target of space pirates. Their laid back attitude made that apparent.

Antic quickly shuffles past Wren’s crouched figure and evaluates the situation. She unclicks another small metallic saucer from her belt. This one, no bigger than a coin, would disengage the guards in less than a few seconds. 

She rolled the saucer like a coin and the two guards stopped talking. 

“Treven, is that you? These pranks aren’t even funny anymore-” The larger Reinican complained before the disc silently imploded. A tiny black hole opens in the ship and swallows them whole. The two guards were ripped from the space they occupied and blown up in another- an explosion mimicking a gun with a silencer. Antic preened at its perfect performance. 

Wren gestures for the crew to keep moving with military precision. The door the Reinicans had been dutifully guarding had to be part of the main haul. Antic made quick work of the door’s keypad, plugging in a device that overrode the power supply. The door shirked open with no indication of anything wrong. 

Wren and the crew pressed their backs against the wall adjacent to the doorway and when more Reinican guards came through, Wren tightened his grip on his weapon. 

With a small knife sharpened from the bones of a Conig Bull on his home world, Wren begins tearing through the Reinican guards like butter. The first two are easy because they were caught off guard. He slams his foot into their inverted knees and slices their necks with his knife. Then, when the guards start shooting, he ducks his small frame below one of the Reinican’s limp bodies and uses it as a shield as he charges forward. 

With his tail, Wren trips one of the guards while slicing the hand of the other guard who shot at him. The pain and shock from the knife forced him to drop the gun. When he does, Wren uppercuts the Reinican’s soft under chin with that same knife, piercing the brain. Without even consciously thinking, Wren lets the creature fall onto his tripped partner. He uses the surprise weight to pin the last guard to the ground as he steals the gun from his belt. He crouches on top of both the living and dead guard as he shoots for the final time.

“Clear,” Wren calls from inside the main haul. His voice is noticeably more hoarse than before. As they come in, only Render pales at the sight of dead guards. 

“Pretty weak security for an unmarked haul like this,” Raj remarks as he searches around the wooden crates stored in the room. “I guess they probably weren’t expecting-” Raj’s voice cuts off when he opens one of the crates. 

Inside, a Gaialien sat, chained with his arms bound behind his back. A needle still hooked to the Gaialien’s arm as it siphoned blood into a bag hanging off to the side.