Run Like You Stole Something

[Admiral Hart]

Bullets rained down around the crew of the Plunder's Heart as they rushed through the alleys and back ways of Mars as fast as they could towards the extraction point.

"Stop! This is the police!" The Olympia PD called as Dane tossed a flash-bang grenade behind the fleeing pirates and at the pursuing cops.

Josetta, a large bundle under her arm, swore out loud as the group suddenly veered, headed quickly in another direction.

"Gah, we're penned in! Who's dumb idea was this mission anyway?"

********

Thirty Six Hours Earlier

"I have a great idea for our next mission." Hart called over the comm. "So listen up, mateys. The National Museum of Fine and Natural Arts in Olympia on Mars is holding a jewelry exhibit. In this exhibit are crown jewels from across the eight planets, the finest, most expensive jewelry known to man. It would be worth a pretty penny to pretty much any person who wants to purchase the purloined property." She smiled widely. "Now, this mission will be a bit tricky. We're going to need to investigate the layout, find ways around their security, and then snatch and run as much as possible. Anyone with any ideas on how we'll do this, come see me. In the meanwhile, we'll be landing at Carcosa momentarily. Hart, out."

Carcosa was an undocumented spaceport and the black market hub of Mars. It was kept intact by heavy, heavy bribery.

Hart sat down in her captain's chair while her husband shot her a speculative look. "Are you sure we can pull this off, Jo?"

"Don't be silly, Morgan. Of course we can. It's just a museum," She said dismissively. "What could go wrong?"

[Cassiopeia Reyes-Hart]

"I can't believe these people are stealing from a museum!" Antigone burst out, sounding appalled and looking it too. She shoved her sugar-pink curls out of her face, scowling. "I mean, that has to be like right below drowning puppies or something."

Cassi blinked, clutching Roger a little closer to her chest, while Stefan sneered in agreement.

"I can't believe I'm still here on this ship," the dark-haired teen griped petulantly. "Filthy pirates," he grumbled then, half under his breath, as if he were muttering something foul.

It was on the tip of Cassi's tongue to snap that those same 'filthy pirates' had saved him and everyone else from being brainless vegetables, but the curvy blonde wasn't one to fight with anyone on anything.

"I dunno, I think it's kind've exciting," Gloria suddenly cut in. The very curvaceous Latina female was sitting beside her, shamelessly abusing her teleporting abilities to toss darts at the board across the room--teleporting them half-way there to hit the bullseye dead center before teleporting them back into her hand.

Antigone let out a derisive snort. "Yeah, you would." Gloria frowned at that.

"And just what in the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," Clara suddenly cut in, tone firm but soothing, settling the other two girls and the mounting confrontation rather effectively, as only Clara could. The small cat girl sat on the same divan as the super-skinny Tina, blatantly cuddling. Those two still somehow maintained that they "weren't dating" but everyone just rolled their eyes and nodded, knowing darned well that--for all intents and purposes--they were. They spent almost as much time making out as they did talking nowadays.

For Cassi's part, she was glad for her friend, sure that any relationship with Tina could only help her continue to recover and perhaps better understand the world around her.

"My mother does what she must," Clara continued, her tone broking no argument and quickly gaining the rapt attention of all the rest. Even Rascal and Toby--who had been playing a game of air hockey on the other side of the room. Cassi as well straightened a little in her seat, something in her reacting to that alpha-tone of Clara's voice.

There were times when she wondered at how easily the redhead was able to lead and maneuver them all, like they were her own personal pack or something, but the blonde always shoved such unkind thoughts aside. Clara would never hurt any of them, not for anything.

Clara turned to her now, purple eyes piercing. "You should offer to help. I know you want to," Clara insisted when Cassi blushed guiltily, her eyes falling away. "I can feel your desires, Cassi. To help. To offer something more than occasional assistance." The elf-girl fidgeted with how accurate Clara's assessment was.

