The Redland Runner team spilled out of the Varian temple and onto the street, frantically scanning for the escaping thief. The pedestrian lanes of the financial ward were nearly empty at that time of day, exposing the burglar as he bound down the pavement in the distance.

  “There’s the guy!” Kaelis shouted, pointing at the hooded man. At once, the team took off in pursuit, sprinting down the road at a fierce clip. Dez gave himself a moment to groan before running after his crewmates, wheezing wearily as he went.

  The many clocks of the ward suddenly struck their closing bells. Precisely at the cue, a swell of besuited bankers began shuffling out of the buildings like clockwork, flooding into the narrow lane. Before the team knew it, a river of people were rushing against them, heading in the opposite direction, keen to return home after a hard day’s work.

  The thief flowed freely between the masses, wafting and weaving like a feather on the breeze. Gradually he gained a lead, leaving the team behind to fight their way through the foot traffic.

  “Oh, um, I’m so sorry. Pardon me—” squeaked Sheah politely, attempting to squeeze herself through the throngs alongside her teammates.

  Jira bore her teeth, growling at the gridlock. “Out of the way!” she boomed at the top of her lungs, gesturing heatedly for the crowd to part. “Move it!” The people around her all stiffened, startled, and hastily moved aside—save for one starstruck man who remained squarely in Jira’s way.

  The man pointed at Jira, a stupid grin expanding on his face. “Hey, you’re Jira the Kn—!”

  “Another time!” yelled Jira as she dodged past him. The rest of the team followed closely behind her, leaving the man in their wake with nothing to show but a puzzled look.

  “She’s real sorry!” huffed Dez as he jogged by, bringing up the rear.

  Jira pushed herself faster, gradually gaining on the thief. Hearing her pounding footsteps, the man glanced over his shoulder and quickened his pace. He reached the curb at the end of the block and dashed straight ahead into the busy shipping lane. Stout delivery landships screeched angrily to a halt, narrowly avoiding colliding with him. The thief raced past the ships unbothered and arrived at the far side without skipping a beat.

  The Redland Runner team followed the man through the intersection, sloppily maneuvering around the idling ships which indignantly honked as they scampered by. Sprinting onto the next block, they kept up their pace, closing the gap little by little.

  Sensing his lead rapidly dwindling, the thief acted fast, flinging himself off of the street and into a nearby alleyway. The crew hammered after him in pursuit.

  Jira smirked to herself as she entered the narrow corridor. In the distance, past a stack of discarded shipping crates, stood a ten-foot-tall iron fence blocking off the path, its gate fastened shut by a heavy padlock. There was nowhere for the thief to run now.

  The hooded man ground his feet into the grime-stained pavement, sliding to a stop just before the fence. Dismayed, he scanned the surrounding alleyway for another exit.

  “You—Malzurra! Give it back!” Jira demanded. She stormed at the thief, preparing to tackle him.

  Finding no escape routes on the ground level, the man quickly searched above him. His sights were drawn to a dangling drop-down access ladder attached high up on the alleyway wall, leading to the rooftops above. The man cocked his head happily. Without further pause, he took off, springing over to the pile of crates and nimbly scaling to the top. Leaping from the heap, he grabbed onto the ladder’s lower rungs and began to clamber his way up the building with almost simian grace. Apparently deciding that wasn’t fast enough, he then daringly leapt over to a stack of ducts and piping; he vaulted up the ventilation, bounding back and forth, until finally flinging himself onto the lip of the roof with dramatic aplomb.

  Dez joined Jira and the others below the ladder. Together they all stared up at the thief, admittedly dazzled.

  “Whoa,” whispered Kaelis, craning her neck up as high as it would go.

  The hooded man stood haughtily on the roof’s edge, looking down at the team. He raised his hand above his head and, with a twirl of his wrist, performed a deep, theatrical bow. Spinning himself around with flair, he fled onto the roof, disappearing from view.

  Dez cocked an eyebrow. “Wait a second…” he mulled to himself, stroking his mustache. The way the man moved, that particular gusto—there was something very familiar about it.

  “We’re not done here!” Jira shouted into the air. Angrily following the thief’s path, she tore up the pile of crates and flung herself at the dangling ladder. She clamped onto the bottom rung and flexed her massive arms, hauling herself up. Scaling a few steps, she kicked open the lock holding up the lower segment of the ladder; it slid to the ground, the bottom rung clanging against the concrete. “Let’s go!” she rumbled.

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  Sheah meekly squeaked. “More ladders…?”

  “You’ll get used to it. Come on!” Kaelis eagerly hopped onto the holds and climbed up after Jira.

  Hesitating, Sheah followed behind. She gripped her trembling hands around the bar and, moving very carefully, began to ascend the ladder one heavy footstep at a time.

  Dez stayed put, lost in his own head. A sudden idea occurred to him. Without a word, he slipped out of the alley and hobbled off in a different direction.

  Jira burst onto the roof. She scanned the waves of copper sheeting, swiftly locking onto her target. There, traipsing across the rooftop in the distance, was the thief, delighting in his assumed victory. Growling, Jira charged right at him.

