Neil was escorted to the Highlander by the High Guard (accompanied by an administrator), and in turn Neil himself escorted a very reluctant Taya. He had a feeling the girl didn't understand the gravity of the situation. Of course she saw everything transpire like he did, but she wasn't savvy enough to see the subtle looks Ranald and Aiden had given one another, nor the looks the guardsmen had with each other. He didn't expect they would kill or imprison Neil and Taya outright, but if they did not leave as soon as possible, they would likely find themselves languishing beside Junebug. 

"What about our things?" Taya asked as they were led straight to the hanger. Neil shoved her forward. "We didn't bring anything, remember? Besides we'll have enough money to pay for whatever you might have left behind." He placed in the code to unlatch the doorway into the [i]Highlander[/i], the door hinges hissing as they pressurized. "Ello govna!" Lonney echoed from within. Neil then shooed Taya into the ship, causing her to squeak at the sudden urgency. She scrambled in. Neil made sure she was gone, and then turned to the administrator. "How do we get our money?" 

"It will be wired to you once you leave the atmosphere. We have your credit account number." 

"How convenient." Neil said, dripping with sarcasm. 

The man looked offended at the implication. "Sir," he said, aghast. "I am not privvy to why you have earned such money, but I will have you know that once my king has given me an order, I obey. He has sent me to ensure-" The lanky man drew up the contract on his vidcaster. "-you and the lady Taya receive 120,000 credits. Now, if you will exit the hanger, you will receive your reward. I cannot promise anything if you test my master's patience, however." 

Neil rolled his eyes. "Very well. Thank you." The rogue leaped onto the open hatch door, and hung off one of the pistons, dangling by a hand. With his free hand, he saluted the gathered group of armed men. "Have a nice life," and subsequently swung into the doorway, the hatch closing in slowly behind him. As soon as he realized they were alone, he let out a sigh. He smacked his cheeks to get his senses cleared, and then marched past the heavily wired corridor into the cockpit. Taya was in there waiting on him, arms crossed. 

"Neil, what the hell are we doing?" she asked. 

"Whoa-oa, language. Please," he quipped, opening up the OMDS and typing in a small algorithm. "What we are doing is getting rich. Now keep quiet for a sec, that's an order." Wheeling around the display mic, Neil opened up the comms and turned on the transfer beacon, switching channels until he heard a clear voice. "Hello, [i]Highlander[/i]. Your airlane is 3490470. Please leave in an orderly fashion. Hanger exit code #18470234." 

"Thank you so much, we'll get out of your hair." Neil said, and turned the comm off. 

"Neil!" Taya lectured. "That pompous outfit might make you look fit for Captain, but we can't just lea-"

"Go find out what satellite is in airlane 3490470," Neil said, pointing at her. Taya didn't move, instead glaring at him. Neil had to roll his eyes a second time, and then he tugged on his vest. "One, this outfit is not pompous. It's stylish and tactical. And two, we're going to bust Sayeeda out of here. No fucking planet betrays us and takes our Captain. But we can't [b]do[/b] that unless you do your job, understand deckhand Taya?" 

She gaped, and elation was evident in her eyes. He had to urge her again, but she scuttled off to search the planet airlane logs, and came back with the information that Satellite X094 was merely forty galactic kilometers away from the airlane. "So, what are we going to do?" She asked him, impatient to hear the plan. Neil had been busy typing in a more elaborate algorithm while she had gone searching for the number. 

"We are going to split up." Neil said, which caught her off guard. He raised a hand to halt her questions. "[b]You[/b], are going into the atmosphere with Lonney. I am placing a flightplan in Lonney now. When he gets into orbit, you are going to hack into the satellite with a frequency, and cut out all communications to this sector of the planet. Understand?" To say it was ludicrous was an understatement. It would be highly difficult for anyone to pull off such a hack, and even if they succeeded, it would cause untold kilometers to lose services. Perhaps the entire capital city. 

"I don't think-" she began, but Neil cut her off. "Can you do it?" 