"Andi would have a cow," she protested softly, fidgeting with her skirt. "She hates the idea of me being a pirate, and hates me using my powers even more."

Clara's eyes narrowed slightly at that, then her expression cleared again. Cassi blinked as her guilt suddenly seemed to recede, and her small, rebellious streak seemed to get stronger.

"What Dr. Reyes does not know will not hurt her," the cat girl purred. Cassiopeia suddenly scowled, chin firming.

Clara was right. Andromeda couldn't keep coddling her like this. It wasn't as if she would ever have the chance at being something 'better.' The UE government and their barbaric policies on Magi had seen to that. What else did she have to look forward to? She couldn't be a dancer, she couldn't be a nurse. She couldn't be anything that she had wanted to be when she was a child. The UE had stolen it all away from her. So if she chose to make the best of her screwed up life, then so be it!

Cassi shot to her feet, Roger tucked up under one of her arms, missing Clara's small, satisfied smirk.

"If you'll excuse me, guys," she called airily. "I've gotta go moonlight as a criminal mastermind."

Moments later she was entering her mother's quarters. She gave Josetta and Morgan--who stood slightly to the side of the desk--a determined stare.

"I can help." When Morgan started to protest, she shook her head firmly. "I need to help, Morgan. I'm tired of feeling like a third wheel on this ship. And I've gotten so much better with my powers, after the facility and with the others being here helping me. Just give me a picture of one of the jewels, and I can tell you exactly where it is and exactly where it's been. Museum layout, guard patrols, tourist traffic." Her silver eyes were hard and resolute. "You name it, I can tell you about it."

[Admiral Hart]

Jo studied her for a few moments. "Well, Princess, you know my stance on things like this. I'll have to tell your sister."

Cassi started to protest, but Jo raised a hand to cut her off.

"However, I don't necessarily have to tell her now. Forgiveness is easier to get than permission, after all." She said, smirking to herself as Cassi's face lit up. "I'll email you a list of the items being stored there. Pick out the more expensive ones, but don't overdo yourself. I appreciate the help, but not if it adds to our crop of unconscious teens."

"I won't. I promise." Her adopted daughter beamed as she skipped from the room. "You won't regret this!"

After she left, Morgan turned to his wife. "Andromeda will skin you alive for this, Jo."

"I would have thought you would be all for anything to push me and Andi apart." Jo said wryly back to him

[Cassiopeia Reyes-Hart]

Cassi sat in her room in front of the terminal, studying the images of the different items that Josetta had sent her. She held Roger in her arms, absently scratching at his fur underneath the cute little black bandanna currently tied around his neck with a white jolly roger printed across the front.

"What do you think, Rog?" she questioned softly. The puppy yipped, wriggling a little and licking at her chin. Cassi smirked a little, but that soon fell again into an expression of supreme concentration as she considered the loot before her.

Her gaze was drawn yet again to the sword. It was a beautiful piece, a jewel-encrusted cutlass with a gold-plated scabbard. A large, deadly-looking cobra was burned into it, curling down the length. The blade was listed as 'priceless.' Cassiopeia deliberated for a moment longer, then finally chose that one.

"Alright boy," she sighed, setting Roger on the desk in front of her. "Here goes. If I pass out or something, you gotta go run and get help, okay?" The Yorkie just stared at her, and Cassi laughed, bending forward to kiss his nose. "Okay, maybe I'll teach you that trick when you're older."

Cassi turned to stare hard at the sword, committing it to memory, every jewel and tassel. Then she closed her eyes and took a deep, fortifying breath. When she opened them, her silver irises swirled hard into a whirlpool, and her vision shattered.

Cassi barely flinched with it, only giving a slight scowl of effort, despite the fact that the museum was several hundred miles away from their current location. The colored fragment slowly pieced themselves together to show the sword sitting in a brightly lit glass case. Hundreds of tourists meandered around the exhibit, listening to the computer voice in the intercom overhead talking about it and the other priceless pieces around it.

