What was left of the squad rolled through the city in silence, neon reflections sliding across the van's windshield.
Kess broke the quiet first.
"After he passed out, they came back for him."
He glanced at his datapad.
"Signal shows they moved Nightcoil to a warehouse."
Shadow nodded once.
"Kess, you're with me. Marlin, stay in the vehicle with Elias."
Marlin didn't argue.
"Got it."
They parked a block away as the sun dipped low, bleeding orange into the polluted skyline. The warehouse loomed ahead, corrugated metal, broken windows, faint voices echoing from inside.
Shadow and Kess moved.
They slipped in through a side entrance, clearing rooms one by one, empty offices, storage spaces, shadows stacked on shadows. When they reached the central loading floor, voices carried clearly now. Armed men. Relaxed. Confident.
The two operatives climbed silently onto stacked crates, blending into the darkness above.
Shadow tapped a device onto the railing.
The EMP detonated with a muted pulse.
Everything died.
Lights. Power. Sound systems.
Darkness swallowed the warehouse.
Kess dropped behind the first thug, one clean motion, silent and final. Shadow descended like a shadow made solid, pulling men into the dark and ending them before they could speak.
No wasted movement.
No noise.
They found Nightcoil tied to a chair near the center of the floor, bruised but breathing.
Shadow crouched beside him.
"We've got to move. Power'll be back soon."
Kess cut the restraints and hoisted Nightcoil over his shoulder.
They ran.
Out the loading bay.
Across the lot.
Into the van.
Marlin looked back from the driver's seat.
"Now what, sir?"
Shadow shut the door.
"Drive. Don't stop."
The van disappeared into traffic.
Nightcoil woke to the sound of a news broadcast murmuring from a television.
He blinked.
Soft bed.
Dim light.
Clean sheets.
A hotel…?
"Where is everyone…?" he muttered.
Footsteps approached.
Voices.
The door opened.
Shadow, Kess, Marlin, and Elias walked in carrying bags of food and drinks.
Shadow gave a rare half-smile.
"You're finally up. We grabbed food and moved locations. Lying low until HQ gives further instructions."
Kess dropped a bag onto the table.
"Found us a decent hotel. Took forever."
He shook his head.
"Every place I suggested they said was 'too run down.' Like the rest of this city isn't already falling apart."
Marlin snorted.
"Kess, you were picking the bottom of the barrel."
Nightcoil sat up slowly, wincing, but smiling.
The room felt… safe.
For now.
They ate, exhaustion catching up to all of them, and one by one the lights went out.
No alarms. No gunfire. Just quiet. Morning came slowly.
Shadow woke first, the city still humming faintly beyond the hotel windows. One by one, the others stirred. Elias sat up last, rubbing her temples as she'd barely slept at all.
Shadow broke the silence.
"You feel like talking yet?"
Elias nodded.
"Yeah. Sorry about earlier. I was in shock, I couldn't even think straight."
Kess leaned against the wall, arms crossed.
"So tell us how this place really works. Is it just gangs running wild—or something bigger?"
Elias exhaled.
"It's bigger. Much bigger."
She folded her hands together.
"At the top are the corporations, mainly Caldero Interstellar Finance. Banking, trade, insurance, everything looks clean on paper. That's how they stayed hidden."
Kess frowned.
"And nobody noticed? No automated detection systems? No audits?"
Elias shook her head.
"Caldero's smarter than that. They built something called the Oracle Net."
The room went quiet.
"It's an illegal AI system. It buries crime reports, alters data feeds, and makes the planet look perfectly stable from the outside. Over time, police were replaced or bought. Courts stopped functioning. Private security became gangs."
Marlin let out a low whistle.
"So they built their own army."
"Yes." Elias said quietly.
"They pushed out every trace of Imperial authority."
Shadow nodded slowly.
"That's why the Empire never saw it."
Marlin looked at Elias.
"How do you know all this?"
Shadow answered before she could.
"She was Caldero's right hand. Personal assistant. Forced into it. That's why we were sent to extract her."
Elias hesitated.
"There's… something else. Caldero said he knew you, Shadow. He asked what you were doing back on this planet."
Every eye turned toward him.
Kess's voice hardened.
"Why would he know you?"
Shadow didn't dodge it.
"Because I used to work with a private illegal army."
He met Kess's stare.
"We conquered planets. I was young. Then I met Ian. He pulled me out and gave me something stable."
Kess scoffed.
"So I trusted my life to an ex-criminal this whole time?"
Marlin stepped in.
"Kess, calm down. He's clearly not that person anymore."
Shadow's tone stayed even.
"Some of us weren't born into safe homes or proper education. Some of us had to fight our way out."
Kess turned away, jaw tight.
Elias winced.
"I… probably should've kept that to myself."
Shadow waved it off.
"It's fine. We're adults here."
Nightcoil sat quietly the entire time, watching. Listening. Learning.
Later that day, HQ sent coordinates, a rendezvous point on the outskirts of the city.
They drove in silence.
After a while, Kess spoke up.
"Hey… Shadow. Sorry for earlier. Our job's fighting criminals. When you said you used to be one, it hit wrong."
Shadow nodded.
"I get it. Just don't let your temper control you next time."
They reached the ship, lifted off, and left Noctyrr Prime behind.
Back at HQ, the team unloaded everything, audio logs, data captures, Elias's testimony, into the Intelligence Wing. Renn Varos and Ian met them shortly after.
Ian listened without interruption.
Then he nodded.
"You did exactly what we needed."
He looked around the room.
"We have enough evidence to take the planet, but not yet. First, you're going back in. Shut down the Oracle Net. Take down Caldero. Freeze accounts. Seize assets. Strip them of power."
A pause.
"In simple terms, rob them blind."
The meeting ended.
The Nightcrew dispersed to rest.
Because soon,
They were going back into the dark.