  The burglar’s oblivious jaunt came to an abrupt end, interrupted by the rhythmic panging of metal behind him. Snapping alert, he swung around at the last moment to see Jira, her feet slamming against the sheeting, coming at him fast. The thief yelped with a hop before bolting across the rooftop in flight.

  Kaelis reached the top of the ladder just in time to see Jira resuming the pursuit. Before joining in, she quickly looked down to check on Sheah. She found her comrade sitting frozen less than halfway up the ladder, her arms and legs wrapped around the rungs in a vice grip.

  “Boss, c’mon!” Kaelis called.

  “I…” replied Sheah, unable to move. “…You go on ahead!”

  “Whatever!” Kaelis shrugged and took off to catch the thief.

  Sheah hesitantly glanced down to the alleyway floor dozens of feet below. She clenched her eyes shut. “This is my life now…” she whimpered, tightening her grip on the bars.

  The thief flashily tumbled over and around the rooftop’s nooks and valleys, barely keeping away from Jira as she chased him in circles. Kaelis rushed in to intercept. The man swung his head over to see her sprinting straight for him, on course to cut him off. He pivoted sharply, dashing down the length of the rooftop. Searching for a fast escape, he landed his sights past the roof's far edge. There, across a wide alley, sat a neighboring building with a slightly lower rooftop, barely close enough to jump to. The thief made a beeline towards it.

  Kaelis charged after him. She thrust out her hand, her fingers scraping at the scruff of his hood. “I got you, Mr. Thief!” she boldly declared. Hastening his pace, the man gunned for the lip of the roof, preparing to jump. Only then did Kaelis catch sight of the encroaching gap. “Whoa, wait, hold on!” she shouted, discerning the thief’s gambit. She ground her boots into the roofing, trying to come to a stop.

  Showing no hint of fear, the thief planted his foot on the lip of the roof and leapt. He soared off over the alleyway, cresting through the air with poise. Landing on the rooftop beyond, he gracefully flowed into a forward roll and continued his getaway without even breaking stride.

  Grimacing, Kaelis careened towards the roof's edge, her boots skidding against its dusty sheeting. Finally, she lurched to a halt, her toes finding a tenuous grip. Swinging her arms for balance, she teetered on the brink before stumbling back onto the solid rooftop behind her.

  Blowing past Kaelis, Jira sprinted at full speed and leapt over the gap. She hurtled through the air and slammed down onto the far rooftop, toppling onto her knees.

  “Captain!” called Kaelis, alarmed.

  “I’m fine!” Jira sternly snapped back. She surged to her feet, picking up the pursuit.

  Watching Jira dash off, Kaelis let out an embarrassed groan. “Aw, I blew it in front of The Knife!” she cried, slapping her forehead in shame.

  Jira pushed forward with all of her strength, her boots digging into the rooftop’s tiling. She maneuvered through a maze of pipes and vents, gaining on the thief with every explosive stride.

  The hooded man raced frantically through the tangle of tall ducts. The path narrowed, funneling him towards the far side of the roof. Reaching its edge, the thief slowed to a stop. He stared out over a wide chasm, impossible to jump, trailing down to the city streets some four stories below. Boxed in by the vents, he scanned around for yet another new exit.

  “No way out, you malzurra,” Jira growled behind him. The thief whipped around to face her. He slowly began to back up, his maneuvering space rapidly shrinking as she prowled towards him. “Give it back!” she barked.

  The thief ran out of rooftop; his heels clicked against the parapet. Moving slowly, he took one more glance over the building’s sheer dropoff before turning back towards Jira. Drooping his head, disappointed, embarrassed, he languidly raised his arms in defeat.

  Jira smirked victoriously. She stormed over to grab him.

  Suddenly, with a theatrical flourish, the thief shot out his hand. Appearing in his fingers, as if conjured out of thin air, was a rubber ball with a cylindrical metal top. The man cocked his head, a devilish grin visible beneath his hood. With a flick of his thumb, he flipped the pin from the metal top, sending it sailing. The ball began to sputter and quake.

  “No—” Jira’s eyes grew wide, recognizing the object in the thief’s hand: an N33 Quick-Release Smoke Grenade. Arms outstretched, she burst into a heated sprint, desperate to seize the man before he could drop it.

  But she was too late. With an elegant twist the thief spiked the grenade into the ground. It vaporized in an instant, swallowing the roof in a thick cloud of viscous, ashen smoke.

  Jira plowed into the wall of swirling vapor, her breath held, her watering eyes searching futilely through the mist. She swung her arms around, blindly feeling for the thief as she inched her way towards the building’s edge.

  Slowly the smoke began to clear, blown away on the winds. As Jira regained her sight, she swiveled her head around, frantically searching in all directions. The man was now nowhere to be seen. From the edge of the roof she looked down into the bustling city streets, then to the buildings across, and finally back to the rooftop around her. She hunted around every duct, every nook and cranny, her ears attuned to the sounds of footsteps or the whispers of stifled breath. But she could find nothing. The thief had vanished with the smoke.

  Jira paced across the rooftop, her face pulsing red. She snarled, teeth bared, shoulders hunched, fists trembling with rage. Shooting past her boiling point, she crashed her foot thunderously against a vent.

  “NO!”