Mira sat at a table in Noree’s lab. She’d rushed over after her encounter with Cursa. Of course, after speaking to Cursa, the transport system came back online immediately. She wondered what else Cursa had his hands in. If he was able to seize control of that system here on Malstyx, what else was he capable of?

She stared at the vacant table. Her fingers rasped against its smooth surface. “Damn him and his money,” she murmured.

“What was that?” Noree asked as she walked into the room from a side door.

Mira looked up to the dryte woman, who was still dressed in the same white lab coat, along with the blue micro-petal skirt and top. Her dark-blue mossy hair flowed down to her shoulders. Mira wondered if the dryte changed their hair as often as other species.

“Nothing, just frustrated,” Mira said. “An old acquaintance decided to pay me a visit earlier.”

Noree held a glass, which looked to be full of water. She sipped at it occasionally as she listened. “Anyone of importance?” she asked.

Mira stopped her fingers from rasping. She took in a slow breath and relaxed back in her chair. “Another phoenix, Cursa.” At first, Mira wondered if she should keep her identity as a phoenix a secret. But after Noree invited her into her home and also saw what had happened to Luca, Mira felt that Noree had to know what she was. The dryte woman was many things, but she certainly wasn’t a fool.

“It was surprising enough to know that one phoenix had come to Malstyx, but now a second?” Noree questioned. She walked over and took a seat across from Mira. The table could easily seat a dozen.

“He says he’s here to...pick up my slack,” said Mira. “But I know he would’ve never come here if I hadn’t appeared here first.”

Noree watched Mira with a blank expression. “I thought the phoenixes were very close and always aware of each others activities?” Noree questioned. “You seem to be implying that he’s not here to help you.”

Mira shook her head. “We communicate with each other, frequently.” She leaned forward and rested her arms on the table, her hands clasped together. “But we’re not all close, we have our own priorities. We can differ on solutions to problems, along with what we perceive those problems to be. Cursa can get...overzealous.”

“But phoenixes work towards the good of the universe and ridding it of demons, correct?” Noree asked.

Mira’s eyes looked away, staring at a random piece of machinery in Noree’s lab. “That’s our purpose. But you’ve delved into the inner workings of demons and their machinations. Surely you know as well as I, that things aren’t always black and white.”

“I do, but I was under the impression that phoenixes always had pure intentions towards everyone.”

“If only things were so simple,” said Mira, apparently unwilling to go further into detail on the topic.

Noree lifted her arm and tapped her data-band. She selected a file on the display and sent it over to Mira.

Mira’s data-band buzzed and she tapped it, to bring up her own display and view the information sent to her. “So this is it?” she asked. “This is the location of the demon?”

“Correct,” said Noree. “I’m calling him the source demon, as the trace amounts of blood, all seem to come from one demon. Effectively the source of the plight.”

“Him?” asked Mira.

“Well, I have no way of knowing the demon’s gender, it just seems likely given my experience in studying demon properties.”

Mira read it over before zooming in on a terrain-view of the local area.

“How did you find the location?” she asked.

“I have various associates in my employ,” said Noree. “For protective measures, I never reveal names to anyone, unless they’re here in person. But I’ve utilized their abilities in the past and I know for certain that this information is accurate. The demon we’re after, is there. But I don’t know for how long. As you can see, that location is out in the wilds, outside the city. Seems to be an underground facility, as most tend to be when constructed in the wilds on this world.”

Mira took note of the terrain. It was heavily forested. Much of Malstyx was covered in dense jungles. Those regions were largely referred to as ‘the wilds’ despite its technical and more accurate name of ‘The Malstyx Jungle Region’. Beyond the wilds, were large bodies of water.

Noree hadn’t provided any schematic detail on the underground portion of the facility. The above-ground structures seemed minimal. Probably to mask the compound’s true intentions.

“How likely are civilians to be in there?” asked Mira. “Would most the workers know what they’re dealing with in there?”

