As night fell, East-City really began to come to life. Folk coming home from the various factories scattered across the wedge would find ways to drown their sorrows in drink and pleasurable company. The Military Police would disperse, heading back to safer parts of the city rather than subjecting themselves to the territory of the Orcish gangs and the Elven mafia. It was this time of night that Yasmine liked the most, and when she couldn’t sleep she would often climb up on top of the roof of her apartment and watch as people came and went from the clubs and dives that dotted the street she lived on.

It was mid-Lumer and spring was coming to a close, even so, the summer heat had already begun to settle in. She checked her tab and fiddled with the calendar. She figured it couldn’t possibly take longer than two or three weeks to get to their destination in the depths, perhaps she would have a chance to get back before the Fire Festival. She tapped through a few messages before laying down and staring up at the stars. It was cold now that the sun had gone down but thankfully there wasn’t a lot of wind. She frowned and checked her tab one more time.

“Fire Festival starts on the fifth of Swelter,” she muttered, flipping through to an article Sylva had sent her. She rolled her eyes when she read the title and set her tab back down, “That’s two weeks, we’d have to bust ass probably.”

“Putting the cart before the horse, are we, Miss O’Haire?” A smooth voice chimed into her thoughts. She sat up immediately, spun, and leveled her weapon at the stranger. She frowned and narrowed her eyes, drawing on a tiny bit of mana to augment her eyes. As her vision brightened she could make out a man standing not too far away, his hands up and a smile on his ridiculously pretty face. She let out a sigh and lowered her weapon.

“Varian,” She breathed, “Damn it.”

Varian Tomko stepped into full view, he was a tall man, with long silver hair that hung down to his shoulders. His eyes were an icy blue that glittered with gentleness. He wore the robes of a scholar, a shawl of merit over his shoulders. Varian had a thin face with a long nose and high cheekbones, a nobleman in every sense of the word. Which made sense given that he was the Elder of one of the Psionic Noble Houses and a seat on the Council.

“It’s good to see you too,” He laughed, walking over and sitting down next to her.

“What are you doing here?” She asked, “Let me guess, Jacob?”

“He is my subordinate,” Varian said, holding up a finger, “If one of your subordinates suddenly asked for a month of time off, wouldn’t you like to know what they were up to? Of course, I asked him what he had planned for his ‘vacation’,” Varian said, “Don’t be too hard on him, he swore an oath to the Council.”

Yasmine scoffed, “Little rat,” she mumbled, resting her arm on her knee.

“The Depths, then?” He asked, “That’s quite an undertaking.”

“I figure if someone’s gonna do it, right?” She chuckled, reaching into her shirt and pulling the small flask hidden in her bra out. She popped it open and took a drink before offering it to him. He raised an eyebrow and took it, sipping once.

“You certainly like the hard stuff, whiskey?” He coughed, handing it back to her.

“Dwarven malt hotch,” Yasmine said, sipping again, “Fifty-year-old barrel.”

The two of them stared out over the city for a while, Yasmine drinking and passing it over to Varian who gradually grew accustomed to the strong liquor. A car drove by blasting rowdy music and a small fight broke out in front of one of the bars. Yasmine watched the fight out of the corner of her eye, taking small mental bets on who would win based on size and posture. When she turned her gaze to Varian she found him staring at her.

“What?”

“We miss you at the Council,” Varian said, “I miss you.”

Yasmine cleared her throat, “My time with the Council is over, honored Elder, as nice as our little affair was it was time to move on,” She wiped her lips and leaned back a little, “Besides, I work better without all those restrictions.”

“You never were one for rules, drove Elder O’Haire batty,” He said, looking back out over the city and held up a finger, deepening his voice, “There are rules for engagement young lady!”

Yasmine frowned and looked away, “That’s a low blow.”

“He’s still mourning you, Christina,” He said evenly.

Yasmine spun and put a finger in his face, “I swear to the gods Varian, don’t say that name around me,” She snapped, “It has no meaning to me anymore.”

“He’s your father,” Varian pleaded, “You’re going to have to face him someday. It’s been fifteen years, the Federation has forgotten about you. Go home to him.”

Yasmine pulled away and rubbed her arms, “You’ve always been good to me, the best teacher anyone could have, but please don’t pressure me into that. I can’t face him yet. I haven’t done what I need to do.”

“No amount of self-flaggelation will wash the blood of that incident off of your hands, Yasmine, and the sooner you accept that, the sooner you can make peace with yourself,” Varian warned her, “You’re going to crush your own soul, and I can’t bare to see it.”

