Isaiah's daughter, Vega Wells-Faulkner, was dressed up in a white flower dress with black shoes. She ran right up to the man and dove headfirst into his torso to give him the biggest hug she could manage. Isaiah wrapped his arms around the young girl and swept her off the ground to sway her side to side and spin her around in the air, raising her above his head with the biggest smile on his face. Vega laughed and he spoke,
"Oh my God look how big you are! You look so pretty in your dress V!"
He held the girl at his side and she responded,
"Lookie, we match! You're dressed up too. Mommy is wearing blue though."
He turned to Angelique, who was standing a few feet away with a smile on her face as she looked towards the two. She was wearing blue, and Isaiah couldn't help be revel in how good she looked in it. For a moment he had not realized the way he was looking at her until her smile faltered and a look in her eyes that teetered on that of sadness brought him back to reality. He shook his head and the woman responded as she approached and spoke to their child,
"Mommy couldn't wear the same as you darling, you're special and this is your color today."
She gave the child a kiss on the cheek before she went to take her seat. Isaiah turned around to a dumbfounded Bruna and an ecstatic Sage before Vega spoke again,
"Daddy who are they?"
Isaiah went to respond before Bruna cut him off,
"I'm Bruna and this is Sage. We are Isaiah's very close friends, so close in fact that we call each other family. That would make you a part of our family too Miss Vega."
It stung a bit, but Isaiah was to blame in the end. Bruna emphasized the words 'friend' and 'family' all while staring Isaiah in his eyes when she spoke. He averted his gaze and weakly respond,
"Right. Family, Bruna here is like daddy's sister, that would make her your Tia."
He set Vega back down and the little girl wasted no time in running over to her newly appointed aunt and introduced herself with a smile and hug. Bruna took the girl in well, beginning to talk to her and tell her how much she liked her dress. Sage joined in, commenting on the girl's dress and her eyes and Vega returned the compliment, commenting on Sage's green eyes and how pretty they were. Bruna then spoke again, pointing to bandages on the young girl's neck and legs,
"Did you fall? What happened there."
Vega shook her head no and spoke,
"Mommy says not to talk about it to people."
Isaiah could see Bruna raise an eyebrow before she got close enough to see and he watched the color drain from her face. There was a pause before Vega reached up for Bruna to place the child in her lap. Bruna looked over to Isaiah with concern, everything else seeming to be washed away by what she just discovered. Isaiah felt a hole ripping through his chest, so he averted his gaze once more. Angelique spoke,
"So, how can I help the Wolves this time?"
Bruna promptly provided the list of things Mari requested,
"We need this list of material for our future endeavors, and we are prepared to pay for them upfront."
Angelique took the phone in her hands and skimmed over the list, the parchment in Isaiah's bag seemed obsolete, but he reached and retrieved it, handing it to Bruna who handed it to the woman as well. He spoke,
"I was given this as well, just in case something is missing."
Bruna nodded and Angelique compared the two documents for a few moments before she spoke,
"I'm sure we have most of these materials prepared for access, however some of them we would have to fetch utilizing other tactics, it would be quite the expense."
Bruna respond,
"How much exactly?"
The woman hummed before finishing off the list, bringing up her desktop computer to likely check the prices of things before coming to a conclusive,
"Twenty thousand credits would likely be sufficient."
Bruna nodded, turning to Isaiah, honestly she was low balling. Mari said that it would at least be one hundred thousand but they were not going to complain about the funds. He nodded in return and Bruna spoke,
"That sounds just fine."
Angelique smirked,
"Not going to try to talk me down?"
Bruna respond,
"We know you offer top of the line service and quality, I trust your judgement."
Angelique nodded, transferring the list to her desktop with a swipe before handing the phone back to Bruna. Vega insisted that the woman take a selfie of the two and she gladly obliged. Angelique began typing away and spoke again,
"Now, concerning the other thing you all came here to discuss."
Isaiah spoke,
"The cure. I know you're not going to give it up for money, you probably have a system going for it to be sold already. So let's just get to the point, what can we do to get our hands on a few cases. Let's say about two hundred units."
The woman continued typing, finishing up the document before she went to ask Bruna to sign. She leaned back and released a sigh before responding,
"Funny you should ask, because there is something I think the Wolves would be perfect for. You know of the Veverg on the outskirts, lying in the ocean right?"
Sage looked over to the woman more intently at this point and Isaiah responded,
"What of it?"
She spoke again,
"There seems to have been a delay in a few of our shipments coming from the ship. By delay I mean entire crews have gone missing. It's not only bad for business because now orders are being backed up on the technology from Roakon and other buyers."
She leaned forward with concern in her voice,
"But the people that I sent have not been able to come home either."
Sage chimed in,
"The security measures on the ship could have been activated and trapped them, or worse."
