It was an hour before Cid returned in Keener's shuttle. Cid had finished his task, and I had just one more stop for my own. Zero and I were cataloging Keener's operation. Keener was very good when it came to his legal and illegal businesses. We ran through his operations and found that anything he owned legally would be confiscated by the Uzal when they arrive, same with the illegal. We were doing our own cataloging of sorts.
Going over the current assets within his compound. The office warehouses were filled with items that were recently stolen in Keener's raids. We looted some things and began to pile them in the center of the courtyard. The warehouse and mech that came out of it were also part of his illegal operations and were things he was getting ready for future sales as they were already sold but not picked up yet, along with a few more warframes that were used in convoy attacks.
The last warehouse which I was currently in held stacks of unmarked crates, frames of both civilian and warframes of different sizes, along with other valuables. None of which were logged in Keener's books. Cid got out of the shuttle and approached, patting the currently kneeling Belial.
"It drives like a dream," he said.
Nodding, "That it does. Now get in the warehouse before I freeze my nose off."
"Alright, hold your horse."
"Horses," I corrected.
"Horses, like more than one?"
"Yes, more than one."
"Why would you hold more than one horse at a time?" he said, closing the heavy door with a single hand with a cling.
"It's just a figure of speech."
"So, what do we got here?"
"This entire warehouse is full of gear that isn't in the books."
We started walking around the warehouse, seeing it crammed full of gear. "Good, then we claim it as salvage."
"My thought exactly." I nodded.
Stopping back at the door, "How do we get it back to base?"
"We'll move it and we will shuttle it back with us."
"Good enough, since that is done. How long do we got?"
"A day roughly. I've already sent four loaders here to grab this warehouse while we were talking. So we will be gone in a few hours from now with no traces we were here. We could take everything, but we already used his ledgers to prove Keener's guilt, so they could, and most likely, would take legal action against us."
"So tell me, how did you manage to take the shot and pilot Belial? Also, who allowed you to pilot my mech?"
"I thought a surprise would be needed. Keener and his men used warframes for their attacks and expected they might be present today."
Opening the door, "The shot was taken from up there." He pointed up towards a cliff covered in solid ice and snow. "I have a golem I bought this morning manning that anti-material rifle you used on me. It's on its way back now. They're useful, especially with a skilled operator," He said. (Golems are a type of armored drone limited to the ground only)
"Well, let's get the crawler we got loaded up, and get ready for the next. I think... I hear them already," I said, hearing a rumbling like thunderclouds in the distance.
"Thanks for saving my life, by the way."
"No problem," Cid said, lifting a crate. "We should catalog these since we don't know what's in them."
It took hours to transfer them to a safe location, even longer to set them up for transport, including purchasing shipping containers needed to transport the bulk of the salvage. Four shipping containers surrounded the three larger frames we claimed. Hiring some off the book hauler to lift our payload into orbit, we will be towing it back.
Cid traveled with the haulers and left with the cargo paying them for the job and making sure they didn't try to steal the cargo. Most people are scared shitless, being even close to an Arbiter, especially one that looks like Cid does. Cid seemed happy to be sitting on the edge of the shipping containers when we arrived chatting us up a storm. I watched him walk up the tether and enter our ship.
"Nothing like walking on a piece of string flying through space at 5Gs." Cid said entering the shuttle through the airlock."
Shaking my head, "Little crazy if you ask me."
"Live a little," he said, sitting down and getting comfortable. "Congratulations on completing your first mission."
"Thank you, Cid."
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On-board a Ghul ship.
The pale hand of the ship's commander crushed a datapad in his fist after finding information that Keener had been arrested and all of his assets were seized by the Uzal government.
Throwing the remains of the datapad onto the floor. "Find me who claimed the bounty on Keener," he commanded.
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On the claimed Valik base, now known simply as the base or Base zero by Cid.
Cid was taking care of the salvage and I was told to relax. Zero informed me both sections of the Solomon derelict were now within the base's bay, ready to be inspected, but I skipped that and ate and got ready for bed, still feeling tired from the mission but still deciding to hope into Caliber One for a bit before bed.
Logging into the new account, which was completely bare-bones, missing my old account. "Zero is it possible to get my original account?"
"It is linked to your old life. Someone may be tracking it. I could get you logged in for a little bit. Maybe enough time to transfer some assets."
"Do it. How much time do we have?"
"No more than twenty minutes. We will transfer it to another account than to the new one. Do you mind if I make the transfers? It will be faster."
"No, can I have a couple of minutes first?"
"I see no problem with that."
The world shifted, and I was within a logging screen and about a dozen accounts were purchased within seconds. The next and final shift was to my old account. Finding myself in the hanger of the Blood reapers. All the mechbays were empty besides my own. The clan was abandoned. Looking at my friend's list, most of my friends hadn't logged on in years. Only one was currently online. Iron Valkyrie.
An image popped up, "Leo?"
"Leo, are you okay?"
"Tell me, where are you?"
"Leo, answer me."
-Iron Valkyrie(Val) has requested a video chat.-
I denied the video call, but I typed one answer back before guiding Zero through what assets I wanted and let him do the rest.
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On-board the UGF Thor - Light destroyer class
Val saw the moment when Leo logged into his account. Immediately messaging him and doing whatever else she could do to contact him. She waited a handful of minutes before getting a message in reply.
"I'm okay, I'm safe, I'm trying to prove my innocence. I hope you're well. Don't look for me. I miss you and hope you're doing well."
Val tried to reply, but by the time she finished writing her reply, he was logged off and his account was gone. Removed from her friend's list.
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Staring at the Cerberus in the stock mech bay, standing next to Belial. Cerberus was the only thing I really wanted from my old account. I couldn't shake thinking about Val and her messages.
Logging out, I asked Zero to find me anything on Val, hoping for anything to stop the ache I was feeling. They were mostly comprised of old pictures and public records before she joined the military. I missed her, and everyone else really, but mostly her.
A mild case of insomnia kept me awake. Running thoughts on the first mission kept me thinking about my time on the Njord. Though I felt this mission differed from fighting the Ghul on the Njord, this felt rewarding knowing I stopped Keener from killing anyone else, and that felt good. Cid sent a message. Saying he had another mission picked, but he wanted to discuss options before taking it. Getting out of the pod, "No time like the present."