The Lunar Zweihänder, Baldr’s Edge, descends above the white sand of the Iridescence. The ship resembles a giant, golden sword as it pierces through each layer of the Earth's atmosphere with a thunderous boom. On the rare occasion that it lands on a planet’s surface, the ship’s body is reconfigured into a massive spire that can act as a central command center. The Zweihänder’s bow becomes the base of the tower and its bridge rotates perpendicular to its blade-like length, creating a counter balance to keep it upright at a sixty degree angle.

As its thrusters blast downward to bring it to a slow, controlled landing, the smaller dunes around the massive ship’s landing zone slowly move away like a retreating herd. A sandstorm forms instantly, creating a large chromatic ring around the ship. Nearby stations and facilities are showered in a forceful blast of glass sand. Once stationary, the vessel mimics a massive blade stuck into the ground—its pommel towering high above its surroundings.

A small stainless-steel hovercraft stealthily traverses the dunes. It slows down as it crests each dune it passes over, carefully scanning the other side before revealing itself. Inside, the pale, suited man that Sebastian had seen at the fuel station drives as he repeatedly checks the screen of his dashboard terminal. This is Detective Deacon Blue. The windows of the vehicle are tinted dark with strong UV protection, leaving the interior space of the vehicle dimly lit.

Deacon’s dashboard displays the directions to a tracking device that he had planted on the Mare’s delivery hovercraft. He carefully follows Dusty, June, and Sebastian as they drive out into the desert. He follows from a far distance. The tracking beacon slows down and stops. Deacon halts his hovercraft in response and waits quietly. The dashboard terminal rings. It’s an incoming call from a contact named ‘Crow’.

Deacon answers the call. "Yes?"

"Facial recognition results came back." Crow says. The gender behind their voice is indiscernible.

"That was quick."

"Lucky you. This guy has connections up top. Or at least his family does."

"Well. I won’t say no to an easy ID. Who is he?"

"His name is Sebastian Moreno. On the Moon, the Moreno’s are a well-regarded family. His parents are both engineers with lengthy portfolios filled with essential government contracts."

"Poster children of the Prodigal Generation." Deacon interjects.

"Indeed. As a result, they've made a lot of powerful friends along the way." Crow continues.

"They’re going to be trouble. Tell me more about Sebastian." Deacon commands.

"Moonborn, registered at birth, moved planetside about six months ago."

"That’s… rare."

"Yes, it is. Lucky you." Crow's voice lilts in a robotic manner.

"That would explain the jump to piracy. He must be on the run from something."

"As far as we know, his decision to descend was purely personal. It’s more common than you think, Detective." Crow responds.

"Yeah well, you didn’t see the way he was acting. He’s got to be the most cooperative hostage I’ve ever seen. Go on." Deacon says.

"He graduated from the Mare Crisium Culinary Academy, Pillars. Decent performance, not top of the class by any means. After graduating, he worked at a café called Stubb’s."

"Oh, those cafés are everywhere around here. It’s some really popular lunar chain."

"They just opened one on Ganymede."

"Wow! That’s only a few hundred million miles from the office. Go on." Deacon quips sarcastically.

"After Stubb’s, he got a job as a cook at a restaurant called The Alter."

"Oh really? People say it’s one of the best restaurants in the system."

"Is that so?" Crow sounds interested.

"Yeah. But people say a lot of things. Go on."

"He worked at the Alter for three years before leaving for Earth. He moved to Oasis and quickly found a job at the Mare."

"The Mare…"

"It’s a popular restaurant on the Market Strip. I would avoid it for the time being. The head chef, Pablo Polard, has already reported the delivery truck as stolen. Lunar Fed’s already got an APB on our guy."

"Hm. I don’t need the lunes interfering."

"Well, they will be. Keep your beads set to non-lethal. Interplanetary tensions are already high enough as is."

The tracking beacon on the dashboard terminal suddenly zips forward. Tyrannis has been refueled and is now moving at full speed.

"Shit!" Deacon yells. He accelerates the hovercraft, kicking up a plume of dust as it speeds forward.

"Is there trouble, detective?" Crow asks.

"Moreno’s on the move!" Deacon yells as he turns the wheel aggressively.

"I see. Do you require anything else, Detective?"

"Yes! More details! Send me a written report! Comb through Lunar surveillance and send the details as you get them! The pocked rock’s bordering on dystopia, so it shouldn’t be difficult to find info on his personal life!"

"We’ll get back to you with a written report. Expect a bird tomorrow."

Crow hangs up.

Deacon crests over a large dune. The enormous sandstorm created by the Zweihänder washes over the hovercraft, obscuring the sun in a chromatic haze.