Angelique turned and raised an eyebrow at Sage, who shut her mouth at that point. Angelique went on,
"I fear that may be the case. Moreover, I have a team set to dispatch to the ship in around an hour or two. I would like you to accompany them and find my crews, whether they be dead or alive. Do this and I will secure those units for you. You have my word."
After the meeting adjourned, Isaiah motioned for the two women to go ahead of him, Vega saying goodbye and giving the two hugs before running back over to Isaiah and clinging to his leg as he spoke to Angelique,
"Have you started treatment on her?"
Angelique stood and approached the man,
"Of course I have. Why do you think I bought out the Capella faction's cure in the first place? We started treatment about a week or so ago. At first it was getting worse for her, but as you can see, her veins are shrinking to only a few spots on her. Her body is getting rid of it Isaiah. It's working."
Isaiah wanted to cry right then and there. She was going to be alright, he maintained his composure and spoke again,
"Right. That's good to hear, it works."
Angelique bit her lip and spoke again,
"I know I asked you to do this and that it's insanely dangerous, but you do this stuff all the time right? With the dangerous games you go play."
He responded,
"Right, all the time."
She responded in a hushed tone,
"I still don't like it. That you're into such dangerous stuff Isa. I-, we worry about your safety, if we will see you from month to month."
Isaiah felt his heart catch in his throat but pushed past to respond,
"I'm doing this for both of you. You have a business to run and if Roakon ever found out who I was or connected you with the Wolves, it'd be over for all of us Angie."
She sighed and nodded, her eyes getting shiny before she went to caress their daughter's head lovingly and speaking again,
"I wish you'd quit. I know you won't. I know they're your family, but even though we aren't official, we're your family too Isa."
He took a breath and simply nodded before bending down to say goodbye to Vega, hugging her tightly and standing back up. Angelique reached her arms out nervously and he responded by hugging her as well. Vega hugging both of their legs together before he turned to leave,
"Be careful, please."
He left without a response and met up with the other two in the lobby. They joined up with an Exemplar security detail, the leader was speaking to their escort when Isaiah got a look at him. The man stood around six feet tall, wearing combat fatigues with the Exemplar sigil embroidered on the chestplate. He had sunglasses on and a bushy brown mustache along with tied back, dark brown hair. He turned from talking to his armed crew of several others and spoke to the three,
"You the lot accompanying us on this endeavor? Nice to meet you, call me Ganzer."
They shook hands and Isaiah spoke,
"Isaiah, a pleasure."
From that brief exchange, he followed along with the group to an aircraft pad which held a familiar machine, a Stinger. Ganzer turned to speak,
"Ever ride in a Stinger before?"
He spoke to them and Sage responded,
"Yes."
The man paused and Bruna chuckled before the man responded,
"Well then hopefully this ride will be more fun than the last there miss."
He went to assist Sage into the aircraft and Isaiah went behind, helping Bruna in. After he boarded the aircraft, they were given the standard headsets and safety harnesses before taking off into the sky and travelled across the city to the beachhead on the coast which was crawling with Roakon. The same beach Avis's home stayed on. The Roakon security facility was large and brought the helicopter in for a brief landing. The pilot showed their Identification and verified their license to go to the Veverg before gassing the ship up again and taking off from the launch pad. Isaiah turned and spoke to the man, Ganzer,
"What was that all about?"
The man responded in his same thick accent, as he was chatting up Sage previously so the tone was a bit lighter,
"Roakon security measures. It helps them feel like they have control over what goes on in the Veverg off shore. Though everyone knows that none of the Roakon enforcers have the balls to set foot into the Veverg. It's all under the thumb of the Exemplars."
With that response, Isaiah settled into his seat as they flew in darkness for quite some time. After around an hour or so, they aircraft finally came in for a landing on a man made pad built right into the ocean beside the ship where the break in its hull was. It was way more intimidating when they were this close. Absolutely gargantuan for one, easily reaching far past the dark skies of the night and likely deep into the ocean seeing how far out they travelled and that it was still above water. Those ominous veins of bright emerald pulsated with that foreign energy as it had done ever since its making its home on this world. The team exited the aircraft and were handed weapons from a small building outside the ship and they made their way to the elevator that brought them to the designated entrance. They were handed gloves, told to tuck in all of their clothes and place on a ventilation mask for safety. From there, they turned on their flashlights and began to enter, Isaiah spoke to Sage,
"Don't leave our sight. We know this is the perfect opportunity, but don't make a move until we find the right time."
She respond,
"Understood."
Ganzer turned to the crew at the center and spoke,
"Stay on me and do not split up."
Isaiah took one last look out over the expanse of water. He could not even see the coastline from here, which put the size of the Veverg even more into perspective as they could easily see it from Haven. He then turned to the crew as they entered and took one final breath, the anxiety of the unknown beginning to creep on his shoulders. He exhaled it all away for the time being and from there, he entered the void.