Okay, that was the easy part. Now for the more tricky part. Cassi took another deep breath in preparation, then grit her teeth and forced her vision to rewind. Like a recording, the vision slowly ground to a halt, and then started winding in reverse. Faster and faster, people zipped through the room backwards, until the museum was no longer open, before hours. Cassi's swirling eyes darted back and forth as she took careful note of all the security measures. How many guards patrolled the area and at what times, where they took the sword and all the other jewels after hours, how to get there, what pass-codes they entered into the heavily fortified safe. Which appeared to change every shift, and required a DNA ident scan as well as a password.

Cassiopeia kept watching until she started to feel the needles of pain piercing her temple. Finally, they became too much and she let the vision drop with a gasp. She panted a little afterward with the strain, blinking the dizziness and nausea away.

Roger sat on the desk in front of her, his tail wagging somewhat uncertainly. Cassi shook her head a little, then chuckled and started to reach for him.

And then jerked when her vision shattered again, this time completely against her volition. Cassiopeia let out a loud, keening cry at the white-hot spike of pain that flared through her skull, grabbing her hair. The fragments swirled faster and faster and faster, until she was sure she was going to be sick.

And then they suddenly snapped together. And she saw herself. Dressed all in black with her long hair pulled into a tight French braid, an eerily cold and angry, hateful look on her face.

And a bloody sword in her hands.

Cassi hissed, somehow managing to shut her eyes and force the vision to stop. A moment later she straightened again, a small trickle of blood oozing out of her nostril, though for the moment she didn't notice. Instead she stared somewhat unseeingly at the table in front of her, body trembling on and off in throes. What was it that she'd just seen? The future?

If so . . . what in Stars' name had gone so horribly, horribly wrong?

[Dane]

Dane grumbled while he worked, currently in his gun room, strapping himself down with enough fire power to for three people...maybe four. He fitted a harness across his back, locked it in place across his chest and placed in a long barrel scatter gun.

He smirked when he did, Lyra's favorite. Girls got taste. He smirked further, the memory of there make out session still fresh in his mind...and dreams.

His smirk widened, a moment later he pushed away the naughty thoughts and put on a half ass smirk. Must concentrate. He thought to himself. Reaching over he snatched three grenades out of there holster and fit them across his chest, securing them in place. Next he picked up another hand gun, strapping it to his other leg and fitted his pants over it. His thought wandered while he worked.

"Dane." he looked over at his bed and had to blink. Lyra was laying there, below the sheet...and from looks of it that was all that was covering her, her hand holding the sheet started to slowly drop down. He blinked a few more times and she vanished, he rubbed his face and shook his head.

Great, now I'm day dreaming about her. He groaned to himself, Dammit man, concentrate.

He picked up off the shelf two medium sized machine guns, each one was as big as his arm in length, he rested them both on his shoulder and walked out of the gun room. He smiled when he left his room and walked down he hall, completely obvious to the fact of how dangerous he looked at such time.

[T.K.]

T.K. stared at the Goggles for a moment, before he nodded to Shiyounin to begin. So far, he'd only used the Goggles on Shiyounin's Mainframe, and various systems on the ship. This would be the first time he Dived into a non-isolated system. And into the Planet's Datanet no less. Fun.

“OK Shiyounin. Let's see if we can even find a way into Museum's systems. We'll worry about what to do from there.”

“Very well Master. Initiating Security routines. Data recorders are standing by. Dive when ready.”

Bracing himself, T.K. started up the Goggles and started connecting to the Mars Planetary Data Network. He followed it to the Public Access link for the Museum, then started poking around. Ten minutes later, he finally found the Secured Access for the Museum.

“Any idea's Shiyou?”

“Master, perhaps we should try one of the Decryption Algorithms in my Mainframe?”

“It can't hurt. Go ahead and give it a shot, and I'll see if I can 'sweet talk' the security systems into letting us in.”

