Juno Steel and the Tools of Rust (Part 1)

Poster for Juno Steel and the Tools of Rust by Sharon Oh

**Juno Steel and the Tools of Rust (Part 1)** is an episode of the Juno Steel (series). It is the 3rd Juno Steel episode of season 3, and 5th overall. It was released January 7, 2020.

## Overview

*Strong hands to work the dust*

*Long days* — *in body I trust*

*My tools have turned to rust...*

### Trigger Warnings

* Sudden loud noises
* Deception and gaslighting
* Reference to alcohol use
* Violence and threats of violence
* Reference to organized military violence and mass killing
* Violent death, blood, and gore
* Claustrophobic spaces

## Episode Summary

As the Aurinko Crime Family prepare for another heist, Jet Sikuliaq prepares for a difficult maneuver in the Ruby Seven called the Pelican Bootleg. According to Jet, it is supposed to be impossible for a human, but he has completed the move in this car before, when he stole an object called the Iris of Jupiter. He thinks about someone named M'tendere, whom he met twenty years ago, and wishes he had not. He wonders if that's selfish of him, saying that he does not ever want to be the man he was at that time again, and perhaps he would have been a better person without knowing them. He attempts the maneuver and fails, which rattles him.

After Vespa, Juno, and Ransom depart to steal what they are all calling the Key from M'tendere, a weapons designer, Rita approaches Jet and asks him why he never attends any of the meetings Buddy holds to discuss this particular heist, startling him. Rita says that he doesn't have to answer if he doesn't want to, and he replies that he does not. They shift focus to the Carte Blanche's tractor shields, which Jet's recent experience with the Ruby has made him suspect need maintenance. As he begins to take them apart, Rita asks him questions about his past and connection to M'Tendere, unsettling him again. Without meaning to, he breaks an important component of the tractor shields and realizes unhappily that they now how to go down to the surface of Le Verrier, the city where the others are currently conducting the heist, to buy a new part.

As Rita and Jet touch down in Le Verrier, Rita admires the "trillion-colored whirlwind" that surrounds the city's dome, but Jet is unable to admire it as memories of his past pull his focus away. He and Rita are able to quickly buy the necessary part for the ship, but before they can head back, Buddy calls over the comms to tell them that the other team has run into trouble: M'Tendere is not in the apartment Dark Matters has provided them as part of the witness protection they have negotiated with each other. In fact, they have dug the tracking chip they agreed to wear as part of that deal out of their shoulder and disappeared entirely.

Just as Buddy concludes that everyone should return to the Carte Blanche, Jet notices M'Tendere in the crowd of the marketplace, wearing a bloody bandage and holding a guitar. Ransom and the others offer to pursue them, but Jet replies that by the time they could get there, M'Tendere would be gone. Despite his reluctance, he and Rita agree to follow them instead. As they do so, Rita confronts Jet over how nervous he looks when M'Tendere is brought up; he insists that it isn't out of fear, but before he can elaborate further, the others call again.

Over the comms, Vespa tells Rita, Jet, and Buddy that she, Ransom, and Juno are now trapped in M'Tendere's apartment, as Dark Matters agents have surrounded the building. They briefly entertain the idea that the whole situation may have been a trap, but Rita dismisses that, saying that while the Dark Matters files she read before the heist were unusually easy to get into, she believes that the lapse in security was because the organization may be under new management, not because they were setting bait in a trap. It is most likely that the others are just experiencing bad luck. On the other side of the line, Dark Matters' Agent G demands for M'tendere to let them into the apartment and give themself up. Vespa, Ransom, and Juno are convinced that they truly are not the targets of the ambush.

Before they can make a plan to escape, however, something jams the comms lines, ending the call. M'tendere begins to leave the square, and Jet and Rita follow them down a path until a Dark Matters agent appears, threatening M'tendere at gunpoint. The agent refuses to answer M'tendere's questions about why the organization has suddenly decided to stop protecting them and goes to shoot; however, before they can aim, Jet fires his blaster at the agent from where he is hiding with Rita. M'tendere asks the two to show themselves. When they do, M'tendere recognizes Jet, although they point out that he looks much calmer than twenty years ago. Jet replies that M'tendere has grown up. Rita asks how the two know each other, and M'tendere answers: they met while stealing the Iris of Jupiter, Jet had also taken one of their weapons and killed fifteen people with it in his escape. Jet claims that he is not that man anymore, but M'tendere suggests Jet just "need[s] it to be true."

Before more agents can pursue them, M'tendere leads Rita and Jet to an underground bunker they intend to hide in, noting that while doing so may be unwise, they have no other choice: both M'tendere and Jet need something from the other. They all enter the bunker just as several Dark Matters agents are heard approaching in the distance.

## Cast and Crew

### Cast

* Alexander Stravinski as Jet Sikuliaq
* Kate Jones as Rita
* Anjimile as M'tendere
* Sarah Gazdowicz as Buddy Aurinko
* Joshua Ilon as Juno Steel
* Chloé Cunha as Vespa
* Noah Simes as Peter Ransom

### Crew

* Kevin Vibert, Co-creator, Head of Operations, Lead writer
* Sophie Kaner, Co-creator, Head of Episode Development, Director, Sound designer
* Kat Buckingham, Head of Merchandise and Outreach
* Alice Chuang, Head of Design
* Noah Simes, Production manager
* Ryan Vibert, Composer and performer of original music
* Promotional art by Sharon Oh

## Quotes

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> | JET: | The Ruby 7’s many background calculations make it more like a horse. It can be controlled, but only insofar as it wants to be controlled.
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> | JET: | I did not want this. Our meeting seemed inevitable. I had lost control, and I felt myself skidding. The wheel twisting without my hands. The engine spinning without my command.
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## Trivia

* This episode was narrated by the character Jet Sikuliaq. It followed season three's pattern of telling stories from the perspective of each member of the Aurinko Crime Family, after Juno Steel and the Man in Glass (Part 1) and Juno Steel and the Man in Glass (Part 2).
* This episode features the song "Any Day Now" by Anjimile.

## References

 Bonus Episodes

 Other Episodes
 Live Shows