Reva woke up as soon as her alarm clock projected the sunrise on her wall. She sprang out of bed, already wearing her clothes. She wore black cargo pants with a black jacket over top. She threw her ventilator on her face and left her living quarters. She tiptoed down the hallway, as fast as she could without making too much noise. Her building was almost silent, the only noise being the echoes of music from a party happening some floors away. She ran down the stairs of her building and out onto the street.

She walked down the street, keeping an eye on her surroundings. The lights on the roof were set to a dimmer setting during the nocturnal hours, in order to imitate night. The mines below her feet worked around the clock, leading the air to be just as hot and stuffy and polluted as it was during the day. She nervously looked around every few steps, keeping an eye out for anyone else on the streets. The last thing she needed was to bump into a Phonocoptrian peacekeeper. Again. The peacekeepers were out on patrol during the night. Groups of three or four swept through the neighbourhoods from dusk till dawn, making sure no one was out of their homes. If someone was found outside, the chance of them being escorted home without injury was very slim. Lucky for Reva, all standard peacekeepers wore bright red suits of armour, making them easy to spot in the dark. It hindered their patrols, but made them look cool and intimidating, so they didn't care.

She slinked down the street, ducking in and out of alleyways to avoid patrols. Every once in a while, a patrol would come close and she'd have to duck in an alley, or hide in a shop, but these incidents were few and far between. It was a quiet night, a night with a low number of patrols. Reva continued on her way until she eventually reached the meeting spot. A back alley, behind a dumpster. It was empty. No sign of Vee. And no sign of the weapons. She looked for them on the dumpster, behind the dumpster, inside the dumpster, but there was no sign of them. It was like Vee never dropped them off in the first place. 

A million thoughts raced through Reva's mind. Maybe Vee charged in without her. Maybe he got caught on the way here. Maybe he ran into a patrol that didn't like the look of him, and he was in a gutter somewhere. Or maybe he was just late.

"Hey," Vee's voice whispered in her ear. "The weapons are in that dumpster there."

Of course. He was just late.

"And before you start telling me off," Vee continued. "I'm not late. You're early."

Reva checked her watch. 2:57. Reva was early, but Vee was three minutes early as well.

"Let's just get this done so we can get off this planet," Reva sighed.

"Not yet. We have to wait for the guard rotation. Should only be twenty or so minutes."

Vee pulled the weapons out from under the dumpster. He had attached little metal disks to them, which magnetized them to stick them to the bottom. Reva groaned. Under the dumpster was the one place she hadn't thought to check.

The two made sure all their gear was in working order, ready for anything. Reva was outfitted in all black, ready for stealth. Vee was still wearing his bright yellow jacket. It was a stupid jacket to wear on a mission like this. Not only was it a very vibrant colour, it had strips of a reflective material, shining light like a disco ball. Little tubes of fluid swept along the seems of the jacket, glowing like a glow stick. The jacket seemed perfectly designed to ruin their element of surprise.

"Why don't you take that off?"

"We're trying to start a revolution! We need a symbol people can rally behind!"

"And you think a yellow jacket is that symbol?."

"Well... You never know..."

They both laughed. After Reva's laughter slowed, Vee spoke up again.

"I'm serious though. The two of us can't save the galaxy by ourselves. We need more people on our side."

"Yeah... hopefully we find some new recruits in there."

Vee smiled softly. "I'm sure we will."

The duo waited a few more minutes before leaving their alley and walking down the street together. After marching in silence for a few hundred meters, keeping their weapons hidden under their jackets, they reached a large metal door. Two Phonocoptrian guards, in the same gear as the peacekeepers, stood on either side of the door, weapons raised, scanning the surrounding buildings. Vee and Reva ducked into a nearby building, The store Vee outlined in his plans, hiding under a counter by a large window. They cautiously peaked over the counter, scared to raise their heads any higher. It's here they watched the guards until the door opened. It slid up into the roof, like the gate of a castle. There was a soft hydraulic hissing as it did so. Two guards stepped out of the open doorway, tapping the guards on the shoulders. The fresh guards said something too quiet for Reva to make out, probably something about the changing shift, before both sets of guards marched back into the base.

Reva and Vee quickly and quietly climbed out from beneath the counter and vaulted out the window, before running out of the store and over to the door. About halfway to the door, it began to close. The duo ran faster, focusing less on stealth in a desperate attempt to get in. They ran as hard as they could without making enough noise to alert nearby patrols. Their legs pumped and their lungs heaved. They were too slow. The door slid down, blocking the entry way just as they reached it. They both stopped, gasping, trying to catch their breath. Reva was the first to catch it. 

"What do we do now?" Reva asked, a hint of panic in her voice. "We have to get in!"

"Relax," Vee said quietly, strolling up to the doors control panel. "I came prepared."

Vee pulled the device that had the stolen plans on it out of his jacket pocket. He then pulled a small cable out of it, plugging it into a hole in the control panel. A string of letters flashed above the device, projected as a blue hologram. The device cycled through several dozen combinations of letters and numbers, before eventually becoming locked on one. Vee pushed the button on top of the device. The hologram faded as the control panel made a noise, like someone entered some kind of input. There was a soft click, followed by the door beginning to slide open.

"See," Vee said, a snarky smirk on his face. "It pays to be prepared!"

The door finished opening, revealing two guards tapping their key card on the control panel on the inside of the entryway. They were talking with each other, laughing and smiling. They stopped as soon as they saw Vee and Reva, becoming rather alarmed.

"Never mind," Vee muttered, sounding defeated.

"Halt citizens!" The guards shouted. "You are unauthorized to be in this sector! Step back or we will be forced to use force!"

"So much for being stealthy," Reva sighed.

Before either guard could reach for their rifle, Vee had pulled out his knife. He ignited it's blade, a red blade of pure energy. Vee reached his arm up, running it across one of the guards throats. There was no sign of any damage. Instead, the guard froze up, his body going stiff from the neck down. His eyes grew wide in horror, as he lost all feeling in his limbs. 

"He's got a nerve knife!" The guard yelled to the other. "I can't move!!"

The other guard drew his rifle and aimed it at Vee. He looked down the sight, finger hovering over the trigger. Before he could pull it, Reva cocked her gun and put it to the back of his head. It sat between the bottom of his helmet and the armour plating his neck. Reva pulled the trigger, causing a quick flash of red light to shoot out. It hit him in one of his top vertebrae. He lost consciousness instantly, before his body could even start falling.

"You killed him!" The frozen guard screamed in terror.

"Nerve rounds," Reva said teasingly. She poked the guard she shot, who was still standing upright, frozen in place like his coworker.

Vee stabbed the guard in the back of the head, knocking him unconscious. The guard remained standing upright, all his limbs frozen stiff.

"How'd you know it was a nerve knife?" Reva asked Vee.

"I know you," Vee responded. "You wouldn't kill."

"I guess you do know me pretty well... Now, we've got a job to do!"

The two hid their weapons back in their jacket pockets and ran into the building. The walls and floors were made of a bright, highly reflective metal. Strips of bright lights lit up the hallway. The two raced down the hall together. Their mission was underway.