Snippet #2310136

The House of Clubs, The Redlight District

The room was dark, with the exception of the shifting lights flashing outside on the dancefloor, and the single lamp which hung from the ceiling. A mirrored window sealed off their meeting space from the outside, the material did not block out the flashing lights or the smoke effects, but they kept out the latest aura of techno music better than the Federation agents expected.

The two of them sat calm and collected, in the midst of a group of pirates. They were civilized at least, the pirates, seeing as this was an elite outfit that was worth the attention of the Federation. The two agents were told to be on their best behavior, and to sign a deal with the pirates that wouldn't give them too much leeway. Although they personally objected to this, it wasn't their job to ask any questions. Their job was to sign the deal and get on with business.

It was their duty.

At some point though, they realized that the situation must have been desperate for them to rely on mercenaries to handle some backwater insurgents. But...how could it be? The Federation Armed Forces was at full standing capacity. If they sent a fifth of the Sol Defense Fleet, or perhaps even a third of the Eris V garrison fleet, it would have been enough to destroy these insurgents. Unfortunately, the two agents did not have accurate numbers of insurgent troop strengths, and the reports gathered by FIS was only slightly better. This was among the reasons why they chose to strike a deal with the Shuffle Vanguard Pirates, they weren't just mercenaries, but also information brokers, and information brokers were only in business if they had information.

Two of the pirates were wrapped around some prostitutes, while the other one covered entirely inside his personal battlesuit. They assumed the man in the suit, who was not with any women, was the man calling the shots, seeing as how he was there for business and not a lap dance.

"Alright, so how do you guys want to do this?" the man on the left spoke up first, addressing the pirates. He was known as Glass, and the man on the left, who seemed a bit more cordial at least, was known as Sand.

Sand took a swig from his glass that was set on the round, red table, the transparent pink liquid went down.

"What my friend means is..." Sand gave a small glance to Glass, "Let's begin."

"We know you guys operate on a take what you find basis, and we're comfortable with that." Sand added.