The mag train passed through a charging tube as it sped through the freezing cold of the Roran tundra.

Rebecca Mallory had performed her task, having retrieved the documents from her contact, but not before her contact expired from a bullet wound.

Her gun was not to blame.

Someone had silenced him.

She gently leaned him against the seat, opposite, folding his coat over the gaping hole in his chest.

Fucking Tengu weapons.

She just needed to wait until the train reached its stop, then she could bail out and blend back into the crowd.


"Redband." Came the brusque, accented voice of a towering Tengu. A lion and hawk blend, therefor fairly high in their social hierarchy. But this was not a man from Tengu Aurora, the City-State high in the frozen steppes of Roran territory. No, this was one of the Sentinels. The watchful eyes and ears... and oftentimes claws... of the First Citizen of Rora.

Watchful protectors by Rora's estimation, brutal secret police by everyone else's measure.

"Das'ui." She regarded him back.

She had had brushes with this particular specimen of Tengu before. And each one ended with her barely skating by on the paramilitary protections offered by the Mercenary's Guild international operations treaty.

Of course, and by the Guild's own admission, such a treaty did not apply when national defense was involved.

She kept her hands on the table of the booth in which she sat.

"Your friend seems sleepy." He rumbled, sharp avian eyes eating in every detail. "I have it on good authority that you are in possession of both an unauthorized weapon and a briefcase. Please, place both on the table and calmly stand up."

"Huh. I might need some help with that." She retorted, the raccoon Rathi not taking her eyes off the Tengu agent.

"Your compliance would be appreciated, Redband. I do not want trouble from you." He snipped, clacking his beak for emphasis.

"I don't want to kill you, Das'ui. Got enough problems with Rora as it stands." She huffs.

A muffled murmur whispered out from his earpiece.

"My colleagues seem to think that-"

"I know what they said." She snarls. Between her sharp hearing and her study of Roran cypher tongues, few secrets were kept from her.

They stared at eachother as the tense moment remained uncomfortably pregnant.

She knew he could act in the blink of an eye, but that his discretion seemed to be in protection of the case. It wasn't a secret they wanted disposed of. It was data they had acquired and her contact had intercepted and needed to learn.

What could be so important?

She gently lifted the case, putting it on the table, knowing he wasn't foolish enough to reach for it.

Squire knew he wouldn't let her leave the train alive. Not if there was any chance she could have read the documents within the case.

She reached for her gun, starting to put it on the table, but paused and lifted the window.

"Redband..." He snipped.

"Hey, it's stuffy in here. And what am I gonna do? This thing's fifty meters off the ground on this track." She scoffed.

"Now, stand up and-"

She did stand up... but she also leapt, kicking his elbow as she flew over the case, snatching it and her gun and falling... falling...

She tucked the case between her thighs, spread her arms in her coat to create some kind of breaking.

'Broken arm if I'm lucky. Broken leg if I'm not...'

A bolt of yellow lanced down and descended through the snow...

It was Kira Sierra's VTOL!

She landed... roughly... in one of the open seats and the top closed over, the plucky young cheetah gunning it!

"Close call. As usual." Squire murmured.

"Says you! I was worried we'd get to the station and I'd need to scoop you from a crowd." Kira giggled.

"Aries owes me big for this." Squire grimly stated. "This case has the Ferrachorm Operation roster."