"...Yes. What about you?" 

"After you do that, Lonney's next plan, when you are done with your job, will fly back to the top of the palace in our guest wing, where Sayeeda and I will meet you on the balcony. Open the door and we'll head up. Understand?... [i]Understand[/i]?" 
"I do." she said, clearly at a loss as to what to say. She then smiled to herself and giggled. Neil blinked, looking very much like a perplexed royal himself, decked out in his finery and sitting in the Captain's chair. "What?" 

"I knew you had a thing for her but, I didn't think you'd end up being a better prince charming than Aiden." She mused. Neil deadass just stared at her. "Can we focus? 'Cause we can still just leave." 

"No no, sorry." She said, biting her lip. "But still, how do you plan on breaking her out?" 

"Oh, me? No, I've done this plenty of times." 

He spent the next quarter of an hour arming himself, placing a flak vest underneath his slimming, broad shouldered and very royal attire. He had a plasma pistol set into the groove of one of his pockets, and had his own gun on the back of his pants. He slipped on his utility belt, and then strapped thirty feet of rope. You never knew when you needed it after all. Once he was outfitted, he made it to the open hatch door under the [i]Highlander[/i]. He was glad for that mercenary shootdown the other day. If he hadn't of gone under the [i]Highlander[/i] earlier, he wouldn't have noticed the easy access vent near the edge of the platform. The pilot opened the hatch and began to climb down. 

"Good luck," Taya said to him, giving a smile. Neil was always endeared to her sincerity. It really balanced out his crass behavior and terrible jokes. He smiled back. "You too, girly. Keep the engine running." 

The hatch closed behind him, and as the Highlander lifted off, no one was close enough to see the slim form of the thief crawling into the ventilation shaft under the landing platform, making his way further and further into the complex. His memory served him well, soon he found he was just at the edge of a steep shaft shooting straight upward. He began to climb up, placing his hands and feet at each side to shimmy up with, finally making it to the fourth floor and hauling himself into that shaft. 

"Ssss crsssshhhh" Neil's comm relayed, static overriding any discernible message. Neil placed a hand to his ear. "Captain?" He said aloud, having recognized the voice. But he received nothing but static feedback. Judging by the feedback however, he could guess the wing she was located in. He needed to go east. Luckily, further thought led him to believe she was being escorted it was the guard station near where he had found the body of Aiden's dead sister. "Well...fuck." he said aloud, his voice softly echoing down the chamber. "At least I know where she is now." 

He began to crawl again, thanking all the Gods that the ventilation in this place was vast indeed, meaning the shafts were large enough for him to crawl comfortably. It was when he was nearly three quarters of the way there that he suddenly heard a large shocking screech from his comm, and he gasped. The noise was almost unbearable, and then it was silence. His eyes welled with moisture, and he wheezed. "Good job Taya." he whispered, and after he got over the shock, he continued on his way at a greater pace. The comms wouldn't be dead for long. 

By the time he made it round the corner to the facility, he was tired and sweating. But looking through one of the opening vents, he could see two Dar'mond guards lounging at a control panel, talking to one another about the regional Flipball game. The first one was goading the second one into a bet, two for one odds. The other denied the chance, saying he wasn't the type to risk on a game. Neil wanted to think of something witty to say, but he took the time to simply unholster his gun, and counting to three, he unhooked the latch and fell down three meters into their midst. 

They didn't have time to react before they were both shot, Neil's aim and quick shooting impeccable at close range. Unfortunately, his high caliber gun echoed loudly. Junebug, and likely other guards would have heard it. Neil took no time in procuring the identification key from the belt of one of the dead men, and he slid into the chambers where the prisoners were kept. Neil would literally slide into Sayeeda's view, sweating and with hair tousled. 

"Sup babe." 

He unlocked her cell door, and tossed her the key and then a plasma pistol. "I know I should have been quieter about it, but you know me." He winked. "We have about an hour before we're all discovered via camera, so we need to get the fuck out of here."    
[@Penny]