Utopium-042, Colonel Briggs' office
"Damn it!" Briggs yelled as he punched his desk causing the wood to crack. "What happened back there Brown!"
"Sir, after reporting to you I waited for the back up you sent. Their entry wasn't captured on any camera but before they started freezing You can vaguely see Klein firing some sort of projectile at the security system. I assume this is what caused issues with the system. Anyway, by the time we had entered they had already boarded the ship in the warehouses hangar. We rained fire on the ship and did as much damage as we could. At this point I thought they were just putting up their last stand from the ship. Never did it cross my mind that they could not only hack into the controls of the ship but completely isolate and transfer ownership to themselves. Then as if it couldn't get worse they somehow turned of the gravitational anchor and blasted off" Brown described as he bowed 90 degrees.
" I see.. it didn't cross your mind huh?" Briggs' gruff voice asked chilling the surroundings.
"Im sorry sir!" Brown bowed once more. "I underestimated my enemy and made mistakes leading to their escape. Please punish me how you see fit and I swear it won't happen again!"
"I'll see about that Brown. Dismissed" Briggs commanded.
As Brown slumped out of the room his head held low Briggs thought 'Damn this is a mess. At least overall damages were low otherwise a failed operation of this scale could affect my career'
Standing up, Briggs got closer to the holographic image portraying Klein shooting a borderline impossible shot to disable the security. Sighing he pulled out his comms device and made a call.
"Hey place two bounties for me would ya?..... Klein and Bjorn.... I'll send their pictures and details later..... Klein for 10,000 credits dead or alive and Bjorn for 12,000 credits but only alive... Thank you. I hope there's quick results"
_________________________________________
"From now on its the real deal!" Klein exclaimed. "But before we get into that. We have plenty of issues to solve. One the hull is damaged from those FTPA soldiers. Two Lena is a head and a head can't do anything so she needs a body. Finally three we have little to no funds available to fix both of the other issues" He said in a serious tone.
"Honestly isn't there some huge landfill planet nearby so I can loot it. That could give all the materials we want and more" Klein whimsied.
"What's with you and looting landfills man? I swear, it's all you did for months and you want to keep going?" Bjorn questioned.
"One man's trash is another's treasure Bjorn. That means that landfills are actually treasure troves" Klein insisted.
"I might have a solution for one of those problems guys." Lena spoke up. "As a pilot droid I do have some knowledge about our surroundings and there is a place we could make a lot of money if everything works out"
"Where?" Klein asked, his eyes shining.
"New Vega, a planet under the United Corporations. It's a relatively new colony meaning that it's still quite lawless. There is bound to be something to do there. Plus they have a lot of lowkey spots to fix the ship at. Spots where price can be negotiated." Lena explained her usual smiley face transforming to a sly smirk.
"I'm already liking this!" Klein said, his eyes shining dangerously.
"Then what are we waiting for set a course there. Let's go crew!" Klein exclaimed excitedly.
_________________________________________
New Vega, Anarch City
In a dim and desolate repair station a woman sat in a dark office. In front of her was a hologram depicting two men. 'Interesting..' she thought. 'It seems the FTPA is weaker than I thought. That incident must've been a bigger blow than we thought'
Although Utopuim-042 was on the outskirts of their area of influence, a galactic superpower like the Free Trade Planets Association shouldn't have let Klein and Bjorn go that easy. 'I guess they really couldn't spare the resources to go after them personally'
The fact that bounties went out is more telling of the FTPA's situation than one would think. It meant that they couldn't get them on their own or they were cutting their losses and moving on entirely. If Klein and Bjorn were caught then good but if not then so be it.
For a faction as large and prominent as the FTPA this reresented weakness. What kind of all powerful organization let their traitors run amock? What kind of superpower didn't deal transgressions against them personally?
One that was degrading. One whose resources and power were fading. 'A change is coming' Maria thought to herself. 'Something big'
_________________________________________
In the Star Wanderer in orbit outside New Vega.
"Alright where to from here?" asked Bjorn sitting in the cockpit.
"Down obviously" Klein smirked, standing behind him smugly.
"No shit asshole" Bjorn retorted.
A mechanical laughter cut in, "Ha.. Ha... Ha.. You two are funny you know" Lena said not an ounce of joy in her voice.
"Sure doesn't sound like it hearing your laugh." Klein chuckled to himself.
"Anyway pull down in the outskirts of Anarch City. There's a repair station there that can provide everything we need" Lena said.
As her words echoed the Star Wonderer began its descent through New Vega's atmosphere.
Slowly reaching Anarch City you could see the whole planet. Huge open desert interrupted by cities. An endless yellow plane with concrete cut outs streched out before the Star Wonderer.
Standing at the window Klein looked outside with his eyes shining. "Holy..." As a slum rat from Utopium-042 Klein had never seen anything like it.
Turning to face Bjorn he smiled. "This is what everything was for Bjorn!" He beamed pointing putside the cockpit. "This universe has so much to see and experience. We can't afford to miss it. I must see it all!"