Pack mule

"Oh come on," Levi loudly grumbled. "A god damn cart?"

Team purple had assembled a fairly large cart and was merrily pushing it along like they were out shopping at a junkyard mall.

"Even the pair of jokers stalking them are confused," Bruce added.

The prefects had come to realise that Jason had betrayed his own team at the behest of Loda. All respect had been lost and none of them wanted a turncoat and a snake in the ranks of their camps.

"Maybe," Yve carefully ventured, "they're going to use it to transport something?"

"Big brain Yve. No one would have figured that one out without your input," Levi replied. The sting of his sarcasm was dulled by a half-hearted and lazy delivery.

"One of these days, Levi," Yve warmly responded. "Someone is going to discover your dead body in a ditch somewhere, wearing nothing but a soiled underwear over your head."

Levi thought of several retorts to that but he vocalised none of them. Yve's martial arts trophies weren't just for show. The prefect of Cygnus was no slouch at combat but he wasn't on Yve's level. None of them were, except maybe Bruce when he was in his zone.

_____

"What do we do?" Jason asked Loda when team purple stopped to examine a steel pole.

Loda himself wasn't sure. To disrupt a plan, one had to first understand the nature of the plan. They'd been following the trio for roughly twenty minutes now and he was starting to suspect they were going in a circle around the same familiar surroundings.

"The same thing you've been doing all this time. Why don't you show yourself to them and act remorseful for what happened? They might take you back."

"I'll give it a try," Jason replied. He had nothing to lose by participating in this deception. Getting admitted to Starfield was still low enough on his list of priorities that it didn't bother him to act unscrupulously.

"Get back to me with complete information about their plan and I'll add a few more thousands of credits to your final payment."

"That's all you had to say, boss."

Jason was filled with anticipation for the hour that he would behold so much money in his account. Forget getting into Starfield, he could use the credits to start his own small business in space.

____

"Anri, hey," Jason called out. The previous sharpness in his demeanour was replaced by the bumbling and awkward approach of a simpleton.

The trio stopped and turned to acknowledge their fourth member who had been missing for too long.

"Jason," Anri's brows lifted in surprise. "We looked for you everywhere. Where were you?"

Was that the reason they spent so much time circling the area? Jason wondered. Putting on his best smile, the teenager moved toward them looking foolish and regretful. "I'm sorry... I needed some time to cool my head."

"You ditched us, asshole," Soren replied before Anri could. "So why don't you tuck your tail between your legs and piss off to wherever you were hiding at."

The look on Jason's face was apologetic. He rubbed the back of his head and stared at the ground like a lost puppy.

"Maybe we shouldn't be so harsh on him," Nova said to the other two. "He's sorry."

Grasping at the lifeline, Jason nodded and pleaded his case. "I made a bad decision because I am a desperate man fighting to get into Starfield. If I don't make it this year, I'll be too old to try again the next year. This is my last chance, guys. Please.." He fell to his knees and shed a few crocodile tears for good measure.

"What a little bitch. Cry some more," Soren scoffed at the kneeling boy.

Anri looked on at the big and tall teenager sniffling like a stupid child. "If I agree, will you stop crying?" He was utterly disgusted by the sight of it.

Jason rejoiced in his heart. Outwardly, it was a different story. "I'll do anything. Please let me join you. I- I need the points." He was willing to do anything for the money. Humiliating himself like this was worth the riches he was making.

____

"So shameless...."

"Annoying."

The prefects were dismayed by Anri's decision to let the turncoat rejoin them.

"Do you think he knows?" Helena asked the others.

"He knows," Levi said with a half-grin. "If there's one thing we've learnt about Anri so far, it's that right from the beginning, he has had his finger on the pulse of this battle."

"He's neither a mind reader nor an omniscient presence," Helena rebutted him. "I fail to see the source of your confidence, Levi."

The prefect's confidence in Anri could be attributed to several reasons, the most convincing being the circuitous half-hour route that they'd taken around the area. It was as if team purple knew they were being followed and had been leading their stalkers in a circle. For Jason to show up from seemingly nowhere while they were being secretly followed, Levi didn't think Anri wouldn't be without suspicions about it.

____

"So what's the plan?" Jason cheerily asked. "Are we going to crack the lock?"

"Yep," Soren answered. "Our boy Anri is a genius. While you were off sulking like a little bitch, he explained everything to us. You're very lucky we took you back, Jason."

"I truly am lucky," the teenager replied. His smile was insincere but none of them were looking at him. "How confident are you feeling about cracking the lock, Anri?"

The sorcerer glanced at the smiling face of the teenager who had been given the task of being the team's cart mule. "Confident enough to wager on it."

"Wow.. to think that you can even break into such a heavily secured system designed by the military. You're wasting your potential here."

"Shut up, Jason. Keep pushing the fucking cart," Soren interjected. "You were obedient and tolerable before. Now your ass-kissing is so obvious it's making me want to barf in your general direction."

Anri bit his cheek so he wouldn't smile at Soren's blunt words. He was starting to appreciate the company of the hot-headed redhead.

"Here we are," Anri said to the others. "I need a few things from there. Jason, leave the cart and follow me."

____

"Strange," Bruce commented.

Anri could be seen hauling something heavy with Jason's help. In the dim environment, it was difficult to see what they were dragging away from the remains of a large starcraft.

"What's that, Helena?" Yve asked the prefect who was their expert on technical and mechanical knowledge.

Helena could only see the outline of the object. It looked like a broken off part of something rectangular. "I can't see it clearly" she replied. "Is it just me or is Anri blocking the view of the camera that's watching them?"

"That little shit," Levi drawled. "He's doing it on purpose."

The situation was heating up and they had no idea what was about to soon hit them.

____

"You did well," Anri told the sweating Jason who had worked hard to lug such a heavy item for him.

"Thank you. What are you going to use it for?" As far as Jason could discern, the item was a rectangular hunk of copper.

"You won't understand even if I explained it to you," Anri coolly replied. "Now put it in the cart and push it in the direction I tell you."

"I'm curious, Anri," Jason said to the sorcerer as they moved along the path that led them to their destination. "Can't you give me a watered-down explanation of it?"

"You're so annoying," Soren grumbled. "Can't you see that it's a stupid metal rod? Anri is going to smash the keypad with it."

"What?" Jason asked, feeling a little underwhelmed. That was the grand plan? "Why does it have to be this big? The keypad is really small and we can use-"

"It's the same reason your muscles are so big," Soren carelessly replied. "To compensate for your baby-sized little brother."

Jason was trying to remain calm but Soren's jabs were making critical hits. He clenched the handle of the cart so hard that his fingers began to hurt.

"That's not funny," he replied in a subdued tone. What was with all the hostility from Soren?

The redhead smiled knowing he was getting under Jason's skin. "Keeping pushing the cart, donkey."