Dark Matters: Heist On Aeris (Short Story)

Following the release of Dark Matter: Code Red, artist Taylor W. Wilson continued to expand the Dark Matter Universe by writing several short stories. Dark Matters: Heist On Aeris would be the first of the original seven shorts. In 2023, the short received a Kindle update that canonized the story. It was also announced to be a chapter in Dark Matters: Anthology.

## Description

*"The Harkins family, along with a close family friend, are taking a personal family vacation on Aeris. Things don't go as planned."*

## Plot Summary

The Harkins family (excluding Lisa Harkins, who was currently on Managarus) has decided to go on a brief vacation away from the politics on Alpha Prime. Amber Harkins and Angelica (an Angel orphan who is now fostered by the Harkins family; Angelica is often nicknamed Angel) meet with Amber's parents: Leonard Harkins and Natasha Harkins. After grabbing lunch at a pizzeria on Aeris, the family explores a museum, specifically observing the Wraith's Claw artifact that Amber acquired from Arctica in the Necro System. As the family finished their time at the museum, they discussed going to the coronation festival for Athena Williams on Managarus.

Down the road in the city, Malcolm McGoy, Joel Morales, Wade Garrett, and Jeremy Wildes prepared to rob the King of Aeris' personal bank vault. As the Williams family was close with the Reyes family, McGoy assumed security would not be as tight as normal. Unfortunately for the group, they were met with heavy security and only managed to grab several bags of credits before making a run for it in an armored truck. The foursome of criminals were seen by Amber and Angel, and Amber took flight to catch them. Angel stayed behind, informing Amber that she hasn't used her wings in a long time.

Garrett took the wheel from Morales and fired up a laser gatling gun on the roof of the truck, all while Wildes used a submachine gun from passenger-rear window and McGoy used an automatic rifle from the passenger-front window. Amber dodged all three lines of fire and managed to knock out Morales. Wildes tried to take his colleague's spot on the turret, but was knocked out as well, though at this moment, Joel came to and tried to recover. Amber stayed focused on keeping the men knocked down, and went after Joel again. He tried to shoot her but had fallen backwards and accidentally fired his pistol, killing the driver. McGoy shoved Garrett's body out of the truck and onto the highway they had just driven onto, taking the wheel. Morales moved to the passenger seat next to McGoy and tried to spot Amber outside the truck, but was shocked to find that she was now in the seat behind the two men. With magic aimed at both their heads, she ordered McGoy to pull over, but the latter jolted the wheel as far to the right as possible, sending the truck through the side rail of the highway and plummeting to the ground below. Amber flew out moments before the truck hit the ground, managing to only pull Wildes out.

Amber tied Wildes' wrists to a nearby pole with a chain and rushed to the truck as flames ignited. McGoy was already out of the wreckage and limping away, while the now-unconscious Morales was trapped, his leg pinned under the dashboard. Amber rescued Morales, tossing him to safety using her magic, then she moved in on the escaping McGoy. McGoy pulled a stungun on the overconfident Angel and injured her, though Amber was quick to recover and used a wing to knock McGoy to the ground. When Amber tried to make a final move, McGoy drew a handgun and nearly shot her. Angelica finally showed up, swooping in and using a wing to "slap" the gun. McGoy shot in the wrong direction and dropped the gun. Realizing he could not face two Angels at once, McGoy surrendered.

Aeris Police Department Chief Harge Borracks later apologized for the trouble the Harkins family ended up dealing with during their stay in the planet's capital. He did scold the two Angels as IGA and Aeris Police were both working to catch McGoy and his crew, setting up numerous barricades throughout the city. He then thanks the Angels; despite the danger they put themselves in, they managed to take down one of IGA's most wanted. Leonard and Natasha were also relieved to see the two Angels were safe, but Leonard was rather angry with Amber for engaging such a man.

The next morning, both Angels woke up in the hotel room they were sharing and began reading themselves for their trip to the festival on Managarus. Amber walked to her parents' room to speak with them, but was informed by her mother that there has been an attack on the Alliance and Amber was told to go back to her room and wait for more information. While Amber listened to her mothered, she grew tired of waiting and eventually walked to the hotel lobby and joined everyone there in watching an IGA news broadcast. There is a news anchor talking about about an attack in Pearl City on Managarus, though no reports had confirmed the identity of the attacker. A video is played, taken by a bystander, and Athena Williams is shown rescuing people from a building that suffered from an explosion. The anchor then reads on, reporting that Collin Williams, thought by the public to have been in exile, was seen nearby shortly before the attack. After he disappeared, power to Pearl City was lost. Many blame Collin. While Amber was shocked to see her friend out of exile already, thinking that he wouldn't be arriving on Managarus for a few more days.

The story ends with the anchor saying another man was reported to be fleeing from the scene, then displaying a picture of William Ordazed. Amber states it isn't possible as Collin killed Ordazed two years ago.

## Notes

* Heist on Aeris was made canon on January 5th, 2023 after receiving an overhaul edit. Taylor claimed that while the story was the same, most dialogue and many paragraphs in-between had to be re-typed. Taylor had stated that prior to 2023, the 2018 Dark Matters Short Story series is only meant to be taken as loose canon.
* Though loose canon, Aeris Heist does fit into the main story, even ending by referencing the fight between Collin Williams and William Ordazed
* McGoy would go on to serve as the protagonist in Dark Matters: Escape Plan, though his current whereabouts within the DMU are unknown
* During the writing of Dark Matter III, the planet Monarchus was changed to Managarus, which result in many printed copies of Dark Matter: Code Red and Dark Matter Rises containing the old planet name. This occurred within the pages of the Dark Matters stories, as well, though the ebooks were not corrected by Laughing Matter Studios to reflect the new planet name until 2023.