Hi guys, as you may have guessed, the Prelude is set a few years prior to the main story so I wanted to make sure you had the following chapter as quickly as possible. I hope you enjoy.
Hana could feel the biting cold string at her cheeks as she awoke. She didn't know how long before her alarm she had been pulled from her slumber, but she did know one thing, the bloody heating unit was bust again. She scrunched up her eyes, pulled the covers over her head and curled herself into a tight ball, trying to drift back to sleep for just a little while longer. It wasn't long before it became apparent that she wasn't going to be getting any more sleep this morning.
It would be an unpleasant way to wake up any day, but today it was just plain inconvenient. With the job she'd agreed to take on today, Hana had really wanted to get a reasonable nights sleep. "Oh well..." she muttered to herself as she kicked the cover off and swung her legs over the side of the small bed. She rubbed some sleep out of her eyes with the back of her hand before she stretched her arms upwards feeling a satisfying crack and pop in her lower back. The bed was almost as crap as the heater with barely any filling and plenty of bust springs, but it was better than nothing.
Hana stifled a yawn as she padded across the cramped room kicking the small heater on her way past and made her way to the tiny sink in the corner. The heater spluttered to life, blasting out warm air for a moment or so before it went dead again.
Fucking thing...
Hana turned on the hot tap, which of course spat out cold water and washed her face as quickly as she could, trying not to shiver from the chilly temperature. With her toothbrush hanging half out of her mouth she approached her decrepit wardrobe. One of the doors was half off its hinges, while the other missing entirely. It had been like that when she'd moved into the tiny bedsit, but she had no doubt she'd get blamed just so the seedy landlord could try to charge her for it.
She hadn't ever attempted a raid on such a large ship before, so took a moment to mull over her clothing options, trying to work out what would be the most suitable. With such limited options she plucked her usual gear and threw it on the small bed, making her way back to the tiny sink to continue brushing her teeth. She dragged a brush through her thick and unruly silver hair cursing at the painful tugs she pulled at aggressively with her brush before she turned her attention to her clothing. She pulled on the faded black cargo pants, which were slightly to big for her and secured with the use of a belt, followed by a heavy set of boots. Next came the long sleeve black compression vest, which she pulled haphazardly on over the sports bra she was already wearing. Last of all she pulled on her black plated chest armour before she paused, and swayed her upper body from side to side, testing her mobility.
The ability to move would be paramount today, and she couldn't help but think that the armor would constrict her movement just that little bit too much. She bit the side of her lip and unclipped it, throwing it back on the bed. If everything went as it should today she shouldn't need it anyway. A group of Scrappers were not about to pick a Cold family, not if they could help it.
Hana threw a courtesy glance at herself in the mirror, realising that her hair still looked like a nest but couldn't be bothered to do anything about it before she strode out of her tiny home, locking the battered door behind her. It wasn't just her room that was worn, the whole place was a dump, but it was the best freelance sensory like herself could get on a desolate planet like this. At least she was usually in high demand. There was no debate to the fact that she was among, if not the best sensory on planet, with razor-sharp precision. Plus she had the advantage of being far more combat ready that any other sensory her usual employers had on their rota. Not that she normally had to use it, but it was certainly nice to have a back up plan.
Before she knew it she was at a dusty workshop full of partially built ships and land vehicles. She strode through the already busy workshop, being completely ignored by the workers. They were fully aware of who she was and that she would be here in connection with a job. She had become involved in this group a few years ago. They made their money by scavenging or stealing various parts and components from ships and either selling them on or using them in the workshop. Hana knew very little about engine parts or whatever else it was they got hold of, she was essentially there as a lookout that doubled up as hired in muscle.
With her superior senses combined with her ability to mask both her own Ki and that of those around her for a limited time she was the ideal candidate when it came to covert missions such as this one. Her strength and fighting ability hopefully wouldn't even be a factor today and if all went according to plan they would be in and out before anyone knew they were there.
She strode into the office towards the back of building, knocking the door closed behind her with her foot and made a beeline for the coffee machine. While she waited for her coffee to brew she opened up the cupboards in search of some kind of breakfast, settling on a sustenance bar.
"Fridge broken again Kid?" a gravely voice sounded behind her.
