The Assassin and the Crown of Stars

The Assassin and the Crown of Stars: Part One

"Systems are down. You've got twenty minutes at best. It's go time."

Nova leaned back against the wall, her eyes flashing up and down the narrow street, her fingers drumming against her arm. "Copy that. Status check on Tarantula."

Nova's earpiece crackled again. "He's is two minutes out. He'll be there." A pause. "Be careful RedWidow."

Nova clenched her jaw. "I'll let you know when I'm in. See you on the flip side Recluse."

"On the flip side then."

Nova held back a smile as she silenced her transmitter and shoved herself off the wall and into the blue light. She picked her way along the trash ridden street, steps light, arms swinging. Just another civ on break before the celebrations.

Months. They had been working on this mission for months. Six long, brutal months. 181 days of slowing working through the systems, like a spider attacking a tiger. Only this time, if all went as planned, the tiger would never know it had been bitten until it was too late.

And Nova was close. So very close. With every step the gleaming white towers of the palace rose higher against the blacks and grays of the dome and city around them. The blinking ad feeds slowly morphed into security cams and news feeds before blinking out altogether. And slowly, the empty streets slowly split up into dozens of blackened tunnels and back alleys. Nova pulled her hood farther down over her face and slowed her walk into a bored limp. Her eyes, however, stayed permanently fixed on her scanner, waiting and watch for any anomalies. The glowing line on her scanner drew ever closer, one painfully slow step at a time.

The seconds slowly ticked by as Nova crawled her way through the final alley. Her breath hitched as she scanned the empty buildings and street for any signs of live. Nothing.

"This better work." She muttered to herself before striding to one of the dozens of rusted and crooked back doors. She learned against the door, yanked off her glove, and pressed her thumb against the handle. Her scanner slowly blinked, text flashing: Transferring information.

Her thumb throbbed, a silent tell the ID reader hidden in the handle of the door was indeed reading the information embedded in her thumb.

Access granted

The door hissed before swinging open, the darkness beyond oddly inviting against the sickly blue light of the streets outside. Nova flipped down her visor before stepping inside and closing the door behind her. Using a light would be an unnecessary risk, especially this close to the palace, the infrared and night vision installed in her visor would work just fine.

She paused just within the threshold. "Tarantula?" She hissed. Her scanner pulsed, alerting her that someone was indeed very close. "Tarantula?" She tried again. Nothing. Cursing, Nova picked her way across the uneven floor, and eased her way up the stairs. Out of habits Nova trailed her hand against the railing as she counted the steps to the second floor. Twenty-four steps in total. The seventh and twelfth steps creaked. The fifteenth step was cracked. Every step was fitted with a pressure sensitivity plate. Tarantula would know she was there long before she reached the second floor.

Nova crossed her arms as she reached the top of the stairs, her visor instantly picking up the figure standing in the corner.

"Greetings Redwidow."

"Greetings Tarantula." Nova's scanner was already measuring Tarantula's facial features and recording the pitch of his voice, confirming that it was indeed Tarantula standing before her. Nova had no doubt Tarantula's scanner was doing the same to her.

Nova leaned back, finally at ease. "Any trouble with the Baine?"

Mace copy Nova's pose. "None. They were preoccupied setting up the city square for the celebration."

Nova grinned. "Excellent. Let's suit up."

Mace nodded silently. "Recluse added some new toys for you to play with."

Nova strode across the room the corner and yanked up the carpet from the corner. "I expect nothing less from Parker, I'm lucky to have her." Nova held down the carpet with her foot and pressed her thumb to the near invisible notch in the metal floor. The same burning flooded her hand, but she ignored it as a corner of the floor slide back. Mace leaned over and carefully pulled out two bundles of clothing.

"Here." Mace handed her one of the bundles. "You nervous?"

Nova raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't ask stupid questions Mace. We've gone over every possible scenario. There's no reason to be nervous."

Mace shifted away. "Right. But I'll be thankful when it's all over."

Nova removed her hood and boots, her eyes suddenly dark. "We're all that's left Mace. If we don't stand up to them, no one will. We need to do this."

Mace ran a hand down his face. "I'm so tired Nova. I don't want to fight like this anymore."

Nova began strapping weapons onto her body. "I know Mace." She said softly. "I promise you, I'm going to fix the world. It's going to be what it was like before."

Mace said nothing, only handed Nova another blade and began strapping weapons and supplies to himself as well.

Nova pieced her armor back together before coiling her dark hair against the back of her head and replacing her ever-present hood. "You have your D-comm? She said softly as she pushed her visor back into place.

"Yes." Mace handed Nova a magazine clip before placing his D-comm in his ear.

Nova flicked the sound on her earpiece back on. "Status check on Huntsman and GreenLynx please Recluse."

"Huntsman is in place. GreenLynx ran into some trouble with the Baine but she'll be there on time."

"Good. We're suited up and ready."

"Surveillance shows there's roughly two-thousand in the city square with an expected three-hundred on the way."

"Excellent. Let's put on a show for them." Nova tapped her foot impatiently.

"The Imperial family has not been seen yet."

"Fine. Fine. We'll go find them if necessary."

"Be careful RedWidow." Parker took an audible breath over the crackling of the D-comm.

"You're more important than this mission. If it goes wrong, promise me you'll get out of there."

Nova laughed. "Just keep the lights off in there Recluse. Leave the rest to me."

"When this is over, we need talk Nova."

Nova's smile finally fell from her face. "The world's going to be a much better place in about thirty minutes. Focus on that Parker."

Mace lifted his head. "Ready?"

Nova rolled her shoulders. "Ready."