Amir didn't dampen Charles's enthusiasm. He simply agreed and the two of them went over the plan in detail before Amir powered up the Voyager, switched on the front lights, and began descending into the fissure.
Guided by Charles's directions, the Voyager dove deep for quite some time until they finally reached a flat landing zone and came to a stop.
"I'm off!" Charles took off his coat, drew a blaster pistol from his belt, pulled on a hat, and stepped out of the ship.
Amir stood at the hatch watching him disappear into the darkness, while also observing the surrounding environment.
With only the dim lights of the Voyager to illuminate the area, all Amir could see were deep blue layers of ice. Beyond the range of the beams lay utter darkness, save for the occasional flickering blue specks — the glow of local subterranean flora.
"So cold..." Amir muttered, rubbing his hands together. He tapped a switch on his wristband, and a spider-shaped droid leapt to the ground, quietly trailing after Charles.
Instead of heading straight back inside, Amir pulled a cable from the hatch and dragged it out a fair distance, attaching it loosely to the icy wall — loose enough that the ship could still retract it automatically upon liftoff.
To avoid signal interference, he had set up this wired receiver to bypass the Voyager's signal shielding. It would transmit anything it picked up straight to the cockpit.
After securing everything, Amir returned to the pilot seat and waited for the spider droid's data feed.
He put on his headset. The audio stream from the spider droid was faint — mostly Charles's quiet footsteps. They had agreed this part of the infiltration had to be stealthy. Silence was key.
Eventually, the footsteps vanished entirely — then came new ones, approaching from a distance.
Amir didn't react. They had accounted for this scenario — if any pirates returned with raw material, Charles would take them out and use their uniform to infiltrate the camp unnoticed.
The pirate gang was notoriously lax on security. Deep underground and surrounded by pitch-black darkness, there wasn't much to worry about — aside from the occasional lurking dew-worms.
Most of the pirate leadership was also addicted to spice, lost in their hallucinations. Swapping out one of their men wouldn't raise any alarms.
Thud! A muffled grunt and a heavy drop echoed through the audio feed — Charles had made his move.
A blip on the radar stopped moving — Charles's signal. Amir had given him a locator.
Now wearing the dead pirate's white fur coat and hat, Charles pushed an anti-grav crate toward the encampment.
Soon, the blip arrived at the center of the camp.
"Hey, Mark!" a voice called out.
Charles didn't answer.
"This the last batch?"
"Mm," Charles grunted in response.
Apparently no one suspected anything. In that freezing underground environment, no one wanted to chat. As long as your reply was brief, a different voice wouldn't draw attention.
Charles expertly maneuvered the crate deeper inside. He had said he'd once worked at this facility, and was more familiar with it than these newer pirates.
The spider droid followed close behind, continuing to record ambient sound.
Charles passed through several ice rooms without stopping. It seemed he hadn't located the target yet, and his growing impatience was clear — his footsteps quickened.
Eventually, he halted in front of the largest chamber's entrance and paused for nearly twenty seconds before stepping inside on muffled feet.
Amir sat upright, ready to launch the Voyager at a moment's notice.
Charles had said the spice would most likely be stored in the extraction chamber — the first large room. If not, it might be in the warehouse. But more likely, the pirate captain would have it in his private quarters.
The pirate boss was known to be deeply addicted to spice. A batch this pure would be irresistible.
And since the captain didn't trust his own men, he stayed on-site to supervise everything — the same room Charles was entering now.
Amir couldn't help but note how much Charles seemed to know about this gang. Charles had claimed he was once enslaved here before managing to escape. Amir hadn't questioned it. He only needed the man's intel — no need to pry further.
"Aha… who's there?" A rough voice suddenly echoed through the spider droid's mic — tinged with both pleasure and suspicion.
"No one, boss. Last batch just came in. We're ready to start the extraction. We can move out soon," Charles said in a low, altered voice.
"Hahaha! Good work, boys! This time, William's not gonna stiff you—ah, ha!"
"…You're not—!"
"Shh, my dear captain," Charles interrupted quickly. "You'd better keep quiet. Or I'll shoot."
"You forget your last failure, Charles? You damn traitor. You think you can just walk away with my stash? You'll pay for this!"
The pirate's voice trembled — angry but restrained. He clearly knew Charles would shoot if he shouted.
Then the audio picked up the sound of Charles picking something up.
"Not easy, I'll admit. But I managed," Charles replied.
"You think you can escape this planet in that stolen ship? I sabotaged its hyperdrive!"
"Don't worry. I've got a brand-new one coming. An excellent ship."
Hearing this, Amir smiled.
Pew pew!
"Goodbye, William."
Suddenly, chaos erupted over the audio feed — gunfire, shouting, and crashing noises.
Without hesitation, Amir launched the Voyager and flew toward the camp. Cranking up the engines and the floodlights, the black fissure lit up like midday.
As he neared the encampment, Amir spotted three docked fighters — older models, incapable of hyperspace travel.
To prevent pursuit, he lifted the Voyager slightly, targeted the fighters with the heavy laser cannon, and fired. Two fighters exploded in fiery bursts.
That done, Amir descended rapidly toward the exit zone and flung open the hatch.
Right on cue, Charles burst out of the camp — scruffy and wild-eyed, his right hand raised high, a personal shield projector flaring as it blocked a barrage of blaster bolts.
"Nice trick," Amir muttered.
"Take off, Amir!" Charles shouted as he dived into the ship.
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