Sage Teon and the Fake Diamond Heist

Part IV: The Call

The rooftop alarm was simply to prevent the system from alerting the local security forces that there were pirates on the roof of the Academy. But the diamonds themselves were protected by the infamous Tychon Security System, and that would be where Sobal's advertised skills would really be tested.

With Nalton on the roof as a look-out, Sage, Ganon, and Sobal climbed down the stairwell of the building, Keal in Sage's ear telling him where the security cameras were posted.

"There's another one on the next landing," Keal said.

"God in Leveman's, paranoid much?" Sage rolled his eyes, yanking a small machine from his pocket. With a press of a button, it sprung to life, eight little legs extending like a spider. Sage put it on the wall and it scurried across it, disappearing onto the ceiling of the next landing. After a few moments, it beeped, signaling that it had attached itself to the camera and was looping an image of the empty staircase to the security forces.

With that camera taken care of, the trio continued their descent, taking care of four more cameras before they reached the ultra-secure floor where the fake diamonds were housed.

"You're up again, Sobal," Sage said, as another scrambler disabled the camera in the hallway. The kid nodded, all of his confidence from his rooftop success evaporating with every step towards the computer panel. He plugged his small computer into the wall and took a moment before typing slowly.

Sage and Ganon walked over to the large glass window to the laboratory. Even dimly lit, the white tables, floors and walls glowed in their sterility. Sage felt kind of bad about ruining their clean room, but figured they'd probably figure out soon enough that their famous diamonds weren't exactly real, so there wasn't much point in worrying about it.

He heard a frustrated sound from Sobal in the corner and did his best not to look at him.

"Sounds like Junior could use another one of Daddy's pep talks," Ganon smirked.

"Get sucked," Sage snapped. "You find the diamonds in there yet?"

"Not gonna do us a lot of good if Junior over there can't do his damned job," Ganon said, loud enough for Sobal to hear. The kid hunched his shoulders, as if Ganon's words had physically stung him, and he continued typing, a pained look on his face.

"Why do you gotta mess with his head like that?" Sage snapped.

"You got your parenting style, I got mine," Ganon snickered.

Sage tossed a look over to Sobal as he let out another frustrated hiss, typing faster into his computer.

"He gets paid same as everyone else, right?" Ganon said. "So why should we treat him different because he's a kid? I'm an equal opportunity shit-giver."

Sage grumbled, but couldn't argue with his point.

"Besides," Ganon said, quieter. "How in Leveman's Great Swirling Vortex is he gonna survive as a pirate unless he grows a thick skin? If he's gonna let some idiot like me get to him, then he's gonna get destroyed by someone like Royden Relleck in a minute. I'm just preparing him for the real world, 's all."

"H-hey boss?" Sobal whispered, nervously.

"Yeah?" Sage said, fearing what he was about to say.

To his shock, the door to the laboratory opened with a loud suction sound.

"I got it," Sobal grinned.

"I knew you could do it!" Ganon cheered, trotting over to the kid and pulling him upright to shake his hand happily. "C'mon, kiddo - let's get those damn cubic zirconums and get out of here so we can celebrate! I think I'm gonna buy you your first beer tonight!"

Sage stood in the hall for a moment, feeling a surge of affectionate appreciation for Wade Baarda, hoping that the man's soul was enjoying paradise on the other side of Eron's Arch.

***

"Yeah, yeah, you guys go on," Sage laughed.

Ganon had his arm slung around Sobal, who was grinning ear to ear drunkenly. Sage was quite sure the two of them had pre-celebrated, as they stumbled off the ship towards Eamon's, the new hot pirate bar that only allowed the most wanted pirates inside. Sage and his crew had been frequent visitors, and so the bouncers had come to let his crew inside without his presence.

Sage wasn't much in the mood tonight to watch his crew get drunk, or watch the barely-dressed waitresses try and flirt with him, so he was glad to let them go on without him.

He stood on the ramp of his ship as the crew disappeared into the lift, the once boisterous crew silenced as the lift doors closed. Turning on his heel, he closed the ship ramp behind him and walked through the halls on the lower level of his ship. He passed by the small, barely-used jail where he'd stick bounties on the off-chance that he captured a pirate. Next to the small cell was a spiral staircase, and he hopped up past the second level to the top level of his ship, emerging in the storage room. He strolled towards the front of his ship, passing the planning room where they had plotted out the mission, and finally walking onto his bridge.

The room was fairly expansive, with screens for Keal to monitor the status of the ship while Ganon sat in front, piloting the ship. Sobal had taken to sit next to Keal, peppering the mechanic with questions about how the ship worked. His three body men rarely came onto the bridge, although Nalton could be seen every so often sitting in the corner and observing silently.

Sage, of course, settled into the captain's seat in the center of the room, a bevy of screens attached to a free-standing table in front of his chair. He flipped on the screens, displaying the latest info from the pirate web in a long list of mug shots and latest wanted information. Sage smirked as he saw his own face grinning back at him, the news of his latest theft making it to the intraweb in record time. His face fell a little when he saw the number next to his name - eleven - and was a little grateful he wasn't out with the rest of the crew, and in danger of being bothered by some uppity pirate looking to make a name for himself.

He kicked his feet onto the table and leaned back into his chair, looking around the empty bridge and thinking about the group of guys that now worked for him. In just under two years, he'd assembled quite possibly a perfect crew, just the right mixture of ego, brains, brawn, and talent. It had taken Tauron upwards of six or seven years to put together the right people - the last three he had only hired six months before his death.

He allowed himself a moment to wonder what Tauron would have thought of him if he was still alive. Lifting a hand to his temple, he felt for the small scar. A parting gift from his pirate brother.

He would have dwelled on this thought for longer, but a small icon in the corner of his dashboard lit up green, showing that a certain bounty hunter had just logged into the pirate web.

A happy smile grew on his face as he dialed her number.