The day of the execution was upon them, and they were dressed in gowns and ceremonial wear. They took a different ship that Rixon had bought with the money they'd stolen from the fallen families. They parked their ship 1 hour away so they wouldn't get detected before they reached it with their equipment on board.
They flew into the first checkpoint, where the ship got checked for weapons or equipment. The only thing they brought with them were social glasses, which were allowed due to everyone using them. When checked in by names and pairs, Rixon was checked in by himself. Relisis, Lo, and Oyric were checked in as a polygamy relationship. And of course, Masinon and Kiala were looked at as a married couple.
When they were set to take their ship to the dock of the second checkpoint where guests would walk the rest of the way, Rixon began to mark this spot from the estate villa to gauge how far he needed to travel when it was time for him to sneak out of the party. When they reached the second checkpoint, their ship went through a full scan by droid inspectors to make sure the ship was safe to be docked.
They all walked off, and when they looked at the "villa," they saw a huge convention center-sized building with lights shooting into the sky and sparking in a rainbow of other colors.
"Man, this is actually wild. I was just three years ago in some mad woman's dungeon, and now I'm going on a three-person date with a half-mute and a certifiably beautiful woman." Lo said as he held her in his right arm.
"Yeah, and I never thought I would be the luckiest woman in the galaxy to find two men who actually wouldn't mind partnering with me." Oyric said as she grabbed Relisis and pulled him in with her right arm.
"Right. Let's go." Relisis said as he blushed at the moment.
Kiala and Masinon chuckled at the young love of the three and moved in tow behind them.
Rixon took the chance to look around and checked to see how the guards were reacting, he noticed that they were communicating a little too much.
"Hey, let's just stay alert. We remember the escape plan if things go left in there and we need to evacuate." Rixon said as he walked up and joined the group and made their way to the stairs of the villa.
When they made it to the doorway, there were four holographic videos of the family branch leader displaying a welcoming message to guests and family members. Kiala and Masinon went to the event floor for the newlyweds, as they wanted to live vicariously through the eyes of those young couples for a moment. Oyric, Relisis, and Lo went to the dance floor to enjoy themselves, as they knew they had time to act their age before they had to execute their dance partners around them.
Rixon, on the other hand, began to do reconnaissance on the crowd and the guards that were inside of it. He made his way to the quiet side of the villa where there were nokoi card games, one-on-one dinner tables, and two bars. The spot overlooked the event floors that everyone was on.
He kept noticing though that the guards were antsy and couldn't shake the feeling that something just wasn't right in that behavior. He walked over to the bar and grabbed himself a drink and turned to look out into the crowd.
For a moment, he acted like everyone else in the crew. He caught himself listening to music, drinking, and resting his back against the bar.
While he was in this daze, a young man who had brown skin and gold eyes as well, and features Rixon had never seen, came next to him to order at the bar as well. Rixon snapped out of the daze when he heard the man's voice, as it finally registered that someone was that close to him.
"Hey, bartender, can I get whatever y'all call Venpi? I'm new to the area and just looking for something to hold me over for the night." The young man said as he stood next to Rixon.
"A Venpi is known all across the universe. Where are you from where that's not a local drink?" Rixon said as he was caught off guard by the notion.
"Ahh, now, why would you go and do that?" The young man said.
"Do what?" Rixon answered in confusion.
"Go get all in my business. Like, come on, man, what if I'm trying to stay low?" The young man said.
Rixon took a double look at him and noticed he couldn't tell what species he was. Rixon let it roll off his shoulder and moved past it, as he was at a mob family party—there were bound to be walking secrets around.
"So, stranger, what brings you here? Are you a part of the family now, or you here as a party guest?" Rixon asked, trying to make small talk.
The young man drank from his drink, then looked at Rixon in a joking manner. "Man, you know, you'd probably be one of the greatest detectives if you tried, because we're not even in an interrogation room and you're still trying to squeeze info out of me."
Rixon chuckled. "Good one, and my apologies. I forgot you're trying to stay low."
"Now, I have noticed that you have been watching everyone, so let me ask you, what do you think of the party? How would you rate this? As this is my first time being at one of these." The young man said as he peered around the room.
"Well, if you want me to be honest, I don't get out much myself, so I can't say I have been to one like this before myself. But from what I have heard about them, I would give this an 8.5, and that is solely due to the amount of kids here." Rixon said as he drank more.
"Now that is a sentiment I can agree with. We are at the age where we don't want to be around kids, teenagers, or older adults. Just the people in our age range." The young man said as they looked over the crowd.
The two talked for two hours. They laughed and even had petty arguments about made-up stories they created about people they were people-watching.
For everyone on the crew, the time just flew, and they were enjoying themselves to the point they forgot about the mission to kill everyone in the building.
But as Rixon was chatting it up with the man, Kiala contacted him on his social glasses.
"Rixon, there is something going on. There are no guards here at all. And I saw three ships fly overhead, racing where everyone parked their ships."
