It wasn't long before news of Blueblood's kidnapping spread. The crew made it back to the safe house just as the TV in the bar was showing it. Oddly enough, the bar was filled with cheers at the announcement, and the rest of the day was overall much happier.
Their client was also very pleased, and also hadn't quite dealt with Blueblood yet. It was expected that he would be found in a few days, dead in an alley somewhere. Still, that wasn't the crew's problem; they just worried about the payout, which was equally good.
With nothing else to do that day but lay low, Chains and Wolf ended up arm wrestling each other, Dallas took a nap, and Hoxton browsed the internet, seeing if they had any impact on the public. Sure enough, they did. An overwhelming majority of comments indirectly praised them for getting rid of Blueblood. There were quite a few people from Earth who didn't even know who it was, but that didn't dampen the mood at all.
However, just as soon as comments were being put up, they were deleted, likely in an effort to not have the public support criminal activities in any way. After all, they had pretty much committed a kidnapping of a government official, which ranked pretty high up on the list of criminal activities.
Hoxton's surfing was soon interrupted by Bain. "Guys, I just got in contact with another client, and you will not believe this."
Chains, who was still locked in arm-to-arm combat with Wolf, answered. "Shoot."
"You know what Equestria's strongest weapons are, right?"
"Yeah, those Elements of Harmony you mentioned," Hoxton said.
"Well, someone wants us to steal them."
Everyone was stunned, and Wolf ended up slamming Chains's hand into the table. "They want us to steal their version of the nuclear football?"
"It seems like it."
Dallas, who had woken up just minutes ago, chimed in. "No way we're getting that far deep into national affairs. Kidnapping some guy is one thing, but this is something else entirely. I don't care how much they can pay us."
"Well, that's the thing. They know it's a heavy matter, so they priced it appropriately."
The silence in the air was palpable as Bain paused.
"Ten billion US dollars."
Silence once more reigned in the safe house.
"Ten bill..." Wolf trailed off in disbelief.
"Billion? With a B?" Chains asked, equally shocked.
"You heard me right. I was shocked, too."
For a long while, no one said anything, then slowly Wolf, Chains, and Hoxton all looked at Dallas.
"With that much, we could be set for life, and then some..." he trailed off, lost in thought.
Then, suddenly, he spoke up again. "When do we have to do it?"
"There wasn't a deadline mentioned, but they did suggest doing this during that Gala thing in a few months. That would probably be our best bet; they won't expect us with all those people."
Hoxton laughed. "Looks like we're changing history, fellas..."
"Ten billion..." Wolf said, still stuck on that detail.
Chains cracked his neck. "Sounds like a hell of a retirement plan, to me."
"Then it's settled. In just a few short months, we're stealing Equestria's strongest weapons. In the meantime, I have a lot of preparations to make, both for the heist and for getting off the grid." Bain sighed. "Gentlemen, this is the heist to end all heists. I hope you know what you're getting into."