An hour later, T.K. and Shiyounin were taking their time, and browsing through the entire mainframe for the Museum. Getting in had been a lot easier than he'd expected. Between Shiyounin's codes, and his Technopathy, they had managed to crack the codes rather quickly.

Now, they were downloading a floor plan, optimized for a quick entrance and exit from the building. And, it turned out it would be a lot easier to get the security codes for the target night than originally planned. T.K. programmed them in himself, and made sure that he sent a copy of them to the datapad. After he checked the schedule for the Guards for that night, he over-rode the last security feature, the Retinal Scanners. True, you could try and fool them with a fake set of contacts, but why bother.

He borrowed some data from the Medical computer, and input Cook's Retinal Patterns into the system. Now, the whole thing should be cake.

A small electrocution later, T.K. was off to deliver the Datapad to the Captain, while Shiyounin tried to put out some of the hair still smoking on T.K.'s head.

[Admiral Hart]

Olympia's Museum of Fine and Natural Arts was a peaceful enough place on the filthy rich planet of Mars. Its patrons, insanely wealthy as well, marveled at the current main exhibit, the finest objects of jewelcrafting and metallurgical wonder in all Eight Planets.

The main exhibit room was wide and immaculately cleaned, enhanced sunlight passing through the overhead skylight and making the shimmering wonders in the crowded room that much more spectacular.

Of course, when a pirate frigate shattered that skylight with a sonic boom, and safety glass rained down on the patrons below, it became much less idyllic.

A series of lines dropped from the hovering frigate, and as team consisting of Hart, Dane, Jane, Ensign Cook, and a small troupe of boarders dropped to the ground, guns primed.

The guards, wisely, lay down on the floor and did not make any sudden movement, as the rest of the rich people did likewise.

"Alright everyone, this is a simple scenario we have here." Hart said as a huge box was tractored down into the museum. "No one plays the hero, we take our fill, and everyone lives. Play the hero and you get shot."

She pointed to a couple of grunts and Cook. "You three, go open that safe. Dane, keep an eye out for guards and police. And keep force to a minimum. We're here to steal priceless artifacts, not break them or shoot cops. Everyone else, it's time to go shopping. The best type, because it looks like they're having a sale. Everything you can carry, free of charge."

[Beau Altair]

Beau quickly took an aisle of the exhibit room at the Captain's orders, and used the butt of his rifle to start cracking open display cases, careful not to damage the goods inside. He ignored the tiny twinge of guilt that tried to assault him at the thievery, telling himself that this stuff didn't belong to anyone specific, therefore he wouldn't be causing any one person any undue hardship in the stealing of it.

He grabbed up fist-fulls of the priceless jewelry inside--mindful of the glass--and started stuffing them in the backpack he'd brought along. The nineteen year old didn't pay it much mind, really, other than acknowledging that it was expensive and therefore worth grabbing. That is until he came to a case that held a single necklace by itself, and his eyes rounded. The strand of it consisted of pure white diamonds, each the size of his thumbnail, and then hanging from the center of it was a ruby cut in the shape of a heart, that had to be the size of a silver dollar at least, if not bigger.

In staring at it, Beau immediately thought of Cassi. He'd felt bad, only being able to afford to get her that silly little charm bracelet. Especially in the face of all the other gifts everyone else had gotten her. Especially T.K. Beau frowned now. Those crystals had been ridiculous. If he wasn't so afraid of what the asian engineer might due to him with that gigantic-ass wrench of his, he might have said something about it. There was no good reason for a man to get that kind of gift for a girl unless she was warming his sheets, and like hell Cassiopeia was gonna be warming anybody's sheets but his.

That thought made him start thinking of all the trouble he'd been having lately with trying to inch their relationship into the next level, and he sighed. Beau wasn't quite sure what it was that was wrong, exactly. She seemed to like him well enough. But every time he tried to do anything other than kiss her, Cassi got skittish and withdrawn, and immediately pulled away from him. If it was just nerves from being inexperienced, he would have been fine with it, but something dark and suspicious inside of him couldn't help but wonder if there was a whole lot more to it than that.