Noree shook her head. “It’s common to compartmentalize when doing research towards a specific goal. It’s doubtful that the majority of the scientists know what’s going on. If they did, it would just add to the number of liabilities. The more people who know that demonic research is ongoing there, the harder it is to keep a secret.”

“And who owns the facility?” asked Mira.

“There’s no records on it,” said Noree. “Here on Malstyx, only the facilities within the city limits require such information. The wilds are lawless. That’s why it’s likely the facility will be heavily guarded, to ward off intruders and mercenaries, as well as anyone wanting to sabotage the facilities.”

Mira was only one person. How was she going to get in there alone? She could certainly burn out the entire facility, but how could she be sure that her target was dead? Not to mention the civilian casualties.

“How recent is the information you provided?” asked Mira. “If the demon were to leave, how soon would we know about it?”

Noree thought about it for a moment. “I used the city’s old sniffer system, which was put in place by the no-longer operational Anti Demon Taskforce. The system is a way for us to detect demon signatures, but only if we know what we’re looking for, in a specific demon. For instance, if we have traces of the demon’s blood. But I had my associates utilize micro drones to start searching the wild as well. That’s when we narrowed it down to that facility. However, after making the analysis, we lost drones to an automated pulsing field, emanating from the surface of the facility. The first drone gave us a match on the signature before it was lost. But we sacrificed a second drone to ensure the match. My associates only have one drone left. And if you’re not aware of such things, micro drones are incredibly rare and expensive.”

Mira pushed her chair back and stood. “Then i best get on my way.”

Noree’s eyes widened as Mira got up. It was the most emotion the dryte woman had displayed since Mira has seen her today. “You can’t go by yourself. I’ve heard of other phoenixes utilizing combat forces. Mercenaries or military, even drones. You need help.”

Mira tensed when Noree pointed this out to her. She looked away. “Do you have some infantry or flyer drones hiding in a closet somewhere?” she asked with a half smirk.

A chime emanated from Noree’s data-band. She tapped the band and accepted the notification, which was from her lab’s AI system.

“The Bloody Jaws plus Persephone, are here to see you, Noree,” said the AI.

Noree turned her head to the entrance of the lab, even though the group hadn’t entered the facility yet. “Let them in!” she called, her lips curling into a smile as she rose from her seat. She headed towards the door, but looked back to Mira. “Please don’t leave just yet, I believe your backup has just arrived.”

Mira blinked. “My backup?” Her arms crossed under her chest as she watched Noree, unsure what was going on.

From within the lab, Mira and Noree watched as a small group passed by the windows in the hall and headed towards the entrance. The lab doors slid open.

“Hey Noree, sorry to drop in like this,” said a sharva. “We’ve had a rough day. We lost The Fang. We don’t know where else to go until we can straighten things out.”

Behind the sharva was a human, a verean, and a gelatinous purple figure.

“Is that a claymore?” Mira called out. Her eyes wide.

Noree turned to Mira. “Yes she is. Is that a problem?” she asked.

“I’ve just never seen one before. I’ve never been near the claymore fields,” said Mira as she walked towards the new arrivals.

“Oh, introductions,” said Noree. She gestured to Mira. “This is Mira,” she then gestured individually to the people on her right. “And this is Scotia, Jamie, Damir, and Persephone.”

Mira gave them a simple nod. “Pleasure,” she said.

Scotia stepped forward and tossed out her hand to shake Miras. Mira smiled and took her hand in greeting. “The Bloody Jaws?” Mira questioned.

Scotia smirked. “That’s us. We’re a mercenary group. I’m the captain...even if we’re down a ship,” she said with a sigh. “Jamie here, is a pilot and gunslinger, Damir is a little bit of everything.”

“And I let Persephone join them for a while,” said Noree. “She’s a rogue claymore, who I’ve taken under my care. She’s also an excellent bodyguard.”

“She sure is,” Jamie confirmed.

Noree looked to Scotia. “Would you be up for accepting some work today?” she asked. “I know you’ve just lost your ship, but time is running out.”