"Broken? I don't think the fucking thing thing ever worked" Hana mumbled taking a large gulp of coffee and grimacing at the bitterness that assaulted her taste buds. She ripped open the wrapper of the sustenance bar with her teeth and took a bite in the hope it would mask the taste of the cheap coffee. It didn't taste much different to what she imagined stale cardboard to taste like, but it was something and she was absolutely starving.
Hana eased herself up onto the worktop, letting her legs dangle as she gave a quizzical glance back towards the Zee, who had just joined her in the office. She was mildly surprised to see him. Zee was typically used as hired muscle or reserved for debt collecting, but as far as she was aware today's plan called for a stealthy approach. Zee was a huge muscled humanoid, with four arms and dark charcoal grey skin. Unlike Hana he had opted to wear a set of chest armor which further sparked concern in the pit of her stomach.
"I didn't realise you were joining today Zee" she questioned taking another large gulp of her coffee.
He shrugged his oversized shoulders as he reclined into his chair and lit the cigarette that had been hanging out of his mouth since he arrived. Hana was fairly certain that his habit of chain smoking was at least partly the reason his voice was so horse and gravely.
"New Intel came in this morning." he grumbled as he took another drag, "two of the Cold's have come down with the ship. I'm an extra precaution"
Hana nodded once, taking another sip of much needed caffeine as she mulled over the new information she had just been given. Having any member of the Cold family on planet presented an issue, but two of them could result in absolute fucking disaster. Had this not been such a high value job she was pretty sure it would have been pulled already. She turned her head towards the door as she felt a presence enter the workshop, to which Zee looked at her expectantly.
"Boss is here" she confirmed for him.
Ever since she had been a small child Zee had been fully aware of how accurately she could read and sense Ki. She couldn't just determine a power level like a scouter could, she could read so much more than that. She could pinpoint accurate locations, recognize signatures she had come across before, and to a point she could read the emotions and intentions of those she was focusing on.
Both Hana and Zee stood as the squat form of their boss entered the room. Bogart was barely over 3 feet tall and toad like in appearance. His beady little eyes always gave the impression that he couldn't be trusted, which he probably couldn't.
He glanced between them once before making his way to the extra high chair behind the cluttered desk that sat at the far end of the room.
"You've both been appraised on what you're doing?" he questioned abruptly as he sat himself in his chair and pulled a lever to give himself some much needed extra height.
"Batteries. Low profile" Zee confirmed as he sat back down in his chair lighting up another cigarette as Hana leaned herself back against the counter consuming the last of the sustenance bar.
"Precisely," Bogart confirmed as he clasped his mottled green hands together and glanced between them "I cannot stress enough how important it is that you are not detected. The last thing we need is for the Cold's to trace this back to us. You'll need a Mech to get the batteries out, so you'll be taking Jungo with you."
"Jungo?" Hana questioned raising a dark eyebrow "are you sure? Isn't he a bit... jittery?" She immediately regretted her words when Bogart threw her a death glare.
"Yes Hana. Jungo. He's the only one who knows what he's doing with those batteries, so he's the one you are taking. Unless YOU want to be responsible for the exaction of those batteries!?"
"No Sir, sorry Sir" Hana mumbled before downing the rest of her coffee. She knew she shouldn't have said anything, but it was true, Jungo was jumpy at the best of times, let alone on a dangerous job like this where a level head would be needed. Even so, she was well aware of how much Bogart hated to be questioned, and she needed to stay on his good side. He was the one paying her after all and from what she could gather these particular batteries were not only hard to come by, but worth a fortune.
Fortunately Bogart seemed to let the indiscretion go, going on to explain to them that most likely due to it's size the ship they would be hitting was parked at the edge of the city. The engine and server rooms were located towards the back of the ship and there was a specific process for extracting the batteries from the engine unit. Jungo would be responsible for extracting and transporting the batteries without tripping any of the security systems or damaging the cargo, and Hana and Zee were to keep both him and the batteries safe. In theory, a very simple plan.
The ship seemed to be on planet as part of a resupply for the mother ship, so it was likely that it wouldn't be completely vacant. There was no doubt that this job would be difficult. Just as the thought crossed her mind Hana felt the presence of Jungo approach the room. She could feel it long before he entered the room and she saw his face; he was absolutely terrified.