"Understood. I'll check it out and see what's going on." Rixon said as he began to start back over to the young man.
"Hey, my man, it was great meeting you. If you ever need anything, know my name is Rixon. I'll see what I can do." Rixon said as he paid his bar tab.
"Well, Rixon, I'm Doctor Sentio Logeos, and it was great meeting you. I think I've figured out these social glasses..."
Rixon's whole face expression changed, as this was the man he had been researching and who would save him from this cursed universe that was plagued with war.
Rixon grabbed his wrist. "You're Doctor Sentio? Oh, we have to go, and we have to get you out of here."
Doctor Sentio grabbed Rixon's wrist that was holding his own. "Look, buddy, I don't swing that way. I'm not going anywhere with you. I gotta get home, and you're not stopping that by putting me in your sex dungeon."
Rixon's grip loosened as he chuckled. "Yo, a sex dungeon is wild, but—"
Shots rang out, and people began to scream.
"Rixon, the Yornkata Empire is here, and it looks like they have destroyed all the ships that were parked outside. Looks like they came to do the execution before we even had the chance. They are killing everyone in sight." Oyric said as Rixon could hear her shooting back at them.
"Oh yeah, we have to go, Doc. Listen, I know this is hard to believe, but I really want to help you get home. And the only way you can get there is if you had access to the resources and protection me and my team can provide. You have been followed, marked, and the most secrets traded about when it comes to your location in this universe." Rixon said as he hopped behind the bar and found two pistols in a secret compartment, then hopped back over.
"I didn't know I was that much of a wanted man, but wherever we need to go, can we go now? Because they are slaughtering people, and I don't want to be next." Doctor Sentio said as he was ducking his head, reacting to the gunshots that felt seemingly close.
Rixon smirked and told Doctor Sentio to follow close behind him.
As they made their way downstairs, Sentio threw up due to all the dead bodies laying everywhere. Rixon grabbed him and kept him moving. Rixon tried to meet up with the rest of the crew, but they were still on the other side of the villa, which would be hard for them to get to with all the Yornkata troops closing in on them.
Rixon gave them the order to call the ship and get out of there. He would find a way to the ship when he could.
Rixon and Doctor Sentio picked up rifles, and Rixon picked up a sword from one of the fallen Yornkata soldiers. They both left out the front of the villa and got on the run.
Oyric and the rest of the crew were all together, fighting off the Yornkata soldiers.
"They are fucking endless. Like, their armor is already making it hard to kill them, then there are at least three hundred of them left." Lo said as he reloaded behind cover with a joint in his mouth.
"Oyric, how far is the ship out?" Masinon yelled out as he shot back at the pressing Yornkata soldiers.
"One minute." Oyric said as she javelin-threw a sword into the chest of another soldier pressing forward.
As she did it, she got hit in her arm, making her fall back and hit her head on a table, knocking her out unconscious.
Relisis and Lo moved with a quickness and pulled her back to the extraction point.
With them left, all remaining troops moved on them as the ship came into vision.
As Relisis and Lo covered each other, they noticed how the Yornkata troops were preparing rocket launchers in the back line to destroy the ship.
"We have to take them out to leave." Relisis said as he shot at the soldiers.
"We don't have the manpower or the ammo to do that, as we still have a hundred troops in front of us to kill and get through before we can even get to them." Lo said as he looked at Oyric laying behind cover and Relisis desperately trying to hit the back-line rocket launchers.
"Look, you mute, get her on the ship. It has arrived. I will hold them off while you get our lady out of here and safe. I never got to play hero, so don't fight me." Lo said as he reloaded his guns.
"No, she would kill me." Relisis said as he was getting pinned down by gunfire.
"Perfect. I can say I had a relationship and never had an argument. Now go before she gets caught in this fire." Lo said as he raised up with two rifles and created cover fire.
Kiala and Masinon ran to the ship, noticing that Lo had created the opportunity.
"Rel, fucking go! I got this, and you got this!" Lo said as he took shots to the torso but kept taking out soldiers.
"Lo, your next smoke is on me." Relisis said as he picked Oyric up and carried her onto the ship.
"Aye, Rel, what is that idiot doing?" Masinon said as he got in the captain's seat.
"Fly before we die." Relisis said as he held his head down in a shameful, cold manner.
"No way. I'm goi—" Kiala said as she got up and prepared to get off the ship.
Then a stray missile actually launched, missed the ship, but hit the building, causing a slight tremor.
"Go. He can't hold them off much longer." Relisis said as he lit a joint and started smoking with a tear rolling down his right cheek as he looked up at the ceiling.
"Masinon, he's right. He doesn't have much longer, and we can't stay here." Kiala said as she looked below and saw Lo taking fire and hits and still shooting back.
"Fuck! Alright, we're out!" Masinon said as he flew from the spot and saw two ships beginning to tail him.
They got out of there, and all they saw for a moment were gunshots firing. Then they ceased, as if there was no more fighting taking place.
They shook their pursuers, landed, and sent coordinates to Rixon so he could find them.