"Slow down," Linvana says. "Take it from the start. Where'd you go after we split up?"
The young Corsair takes a long shaky breath. He fidgets for a moment, then sags against the low stone outcrop.
"We…when we left, Simin hailed Khariss. She wanted to meet to discuss the Vex problem. He agreed. Pretty quickly too. I guess I should've realized it was too easy, but-"
"Ollin, it's not your fault," Telysa interrupts. The hunter is crouched a few meters away behind the same outcrop, looking out over the wind-swept cluster of asteroids. Her sniper scope is trained on Khariss's distant compound.
"She's right," Linvana adds, "Simin was in charge. If she didn't notice anything wrong, nobody would've expected you to."
A part of her cringes at that. It's not exactly true; a good leader knows they might miss something and listens to their team when someone notices something out of place. But Ollin is on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
"So, he agreed to meet, what next?" she prompts.
Ollin shrugs. "He let Simin choose the place. She liked that, said it meant that he was nervous but not too nervous to try something stupid. She picked an open spot a few rocks over, where I could cover her with my rifle.
"We got there first, so we knew there wasn't anyone waiting for an ambush. And he only brought a few guards with him. Nothing crazy."
"Sounds like a clean parlay to me," Telysa says. "You were covering them with your rifle?"
"Yep. Had lines of sight on all of them. Simin went out, started talking. Told him that all the Vex swarming the Plummet were a problem. Then she said that if he didn't leave Fortuna the Regent-Commander would put a price on his head. He shouted something about not being a slave. I got ready to shoot him. But then…" He makes a hopeless motion with his hands. "They were gone. He just grabbed her and they disappeared."
"Disappeared? Like, teleported?" Linvana asks.
Ollin nods. "I fired right as they disappeared. Should have hit him in the head. But they were gone."
"Transmat harnesses only have a few meters range," Telysa notes, "They can't have gone far unless they planted a beacon or set up a terminal."
"Well they were gone. I searched the whole asteroid. No beacons, no Fallen -" His voice hitches. "No sign of Simin. I didn't know what to do, so I called you."
Linvana sighs. "You did the right thing Ollin. There's nothing you could have done to stop it."
The young man shakes his head and stares off into the distance. Sensing a battle she can't win, Linvana kneels beside Telysa instead.
"The way they vanished," Linvana says, "You thinking what I'm thinking?"
"One way or another, it takes a few seconds to establish transmat lock. Unless they upgraded the range of their personal teleporters somehow…"
"Maybe with the tech they stole from robots that can cross the galaxy in an instant."
"Either way, Khariss's camp is bad news," Telysa says. "They've got lookouts covering every approach. There's no way to get in without being seen."
Linvana glances at the distant cluster of buildings. "Even if we do get in, what happens then? We ask him to nicely give the Awoken lady back?"
Telysa shrugs. "A year ago, kidnapping a Corsair would have brought down the full wrath of the Reef's navy. Now? He must think he can get away with more, otherwise he wouldn't have grabbed her in the first place."
"Yeah. What happened to Khariss being just a simple smuggler?"
"I don't know. Mad Fallen scientists messing with Vex tech are always bad news."
"Sounds like you're talking from experience."
"Unfortunately."
A gust of wind whips across the asteroid, pelting Linvana's visor with fine grit.
"So how do we want to do this? I guess I'll be the distraction while you slip inside and find her?"
"That only works on the assumption that he won't kill her as soon as he sees you coming."
Which is assuming Simin's still alive in the first place. But she doesn't voice the thought.
"Hey Guardians?" Ollin says. He's standing behind them, fumbling with a small radio clipped to his belt. "Someone's transmitting on a Corsair channel. I…I think it's Khariss."
The radio emits a scratchy, crackling voice. "To machine-thieves who trespass here. The Awoken-bitch is mine. If you value her life, you leave Fortuna. Tell Awoken and machine-thieves that Fortuna belongs to Khariss, yes?"