Mira looked to Noree, wanting to object that she didn’t have the money to properly pay them, but decided to keep quiet at the last moment. She wasn’t going to deny Noree’s assistance. She needed it too much.

Scotia placed her hands on her hips. “Depends what it is,” she said. “All we have is what’s on us. How big a job are we talking?”

Damir groaned.

“Shut up, Damir,” Scotia murmured.

Noree sent the three of them, the same information she’d given to Mira.

“It’s a facility out in the wilds,” said Noree. “There’s a demon—”

“More demons?” Damir blurted out as he shook his head and began to pace.

Noree paused a moment until she knew Damir had nothing more to add. “There’s a demon which needs to be destroyed. A drug is being distributed on the streets, unlike all the others. It’s tainted with demon blood. Users of this drug are turning into monsters. We need to put a stop to it, before it gets further out of control. Currently it seems as though the ursari are the most susceptible to transformation but that could change if the formula for the drug changes. We just don’t know.”

“So this facility,” said Scotia. “Heavily guarded? Probably one of the corporations?”

“Most likely on both accounts but we don’t know who owns it,” said Noree.

“My money is on whoever Zane is working for, owns that facility,” said Damir. “I doubt it’s a coincidence that we find out about this drug on the streets and we get targeted the same day.”

Noree and Mira looked to Damir.

Damir noticed their quizzical expressions. “Zane’s Pirates,” he clarified. “They’re a raiding and mercenary group. They’re the ones who took out our ship. Apparently Zane, their leader, was responsible for the deaths of many of our crew in the past year. We found out today that he might be working for a demon. At least, it seems likely.”

“How big is his group?” asked Mira. “Should we expect them at the facility?”

Damir shrugged and sighed. “There’s no way of knowing. There’s hundreds of pirate and mercenary groups in orbit and on the ground here in Malstyx. There’s a number of private ‘security’ firms as well, which is just a fancy and expensive word for mercenary. Not to mention, any of the private companies also have their own militaries. The only group we could truly rule out, would be the Malstyx Guard, and the Enforcer Bureau. The EB won’t be out in the wilds, and the MG is usually protecting the gates in the system, except for the barracks and command center here in First City.”

“So Mira, are we escorting you? or is this a raid on the facility?” Scotia asked.

Mira shook her head. “I won’t need protecting, in fact, the primary objective would be to kill the demon. Neutralizing the drug’s production would be secondary.”

Scotia lifted a brow and glanced Mira over. “Do you have any weapons? Are you any good in a fight? or are you just going to point us in the right direction?”

Mira smirked at the sharva. “Noree, step back,” she said as she slowly lifted her arms. Mira waited several seconds for the dryte scientist to get some distance. In the blink of an eye, intense fire sheathed Mira’s arms.

Jamie flinched. Scotia’s eyes went wide and Damir took a step back. Persephone leaned in further, her head stretching as she seemed curious about Mira and the sudden flames.

“Not so close, Persephone,” warned Noree.

The comment caused Persephone to withdraw her head back to her body.

“You’re a phoenix,” said Damir. “You can’t be serious? This is a joke, right? Damn. We’re in over our heads today.”

Mira extinguished the flames. “I am, but physically I’m just as vulnerable as any of you. I need to make sure the demon is destroyed. I fear that I need your help to do it.”

“Vulnerable my ass,” murmured Damir. “You’re a walking artillery.”

Scotia glared at Damir. “Stop being so rude,” she growled at him. “We’ve got a job lined up, just like we wanted. We’ll never get a new ship without money.” She then directed her attention to Noree. “You are paying us for this, right?”

Noree nodded. “I’ll make sure you have what you need, to get a new ship,” she said. “Do this for me and you’ll have a ship better than The Fang was. I promise you.”

“I’m not sure that’s saying a whole lot,” said Jamie. “The Fang was a rundown, piece of—”

“We accept the offer,” Scotia broke in, cutting Jamie off. “But we’re a bit low on supplies. We have two pistols and my revolver. We have ammo for all three, but very little otherwise. We’ll need a way to breach the doors, as well as deal with the demon and some crowd control would be helpful. No telling how many guards they have in there.”

