The Last Heist of Altara

Reina Takes the Job

Two weeks prior, Reina had sat across from a rail-thin man with moonlit skin in the hidden chambers of an intergalactic tavern. His emerald robes exuded authority, but the desperation in his voice betrayed him.

“I assume you’ve heard of the Aurelius Codex,” the man whispered, sliding a holographic projector her way. The Codex flickered above it in radiant golden glow, its edges seemingly alive with mysterious energy. Reina leaned forward, her dark eyes reflecting its light.

“Everyone’s heard of it,” she said under her breath, leaning back with an air of nonchalance. “What you haven’t explained is why you think anyone in their right mind would risk their life for it.”

“Because you excel at pulling off the impossible,” he declared. “And also because of this—” He slid a translucent disk across the table. It contained a verified credit transfer amount that could buy half the galaxy.

“Alright,” Reina said, pocketing the disk while standing. “But know one thing—if this goes sideways, you’ll owe more than money. You’ll owe your life.”

Back to the Present

Reina’s boots struck the glass-like bridge in near silence. She moved swiftly, aware that scanning drones hovered somewhere above. Around her waist, a utility belt held a grappler, plasma grenades, and a cloaking jammer—standard kit for any self-respecting outlaw. Her short-cropped hair framed a face sharp with determination and illuminated faintly in the twilight of the twin suns.

Turning the final corner leading to the entrance of the Vault, she saw it. The titanic onyx doors stood fifteen feet tall, carved with endless glyphic spirals that faintly pulsed with amber light. No visible guards—not unusual, given the automated defenses woven into the very fabric of Altaran structures. She placed the encoded key card into the reader, the device humming as energy flared briefly before settling.

“Alright, sweetheart, just don’t mess this up,” she whispered to herself before slipping inside.

The Vault

The interior of the vault sprawled into infinity, a dizzying labyrinth of shelves, floating platforms, and cascading energy curtains that shimmered silver and turquoise. Each item radiated power, objects from eons past: a crown forged in a collapsing star, a blade said to devour souls, and there—guarded by an invisible force field—the Aurelius Codex.

Reina scanned the field with her wrist device. “Temporal-phased frequency lock,” she muttered. The tech was advanced—impossibly so—creating locks that shifted in dimensions imperceptible to the baseline understanding of time. Luckily for Reina, she wasn’t baseline. Pulling a small device shaped like an hourglass from her satchel, she activated it. The air shimmered, and for a brief instant, the force field blinked out.

She grabbed the Codex. It was heavier than she anticipated, a book clad in obsidian metal but pulsating with a living warmth, as if it breathed in her hands. The moment stretched, and Reina thought she was clear—before the high-pitched blare of an alarm shattered the air.

The Deadly Chase

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Reina hissed as the floor beneath her began to fragment into floating panels. Behind her, mechanized sentinels emerged from the walls. Massive constructs with glowing red visors raised plasma cannons aimed squarely at her back.

Reina drew a disruptor pistol from her side. Her movements were fluid as she shot at the nearest sentinel and jumped onto a platform, which began floating upward. She fired her grappling hook toward a lip near the vault’s exit and swung with reckless precision.

The sentinels fired plasma bolts, scorching the air around her. One bolt knicked her left arm, searing through the coat and leaving a sharp burn on her skin. She winced but pushed forward, leaping and landing hard near the exit.

As she burst out into the city, the sprawling metropolis glistened like a dream. Hovering patrols had already been summoned—she saw their bright searchlights scouring the area around her escape. She grinned despite herself.

“Still alive,” she whispered, tucking the Codex safely into the hidden folds of her satchel as she disappeared into the maze of Altara’s underbelly.