Snippet #2528313

The gym on Deck 11 was a flurry of activity as marines and some technicians worked what physical training they could into their day. Treadmills lined the right wall, nearly every single one occupied. Weights and other assorted exercise machines meant to increase overall muscle mass were assorted along the left wall. The wall farthest from the entrance was an assortment of different items, from 'yoga' mats to punching bags to a small basketball court. Dead center in the middle of the gym was a boxing ring, where marines crowded around in order to watch others beat themselves silly in a way of practice and to see who was better one on one.

Commander Horn stood at the far end of the gym, a punching bag receiving a brutal array of punches as he went for a solid minute, throwing heavy punches until he was forced to stop and prevent the bag from swinging every direction. Sweat beaded his brow, and his grey muscle shirt was already covered in perspiration as he continued his onslaught of blows against the poor sack of leather. Operative Invaru stood off to one side, her eyes glued to the omni-tool in front of her.

"Marine enlistment is down this quarter, as such your request to create another company of marines is on hold until further information can be gathered." Kelly stated, her fingers swiping past articles on the semi-transparent tool. Horn simply grunted, though from exertion or disdain was unknown.

"Figures. It's hard to get people to sign up when Cerberus isn't exactly known for saving all the lives in the universe like the Alliance is." Horn said with more than a hint of sarcasm. He respected the Alliance enough to be wary of their forces, but that was it. He didn't believe they were the honorable machine that everyone made them out to be.

"Could be Commander, or could simply be due to the fact that everyone is still in a false sense of security. We can get marines for replacements if necessary, but the hundred or so soldiers required to start up another company is not available at this time." Kelly stated, her omni-tool flashing slightly as Horn grabbed the punching bag and delivered several elbow hits to it before stopping for a moment.

"Fine, fine. Whatever, I can deal with only two hundred some marines kicking ass. For the moment anyways, but if they want us to really start kicking things into gear on our own, we're going to need the firepower to get it done." Horn looked over at Kelly, who seemed to be reading something on her omni-tool that had grabbed her entire attention. "Kelly?" Horn stated.

"Sorry sir." Kelly stated, becoming aware of the conversation. "It seems Commander Buchan has received a mission from the Illusive Man that requires my talents. I'm to report to the Theatre for a briefing." Horn stared at her for a moment.

"Where does she get off thinking she can just pull people from my detachment like that?" Horn stated, more than a little angry at the audacity of it.

"Captain Titus has given her full authority to pull who she deems fit." Kelly stated, reading further in. Horn paused, then scoffed for a moment.

"Ok fine, but I'm going there for the briefing as well." Jason stated as he walked over and grabbed a towel, wiping his face down. Kelly looked up, cocking an eyebrow for a moment. Horn looked up from the towel, staring at her for a second. "What? You're still my second and under my command, if any of my troops get sent off, I am made fully aware of what's going on." Kelly gave a small smile.

"Of course sir."

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After Horn had changed into something that didn't smell like roadkill mixed with a Krogan's sex life, and looked somewhat presentable in his standard uniform, Horn and Kelly walked into the aptly named Theater. The HQ of sorts for Vala's information special ops division fit into every stereotype that Horn had for anyone that referred to themselves as 'special' and happened to belong in the military. One of the first things that Horn noticed was the fact that the rather large looking office complex of an HQ was lacking in the visual aid department, mainly lighting.

Horn and Kelly walked in, and a few of the technicians looked up at them but otherwise didn't do anything. "Lights...have you heard of them?" Horn stated, looking around the place. As he stated this, two of the technicians rounded the main display. One of the technicians looked to the Commander.

"Can't say I have Commander, what do they do?" Horn was about to respond, finger in the air before the other technician spoke up.

"Commander, Operative. Welcome to the Theatre. I'm Operative Celeste Govern, and this is Operative Nolan Demarcus. Commander Buchan is waiting for you in her office." Horn looked to Kelly for a second before shrugging and motioning for them to lead the way, even though he could obviously see Commander Buchan through the glass walls of her office staring at the haptic interface on her desk. Operative Demarcus opened the door for them into Commander Buchan's office, and they both walked in.

Commander Buchan looked up from her work for a moment. "Operative Invaru, Commander Horn." Vala stated, before motioning to the chairs in front of her desk. Horn and Kelly both took a seat, and Vala looked over at Horn. "Are you here for the mission Commander? Or did you need something else from me?"

