True to his word only when he wanted to be, Goro had stressed that as a reward for her services that the Intel about the two agents he sold had gotten to the ADD. How they chose to deal with it was up to them.

Two agents to recover … it was a mess of a mission anyway from the start. Find out what happened to the missing agent Nail … then contact with Alexander was lost. Luna had lead an investigation and called in back up, briefly resuming the later and apprehending the slaver and petty criminal Goro but his imprisonment was short lived and he escaped, not only that but he recaptured Alexander and two additional agents that he later sold on Vanejin …

The trick was that the slaves were sold to different Masters. Getting one might tip off the other so it was probably best dealing with both at the same time.

And the Intel was given to the lone agent in the remote sector to deal with.

“Contact Celine … she is undercover in your sector ...”

“What of her assignment?”

“It's not so important that she can't get back to it … infiltrating a pirate gang on Hadante.”

“Hadante?” She could not infiltrate that world, one false step and … but she had her orders ...

The red head was before the blond agent. She coolly studied her. “Your no pirate ...” She drew her plasma pistol on her with an uncanny ease pointing it at the agent's chest. “Let's go.” She smiled a bit.

“I remember you … I was on your base once. You probably didn't take notice of another prisoner being escorted along.” The two women were alone in the rest room of a tavern, and by the gist of it the gig was up …

“But maybe there isn't a need to just end it all,” she rubbed her chin in thought as she pondered …

The undercover Swede had just really gotten her mission started, when the redhead pulled that plasma pistol on her. The other woman jerked the gesturing for the agent to go in a particular direction.

The outlaw apparently was an escaped prisoner who once was on Antares Base. Worse she there during one the few times that Celine had spent there between assignments. Now that conquincidence had come back to haunt the agent.

What are you suggesting?

“Information … but first,” flames lick at her fingers as her eyes go from blue to pink, the flames not to hot as it would take longer to charge and her eyes would have become red.

“In case you get any ideas … I don't need the pistol. We are going to walk out of here to my hover car out back and go to my ship. Once there we will talk.”

She holsters the weapon. “Alright move.”

The former pirate captain watches the blond having her take the lead. Since she is known her the ruffians do little more then glance at the pair, their collective eyes running over their curves, envisioning them naked no doubt.

Around back there is a hover car and a black droid pilot that acts as a chauffeur in this instant. The pirate keenly watches the agent, quite vigilant in that as they travel the few blocks to the busy starport though the red head isn't much for conversation.

Not even while back on the ship, she remains guarded and lures the agent to a monitor commanding the droid to broadcast into a certain frequency as she simply watches the agent ...

An image appears on the monitor of a ships bridge, a freighter she could guess, the brown haired woman looks familiar …

“Kepler alpha seven thirteen dash eighty-six,” she confirms the proper codes at lest most of it seeing that they are in mixed company. “I'm sorry to have to extract you like this though Hadante can be a bit rough and Scorch agreed to lend her assistance. The rest of what I have to say is for your ears only.”

She waits until the droid and red head clear out.

“On a recent mission one of our agents, Nail, went missing and another was sent to rescue her. She was captured though in an attempt to secure her freedom their was an incident. Her freedom and that of two other agents had been forfeit though the Directorate recently acquired information about the possible whereabouts of two of those agents and obviously wishes to collect more data before proceeding … they have given me the green light to recruit your assistance as the two agents are not being kept together.

“They have also left it to our discretion to rescue the agents ourselves if that looks like a possibility though it is likely that we would have to do each near simultaneously if not to tip of the other slaver. I'll give you your choice of targets between the two as well.

“One is a telekinetic creature and known to have taken at least one agent captive in his days, the other a king pin in a fairly large crime syndicate.”

The outlaw seemed to after whatever information from the blonde agent had. To ensure that Celine didn't anything funny the redhead produced some flame at her fingers.

The pirate ordered to the agent to head out to the hover car to the spaceport. For the moment there was little Celine could do the but make sure things would fall out of hand.