Beau stared at the necklace for a moment longer before smashing open the case, grabbing it and then tucking the beautiful piece into his jacket. A heart for a Hart, he decided with a grin, no where near ready to give up on her yet.

[Dane]

Dane paced around the people lying on the floor, in the prone position, some where scared, others had that twinge in there eye, the one that gets people killed if they succeeded. Most of them eyed the large guns in both his hands. His boots echoed through the halls, a constant reminder of his presence in there minds, Dane gave a predatory smile to one of the guards, the man in his thirty's turned a interesting shade of purple and lowered his head.

Movement behind him caused him to jerk, another guard was reaching for his weapon not four feet from him, his hands shaking. One shot rang out as a bullet pierced the floor, barely a centimeter in front of the guards outstretched hand, the man winced back and stared up at him angrily.

The weapons expert shook his head. "No heroics pal, I don't' miss twice. Remember that." was his dead serious response. His radio crackled.

"Dane..." It was captain Hart. He rolled his eyes, keying up his radio.

"Nobody's dead or injured, Just reminding someone not to be a hero." there was silence for a moment before she responded.

"Behave Dane, we don't want a body count. Where pirates, not murders." he sighed, nodding his head as he made another pass by the people he was watching.

"Aye captain." he said with a heave of his voice. She chuckled on the other end.

"But don't hesitate to use force if someone gets stupid." he smirked as he passed another guard.

"You know me, captain."

"What I'm afraid off. Hart out." Dane smirk turned into shameless grin as he paced, shifting the weight of one of his gun straps while eying everyone in the room carefully. Sharp eyes missing nothing as he prowled and waited for further instructions.

[Cassiopeia Reyes-Hart]

Back on the Plunder, Cassi paced the confines of her room restlessly, her silver eyes swirling. Roger bounced along beside her, keeping pace, thinking perhaps they were playing a game. The blonde was far from a playful mood however, wringing her hands as she continued to watch her mother's progress at the museum.

Who knew heists could be so nerve-wracking?

"Everything seems to be going okay," she murmured to Roger, who just yipped happily and wagged his tail. They made another circuit across the room.

Suddenly Cassi's irises began to swirl faster. She gasped, her eyes slowly rounding. "Oh no . . . don't! Look out!"

Unfortunately they couldn't hear her. And then her her vision tore apart, but refused to refocus after. She'd been using it too long. Overexerted herself like she promised she wouldn't. Cassi's head swam sickeningly and the teen whimpered a little, stumbling.

"Hey Rog . . . 'm-member what I said about playing Lassie?" she mumbled thickly. A moment later the teen crumpled to the floor, out cold.

Beside her, Roger hopped in place, yipping in agitation. The Yorkie neared her then, licking at her inert face, whimpering. Finally, he spun on his paws and took off out of the room at break-neck speed. The tiny Yorkie went largely unnoticed as it zipped through the halls of the Plunder, most of the crew too preoccupied with the heist taking place to take note of him.

Thus Roger managed to traverse the entire way from Cassi's room to the bridge, and then unceremoniously leapt up into Morgan Halcyon's lap.

The First Mate jerked in surprise, having been focusing all of his attention on the console in front of him. Roger hopped in place, barking shrilly.

"Jesus," Morgan growled, scowling and clearly annoyed. Especially as the crew members on the bridge around him began snickering and hiding amused grins behind their hands "Get off, Roger," he snapped, lifting the tiny puppy off of him and setting him down. Roger just leapt back up, barking louder.

"Where in the bloody hell is Cassi--," Morgan suddenly stopped himself, eyes rounding. As if he had just realized what that might mean, that Roger was here alone and frantic, when Cassiopeia hadn't let him leave her side not once since she'd gotten him. "Fuck!"