All at once Telysa sharpens, her posture taught and ready. "Can we reply?"
Ollin nods and presses a button on the radio.
"I take it I'm speaking to Khariss himself?" Telysa asks.
"Khariss, Lord of Fortuna," he corrects.
"Yes, of course. We'd be happy to leave you alone, but here's the thing. That Corsair you have was going to pay us for killing that big bad Vex stomping around in your backyard. And we're not leaving until we get our money."
A wheezing sound that might be laughing comes form the radio. Linvana would be laughing at Tel too if she hadn't just gone bat-shit crazy.
"Machine-thieves are funny," Khariss says, "Think Khariss pay for Awoken-bitch's empty promise? Ha!"
"You said it, this area belongs to you," Telysa says without missing a beat. "Which means we just killed your giant Vex mind. I guess if it really wasn't what you wanted, we can go rile up the Vex a bit, see if they'll send a replacement."
The line is silent for a moment. "Are you nuts?" Linvana hisses. Telysa shushes her.
"Khariss will give you glimmer, yes?" Khariss says finally. "And then you leave and come no back."
"Perfect. My friend and I will be right over," Telysa says.
"Friend? No friend. Only one comes, or Awoken-bitch dies. No weapons for machine-thief either, or Awoken-bitch dies, yes? If machine-thief say wrong thing, Awoken-bitch—"
"Dies. Yes, I think we understand each other. Do we have a deal?"
"Deal," Khariss growls. The line goes silent.
"What the hell?" Linvana sputters. "You want to just walk in there, grab her, and walk right back out? They'll cut both of you to ribbons. And Simin doesn't have a Ghost! It's stupid and reckless, even by your standards!"
"Relax," Telysa says. "I'm not walking in there, you are. And while Khariss gives you our cut, I'll grab Simin."
"He said only one of us can go in. The moment they spot you, he'll—"
"Which is exactly why they'll never even see me."
Linvana can feel the guards' wire-rifles tracking her as she crosses the broken plain.
Khariss has set up shop at the edge of one of the largest remaining pieces of Fortuna. The compound, a small collection of Fallen's modular pods, sits on the edge of the asteroid overlooking the Vex helix. It doesn't have a perimeter fence, but it doesn't need one. The vandals in the watchtowers can see anyone approaching on foot from miles away.
"You alright?" Telysa's voice asks to her left. Linvana forces down the urge to glance in that direction.
"Yeah, why do you ask?"
"You're tense. Nervous. It's worse than our first time."
"Shut up. Simin's life is on the line."
"And you'll get her killed if you keep walking as stiff as a board," Telysa admonishes. "Remember, you're a mercenary. You don't care about Simin beyond how much she was going to pay you. Money is all that matters."
"Easy for you to say," Linvana snaps. She winces as soon as the words are out of her mouth. "Sorry."
"It's alright. Remember, he's playing into our plan here. You're not walking into a trap, he's walking into ours."
Easy for Telysa to say, since she's invisible and has her gun in her hands. Linvana only has her fists and the hope that Khariss would rather pay off a Guardian than try to kill one. She's yet to meet a Fallen who hasn't gone for the second option.
The back of her neck is slick with sweat as she finally reaches the guard posts. They're rickety things cobbled together from scrap metal, like most structures out here in the Reef. But they give the vandals watching her a vantage to gun her down.
She balls her fists as she approaches the compound's front entrance and wills every Fallen watching to stay focused on her. Bladedancers are invisible in dim light, but the Reef is bright enough for someone to spot the telltale distortion if they know what to look for.
"Alright, I'm going dark," Telysa whispers. "I'll let you know when I'm in position."
The line clicks off right before the door opens. A half-dozen dregs armed with pole arms march out. They have her surrounded in moments, arc-spears leveled at her neck. Close enough that they would have smacked into Telysa. Hopefully that means she already snuck through the open door.
One of the dregs nods towards the gaping corridor. Linvana gives what she hopes is a nonchalant shrug.
"After you."