Part I
A Thief

Warm, fat raindrops pattered Fawkes' collar. He squinted into the distance, just able to make out the shape of an odd, square building.

"That looks like it." He pointed.

His companions tried to spot it too. Nel stood on her toes, widening her eyes in that odd way caelumnen do when they're trying to see something. Bubbles clambered onto Fawkes' shoulder, making the human stumble and curse under his breath. He knew that after all that time and effort spent in the labbo's caves he should have been used to it, but he wasn't. There was just something inherently uncomfortable about the way they clung to you. Their skin was clammy and smooth, like a fish. Tui made no visible effort to look for the building, and continued plodding forward impetuously.

The only other human with them was just as stoic. Gaunt and wiry, the man had showed up in town only about a week before. Never spoke with anyone, just sat in the inn, sipping sake and tapping at a dataslab. Fawkes wasn't exactly the most savory person either, but something about the guy just seemed off. But he paid well, and Fawkes needed the money, especially now that Laroa had written him off as a criminal. He resented that. It was true, of course, but he still resented it.

His triumvirate of alien friends had shown up a couple days ago. Just in time too. He had been trying to help a burgeoning hive of labokil refugees hidden in an old mineshaft, but people had started to get suspicious about the missing food and nocturnal sounds. The labbo's had taken his warnings as threats. If it weren't for the intervention of the odd party before him, Fawkes suspected he would have been killed for his troubles.

And now here they were, off to secure some special artifact from a collapsing factory at the behest of mystery man du jour, the illustrious Mr. Abhe.

"Don't approach the door until my signal," Abhe said. His voice sounded strained and came in short panting bursts. It seemed he was not one for hiking. "There have been rumors of a vaniin *huff* pirate gang about. They may have *huff* taken up residence here."

Fawkes smirked. He had heard the rumors. In this part of Qari, most of the local bumpkins had never even seen a vaniin, let alone a pirate. There was no chance that a gang would be this far inland. The others seemed to believe the story easily enough. Bubbles had been hiding in and around Junkyard most of hir life, where pirates were always an issue. Ze seemed to think that the rest of the world must be like that too. And Nelthilta was voidborn, used to live on some luxury liner. She hadn't a clue about life planetside. Surely Tui would have figured it out by now, but he could out poker face a rock. If he knew that this was bullshit, he certainly didn't show it.

They had gotten close enough to the factory to make it out clearly by then. A series of bombed out concrete shells encircled a central square mass that straddled the deep Tepakhe river. A tiny, metal door stood by the river, with only a few small windows on the second floor. The place looked like it had been designed by a computer.

Abhe gathered the five of them into one of the shells. Taking a knife, he began to scrape a crude drawing into the concrete. "The entrance leads to a small atrium. There are like security measures to prevent anyone without ID to enter the facility proper without triggering an alarm, provided this place still has power." He drew a long hall, topping it with a square. "Beyond the atrium will be a corridor. Several low-security labs and offices should stem from it. Here, at the end, will be a security checkpoint. Beyond this will be a locker room, and the main 'factory floor.' We'll need to go through there to get to the stairwell. I believe that what we're looking for will be upstairs, in the high-security offices."

Bubbles nodded. "Nel. Flare, if painless. Tui, is vaniin?" Tui already was peering through the scope of his hunting rifle, peeked around the corner of the concrete.

"Yes. I see two shapes. Both have the right profile. Abhe, how many do you think?"

"Intel says eight to ten-"

"Intel's wrong." Tui interrupted. "Locals exaggerate. Embedded inland. Conclusion of dry season. Vaniin semi-amphibious. Provided incursion is minuscule, area could not support more than six." His voice was thin and reedy, but he spoke with a strange fluidity, his words melting one into the other. "Bublinkovi, windows clear." Bubbles stood and moved to dash, before Abhe hissed and pulled him back.

"Stop it, will you? This place dealt with a number of highly corrosive agents. I'm sure you've noticed the grass." The plant life did look odd. Pale and sickly, and brittle to the touch. The whole place smelled like iron and rubbing alcohol. "If you see any liquids, avoid them as best you can. They'll burn. And for the love of Kashi, wait for my signal."

Bubbles' nose twitched. Ze looked at Fawkes and motioned to hir back. Reluctantly, Fawkes hiked the barefoot labbo onto his shoulders. Nel nervously twirled a length of rope between her fingers. Tui continued to stare through the scope.

"Now would be good." He muttered. Abhe sighed.

"Move!"