"If one of my subordinates is being sent on a mission, I would like to know everything about it." Horn stated as matter of factly as he could, trying not to let his irritation at the whole thing shine through. He made himself more comfortable on the chair, before motioning for Vala to start.

"Fair enough." Buchan stated, as she tapped a few more buttons on her haptic interface. "The mission we've been tasked with is a high society infiltration" Vala tapped a few more buttons and some pictures of Bekenstein showed up as holographic images between them. "I'm sure both of you are familiar with Bekenstein and it's rather famous reputation as the home of the rich and famous. You're going to be infiltrating Quintin Savage's..." Another image popped up of the target, a rather dapper if somewhat sinister looking man. "annual private auction to apply subtle pressure on his business decisions of late."

"Ordinarily this would be a rather simple operation, but there's more going on in the background that's going to make things slightly more difficult." Vala peered over at Kelly. "Savage is on the Shadow Broker's payroll, meaning he's going to have some of the best security credits can buy, and there's a high chance of several agents hidden amongst the party guests as...insurance for the investment. We can't leave him be, make no mistake; he's not going to just buckle his knee with someone like the Broker looming."

Horn stared at the pictures, but didn't say anything. He looked to Kelly, recognizing that she was the one actually going to the ground and that this used to be her forte. He understood why they needed her, but he wasn't going to let go of the irritation like that. Kelly took long enough to analyze the pictures as if they were a puzzle before speaking. "How do we plan to apply the pressure? Presence alone won't make him understand that we're a bigger threat than the Shadow Broker."

"The pressure will be applied incrementally." Vala replied. "And will be largely handled on my end. I have agents working through the various decoy accounts and encryptions upon Mr. Savage's businesses and fronts; once they're in, we'll hit him first in the funds. Ideally, he'll wisen up quickly, but in the event that he's stubborn, I'm deploying several Nightmares to the surface to rig a few harmless explosives around the compound." Vala brought up images of the compound with several marks around the building, indicating the bombing sites. "They'll be mostly for show. Loud and forceful, but little in terms of actual destruction. You'll be at no risk of harm from them."

"Not matter his defenses, we'll show Mr. Savage that we have the resources to penetrate them, regardless of who lines his pockets. You're primarily going to be the face of that threat." Kelly nodded, looking over to Horn who simply shrugged.

"And, worst case scenario, he still refuses our offer?" Kelly stated.

"Then we drain his account and kill him. No half measures." Vala stated bluntly, which earned a nod from Kelly.

"Will I be going in alone?"

"No, as I've said, I'm deploying several pairs of Nightmares down to the surface. One of the teams will be charged with your care primarily...as for the party itself..." Kelly and Horn could both sense her hesitation, but neither said anything. She tapped a finger onto her desk, and the image of a sharply dressed man appeared before them. "You'll be accompanying Cecil Adams into the actual event itself. A third party contractor in the Bekenstein market who's been hired for the operation." Kelly looked the man over, but this time it was Horn who spoke up.

"Why don't we have a Cerberus asset on the ground for this op? Why hire a merc, regardless of how sharply dressed he is?" Vala leaned forward slightly, parting the displays with a few finger flicks to face them fully.

"This op was sprung on us rather short notice. Simply put, there isn't enough time to construct an entire alias to explain her presence, and not have it immediately picked apart by the Shadow Broker's own logistics. Bekenstein is a very well documented place, you can't just appear and claim to be somebody without people digging around."

"Cecil Adams, while lacking our resources, is a man already in the area, and already known. In the few hours we have, he can pull the few strings he needs to explain the Operative." Vala laced her fingers together in front of her face. "We either gamble on him, or we gamble on Savage not making his investments to fund the Shadow Broker's personal army." Vala paused for a moment. "I'm not a fan of it, but the recommendation comes straight from High Command."

Horn paused for a moment, before shrugging. He was never one for cloak and dagger actions but he understood the need for them. He looked over to Kelly, who brought up the images on her own omni-tool. "What's the parameters for communication? Are we worried about interceptions?"

"Minimal communication, as little as possible. CIP will handle the encryption and transmission to ensure security, but obviously we don't want to risk any of our intentions slipping out." Vala leaned back in her chair. "You'll have a tight beam radio as well, so you'll be free to communicate with your escorts without risk of someone picking it up" Kelly gave a nod, mulling everything over before looking over to Vala once more.

"So when do I leave?"