Inside, the shed was nothing like the outside. Automatic lights activated as soon as we entered, revealing metal walls and a grated floor. The egress point for the subterranean cargo platform was set in the centre, but Ashe passed it and went to hatch in the floor instead. Another code opened that with ease, revealing a long vertical shaft with ladder rungs set into the wall.
I stand next to her lowering myself in a crouched position.
She looks at me. "Any chance your naturally gifted self comes with the ability to see in the dark."
"I don't think I have night vision."
Cole leaned over it, peering down. He swallowed hard, "Long way down, can't even see the bottom," he gestures with his hand while looking at the two of us, "ladies first?"
"Ain't you the gentleman?"
Ashe arches her brow at me and I roll my eyes. "The things I do."
I spin around and start making my way down through the hatch. The air was cool but musty as if no one had opened the hatch in a while. After a few yards, the shaft opened up, joining up with the space that would be occupied by the cargo platform, still currently below. This feels rather terrible if I have to be honest.
About fifty meters down, we reached the bottom of the shaft. The cargo platform was to one side of them; on the other, a corridor that led in the direction of the warehouses.
"See?" Ashe cocked her head at Cole. "So far, so good."
"Sure," said Cole. "But let's not jinx it."
"Anyone with a good enough plan doesn't need to worry about jinxes. C'mon."
We travelled along the corridor in silence, though its discrete purpose meant there were no sound or movement sensors down there. I glance at Ashe in the darkness beside me, wondering if not at all times would be a good idea for some 'harmless' fun.
I create a sparkle in my hand that makes them jump out of their skin, covering their mouths instantly in response.
"Jesus fucking-"
"None of that now." Cole stops both of us.
I hold my laughter to myself. "I thought there were sensors down here for a moment there, you idiot," she hits me in the side before walking past me.
"Peaceful down here," Jesse whispered after a short silence.
"Sure, just like a tomb." Ashe checked the schematic again. "A little farther, then we take a left. Just hoping we don't have any surprises from their end and our own."
That was directed at me.
We reach a split. Not far beyond that was a faint glow of light: the end of the tunnel.
The warehouses were as deceptive on the outside as the shed had been.
Cole gave a low whistle as their eyes adjusted to the wan light, and a massive chamber opened before us. Towering shelves full of black cargo cases soared stories above, interconnected by a labyrinth of metal walkways.
"So, all this would've belonged to you?" Cole turned in a slow circle as he took in the room. "How are we going to find anything in this horde? Should I, uh, start opening crates or something?"
"Watch and learn, farm boy." Ashe pulled out a tablet she'd brought from home, loaded with her parents' restricted files. Moments later, a warehouse drone whirred toward them, stopping to hover a few feet away. "Our little friend here will fetch what we need. Just give it a shopping list and an admin code—which I have, of course."
She queues up a request.
"Incorrect authorization." A single red light lit up on the drone like the angry eye of a cyclops. "Please try again. Mandatory alert triggered in ten... nine ..."
Ashe frowned.
"Ashe..."
She taps another code into the pad.
I ready myself. "Ashe."
"Shut it."
"Incorrect authorization." The drone moved away a few feet as if readying to go for reinforcements. "Eight ... seven ..."
"Uh, Ashe..." Cole took a step back. "Everything okay?"
"Yes!" She is chewing at her bottom lip. Everything was definitely not okay.
"Five ... four ..." The red light began to pulse menacingly.
Cole draws his revolver. "I was kidding about the jinx, y'know."
I do the same with my flaming counterpart, ready to turn it into ash if it ever reaches one.
"Put those away and stop distracting me!" Ashe's fingers hovered above the tablet, trembling.
"Two ..."
The pulse stopped. The light turned green.
"Authorization accepted." With an almost jaunty twirl, the drone ascended into the towers of crates and disappeared.
Cole let out a long breath. "If you're trying to show off, I can tell you right now, I'm well past impressed."
"I was doing nothing of the sort. A slightly out-of-date code, that's all. I had it handled."
I let my gun fade away. "If you wanted to make a man's heartbeat race I reckon there are better ways to go about it rather than playing with our lives."
"Consider it payback then."
I chuckle. "Payback? For giving you a scare? That was harmless?"
Cole snorts. "May have been harmless but it was enough to make her want to shoot you it looks like."
Within a few minutes, the drone had retrieved four crates about the size of hay bales and deposited them on a hover transport.
"Care to peek at the spoils?" Ashe bypassed the lock of the closest one. Inside lay a row of Seraphim scoped rifles in gunmetal grey, the Arbalest logo etched into their black stocks. "How do you like those, Cole Cassidy?"
A fixed stare answered that question. He reaches out, fingers brushing along a barrel. "I like them just fine."
"Top of the line," Ashe continued. "Intimidating, accurate, and complete with lethal and nonlethal modes. Exactly what we'll need."
"Robbing a corporation with their own guns," said Jesse. "It's almost poetic."
"I'm not interested in poetry." Ashe shut the crate again. "I'm interested in profit. C'mon, let's get back."
I hover in place for a brief moment. Ashe grabs me by the upper arm and softens her eyes as if to ask me if something was wrong. I only shake my head and she tugs me with her. Something feels off, it feels like we are missing something.
The tunnel felt shorter on the return trip, the hover transport humming alongside them. Ashe has a stupidly large grin on her face, but I can't help but be the one wondering if something else is going to stand in our way.
Reaching the end of the tunnel, we steered the hover transport as close as we could to the cargo platform, and then dragged the heavy crates onto it. Cole hit the UP on the command display, and the platform began to rise, smooth as silk.
Maybe we are out of here just like that.