In the next breath the First Mate was running off the bridge, a tiny Yorkie puppy nipping at his heels.

[Morgan Halcyon]

Morgan nearly smashed down the door to med-lab, Cassi in his arms and Roger yipping at his heels. Andromeda turned and started to say something but froze when she saw the unconcious Cassi.

"What happened to her?!" She exclaimed, shoving a tech out of the way as the First Mate layed her on a bed.

"Near as I can tell, she tried to use her powers too much. Like last time." He muttered, sounding bitter and concerned. "I told Jo not to let her help us."

"....Captain Hart ordered her to help again?" Doctor Reyes said, the temperature of her voice dropping dramatically.

"Nay, but she gave Cassi permission to help." Morgan replied, still looking at Cassi, feeling concern, yes, but also a dread he did not quite want to admit to. "Not sure why she woulda been doing it now, since she told us everything we needed to know a day ago."

[Dr. Andromeda Reyes]

Andromeda's initial reaction was to, naturally, blow a gasket. However, there was medical treatment needed and so, for the moment, her personal wants were shoved aside and the doctor took over.

Her fingers pressed into the pulse point of Cassi's neck while Morgan took a step back, shifting his weight restlessly. At his feet, Roger had calmed down considerably, sitting down beside the First Mate with a slight whimper.

Andromeda nodded slightly with relief when she felt a strong throb, and the backs of her fingers felt a steady waft of breath from her sister's nose. She was just unconscious then. No convulsions, so this wasn't as bad as the last time had been. She supposed she should be thankful for small concessions.

Andromeda reached into a drawer and grabbed a small clear stick. She deftly cracked it between two fingers, and then quickly waved it under Cassiopeia's nose. The slender doctor was already throwing it in the garbage when the teen wrenched wide-awake with a strangled gasp. Andromeda put a forestalling hand on her shoulder from experience, holding her down when Cassi's first instinct was to leap to her feet.

The blonde blinked up at her somewhat uncomprehendingly for several moments. The whites of her eyes were bloodshot, faint burst blood-vessels stretching out around them like tiny blue spiderwebs. Andromeda didn't say anything, just gave her "The Look," one eyebrow raised. Cassi glanced from her to Morgan, then back to her. And then she blanched.

"Oops."

"Yeah, oops is right," Andromeda snapped, the protective sister coming back to the fore. "I cannot believe you, Cassi! How can you play Russian Roulette with your body like this?! Your powers can be extremely damaging to your system if they're abused! You had no business using them for this stunt of the Captain's either!"

Cassi flushed a little, scowling petulantly now. "My powers are a part of me, Andi, whether you like it to be that way or not. Pretending I don't have them caused me to get tortured in a hell-hole for a week. Using them makes me stronger."

"And just why in th' bloody hell were you usin' it now?" Morgan suddenly questioned, tone still rough with concern. And perhaps a touch of annoyance, though it didn't seem to be directed at her sister at all.

At his words, Cassi gasped, her face going a shade pale. "Oh Morgan! I can't believe I almost forgot! W-we've gotta get to the museum! Jo's in trouble!"

"Wait, slow down," he admonished, brow furrowing. "Try that again, but slower and with more sense."

"I-I was using my powers to watch Jo, make sure the heist was going okay," she admitted hurriedly, trying to get up off the bed in her agitation but Andromeda easily pushed her back prone. "I saw Cook opening the safe, and he accidentally tripped an alarm! A SWAT team just showed up, they were shooting at them with assault rifles!"

Morgan was already turning on his heel and heading for the door before she'd finished. Cassi made to get up again, but again her sister held her down.

"Andi, let me go! I can help!"

"You're not getting out of this bed for at least an hour," was the doctor's firm pronouncement, "not after that stunt you just pulled." Cassi scowled at her.

"You can't keep coddling me like this, Andromeda! I'm not a little kid anymore!"