Okay, just remember if you do anything, you'll burn down the bar. Then people will be after us.

The agent had no choice but have to take the lead as the redhead ordered forward. As they came out into the bar, the crowd hushed at seemed every male in the bar began to metal strip the pair of the clothes.

The pair soon came out of the back of the bar where a hover car was waiting for the two women. The pirate made sure that the agent stepped inside before she too got in and the hover car was heading to spaceport.

So you said you after information, what information are you seeking. For moment, the agent would have to try get the pirate to spill some information on her own.

Scorch nodded at the comment about burning down the bar. She seemed concerned enough indicating that she was not bloodthirsty but she was determined seeing that she as still doing this. She escorted the agent along though and with 92's assistance she was brought to the ship where in route she asked about information.

The pirate considered as if she was unsure as to what information to reveal then decided to go with revealing some of it. The agent would be less of an issue if she knew some of what was going on anyway.

“I seek information on my sister, Selena. She has been enslaved by a criminal, Mercer, so I suppose it is mostly information on him and his outfit I seek. Last time I attempted a rescue I was overwhelmed by what he had and had been unable to rescue her sister.”

She left out all the blackmail that Mercer had the former pirate captain had endured in recent months for the sake of her sister. Arena contests, artifact hunts, thefts or the like to keep Selena safe in her imprisonment.

“That's the price for getting you to the ship ...” Scorch announced. “One of you will relay that information.” While at the ship she soon was appraised by the situation by another agent, the situation made apparent to her.

It was extreme but agents had a hard time coming here and blending in. Infiltration was her thing and thus she was able to get to Hadante though others would have found the planet less than hospital.

Two agents, two slavers it seemed that she was being given her choice of targets here though as some information on the situation had been relaid to her.

The fiery redhead nodded at least the woman nodded as they got into car. The pirate seemed at least reasonable to avoid starting fights that were completely unnecessary. That meant that she could be reasoned with. At least to some degree.

The drive back was somewhat subdued. The droid seemed followed orders as it continued quietly drive back to the spaceport. The pirate seemed to mulling her own thoughts as they drove on, before the reason why she grabbed the undercover agent in the first place.

“Your sister.” While it was rare, sometimes girls found that not only were they brought into space but also their siblings were as well. And it appeared that the pirate was like the tragic women who found their sisters in the hands of some of these slavers.

“Mercer and his organization. I will need to gather information on his organization anyways as part of my job. I can make sure that you are given a copy.” With luck this could be more than a one time help. It would be great to be able to rely on more help outside of the Directorate.
And if Celine could help the fiery redhead get her sister back or at the very least set her on the path towards rescuing her sister, Selena, well then the blonde agent would feel like she had done her part to make the galaxy slightly better place.

And at least the agent would have more secure way of getting to Hadante. It was always easier to get to slavers if she traveled on a ship that had been there.

“So tell what you know of Mercer and I will see what else I can gather. I should have you know that I am looking for someone he took as well.”

Scorch was a former pirate captain with good ties to her old ship and crew the Iron Vulture and she had only left due to her sister and her involvement with Mercer. She knew Luna and Luna had asked this favor of her since it was tough for agents to infiltrate Hadante.

She was perfect seeing that she had lived on the planet. Her pirate group might not have been ruthless cutthroats either. They stole from major corporations that could afford the loss. The merchandise was insured anyway so they did not have to contend with crews of resistance too often only when dealing with traps and law authorities for the most part.

But before Celine would get to all that about missing agents and what not Celine was drawing information out of Scorch. There was little reason to withhold information after all. She was suppose to collect the agent so that she could have a little ship to ship chat with Luna, the agent didn't tell her anything else not that she needed to really know those details.

“Mercer is a crime boss that deals primarily with running blockades and getting things that are scarce to people for a price. He's scum and has his own stable of gladiators. He turns a profit through various casinos that he has as well.