“Then stop looking,” Yasmine growled, “One last job and I can use what I earn on it to make a difference, somehow, I know it.”

“You really think you’ll find something down there? This city has existed for over six thousand years. What makes you think someone else hasn’t beaten you to it?” He asked, turning to face her.

“Fate,” Yasmine said, smiling wryly.

Varian’s eyes narrowed, “That’s unlike you, putting your faith in a higher power.”

“People change, Elder,” Yasmine said, shrugging.

“It would seem so,” He murmured before letting out a sigh, “Just promise me you’ll be safe. I refuse to tell him who you were, I won’t tell Robert he lost his daughter twice.”

“Then don’t, let Christina stay dead,” Yasmine said, getting to her feet. She brushed herself off and smiled at him, “I’ll always love you, Varian, but I gotta do me and you gotta do you. Right now, I need sleep if this job is going to roll over right. Stop by again some time and lets drink to old times, okay?”

Her teacher let out a breath and shook his head, he got to his feet and reached into his robe, drawing out a small box and putting it in her hands. “I made it for Christina to give her when she became an adult. I never got around to giving it to you, I didn’t want your father to see it.”

She looked down at the box and then back up at him, but he was gone. She let out a breath and scratched her head, grumbling. “Fuck, now I’m all hot and bothered, stupid sexy Tomko,” She complained, storming over to the side of the building and dropping off the side. A pair of homeless jumped in surprise when she landed from three stories up only to scamper away when she simply walked around the stairs and up to her apartment door. She opened it with a grunt and scanned the room.

Alec, Sylva, Flipp, Jacob, and Tommy were all sleeping in various places, scattered around her livingroom. Lyssandra stood in the kitchen, pouring herself a glass of water. Yasmine stormed toward her and grabbed her by the wrist.

“B-boss?” Lyssandra gasped.

“You’re coming with me,” She growled, and dragged her off to her bedroom.

The next morning Yasmine woke up on the floor, sheets wrapped around her waist. She grumbled and struggled to her feet, dislodging herself from the tangle of cloth. When she managed to get upright she found Lyssandra laying on her bed, curled up in the comforter and her bare shoulders showing. Yasmine sighed and started looking for her pants, finding them hanging from one of the hooks on the door with the legs tied together. What the hell had she gotten up to last night? She rubbed her temples and untied the legs before slipping them back on. The lump in her pocket caught her attention.

Pulling out the giftbox Varian had given her, she glanced over her shoulder at Lyssandra who had just started snoring. “That’s why I stopped sleeping with her, right,” She reminded herself, looking down at the box again and opening it. Inside was a gemstone about the size and shape of a thumb, inside of the stone thousands of lattices could be seen as you turned it around. She plucked the stone out and rolled it between her fingers. “Knowledge stone?” She mumbled, running a bit of mana through it.

There was a flicker and a projection of a middle-aged man who appeared above the stone, he had blonde hair and dark blue eyes that seemed to barely contain a raging storm. She felt her heart sink and sighed, slipping the stone into her pocket and setting the gift box on her wardrobe. “That asshat,” She grumbled, rubbing her eyes. Behind her, Lyssandra roused from sleep and Yasmine cleared her throat, blinking a few times before turning around and putting her hands on her hips. “How long are you going to sleep the day away, Hale?”

Lyssandra shot up straight, blinking, she looked around the room and then at Yasmine’s bare chest. Her face went blood red and she covered it with the comforter while she blindly reached for her glasses on the nightstand. “I did it again!” Lyssandra whined, breaking character.

Yasmine rolled her eyes, “Give me a break, it’s nothing you haven’t seen before. Get off your ass, Lyssandra. I want to eat something before we go all the way to the North Side.”

Lyssandra dragged herself out of bed, blushing furiously as she scrambled for the scraps of her clothes scattered around the room. Yasmine didn’t waste the opportunity to appreciate her figure, though she did stop to scratch her nose when she noticed the finger-shaped bruises on her wrists and the rather uncomfortable number of hickies on her neck, shoulders, and thighs, Yasmine cleared her throat and scratched her head. “Okay, maybe I was a little rough, sorry.”

The logistics expert frowned at her as she slipped on her stockings and skirt, “Could you at least give me my tie?” She asked, pointing at Yasmine’s arm.

Yasmine blinked and looked down at her wrist only to see black fabric wrapped around it. She chuckled and untied it, handing it to the woman who quickly straightened herself out. Lyssandra muttered an incantation and twirled her finger a few times, causing the fabric of her clothing to straighten and firm. She followed that up by running the tips of her fingers along her neck, causing the red marks to disappear.