"You've barely turned seventeen," the older of the sisters shot back.

"Stop condescending to me!" Andromeda jerked, nearly taking a step back at the volume of Cassi's normally sweet tone, and the sheer amount of furious anger suddenly staring up at her from her sister' silvery eyes.

Cassi never acted this way. To anyone, for anything.

"You keep trying to wrap me in a ball of cotton," Cassiopeia continued scathingly. "Keep trying to pretend like I'm not a Magi fugitive with crap and zilch for a future. Well guess what, Andi? It doesn't matter how many math lessons you make me do, or how hard you try and protect me from the real world. I will never get to be anything more than this! So deal with it!"

Andromeda slowly leaned down, until the sisters were nose to nose. "You listen to me, Cassiopeia, and you listen good," she began, tone low and trembling, "because I'm only going to say this once. I did not give up my career, my future and my entire life just so you could throw yours away being stupid! You will take better care of yourself, stop playing pirate and using your powers flippantly, or so help me I'll have the Captain confine you to your room! If you want to act like a spoiled little brat, than by God I'll start treating you like one!"

"It would be a step up from being treated like a brainless doll!" Cassi shot back hoarsely.

Andromeda straightened then, taking a deep breath, determined that she wasn't going to indulge in a screaming match with a teenager in the middle of her med-bay. She bent and scooped up Roger, deposting the yipping puppy somewhat unceremoniously into Cassi's arms.

"Don't get out of that bed until I tell you," she snapped then, "or I'll put you in restraints."

And then she spun on her heel and stalked into her office, to try and calm herself down. Several breaths later, she was still furious. The slender doctor grabbed her comm., and then punched in the Captain's channel.

"Captain Hart!" she snapped. "We need to have a word." There was a pause, a rush of static, and then,

"Can't talk right now, Andi!" came Josetta's hurried voice, amidst the sound of rapid gunfire. "Being shot at. Call back later!"

[Admiral Hart]

Moments beforehand--

Alarms rocketed the Musuem, causing Jane to jump and drop the crown she was trying to precariously balance on the pair of crowns already on her head. Allison and Butch, the two grunts who had taken Cook, came back, Allison with Cook over her shoulder like a sack of grain. Butch tossed Hart a bundle as they ran.

Hart looked inside the bundle and grinned before asking, "What went wrong?"

"Guard panicked and tried to shoot. Cook fell into a motion sensor." Allison replied. Moments after she had said that, the Plunder rocketed away, pulling the large box filled with priceless jewelry in tractor with it. They saw the reason shortly after, when a small wing of fighters rocketed overhead right after it.

"Alright. We're changing the plan. Extraction point is the shuttle to Carcosa. Get packed up and ready to go because.." Hart was interrupted when a large number of SWAT smashed into the room, weapons blazing. Then, the pirates, knowing that this was not very good odds for them, ran for the back door as fast as they could.

"Dane, safeties off, make us a back door!" Hart called.

"Oh, Captain, you're a married woman. You shouldn't say sexy things like that to a guy." The weapons expert called and unslung a grenade launcher.

The wall exploded from the inside out, and the small troupe crashed through and started bolting through alleys.

"Incoming Call--Andromeda Reyes." Hart's comm said in her ear. She tapped it and did not even register what Andi was saying. "Can't talk right now, Andi. Being shot at. Call back later!" She closed the channel and continued to lead the way through the alleys, bundle clutched tightly under her arm. It was, of course, the reason she was running this mission.

"Stop! This is the police!" The Olympia PD called as Dane tossed a flash-bang grenade behind the fleeing pirates and at the pursuing cops.

Josetta swore out loud as the group suddenly veered, headed quickly in another direction.

"Gah, we're penned in! Who's dumb idea was this mission anyway?" She mumblled and said immediately after. "Anyone who accuses me of having this idea walks the plank."

[T.K.]

