The crew frantically moved items onto the ship. Of all the crew members Ellop seemed the most upset given all he would leave behind. Ellop looked like he was on the verge of tears with the realization everything, down to his workshop were now to be reclaimed by the jungle. Azav moved his possessions, which weren’t many into his ship and stayed inside for a few hours doing research of where they would next be headed. “Maybe we’re going to live on Tribabi,” joked Sheerya trying to lighten the mood, but Ellop was already to distraught to find anything funny at this point. As the sun went down objects and possessions were still being moved into Azav’s ship. Some things had to be left behind, mainly Ellop’s possessions. “It’s okay Ellop, we can buy new stuff,” said Sheerya.

“It’s not okay. We do the same thing every time. Tiki was just so careless this time she didn’t even bother checking for a tracking device,” said Ellop.

“No, this isn’t Tiki’s fault. None of us noticed the tracking device,” said Sheerya.

“You’re right. It’s not Tiki’s fault. It’s my fault for being so stupid thinking I could have faith in Tiki,” said Ellop.

Tiki looked hurt by Ellop’s commentary, it felt unjust. It didn’t feel right to Tiki that she was being assigned all of the blame for the tracking device. A pile of objects and possessions were haphazardly placed from floor to ceiling inside Azav’s ship. When all the essentials were finally compiled the crew entered the ship and Azav took off as he had another place prepared in the event of an evacuation being necessary. Ellop was still recovering from having to leave behind several of his possessions, unfinished projects, and things such as the stream and the trees back on Zogan. It was clear that Ellop was still thinking of blaming Tiki for the incident so Azav held a meeting about it and spoke up. “Our position on Zogan has been made vulnerable due to unforeseen circumstances, so for the time being we will temporarily be locating to another base that I have set up in case of an emergency like this. I know that earlier in the day there were hostilities toward Tiki, but if anyone here is still carrying such attitudes I will ask that you forgive Tiki. While the ramifications may have been avoided had she spotted the tracking device earlier so too did the rest of us have ample time to locate and identify the device as well. I ask all of you to treat one another with respect,” said Azav.

The crew arrived after a few sleep cycles on another planet. The planet was cold and bitter, much like the outside of the mountains on Sevani. There was a utilitarian structure poking out of the ground with a large metal door. It was an underground bunker. Upon entering hot air blew on the crew as they declined the stairs. They were able to take it easy on the couch as Ellop was able to bring his androids along to the new world and had them unload while the crew went downstairs. A nearby geothermal plant was powering the underground bunker. To the credit of Azav, the space wasn’t bad. The decoration was minimal and the design was utilitarian, but the bunker had all the necessary amenities and included several underground rooms. There was a designated planning room like in the previous base, and a few other rooms that could be used as bedrooms. The androids moved the furniture in as the heat would turn up in order to not escape the bunker each time the doors were opened or closed. In another room was a greenhouse with a robot assistant watering the plants and taking care of them. Azav called another meeting in the new meeting room. As people took their seats Azav introduced another contract the team had gotten. “I’m aware some may be lacking energy from some of the travel and moving we’ve done recently, but we don’t get to rest because we’ve gotten another contract. A few intergalactic weeks ago a crew of pirates intercepted an Ikti trade ship. Now, for the most part they stole a bunch of junk and garbage the Ikti don’t care too much about, but upon the trade ship were some jewels. So, what does one of the greatest superpowers in the galaxy need us for, afterall they have extensive resources. Well, the thing is the jewels stolen kind of mean a lot to the Ikti. The reason, I’m not exactly sure, but they can’t handle any information about the missing jewels to be leaked to the civilian population. More importantly, Ikti Prime is somewhere Michael has to go for other reasons, so it would kill two globbersnouts with one stick,” said Azav.

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The crew didn’t look on with much enthusiasm still recovering from the days of travel. A few days later they departed to retrieve the stolen jewels for the Ikti. When on the ship Azav went over details for the mission. “Our client has given us intel that the pirates who have stolen the jewels intend on selling them in an auction. Ordinarily, the Ikti would have no problem exerting their power to get the jewels back, but since they’re trying to keep this discrete the client has contacted us. It’s important that we get there and sneak into the auction space to steal the jewels before any are stolen,” said Azav.

Avaz went over the plan in great detail and got everyone on the crew on the same page. After some time had passed traveling through the vacuum of space they would arrive at the venue where the auction was being held. Azav had tasked Michael with silently infiltrating the event and sneaking through the back room to steal the jewels. When they arrived at the auction building however a problem with the plan was made evident. Watching from a hidden camera Azav recognized a flaw in the plan. “The security is a bit more than we thought don’t you think?” asked Michael looking at the footage of the back room.

“Unfortunately, it does appear to be greater than anticipated,” responded Azav.

“So then what are we going to do?” asked Tiki.

“I say we just go out in there guns blazing and all the guards out and steal those gems,” said Michael.

“Absolutely not, Michael. We shall not take any innocent lives for convenience,” said Azav.

“We could try the knock-out gas,” suggested Tiki.

“I like that idea. Then it would both get rid of all the guards but without harming them,” said Sheerya.

“Yes, this seems to be the best option,” said Azav.

Michael got dressed in a stolen security guard uniform as he fit the best in it and carried his gas mask and a canister of knock-out gas in a backpack before sneaking to the back of the auctioning room. “Do you see the jewels?” asked Azav to Michael through an earpiece.

“Yep, I’ve located them,” said Michael.

Michael dropped his bag to the ground and quickly put on the gas mask before setting off the canister of knockout gas which released a thick white smoke into the air. Michael used a flashlight to pick up the jewels and place them into a box which he carried out from the back of the room. Fortunately for Michael, he remained undetected as he returned to Azav’s ship and they were able to depart before anyone noticed the jewels missing. “Next stop, Ikti Prime,” said Azav.