Following their last heist, if it could be called that with how it went down, Danny’s team had been domesticated by the “security” team they had met. Rather than put a hamper on any future plans, the Affini in question were known for being a bit of troublemakers, at least insofar as Affini could be troublemakers, and encouraged all of their shenanigans. Between the compiler for resources, their owners for backup, and the fact that getting caught now just meant a class A punishment allowed them to plan heists just for the enjoyment and audacity, something their owners were all too happy to encourage. To pull off a heist just for the daring of it was something Danny could definitely get behind. 

This is what had placed his team and Lupin’s Owner in one of the many tea shops aboard the Rose Quartz today. Across from them was the ship's Captain and her floret Annie, but more importantly was what Anne was nibbling on. The florets favorite chew toy and current heist target had apparently been taken from Annie’s former ship and fastened into her current thing to nibble on. The goal was to get it, get back to Robin’s hab to hand it off to her Mistress and then return it after poking a little fun at the Captain for being so easily duped. 

The plan itself was simple. Lupin’s Owner was friends with the Captain so that was their in. While they had heard the Captain wasn’t one to employ a lot of xenodrugs, Annie looked like nothing more than a class j pet so they weren’t too worried about her. All that they were concerned with when the time came was getting past the Captain and her many vines. It wasn’t elegant but a simple counter measure had been considered. Danny and Robin had positioned themselves near Annie while the other four had moved to the Captains opposite side to get her attention. The Captain in Lupin's Owner engaged in small talk in the local Affini dialect while most of their attention was split between the seven florets. Having already received the okay to pet Annie, Danny began scratching her head and under her chin. It didn’t take long for Annie to go slack jawed and drop her chew toy by which time robin was already moving toward the entrance. Giving the signal, Danny quickly snatched the toy and threw it to Robin while the other four suddenly pounced on the Captain in order to keep her busy for that split second. 

Robin had caught the toy and was out the door in a flash. Her expertise in getting away is not limited to vehicles, but an avid runner and parkour fan, she was out the door and moving through the area on the way to her owners hab. It was only a couple minutes and a few turns later that Robin heard a threatening growl from behind her and turned to see a much more sober Annie shortly behind her. All traces of the pet were gone, and Robin’s gut instinctively said to run. Who was this? Annie was a mindless little pet, never seen off her leash, always with that blissful floret look to her and unlike now she was usually on all fours. The person behind robin was not these things. This Annie was upright for one, but also fully awake, alert, and more importantly fast. Robin had to forgo her planned route in a mad dash to just barely keep out of Annie’s grasp. Fuck fuck fuck, this had not been part of the plan. 

Danny had turned to the Captain after making his throw to see her reaction but surprisingly there seemed to be only amusement and not a hint of concern. Well, Affini were hard enough to read as is, so who knows what was really going on in the Captain's head. Though what happened next had caught everyone by surprise. Using one vine to ruffle Danny’s hair, another reached down and undid the leash from Annie’s collar. A short command of “Annete fetch” and a startling change came over Annie. Danny had enough time to glimpse the change in demeanor come over Annie, or was it Annete before she was gone, the entrance to the tea shop left open in her wake. It had only been a moment, but Danny had recognized that face. The behavior and mindlessness of Annie the pet had masked it but that look just as Annete took off reminded Danny and it all clicked in. That was Annete Bonny, feared pirate queen, scourge of three systems and all-around scary bitch. She had gone missing following the arrival of the Affini but that was really just the norm wasn’t it. Apparently, the Captain had snatched her up and had her spend most of the time as a harmless pet, Annie. As the realities set in, a vine constricted slightly around his neck and limbs, and he was pulled tightly to the Captains side along with the other four. I guess they were waiting here to see what happened next.

However good Robin thought she was, whoever this was masquerading as Annie was better. Even worse, none of the Affini even seemed to be concerned and actually seemed to be encouraging Annie with her little chase. She doubted she would have made it much farther but a turn into a dead-end pulled it up even shorter. Not knowing what else to do, Robin held the chew toy out in offering. As Annie grabbed the chew toy and placed it back in her mouth, Robin assumed she was in the clear for now. That held for all of 5 seconds when suddenly she was thrown over Annie's shoulder and given a single firm spanking. Any attempt to get down resulted in another spanking and did nothing to slow Annies return to the tea shop. Robin proceeded to wiggle around 11 more times before they got back to the tea shop. 

Once they walked in the Captain gave the command to heel and slipped the leash back onto Annie's collar while simultaneously securing Robin in her vines. Annie dropped back to all fours while that doped floret look returned. Mentioning her own heist plan, the Captain bundled all 6 of the would-be thieves into a big cuddle mess in her vines and left Lupin's Owner speechless to how she would explain the missing florets to her fellow security team members.