"Yo chief! Good morning." The tall dark skinned man exclaimed as soon as he saw Zwei. However he had a baffled look in his face and so he went ahead and asked "Chief. Why are you dragging Lura by her hair?"

"Because she is a bitch and she attacked me." Zwei calmly stated.

"Again! This is the seventh time this month!" said the dark skinned man kind of surprised.

"Shut up Raizu! He was the one pulling me by the hair in the first place! He started it!" Lura yelled.

"What are you two? Like twelve? Let her go already chief." Raizu firmly stated.

"Fine." Said Zwei in compromise "But you'll be in charge of supervising her today Raizu." Zwei said in a clear, serious voice.

"If that's an order I have no choice."

"It is."

"Fine then chief. I'm on it."

"Has the client arrived yet Raizu?"

"Yes. 20 minutes ago"

"Good. Let's hear his job offer then." Zwei said clearly getting fired up.

The three mercenaries walked at a steady pace while moving through the barracks. The smell of gunpowder and the buzz created by the rest of their comrades was their constant companion. Finally arriving at their destination they entered the large greenhouse looking building.

"You have certainly taken your time leader. I hope that time was at least well spend in preparation for this mission." Said the hooded serious looking man.

"You worry too much Akmar. But in a sense pummeling Lura is a good form of preparation." Zwei responded to the hooded man's concern.

Lura looked agitated but she didn't respond to Zwei's provocation. Raizu was pleased with this development whereas Zwei looked a bit dissatisfied.

"Anyway. Where is this client of ours Akmar?"

"Right this way leader."

They started heading for the conference hall where the client was located. They quickly arrived and there they found their client next to another member of their mercenary group a woman named Silma.

"I am pleased you could finally join us mister Zwei."

"Pardon this small delay mister Lao. We are at your disposal."

The businessman looking gentleman named Lao raised one of his eyebrows.

"I see. So you are not just a bunch of muscle heads after all. Judging by this woman's company I assumed so. Pardon me as well for this misunderstanding."

Zwei knew the gig. Lao was trying to get under their skin in order for him to assess whether they were proper businessmen themselves. Clearly it was already working on Silma's case. Zwei gave her a meaningful stare. Silma understood and tried to calm down. Then Zwei started speaking again.

"Mister Lao the way I view it we are also a type of business. Naturally we need to be a bit civilized when it is required." Zwei said just what he knew Lao wanted to hear. The rest of the group was yet again amazed by Zwei's transformation from a vulgar mercenary to a skilled leader and businessman. He had done it more than a couple of times in the past and it was arguably the most crucial factor for their mercenary group's success.

A grin formed in Lao's face. That's when Zwei knew they already got the job.

"I see. Very admirable of you mister Zwei. Now then, let's get down to business." While saying that Lao fixed his glasses and his eyes went sharper. Everyone on the room got the drift. It was time to start negotiating the various details of the job such as the required manpower, the equipment their employer could provide and most importantly their reward.

"If it's all the same to you mister Zwei I would like for you to introduce the present members of your mercenary group."

"Very well mister Lao. The tall, dark skinned, muscular man on my left is Raizu. He is skilled with every type of heavy firearm ranging from light machine guns to bazookas. He is also as you may already have assumed a very powerful hand-to-hand combatant."

"I see. What about the blue haired lady on your right?"

"This here is Lura. If I had to classify her I'd say she is a gunslinger able to use her high mobility and excellent SMG and handgun skills to quickly dispose of any enemy. Her only weakness is as you can probably tell her overall lack of power."

Lura looked pleased with the description of her skills so she expressed no objection. Zwei was rather relieved because Lura's objection usually ended up in a commotion.

Lao fixed his glasses again while he was processing the information.

"Pretty impressive I'd say for such a small framed woman."

Lura looked pleased at the praise.

"What about the threatening looking man behind you?"

"This is the most skilled doctor in our group. His name is Akmar and he was born in the fire nation. His skills range from treating minor injuries to high level surgeries. But make no mistake he is also a very skilled combatant able to use any type of blade and as an added bonus he is a master chi blocker."

"Surprising. I thought this man would be an assassin but he is actually a skilled doctor. Another lesson in not judging a book by its cover. What is your relationship with firearms mister Akmar?"

"Well, sir Lao. I prefer not to use them but I am relatively competent with both handguns and sniper rifles."

"Your hate of guns is understandable considering your position. However I find it quite reassuring that you can use them."

"And last but not least mister Lao I introduce to you the actual assassin of our group miss Silma of the northern water tribe. She is highly skilled with any type of silenced firearm. It doesn't matter what it is, from a silenced pistol to a silenced shotgun or even a high power sniper rifle she can use them flawlessly. She can also use boomerangs, staffs, needles and bows to eliminate a target. In fact, if you came here with an assassination job then the rest of us are pretty much useless to you."

Silma didn't react at all to being praised however Zwei had a feeling that if they left her five minutes alone with Lao she would be very pleased. To everyone's surprise Lao was unfazed by the true nature of the woman he was insulting 20 minutes ago.

"Well I can assure you that I am not here with an assassination request. This is good for you though because I have no use for an uncivilized assassin."

Silma didn't look angry anymore. She looked more like impressed by Lao's fearless nature. She bowed her head slightly in respect.

Lao noticed and added "But I could be wrong about the uncivilized part." Lao paused and fixed his glasses.

Silma looked a bit satisfied now that Lao had returned her respect.

Lao finished fixing his glasses and asked "What about you mister Zwei? What are you skilled at?"

"Well I don't like to brag but apart from high level medical skills I can do pretty much everything my colleagues in this room can do and if you don't trust me they can attest to that."

"No I believe you. After all I would not be here if I didn't trust you right?"

"I guess you are right mister Lao."

Lao then focused his stare at Zwei "Is that all there is to know about you mister Zwei?"

Zwei flinched at the unexpected question.

"What do you mean mister Lao?"

"Just what I said mister Zwei." Lao focused his stare even further "Is that all there is to know about you?"

Zwei recomposed himself and simply answered "Yes."

Lao seemed to have been reassured.

"Very well ladies and gentlemen the five of you are hired. As you can probably understand by now I already know the number of successful jobs this organization has completed and based on your personal statements I have concluded that you five members of the mercenary organization Dark Ravens will be the ones to take on this extremely important job. Do you accept?"

Everyone on the room shook their head in confirmation apart from Zwei.

"What about you mister Zwei?"

"Of course mister Lao. Now that we've come this far what choice do I have?"

In the coming days the five mercenaries would discover how truly important this job was.