The cargo ship Jacqueline Fury had worked on under the name Juliet Stark—the ship she'd worked on with Naomi—was nearly unrecognizable.

With so much coastal territory under the Thunder Serpents' control these days, they'd gotten bolder. The cargo ship now displayed their flag prominently, and the image of a decapitated snake head surrounded by lightning bolts was repeated on countless surfaces across the ship. The ship had also been painted with their colors. A nauseating combination of silver, neon teal, and highlighter yellow greeted Jackie at every turn.

It was 1999 by the time she tracked the gang's ship down and infiltrated it. She spent three months as a low-level grunt, doing the same work she'd done the first time around. This time, she was watching carefully. Biding her time.

Jackie couldn't just destroy the Thunder Serpents. She had to humiliate them, and she needed an audience. So, once everything was in place, she waited for the cargo ship to pull into a harbor. Waited for the crowds on the pier to grow, waited for other boats to join them on the water, waited for sky traffic overhead to reach its peak.

There was another key component of the plan. Jackie wanted to deal with every member of the gang at once. That meant luring in the Serpents scattered across their territory on land handling terrestrial business. This was where the three months had been essential. In that time, she'd learned the Thunder Serpents' code, gotten a headcount of their members, located their headquarters, and stolen a radio communicator.

When the Thunder Serpents' cargo ship pulled into the harbor, the rest of the members were waiting to board.

The ship's captain, a high-ranking Serpent, was on deck in minutes. "What's going on?" he demanded as the last of the members scrambled onto the deck.

Jackie watched from nearby, her hand in her pocket, her thumb grazing the remote that she really hoped she'd reprogrammed correctly. She glanced down to triple check she was wearing the right boots.

"I got your emergency message." The Serpent that stepped forward to face the captain was the gang's leader. Tall, pale, frilly, slimy. "Rounded everyone up from around the city. This had better be important." Jackie didn't know his real name, only that he was called Storm.

But he'd shown up, which meant her plan was going to work. It had to.

The captain's eyes widened. "But I didn't—"

Jackie's hand shot up. "I know what's going on!" she exclaimed, flashing the leading Serpents a grin.

Storm shot her a glare. "All crew members need to get below decks. Now. This doesn't concern you."

"Oh, but it does."

Jackie pressed the button on the remote.

Each of the twenty devices she'd planted around the ship over the course of weeks came to life and delivered a staggering amount of electricity into their surroundings. Metal surfaces carried the electricity across the ship. Into the body of each and every Serpent.

Everyone standing on deck collapsed. Gasps and cries of pain cut through the air, drawing the attention of people in the harbor. Perfect.

Jackie's boots—made of the galaxy's best anti-electrical insulating material—thudded against the ground as she strolled toward the door leading inside. Serpents lay around her, mostly unconscious now. A few let out low groans of pain. They'd be out for a while. Long enough for her to take care of the other parts of the plan.

No need for weapons now, but Jackie did love to put on a show. She drew the latest blade she'd added to her collection: a short sword with a near-white silver blade, an intricate crossguard, and a dark blue handle.

In the cargo hold, she unleashed destruction.

The blade slashed through bags. Gasoline doused every box. Drugs went up in flames. Weapons went overboard.

Spare cash went into Jackie's pockets.

After that, Jackie left the flames to their own devices and returned to the deck. A crowd had gathered on the pier to catch a glimpse of what was happening, and sirens indicated that police were on the way.

"Be sure to take pictures!" Jackie shouted. She slid the sword into the scabbard at her side before grabbing Storm and the captain by the collars of their shirts. As she approached the railing, she lifted them into the air. "I know some of these guys have undercover identities that they wouldn't want exposed." She dropped the men. Watched them crumple against the deck.

A cold grin crept across Jackie's face as the first police cruiser descended onto the pier. "And you can tell the police that legendary criminal Jacqueline Fury did their job better than them!"

Her hand slipped into her pocket to pull out the remote. Just below the button that had activated the electric shock devices was a small PIN pad. Her thumb jumped from number to number. Zero. One. Zero. Two. Five. Two.

The team Jackie hired had better have done their jobs. Planting a bomb was, like, one of the easiest things in the galaxy. But directing a team over radio from a ship at sea made things tricky.

Her answer came in the form of a distant explosion. Thunder Serpent headquarters, up in flames.

The ground-shaking sound and rising smoke pushed the crowd from confused to terrified. Jackie couldn't care less. Her job was done, and police officers were making their way toward the ship.

She set off toward the back of the ship but only made it three steps before someone called out to her.

"Why?" The weak voice belonged to Storm, who had the strength to lift his head and nothing else. "What did you do this for?"

Jackie laughed. "Sorry. No closure for you."

She drew the sword and smacked the handle against his head to knock him out.

The Serpents who'd thrown Naomi overboard had all been killed or arrested in the past couple decades. But there were other innocent ship crew members who'd seen or heard too much and lost their lives for it.

Jackie hurried to the back of the ship, pulling off her crew uniform as she did to reveal plain black clothes underneath. When she jumped up onto the railing lining the rear deck, she glanced back to find two police officers had nearly caught up with her. Two guns pointed at her.

"Hold it right there," one of the officers said. "You're under arrest, too."

Jackie lifted her hands into the air and turned around slowly, still balancing on the railing. "I beg to differ."

She let herself fall backwards into the water.