I follow the rest of the squad into the dimly lit bar, surprised at how small it looks from the inside. Unlike the brightly lit, multicolored stalls outside, the Trader's Inn has bare, murky brown walls, a few lopsided yellow lights hanging from the ceiling and a small bar at one end.

There is a small square raised platform next to it which I guess to be a stage because there are two Taygetian females dancing seductively to the slow paced music playing in the background.

We walk past a few occupied tables and I catch the male Taygetians and Elcians looking at us curiously, no doubt wondering who the new comers are. We head to an empty table and I take a seat on a very worn out chair.

"This place is a dump," Remulus says as he eyes his chair and takes a deep breath before sitting down.

"Let's order a few drinks," Altair leans in eagerly and then his face turns serious when all of us stare at him. "To blend in obviously."

"I want a Twisted Passion, neat and on the rocks," Remulus replies without even looking at the menu and I pick a random drink because I don't plan on drinking much of it anyway. Not while I'm on a mission.

"Hey there, sexy." A tall rowdy looking Elcian with a long red beard leans on our table, facing Pollux. "Can I get you a drink?"

I bite my lip hard, suppressing my laughter when Pollux swings his long platinum blonde wig over his shoulder daintily and turns to look at the flirt.

"That depends. Can you tell me what I want to hear?" Pollux bats his eyelashes at the Elcian and he immediately puffs up and sticks out his chest, looking eager to impress.

"Of course I can, dollface. What do you want to know?" He asks in perfect Plutonian, despite his unkempt appearance.

"Tell me about the rebel blasts on the moons. I can't believe such a thing happened," Pollux gushes in the most believable female voice and I catch Deneb biting his lip before looking away.

"Sorry doll, don't know much about that," The Elcian says and Pollux scowls.

"Then forget it. Not interested," Pollux says, turning away from the Elcian.

He stares at Pollux with a sunken expression before lifting his arm off the table and walking back to his table.

"Does everyone here speak Plutonian?" I ask Remulus and he nods his head.

"Plutonian is the universal language and Plutonian gold is the universal trade currency. That is how we make profits from every single trade transaction in the universe. Not to mention all the lanes in space are patrolled by Plutonian drones and when a trader from any planet passes through they have to pay a small amount to the Plutonians each time. To put it simply, the Plutonians are out of this world rich," Remulus tells me.

I stare at him while I mentally try to estimate how much the Plutonians make from their two thousand colonized planets and quickly give up. It's safe to say that it must be a lot. I learnt about the trade route charges and the transaction charges but I never really could picture how it all worked.

Plus there were many colonized planets like Earth and Cixin which hadn't advanced to the level of space travel that the other planets had so the Plutonians took other things from them instead. Like herbs and medicine from Cixin and humans from Earth.

"It doesn't make sense to me," I say frowning. "How did such a small planet with a fake atmosphere achieve such control over the entire galaxy?"

"The Plutonians have been around for millions of years and they only moved to Pluto because their first planet was destroyed by an asteroid. I've heard that the previous planet we lived on was much nicer and there was no need for a protective atmosphere. It actually was a lot like Earth," Altair says, looking at me and I still in surprise.

Our drinks arrive and the bartender places them on our table in front of us. Remulus is the first to take his, he takes out a small dropper and squeezes a drop of purple liquid into his before doing the same for the rest of our drinks.

The purple drop dissolves quickly and he smiles in satisfaction. "Okay, they're not drugged. Dig in mates."

He takes a huge gulp of his drink while I sip on mine cautiously.

"Girl, you'd better drink more than that. You're usually such a tense worry wart and we don't need that kind of energy on our mission," Remulus nags, making me scowl.

"No, I'm not," I grumble but I take another sip just as Pollux does.

"How would the rebels be able to travel if all the space lanes are being monitored?" I ask them and Deneb is quick to answer.

"The hyperlanes are easy to monitor but not the smaller lanes. That is usually where smuggling happens and I'm guessing the rebels use them too."

I look around me, glancing at each table and quickly look away when they catch my eye.

"What do you see?" Sirius asks Remulus and he leans in to whisper to us.

"The Taygetian by the door has been staring at us the whole time. The Elcians two tables to our left are carrying laser guns in their shirts. The two dancers on stage keep on casting cautious glances at the table to our right, I'm guessing the Taygetians there hold some power over here. Oh and the bartender just looked at us before whispering into his shirt," Remulus says and I stare at him in shock, wondering how he picked up all of that while conversing with us the whole time.

I turn to my left and catch the only two Plutonian officers here taking a sip of their drinks, their eyes droopy and after a few minutes they lean their heads against the table and fall asleep.

"What are you?" My head shoots up to the voice that asked that question and I see the Taygetian who was standing by the door previously. The one who was staring at us.

"Uhh, I'm," I stutter at a loss for words and the Taygetian frowns. Just then the music stops and suddenly everyone's eyes are on us.

"And what is he?" He points at Remulus.