“I’ll take care of any doors, as well as any large groups,” said Scotia.

“Oh, right,” Scotia said with a laugh. “Guess that helps even things out a bit.”

Mira walked past the group. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to get my things. I’ll be ready to leave in a few minutes.”

Once the doors were closed, Noree looked to Scotia. “I have something for you, but you mustn't tell Mira about it.”

Scotia gave Noree a strange look. “What’s the problem? Don’t trust her?” asked Scotia.

Noree walked over to a cabinet and withdrew a small container. She came back to Scotia and handed it to her. “I trust her to an extent. What I’m about to give you could be detrimental to her and her kind. I think you may need this in dealing with the demon. Even with Mira’s help. We don’t know what you’ll encounter in there.”

Scotia lifted a brow and opened the container. Jamie leaned over and peeked over her shoulder to see what was inside.

“Ammo for my revolver?” asked Scotia as she looked up to Noree. “Why would this upset Mira?”

Noree gestured to the little container. “Those aren’t normal rounds. The metal is infused with exotic particles, similar to what the gates use. The rounds should be able to cause dimensional feedback on impact.”

Scotia nodded her understanding, but Noree could see Jamie’s blank expression. “These rounds will kill demons and they won’t come back,” she said.

Jamie blinked and looked back at the ammo. “Wait, they can’t regenerate back in our world if you shoot them with these?” he asked.

Noree seemed unsure of Jamie’s choice of words as she glanced away, but then nodded. “Yes, in a manner of speaking.”

“Why is Scotia the only one who gets them?” asked Damir.

“Because her weapon will cause the most damage, with the least amount of the particles being used,” Noree stated.

Scotia handed the ammo container to Jamie and withdrew her weapon. She clicked the cylinder from the revolver and began to load the multi-faceted cartridges. The revolver had six slots, but each cartridge was separated into three chambers. Each pull of the trigger would break off one of the rounds within the cylinder and then switch to the next full cartridge.

“Is this stuff rare or something?” asked Jamie as he held the container for Scotia and looked to Noree.

“Incredibly,” Noree replied.

“Oh, I get it now,” said Damir. “You think this might even kill Mira, don’t you?” The verean knew enough about the basics to connect the dots. “Because as far as I know, just like the demons, phoenixes don’t stay dead when they die.”

Noree looked to the door and then to Damir. “That’s correct, please keep those rounds a secret. I’m not sure how Mira might react if she learns of their existence.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll keep it quiet,” said Scotia. She closed the empty ammo container and took it from Jamie, to hand it back to Noree.

“I’m sorry, I wish I had more to give you,” said Noree, as she took the container. “If I’d have known the situation would have escalated as it has, I would’ve been more prepared. I’m sorry you lost The Fang. I can only imagine I’ve put you in danger more than you’d normally be in your line of work.”

Scotia holstered her revolver and slapped her hand down on Jamie and Damir’s shoulders. “That’s what we do, we take the dangerous jobs. We’ve certainly hit some snags along the way,” she said as her hand rubbed Jamie’s shoulder. “But we’ll manage as we always have. A few demons aren’t going to put an end to the Bloody Jaws!”

The doors to the lab slid open. Mira walked in with a pistol holstered to a belt on her hip. It was a standard firearm, much like the ones Jamie and Damir used.

“So why does a phoenix need a firearm anyway?” asked Damir.

Mira smiled as she regarded the verean. “Sometimes I need to be more subtle. And don’t go telling everyone, but continual use of our abilities can wear on us over time. Being able to dispatch enemies with the pull of a trigger is far easier than turning them into a pile of ash, with far less collateral damage.”

“The right weapon, for the right job,” said Scotia.

Mira nodded in agreement.

“Well then, if we’re all ready,” said Scotia. “Damir, hack a transport drone. I doubt we’re going to make it anywhere close to that facility with the automated system.”

The thought of using his data-band’s holo display to pilot a transport made Damir groan.