“No fun,” Yasmine grunted, throwing open her drawer and pulling out a t-shirt.

Lyssandra rolled her eyes and straightened her hair, “I am not your Kvatch, Yasmine.”

“Could be,” Yasmine said, I’m sure Krasus wouldn’t mind having you around, “Shayde likes you too.”

Lyssandra cleared her throat and turned her head away, “Let’s not get into this today, okay? I let you drag me off into your pace last night, that’s all. Once this job is done, I’m back to the Council.”

Yasmine shrugged, “Fine, have it your way.”

She grabbed her sidearm and strapped it on before slipping out into the living room and letting Lyssandra center herself. Flipp and the others eyed her from their spots around the living room, all of them looking a little more tired than they should be. Flipp looked like hell. “What? We too loud?”

They sighed and returned to what they were doing. Yasmine tossed herself onto the couch and crossed her legs, throwing her arm over Flipp’s shoulder. “So, you ready to go see ASTA HQ?”

Flipp eyed her from the corner of his eye, “Are we ready to do that? We only really started yesterday.”

“And?” Yasmine chuckled, she checked her tab for messages and found a few from her team;

Amon: *thumbs-up*

Hannah: This place is so fancy! The management is really nice too, maybe I should keep working here after the job, what do you think? Oh, and I’ve got a card that’ll take us up to the fortieth floor! Go me!

Tyler: Targets marked. Awaiting orders.

“Yep, we’re ready to go,” She said and glanced over at Sylva, “You got a distraction ready for tonight?”

Sylva rubbed her neck, “No problem at all, Abrin came by this morning with some choice stuff, it’s going to be one heck of a party at ASTA tonight,” She said, patting a small box to her left.

“She brought you flower?” Yasmine asked, frowning.

“Not just any flower, crimson starlight flower, this stuff will have them singing the national anthem in less than a minute,” She cackled, “There’s enough here to turn a city block into a stoner den.”

“Their ventilation system will be checking for contaminants,” Yasmine warned.

“Already got it covered,” Tommy said from his huddled spot on the opposite side of the room from Sylva. “I’ll shut down their decontamination system as soon as the product has been introduced.”

“Then we’re good. I’m impressed, I can’t believe you got in so fast, Tommy,” Yasmine praised him, giving him a thumbs up.

Tommy scratched his neck and glanced over at Flipp before smiling sheepishly, “I’m not in their internal systems yet but I’ve made it pretty far! Th-thanks though.”

She looked over at Flipp, “Satisfied?”

“I suppose I am,” Flipp admitted, “I suppose we should go.”

Yasmine got to her feet and turned to Sylva again, “Krasus pick up Shayde?”

“Yeah, you were still asleep when they left,” Sylva said. Yasmine frowned and let out a sigh. Sylva laughed, “Oh you’ll be fine, they weren’t mad. You do you, right?”

Yasmine scratched her head, “I guess.”

Not long after that, Yasmine and the others had made their way out onto the street and found Alec, Jacob, and Tabitha already waiting near the vehicles. Erik was sitting in the passenger seat of one of the vans, enjoying the air conditioning. Yasmine walked over to the three of them, giving Jacob a frown which only served to confuse him, and shook each of their hands. “You ready for this?”

“Always, boss!” Alec flexed, grinning.

“Alright, let’s get out of here,” She said, climbing into the rear of one of the vans while the others joined her. Soon her crew was cruising through the city streets, taking a north and then west route to avoid the closures around South City. In the rear of Yasmine’s car, driven by Alec, Flipp and Tommy sat awkwardly next to one another. Tommy glanced over at Flipp now and then who had already dozed off. Sensing an opportunity for a little fun, Yasmine leaned forward as they hit a bump on the road and Flipp swayed a little.

“You keep staring at him, you’re gonna burn a hole in his head,” Yasmine chuckled.

“Wh-what? I’m not s-staring!” Tommy blurted.

“He your type, sweetie?” She asked, grinning.

“N-no, I mean, yes? Maybe? I don’t know!” Tommy jabbered, looking down at his hands.

Yasmine laughed, “Nothing to be shy about, we all got our tastes. Didn’t think yours was sleepy.”

Tommy gave her an aghast look to which she snickered, holding her hand over her mouth and trying to restrain a belly laugh. Another bump jostled Flipp awake who peered around, glancing over at Tommy who was beet red and Yasmine who had tears in her eyes from laughter.

“Did I miss something?” He asked, confused.

“Nope, nothing,” Yasmine snorted, “I was just asking Tommy what kind of outfits he was going to pick out with the job money. You like skirts, don’t you Tommy?”

