Chapter 5

Lena had joined the party going to meet this mercenary, despite her mother and brother's protests and pleads. Mahad had insisted on going too if his sister was. Mila had also wanted to go, but the Vector (who was the closest thing Puerto Angel had to a doctor) had told her that she wasn't strong enough for combat if it came to that. And they all knew she would if her children were put in danger. As they got off the Saint Nazaire onto the bloc, they looked at their surroundings with curiosity. They were in what looked to have once been a town, but it had clearly been destroyed. As they past by one house that seemed to have suffered pretty badly Lena noticed something. Walking away from the others she saw what it was- a grave. Someone had also planted a sapling behind it so that when it grew, it would shelter the gravestone. When she reached the stone, she knelt by it. Now she could see there were actually two of them. There was something about these graves…it tingled in her sejinn senses. She wasn't sure what it was, but…she sensed something around it. Frowning slightly, the young girl knelt down and wiped the thin layer of dirt off. There wasn't much, it was almost as if someone had already done so…of course! Someone had! But who was here?

"Estelle." She read out loud, noting the birth and death dates. Turning to the other one she read,

"Genevieve, pure of heart and loyalist of friends." Just below the dates of birth and death (which were fairly close together) there was an awkward scratch, as if made by someone inexperienced in carving-"Taken far too young" Just then there was a small click and the young girl looked up to see a girl standing several meters away holding a laser-gun and it was pointed at her.

"Step. Away. From. There." She said in a dangerous voice.

"Wait a minute…I know you!" Lena exclaimed, "You…you were in my dream!" It was then that the others showed up

"Lena!" Mahad cried when he saw the Rogue pointing the weapon at his sister. She stood up a little straighter and tensed a little, a silent treat that she was not afraid to shoot. The rebels all halted in their tracks. However, the Rogue returned her attention to the young sejinn.

"What did you say?" She asked

"You were in my dream last night." Lena told her as she slowly rose to her feet.

"No kidding." The older girl breathed, then shook her head slightly and looked at Cortez and the others.

"Well, well. 1-2-3-4, 5" she motioned to Lena at the last number "5 of you and one of me. This encourages trust." However, despite her words, she returned the weapon to its sheath with a twirl just like the Cowboys in old western movies and planted her hands on her hips. A raised eyebrow was all the inquiry needed for the rebels.

"Look, we never agreed on the amount of people to come meet you. After all, you chose the meeting place." Mahad said only a little nervously.

"Fair enough. However, when you've brought over an entire raiding party, how am I supposed to know that you don't have more people hidden somewhere here?" she inquired dryly.

"My guess is that you've made sure we won't." Wyan commented.

"True." Was the reply. Then she seemed to get a little more serious. "Alright, I'll get straight to the point. The object you want is valuable, well guarded and dangerous to get. You know the cost of it, and I expect to be paid in full at the end, no delays, no tricks, nothing. Also, I expect some of it in advance."

"How much?" Cortez asked cautiously.

"The first month's supply of water and 10 litres of fuel."

"Fair enough." The rebel leader agreed.

"We will meet at a location of my choosing for the pay-off, are we agreed?"

"Yes."

"Wait!" Lena called out as the Rogue started to leave. She turned around to face the young sejinn. "Whose graves are these?"

"Lena!" Mahad exclaimed

"Sorry. I have to know though. There's something about this place, about this grave…who's was it?" For a moment, the thief said nothing and there was a tense silence, finally the older girl replied

"Just leave them alone."

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"Well that was unnerving. What do you think was going on with those graves?" Kale asked Wyan when they were back in the Saint Nazaire. Wyan frowned

"I don't know. I think the people buried there were important to her."

"I think they were probably people she loved, though I've never heard of either of them." Lena said, coming up behind them

"Whether was going on there, I still don't trust her." Cortez grumbled

"Well, we don't really have a choice now."

3 days later

Gwen into a patroller and flew out, fending off several more before heading to a nice little hide-out. The ship was totalled, but hey! It wasn't hers. Translation: Not her problem. She wished she could stick around just to see the looks on those fool's faces when they found a cheap imitation in place of their precious rock! She couldn't believe she had just pulled off the caper pf the decade! For this particular achievement she had left a subtle calling card etched into the base of the fake rock.

She smiled to herself and tossed the jewel in the air and caught in a cloth bag. Her smile faded quickly. Now, to finish this up.

