“Are you sure?” Shin-Lee asked.

“Yes…I’m sure, it won’t be anything too strenuous.” I said

“And you can’t tell me what type of mission type it is?”

“Can’t…sorry,” I answered through gritted teeth.

Shin-Lee huffed air through the mic, and I waited for her to settle. She took the news quite well, not that she ever complained, but she was never one to suffer in silence.

“I should be back around 2 AM to 6 AM tomorrow, at the latest.”

“Whatever…just be back by tomorrow, Hannah said she still has to teach you how to play that monster game.”

“…and I will be there.”

“Whatever…Hannah, your father’s on the phone!” Shin-Lee shouted. In a few seconds, Hannah came beaming on the line. “Daddy!”

“Hey sweety How are you feeling?”

“I’m alright…just bored, when are you coming home?”

“Not sure sweety, daddy has to work.”

“Awwwee, Works boring Daddy come home and play with me.”

“I will, just give me till tomorrow alright?

“Alright”

“Love you.”

“I love you too!”

“Put your mother back on for a second.”

“No need, I’m here.”

“Oh…love you.”

“Sure you do.” She said dryly. “We’ll talk about this love when you come back.”

“Aye aye commander!”

The line went dead, I felt as my world came crashing down on my shoulders. The sudden bout of melancholy made me pressured, annoyed and yes flustered.

I wasn’t flustered because Shin-Lee was agitated, I was flustered because if that damned riot didn’t take place. I wouldn’t be in this situation. No…that’s not true…Akatani would’ve come for me anyway. I thought bitterly, feeling my calluses rub as my fist balled into a fist, I’ll kill him for sure this time.

“You done?” Stelyne finally said.

“Yeah…”

“Good…head to the briefing room in twenty, since you’re here we could as well make a start.”

◆◆◆

As I went back to the briefing room, I could sense the aggression. Thirteen chairs around a semi-circular table, with tablets, were set up accordingly.

In the middle of the room, centred around the desks was a holographic projector, cylinder in design and about two feet tall, emitting blue light from three small circles around the centre of the projector.

As I sat at my chair, the door slashed open and the scent of sweat and testosterone fluttered in, followed by four men stomping their way to their seats. Stelyne of course was already seated, typing away on the datapad, sithing through whatever data she needed to cover getting this debrief started.

“Why the hell are we here so early Stel?” The man who pulled the chair next to me asked.

“That’s Lieutenant Skarvok, Rynord,” Stelyne answered, tone laced with ice, but then she turned to me, smiling wryly. So I did remember correctly…the fox, I thought, laughing.

“With all due respect Ma’am…we’ve left the military, there’s no need for rank here.”

“Shut it, Rynord.” The one opposing me said. “Ma’am, I’m fine with replacing Rynord on the mission. Mission? I thought this was a simple detail. I said to myself.

“Whoa whoa…Captain.” Rynord said, raising his hands in defence, “there’s no need to get that extreme.” He turned to Stelyne and flashed a gold tooth smile. “My apologies…Lieutenant Skarvok.”

“…just shut up Rynord.” Naedon snapped. Silence echoed across the room and my lips curled into a smile, unconsciously. Well, at least I know who's in charge of this squad I said to myself.

Naedon, who sat the closest to Stelyne this time, on my opposing side to my left, had a stereotypical high and tight haircut. His jaw was squared, which made his face seem sturdy, matching his average-sized nose. His eyes were brown, matching his hair. His face was clean and he had a dent in the middle of his chin.

The two men, sitting alongside the side, sat quietly, eyeing me back and forth with Stelyne. One sported a mohawk whilst the other was bald and bearded with a tribal looking tattoo etched into his neck, creeping up to his right ear.

The remaining two sat beside me. Rynord, his hair was cut low whilst he had a stubble of a beard, his nose was pointed, just as Stelyne’s was, whilst his lips were thin.

The other, who didn’t say anything, was the biggest of them all, shoulders and all. He had a long scar going down his left eye, stretching out to his nose. If I didn’t lose an arm and piece of my brain, I’d consider him menacing, but alas.

“I have to ask Stelyne,” Naedon said.

“What is it?” She asked, tapping her datapad.