Tommy flushed, “They’re comfortable,” He mewled, pressing his head against the wall, “Stop teasing me, boss.”

“You don’t gotta pick on him, Yasmine,” Flipp interjected, “Nothing wrong with it, think he might look kinda cute like that!” Flipp challenged her, hacking out a sudden cough from getting riled up.

Yasmine raised her eyebrows, “Cute, huh? He thinks you’re cute, Tommy, go you!”

Flipp’s eyes widened as his brain tried to process the trap he’d fallen into, Tommy on the other hand pulled his shirt up over his face and curled up into a ball. Yasmine bust a gut, falling onto her side on the seats in the rear of the van and laughing for a good minute. When she finally caught her breath, she waved her hands, “I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist.”

“You are a dangerous person,” Flipp growled, crossing his arms and yawning.

“I’ve been called much worse,” Yasmine shrugged.

“I am certain you have,” Flipp shot back.

“Can the flirting you two!” Alec called back to them, “We’re here!”

Yasmine let out a breath and rolled her shoulders, “Feeling a bit more relaxed now, Flipp? Tommy?” She asked as the sunlight eeking into the vehicle was cut off. The sounds of them driving inside a building began. The van took several left turns before coming to a stop in a spot with just the faintest amount of light. Tommy and Flipp looked at one another, confused and Yasmine let out a sigh. “Nevermind,” She grunted, crawling to the back of the van and pushing the doors open. She stepped out onto the concrete floor of the parking garage they’d picked as their meeting place. Somewhere above, Tyler was monitoring the side of the ASTA building.

Flipp and Tommy crawled out behind her, stepping out and squinting as the sun pierced through the narrow opening between the ceiling and the half-wall that exposed the interior to the open air. Tommy ran to the half-wall and leaned out, looking up at the building that towered over them. Yasmine joined him and put her hands on the wall, getting herself a good look as well.

ASTA Headquarters was a sixty story building capped with a two story penthouse belonging to the Chairman and CEO of the company, Sonya Chernovna. The building had five sides to it and an open central cavity with crisscrossing walkways that allowed those working in the building an incredible view no matter where they were. As per the owner’s preferred theming, the majority of the building was white with the windows being a tinted silver. Yasmine peered down at the larger buildings attached to it, a pair of warehoused and a single large garage surrounded by a fence. Milling about within the fence were men in white combat armor carrying weapons strapped against their chests.

“Wait, where are the cops?” Flipp asked, squinting at the building next to Yasmine.

“That’s why you do your research ahead of time, Moran,” Yasmine said and nodded to the men in armor, “ASTA is a Sovereign Corporation, they have a special mandate from the central Federation Government. That means they’re basically their own member country. They handle their own problems.”

“Exactly,” Jacob said, getting out of one of the other vehicles, “Those are privately trained soldiers armed with the best technology that ASTA produces. Each of them is a monster compared to an ordinary MP.”

Tabitha came up from behind him and looked at her tab, “Amon’s got our route in and out planned, we’ll need Hannah’s key card for most of it. He’s sending the details to our tabs now,” She said.

Yasmine felt her own tab buzz and pulled it out, checking the screen, “Straightforward enough,” She said, rubbing her chin and looking up at the building. “We expecting any surprises?”

“Just one small detail,” Tabitha said, reading the report from Amon, “Apparently a representative from the Warden Governor’s office is visiting tomorrow so they’ve got some MPs in the building right now giving it a once over, they should be gone before we get started though.”

Yasmine grinned a wicked grin. She turned to Tabitha, “MPs you say?”

“Oh no,” Alec groaned, “Here we go.”

“We have to do this tonight, absolutely,” Yasmine said, “It’s gotta be tonight.”

“Yep, she’s fixated,” Jacob said, sighing, “Well that was the plan to begin with.”

“What’s going on?” Flipp asked.

Lyssandra chimed in, adjusting her glasses and leaning against the rear of the van she’d come in with Tabitha and Jacob. “If we hit them tonight, after the MPs inspect the place. It will look bad not only for ASTA, but the MPs, and it might disrupt their meeting tomorrow causing problems for Doctor Chernovna’s business. It won’t cripple the company, but it might hurt quite a bit.”

Yasmine was practically drooling at the prospect, “Won’t just be a bloody nose, we’ll shove our boots so far up her ass that-”

She was cut off as a pair of MP vehicles sped by, sirens blaring. Yasmine quieted down and watched them go by, her eyes narrowing. Her voice went stern, “Do not fuck up today, guys.”

Flipp watched as the group went still and then turned to her all at once, “Not a chance, boss,” They said as one.