A surge of panic runs down my spine as I realize all the bars inhabitants have now taken a step closer and the two Plutonian patrol officers are out cold in their seats.

"She's a human and I'm a half breed. We're treated like crap by the Plutonians all the time so please just let us enjoy this one drink while we can," Remulus sighs pitifully, taking a sip of his drink.

"A human?" The Taygetian stares at me in awe. "I've never heard of one before. Where are you from?"

"From Earth," I say hesitantly.

"My, my you look so scared. What have the Plutonians done to you? What slavery have you been forced into?" He leans in and stares at me, his eyes filled with curiosity.

I look at my squad members and Pollux glares at me to play along, Deneb, Sirius and Altair all nod for me to go on.

I suck in a breath and plaster the saddest expression I can muster before beginning my tragic story.

The entire room listens on in silence as I depict my journey of being born on Pluto as a slave, recounting the most horrible experiences I can conjure up as I try to deviate from the truth in front of my squad.

I tell them about my friends, the slaves who I watched die and then some tragic story about a cousins death. Even though my story is fake, the pain in my words are real and it carries through out the room. When I finish, I hear a sniffle coming from the bartender.

"We actually came here looking for help. We heard there were groups brave enough to go against the empire and we want in," Remulus says smoothly but I catch his hand sneaking to his waistband where his gun is.

My hand instinctively falls to my side as well and I feel the smooth surface of my small laser gun.

The Taygetian stares at us, looking deep in thought. "What makes you think we can help you?"

"We don't but we're desperate enough to try anything," Remulus says.

The Taygetian's eyes narrow on his face, his pupils dark. "Really liked the fascinating story but sadly I don't buy a thing."

Just as we pull out our guns, I feel the butt of a gun against my temple and I glance around the table to see the same thing with the others.

"First of all I saw you land with the Trinity and the Generals so I know you are soldiers," The Taygetian gestures at Remulus and I, "Plus that Elcian is too damn beautiful and there are no beautiful female traders here, ever."

"I'm really good with make up?" Pollux shrugs his shoulders but the Taygetian doesn't look convinced.

"Take these fake Plutonians to the back. They wanted to meet the boss so they'll get what they want before we kill them all."

A strong hand grabs my arm and pulls me to my feet. Our squad is dragged to the back of the room. We are pushed down a narrow staircase and into a small room which houses a desk on one end.

A very elegant looking Elcian male sits behind the large computer screen and then he looks up at us.

"Hello spies," He smiles. "Welcome to our humble abode."

"This is the rebel lair?" Remulus looks around the small room in disappointment.

The Elcian chuckles and tucks a smooth strand of pale pink hair behind his ear. "This isn't a lair. It's my office."

"Who are you?" I ask him when his pale green eyes fall on me.

"Are you sure you want to know my name, Aria? Or should I say number 7203."

My body freezes in shock, wondering how he could possibly know that.

"Don't look so shocked. We have insiders who know everyone who landed from your ship, plus you are sort of a hot topic among st the traders, being the Bone Breaker and sleeping with a member of the Trinity," His eyes narrow to slits as he smiles at me. "I think every trader has heard about you."

I gulp loudly making him smile even wider.

"It is a pity you will be stranded here once tonight is over," He says to me.

"What do you mean by that?" I frown at him.

"Boss, shall we kill them now?" The Taygetians and Elcians behind ask him and he shakes his head.

"There's no need for that. I want to see the expression on their faces when they watch their leaders die."

"What the hell are you talking about, Elcian?" Altair cuts in looking angry.

The Elcian behind the desk just laughs cynically. "And I used to think Plutonians were smart. Let me spell it out for you then."

"The destruction of our bases on Taygeta's moons was just a decoy? To get the leaders here?" Remulus suddenly asks and the Elcian nods his head approvingly.

"Glad to see some of your brains are working. We didn't expect the Trinity to come as well but I'm not going to lie, blowing all of them up in the banquet with be the biggest blow to the empire. Once the head is severed, it is only a matter of time before the body crumbles to dust."

My mouth falls open in horror and my knees threaten to buckle under my weight.

Lucian is at that banquet.

"It's high time all of us stood up for our rights and destroyed this parasite of a species," The Elcian says. "You are free to join us if you want but stand in our way and you will be killed."

Altair opens his mouth to argue but the Elcian stops him.

"It's almost time. Let's head outside," He waits for his minions to drag us outside and then they force us to stare at the large palace where the banquet is being held.

I struggle furiously against the Elcian holding me and my eyes fill with tears of frustration as the Elcian counts down to one.

The ground suddenly shakes below my feet and I watch the palace burst from within as brilliant shards of white light erupt from it's dome. I fall to the ground once the Elcian releases me and Pollux takes off towards the palace the moment he is released.

"Shall I shoot him?" A Taygetian asks their Elcian leader and he shakes his head.

"Let them go. Let them see their leaders bones that have been turned to dust."

Do you guys think Lucian is dead? Anyway hope you enjoyed and now you know abit about the rebellion :) :)