T.K. grinned wickedly, as he and his newfound hacking skills made their way into the Planetary Defense System. A few minutes later, he had hacked into the Automatic systems on board the Fighters chasing the ship. Exactly 30 seconds later, everyone of the Pilots were ejected from their ships, and the ships themselves were switched to Auto-Pilot, and flew back to base.

“OK Shiyounin, that solves our problem. Show me a grid map of the city, and use the Captain's Com to track their progress.”

“One moment Master.”

T.K.'s view was replaced by the grid map for the city. He studied it for a moment.

“OK, I need the locations of the Cops chasing them.”

“One moment.”

A swarm of red blips suddenly appeared on the map, most of them chasing after the blue dot.

“Well, That's not good. Let's see if we can think the herd a little. While I hack the Police mainframe, see if you can override those repair bots at the Plaza ahead of the Captain. Get them to block all the alleys after the Crew passes through.”

“Very well Master.”

T.K. left her too it, as he hacked into the Police Communication Systems. A moment later, he began issuing confusing and wrong information to the control officers. He smirked at the map, as the chase slowed down slightly, and several blimps went off in opposite directions.

[Dane]

Dane tossed another flash bang over his shoulder, he heard a cry of anger and pain causing him to grin. They weaved through the alley ways, finally coming a stop in a side alley. The weapons expert checked his ammo while everyone caught there breath, captain hart brushed back a piece of her hair, staring at him.

"Dane, tell me you have a plan." he gave a impish smile and checked the corner once before looking back.

"Yep, but I'll probably either get killed, arrested, or make a flashy getaway. Honestly I'm hoping for the latter of the three. But, thats why I improvise." he said while adjusting his shoulder strap. Everyone blinked for a moment while Captain smirked.

"Well. What are you waiting for?" he gushed rather girlishly.

"Love it when you let me play." with that he gave everyone a boyish smirk before he ran back the way he came, rounding the corner and shooting at the cops chasing them, not hitting any of them but just to get there attentions.

"Wooo! Come and get me bitches!" with that he bolted back down the way he came, instead of taking a right he made a left, tossing another flash bang so they wouldn't look near the alley where Hart and the rest where hiding. "Woooo! I'm a psycho fuck with a gun! Better stop me before I do something nutty!" with that he tossed a real grenade over his shoulder, he picked up his pace before it exploded and kept going.

He played this game with the pursuing cops for sometime, it was rather fun actually, so far only one gun shot to his left elbow, another minor detail. He grinned wickedly when he saw the empty patrol car ahead of him, he snatched his communicator and jumped into the cop car. Attempting to hot wire it quickly when he realized the keys where in the ignition, he sighed.

And they get paid to screw up....

"T.K. its Dane. I'm borrowing a Olympia PD patrol car, mind clearing the road a bit for me?" there was a crackle as the engine came online, he floored the hover craft and took off down the street.

"Copy that, take a left down Skyline Drive, ignore the light." he smirked further, looking over his shoulder he noticed another car in pursuit, he snatched up his grenade launcher and put propped it out the window. When he took the left he fired the launcher, the grenade impacted with the front causing it to sputter and veer into a parked speeder. He smiled again as he drove through the green light, moments later it turned to red, causing the up flow of traffic coming from the other direction, cutting off his escape route from others.

There was a snicker on his radio from T.K. he raised a eyebrow but continued driving. "Smile for the camera Dane, on your left." he turned and waved out the window smiling like a manic and screaming at camera.

"Captain Hart for Prime minister! Wooot!" with that he had to jerk suddenly, a speeder slammed into his ass end. He growled as he tugged his scatter gun free from his shoulder Hollister, leaning out the window when they came closer to the driver side, he fired twice causing there windshield to break, they slowly backed off. He kissed the weapon before putting it across his lap.

Gotta thank her for that idea.

"Dane, problems." He blinked.

"Like?"

"Like a plane that refuses to listen to me coming your way. Fast." he sighed.

"See, this is why I don't plan shit."