“He has me get things for him, often rare artifacts or artwork or has me fight in the Arena myself to blackmail me from having my sister do it. She was my first mate but has no chance against some of those foes.

“He's got a lot of power and has a lot of influence too,” she explained. “So he's tough to get at.”

She spelled that all out as they arrived at their destination. “What is it that you're looking for?”

Though Celine did not know that the redhead was a former pirate captain. Only that Mercer had been using her sister for blackmail. She was probably angry about that and it would be something the blonde could use to get this woman to help her.

The Directorate had little in the direct knowledge of about the planet Hadante. So any information that this outlaw could provide would be very helpful, so Celine had to make sure she could get any help that this woman could provide.

So he is owns a stable of gladiators. This meant that this alien had considerable resources and plenty of warriors if he needed them. The fact that had casinos gave him wealth to fund his organization.

I can see the problem you are facing. The blonde nodded as she tried to think about a course of action. I am not looking to topple him, at least right at this moment. However this might give me an edge as he probably is not expecting someone that is gathering information.

It was then that the pirate asked the agent what she was after, So I am trying to find out about an agent that Mercer captured. If possible I will try to rescue her.

She had been supplied with the information from Luna and could coordinate what target she wished to go after or rather what agent she would seek to rescue while Luna dealt with rescuing the other hoping that they both would pull off near simultaneous rescues.

Hadante was a world that lead into a vast network of criminal enterprise and with Scorch being well connected there it had seemed that she would be useful in passing along information and moving an agent or two until their cover was blown at least. The fact that she had picked her up for another agent's sake meant that she at least had some ties with the ADD.

“Sex slaves, gladiators … one occasion he has independent gladiators fight his own sometimes fixing the results to line his own pockets too though none of the outside sources get wind of it. He's done so with me though I'm not going to blow the whistle on him since he has my sister.” She explained the matter.

“He would be tough to topple,” she had once tried a rescue op of her own but failed. Though she considered what her objectives were. She was better trained at that sort of thing she was guessing. But she was looking for information after all so it could be someone else that did the whole rescuing too.

“Sextus. That planet has an Arena and a training facility … sex slaves would be transported elsewhere though. Sextus is the place that most of Mercer's slaves pass through. He has other places there that see to the training of slaves in other means before he will assign them places through the galaxy or add to his household staff for a time.

“An agent though that has some combat training probably would have been sent there. It is a start after all. The world isn't lawless but the government is corrupt and the law enforcement on the take, they are in Mercer's pocket so it would be best to stay off their raider.

“Arrivals at the space port aren't thoroughly screened either, criminals pass through there all the time and there are a fair share of bounty hunters and the like so if you go around asking too many questions people might just assume you're one of them and think little of it as long as they don't grab the impression that you are after a big fish like Mercer or one of his Lieutenants.”

Celine had to think through this a bit more clearly, as she realized that she was really under the clock. With another agent trying to pull off a simultaneous rescue, it meant that the blonde agent would have to make sure she completed her rescue as quickly as possible.

The young woman would have need all the help she could get, in order to ensure that Celine would complete her mission. The fact that she had at least worked with Luna meant that the pirate at least could be trusted to be discrete. That would at least reduce the possibly of this redhead turning in Celine.

Ah, my mistake sex slaves and gladiators, the agent corrected herself. That would make sense that he would fix fights. As long as he did not do it too often, I doubt few would realize that he was even fixing the fights. Though it probably meant someone was putting in counter bets for this alien.

Celine could see the pirate was winced a bit as she explained that his Mercer would not be easy to deal with. Well we will not worry about that now. I have someone I am trying to rescue and you have someone rescue. We would be better off if we focused on the task of those women.

It was then that the woman nicknamed Scorch began to explain the world that was Mercer’s base of operations. Sextus was the initial destinations of all females in Mercer’s hands. Though some were destined to be taken elsewhere as sex slaves, others were to be trained to be gladiators for the arena on the world.