“Why are we here? We weren’t scheduled to report in till 12.”

“Things change Captain…you know this.”

“The Colonel doesn’t like change.”

“He doesn’t, but when credits are involved, a man sure knows how to play the part, wouldn’t you agree…Rynord.?”

“Aye Aye Ma’am,” The jovial fellow said with a laugh.

“Don’t--“ Stelyne said, but was cut off by a call. She tapped the back of her, raising her hand, halting the conversation. “Yes sir, They’re all here. Yes Sir, Cypher as well. Ok Sir, understood. I will report to you throughout the day. Godspeed.” The tattooed man, licked his lips, eyes trained on Stelyne. I know that he was mentally preparing for what would happen next.

“Alright…Gentleman, the finer details of the agreement have been put to pen, and I can finally debrief you on the entirety of the detail we’ve been entrusted with.”

Stelyne slapped a red button stationed to her right and a shattered sphere, which seem to be a building of some design pulsed into existence in the form of red light. The shattered began spinning slowly, with four staircases attached at opposite ends leading to the building.

“As we’re be chaperoning the Romacellin Family for a private auction event within The Shattered Sphere,” Stelyne said. “Glorified Body Guards.” Rynord cut in. “Yes…that’s correct, bodyguards.”

“I don’t like this,” Naedon said.

“…oh boy,” Rynord said, chiming in.

“This is too last-minute…if we’re to guard The Romacellin Family, we should’ve gotten at least notice of such an event.” He continued. “Sharp as always Captain, but this isn’t your standard auction…if you know what I mean.”

Hmmm…that could only mean one thing, I said to myself. “If The Romacellins want to rub shoulders with the Federation’s dark elements that's all good and dandy, but why must it be at a Black Market Auction?” The Captain asked.

“Does it matter Captain?”

“No…” He finally answered after pausing for a second.

“Exactly. The credits they pay us…pays you. We need their bubbling pockets to make profits. These jobs may be mundane in some sense, but they pay well.”

“It’s not about the job Ma’am.” The Mohawk said.

“…then think about the money. You’re getting paid double the credits for this one.”

“Double credits?… I’m in!” Rynord said with a grin.

“Double means trouble Rynord.” The Captain warned.

“…like that matters.”

“I’m going to have to agree with Rynord, Captain… It's good to have some additional Credits.

The Captain balled his palms into a fist and turned towards his tattooed neck compatriot. He didn’t say anything but nodded. I guess that’s that. I thought. “Who the imbibe is that?” The captain asked, pointing with his eyes. “Kaiden Cypher…he’ll be the Shadow for this op.”

“We don’t need a Shadow.” The Captain countered.

“Says WHO!?” Stelyne snapped.

The room went silent again and Stelyne waited for the Captain to voice his opinion, which he didn’t after two minutes of silence. ” Right…as you can see…The Shattered Sphere has five entrances.” She continued, pointing at the spinning sphere. “The four staircases here, here, here and here are entrances for, with the fifth entrance being the roof. Which is only meant for VVIP.”

“Is that where also enter?” I asked.

“Indeed,” Stelyne confirmed. She tapped her datapad and an alert popped up into my Cybernetic Eye. “That’s the Dossier for the Op. It has the building schematics, catering layout, all paths to and from the Auction Theater…everything.”

Rynord bellowed a loud whistle and flashed a wry grin. “Can we case the building first?” The Captain asked. “No,” Stelyne answered. “I don’t like this…we’ll be going in blind.”

“…and you’ll be paid handsomely for that. Now suck it up, get some rest and prepare to leave in about eight to ten hours, understood?”

“Yes Ma’am,” I said.

The entire CSS squad turned to me, eyeing me pensively, sending invisible nails through my body as if I‘d spoken out of turn. Not like it mattered. My detail for the mission was a Shadow, which meant I didn’t have to directly work with them, something I preferred.

“Dismissed,” Stelyne said, tapping her datapad, turning off the holographic projector. She clopped her heels past The Captain and his squad, leaving me in the room with the squad.

I pushed myself up and began heading to the door. “Let’s not make this any more difficult than it has to be,” I told them, then gave them a salute and went through the door, leaving them to their own machinations.