"Cortez, we just received a transmission from The Rogue!" Wyan said, pausing as he read the rest of the transmission. "She's got the jewel! She wants to meet us on and abandoned bloc she just sent the coordinates to us for, but she just wants Mahad and Cheung to go, but she won't care if I go."

"Mahad and Cheung? Why?" Cortez asked.

"Dunno. It just says-Mahad and Cheung are to come, Wyan if too if he pleases, no one else. You know the consequences should this condition not be met."

"What 'consequences?'" Mahad scoffed.

"You'd be surprised. If the rumours about her are true, she can be very…creative with those who double-cross her." Wyan said. When the others looked at him curiously he shrugged

"You'd be surprised the gossip you hear on blocs like Diablo's and Tortuga." He told them; referring to the bloc they'd found the girl on as well as another famously shady bloc.

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A half-hour later Mahad, Wyan and Cheung were standing in a deserted Factory on a bloc that was stuck behind several small blocks and minor magnetic field, it wasn't large, but it was bad enough to make flight difficult and communication impossible.

"Hello?" Cheung called out. There was a faint echo. "We're here." There was a faint thud behind them and they turned to see the Rogue.

"Good. I have what you wanted. Now, payment." She said, holding a small cloth bag in one hand and holding out the other in a demanding gesture. Wayan and Mahad then put down the large boxes of parts that were part of the price they had agreed on. The Water was outside, as was the fuel.

"Open them." She ordered, taking out her laser-weapon.

"Man she's bossy!" Mahad hissed at Wayan. The other rebel merely shrugged.

"That's her line of work, I guess." They then backed away as the girl started looking through the parts. She tossed the cloth bag to the older rebel. Suddenly she looked up and jerked her head in Mahad's direction,

"You, Mahad. You will need to install this chip there," she pointed at a console in the wall "In order to be able to take off. This base has an automatic lock-down mechanism. Don't know the details of how it works, but this chip over-rides it." She said, holding a clear blue plastic rectangle out while still looking through the parts she had been given. Just as the teenager was about to take the slide from her she snatched it out of his reach and in one swift motion had taken out a large hook-shaped blade and had it at Mahad's neck.

"Nice try. You can't fool me. I specifically asked for a memory chip and it isn't here. Look what I found instead." She held up a small metal, beeping circle. Tossing it to Wayan she picked up her pistol again and pointed it at Cheung. The Rebel's eyes widened at seeing his friends in danger, but then looked down at the small gadget.

"A tracer?" He muttered "What the-we didn't put this in!"

"Of course you didn't." she said in a dry tone. "But I'll tell you what. You go take that back to your ship and bring back the correct chip and I'll let these two go. You have 45 minutes. GO!" she snapped. Seeing no choice, Wayan looked from Cheung, to The Rogue and Mahad, then turned and started running.

"Just make it easier for all of us and stop twitching Mahad." she said to the other teenager as she began to struggle against her surprisingly strong grip. Looking over at Cheung and tossing him the card she had previously given to Mahad. "You! your friend will need this to take off, put it through the slot." She said. Both did as they were told. After the little boy moved back into the centre of the room the thief removed the hook-shaped blade away from the other teenager's neck and pushed him toward his young friend and returned the weapon to its hiding place

"Just how many weapons do you have?" Cheung exclaimed as she took out another weapon from the inside of her vest and returned her gun to her belt.

"A lot. Now to get rid of this…" the thief said absentmindedly, pulling out a memory chip from within her glove. The two rebels gaped

"You-you lied!" Cheung cried. The girl rolled her eyes

"Thief, mercenary, general dishonest work- is ANY of this ringing a bell?" She asked mockingly by way of explanation, raising the weapon she currently held threateningly.

"W-wait! " Mahad yelled, looking around nervously. "You don't want to do this! Think about what you're doing! Hold on, what are you doing?" The thief holding the two kids captive was putting something in her ears

"Kidnapping you." She replied offhandedly.

"Huh? Why?" Cheung asked.

"Let's just say, everybody has a price, and someone's paying mine." This made Mahad angry.

"You low-life, no good, horrible-" he was cut off when the Rogue pulled the trigger. However, instead of laser-shots, bullets or any other kind of missile, the gun sent out waves of sound that instantly began paralysing the two boys. It knocked Cheung out almost immediately, however, Mahad managed to stay awake a little longer than she had clearly expected as he heard her murmur mostly to herself, though he couldn't quite make out what she was saying it sounded like

"Sorry boys…nothing personal…"