[khaki=color]You are right. I would think that if they were going to make use of an agent with combat training, they would put her in the arenas.[/color] That meant that Celine would begin her search there.

The fact that spaceport did not scan people would make it a bit easier to move onto the plaent. Now I just have to make I can look the part. If I can be a bounty hunter it would probably make it easier to appear that I am looking for work. Then they would less likely to suspect me to be an agent.

“Sextus it is then.” It was the obvious place to start of course and while she was not in the know as far as how to coordinate a simultaneous rescue. Perhaps giving sublight transmissions it would take time for one to message the other if they had even thought about it. It appeared the Luna was being cautious here though ADD vessels as did most military vessels for that matter had real time communications.

Unless she got a ship or communications similar to what she had then her messages to Luna were going to be delayed unless she was relatively close such as she just was. Some criminals had real time communications devices too so it was more than likely Mercer had some and she'd be able to “borrow” them to better arrange matters when she knew the situation.

“I think I can arrange for that,” when working with the agent Hope she had revealed the secret storage compartment that contained a wide variety of weapons. Some even illegal though most were legal though Celine doubted that the pirate had all the permits.

There were even two sealed armored suits that hat auto pain injectors, magnetic boots, a HUD t assist with targeting and a sealed suit that had it's own air supply. The things could be used in zero G's and even had a rocket pack to assist in moving.

Scorch had once found herself in a situation where she and her lover had to depend on simple environmental suits and thus since then she got her hands n two such suits, either could make excellent bounty hunter armor, despite protecting against radiation too the suit wasn't bulky but afforded good protection against energy based attacks and it seemed that weapons could even be connected into the suit to make use of the HUD data.

“It's a little something I picked up, it cost a bit but I think they're worth the price if they're ever needed. I'll work with you initially until you make some ins. Serena isn't on Sextus any longer, I'm fairly certain she was moved long ago.”

If everything was in order it was time to contact flight control to blast off unless Celine needed anything to take care of here first, people to notify or such; Scorch was in no hurry after all, she was just to get the message to Celine though this involved Mercer now and that had her interest in assisting the agent at the start at least.

The pirate was more than happy to help out by taking the blonde agent to the planet of Sextus. The agent would have to come up with some way to coordinate the timing of her rescue attempt so that coincided with Luna’s attempt. That meant the agent would have to find some sort of communicator powerful enough to talk to other worlds. And since it did not appear the ship had one, Celine was going to have find it on the planet.

Fortunately, her target organization, the one that Mercer ran was a fairly huge organization. They would most likely that something that would be able to do real time with Luna’s ship even at this distance. And Luna would probably have something to communicate back with know her reputation with devices.

Excellent, the better I can blend in the better this will work. The agent followed the pirate to a storage compartment filled with all sorts of weapons. I see you have been collecting.

The agent noticed the two suits. How did you acquire those. No wait nevermind, I probably do not need to know. Still it would be helpful to use to move around Sextus while blending in.

I completely understand. As soon as I find something on Serena I will let you know. That would at least be able to track her from there.

“Oh, I still have connections,” Scorch smiled though did not get into the particulars, the agent did not need to know all that after all. Once they were at the planet and Celine was suited up Scorch takes her to a dive where they could gather information.

The place isn't as rowdy as the one on Hadante and given the armor the two ladies don't draw any unwanted attention save for by those that have bounties on themselves that perk up a little and watch to be sure that neither Hunter had been after them.

“We'll split up and work the room. Try finding Delph, he usually has good information for the right price though.”

With little inquiry it was easy to find the lone alien sitting with a pitcher of some purple beverage on it.

Delph was a red skinned alien with eyes on retractable eye stalks that could twist and turn. He seemed to be looking out for something and was aware of her approach, even drawing a pistol on the agent, his finger tips ended in eyeballs too within thick red blue membranes, most of which were closed though others seemed to watch the crowd.

“That's far enough Hunter. Keep your hands in sight. Now what do you want?”