Location: The Last Resort Hotel, Venusville district, Lowell City Colony, Mars

The Venusville district of the Lowell City colony was one of the seedier parts of the colony, home to all manner of clubs and bars. Criminals found it easy to move around here since the MCA paid little attention to the district, turning a blind eye to the activities that went on there. It made a sensible place for Katherine to go, taking Kynarus along with her and finding a half-decent hotel at which to stay at.

The Last Resort, as it was called by the owners, was a fairly large hotel located amongst a bunch of clubs and bars. The nightlife here was far more frenetic than what happened in the daytime, the nearby clubs providing special "shows" as the sun went down over this part of the red planet. The reason Katherine had chosen this district was because of the ease it allowed criminals, such as her and Kynarus, to move around unnoticed although seeing as they were both wanted by the MCA it made sense to think the organization would start taking notice. That's why she didn't take Kynarus to a clinic or a hospital, especially after she located a news vid-screen and saw their faces displayed on the screen, including a number to call for people to provide information to the MCA. Thankfully no one down here in the Venusville area cared much for putting wanted criminals to justice and pretended to ignore her and the turian as she entered the ground floor of the Last Resort.

She had rented a room using what little amounts of money she had left, this particular room located on the third floor. The bar on the ground floor was rather flash and well-maintained, something which couldn't be said of the hotel rooms which were drab and near-dilapidated, the wallpaper peeling off in places and water stains in the ceiling caused by broken pipes. She helped Kynarus into the room and set him down on the bed before setting out to purchase medical supplies, quite confident that she could help him herself rather than risk taking him to a clinic.

There were plenty of illegal vendors around, often in the back-alleys that winded their way around the many buildings in the subterranean colony. She made sure her pistol was holstered and in plain sight, helping to ward off would-be muggers and probably rapists as well. Just behind the Last Resort she found some sort of market in a courtyard in the back alleys, finding that most of the vendors here were dealing in some sort of illegal goods. Drugs and guns were the majority of what was being sold here but she did locate a vendor off in the corner specialising in illegal medical supplies. The vendor himself was a short, fidgety looking old guy who eyed her carefully as she approached. A gun was lying on the stall, probably for the old man's self-defence in case someone tried to rob him. On the stall and underneath it were boxes of labelled goods, ranging from medigel to surgical implements. Katherine realized she had no idea what she would need aside from medigel and even she knew that wouldn't be enough. She would have to ask the old man, he would probably know since he was selling the stuff after all.

"Can't say I've seen you around here before," the old man said, easing a little when he saw she wasn't here to rob him, "are you new here? Not another smuggler are you?"
Katherine shook her head, looking at the many surgical and medical supplies on the stall in front of her. She checked the credit pads she was carrying, trying to work out if she had enough. She would have to be fairly quick about buying; leaving Kynarus alone in a hotel room so he could bleed to death wasn't something she wanted to happen.

"I need medigel," Katherine said, getting straight to the point, "and something else…I'm just not sure what…"
The old man raised an eyebrow, eyeing her curiously. One hand went to one of the boxes on the stalls and he opened it, revealing two dozen small tubs of medigel. It looked like it had come straight from an Alliance surplus supply base and Katherine realized he probably had suppliers with the Alliance itself. Where else would he get all of this stuff? Most of it was illegal unless handled by a licensed doctor or nurse.

"I can see you haven't been shot or anything," the old man said, taking out one of the tubs and placing it on the stall, "so I'm assuming you either need this for something you're about to do or someone else you know needs it. Which is it?"

"It's for someone else," Katherine said. It was obvious this old man had been in this profession long enough to easily work out why people needed his products. He was probably trying to work out who she was right now, racking his ageing memory for clues.

"You look like that woman that's been all over the news-vids lately," the old man said, "you are her, aren't you?"

Katherine didn't reply. There was no point; he already seemed to know anyway. It amazed her how fast news got around the colony but she assumed it was just because Lowell City was a small colony in comparison to others. It may have been small but the population didn't seem to care much for local events.

"You're with that turian, aren't you?" The old man asked, "The one responsible for all that chaos over at the prison."
I wouldn't say that he was "responsible" for it all. Katherine frowned briefly, trying to work out what the old man was trying to get at. She still didn't know the full story about what happened over at the prison; Kynarus hadn't been able to tell her for obvious reasons. After all, he was lying on the bed in the hotel room bleeding from a hole in his stomach.

"Don't worry; I'm not here to judge," the old man said reassuringly, "I'm just here to help. That's why I sell this stuff; you'd be amazed how many people come to me for help. I was once a doctor, you know…" He trailed off, seeming to realize he was getting off track. He looked towards Katherine and thought for a moment, taking another tub of medigel out of the box.

"How much do you need?"

"That'll do," Katherine replied, nodding towards the two set out on the table for her. The old man nodded in acknowledgment, looking at her thoughtfully for a moment.

"You said you needed something else," the old man said, "but you don't know what. Maybe I can help…Just describe your friend's wounds to me and I'll see what I can come up with…"

Katherine could see that the old man genuinely wanted to help, regardless of the fact that he was helping two wanted criminals. She decided she wouldn't turn down this offer of genuine help and started thinking about the extent of Kynarus' injuries, trying to remember just what it was that was happening to him.

"Well, he's had a finger blown off and his right shoulder's been grazed by a stray round," Katherine said, "but the main wound he has is in the stomach. It doesn't look too serious but it is bleeding and he does seem to be having trouble breathing. What do you suggest I do?"
The old man put a hand to his chin, thinking his answer through. It took him a few moments to answer and he seemed confident enough in his explanation on what to do, pulling open another of the boxes on his stall and taking out a small glass valve. It was pointed at one end and Katherine assumed that was the end that went through the skin.

"Well, the finger and the shoulder can be fixed with some medigel. The stomach though, well for starters just make sure you're putting medigel into the wound every few hours and make sure the bleeding stops. The breathing trouble he's having probably has something to do with the internal damage caused by the bullet, probably either blood or bile. Chances are he'll survive, you just have to give his body time to fix itself up. I'm no expert on turian anatomy but if it's what I think it is then make sure to stick this valve into his chest, right in the centre." The old man picked up the small glass valve and pointed at the centre of his chest with it, making it easier to work out where she had to put it.

"If he's begins to suffocate he should release the valve while it's stuck in his chest," the old man said, "that'll relieve the pressure but it'll build up again after about ten or fifteen minutes. Other than that you can't do much else for him, unless you get him to a clinic…"

"That's not an option," Katherine said bluntly. She didn't like the idea of sticking a glass valve into Kynarus' chest but if she had to do it she would. The old man seemed to be done with his explanation, looking at the three items and calculating the price in his head.

"How much is this going to cost?" Katherine asked. She was prepared to pay the full price as long as it ensured Kynarus' survival. Trusting back alley dealers wasn't something she would normally do but going to a clinic or a hospital wasn't a safe option.

The old man paused briefly, taking a moment to think about this.

"For you I'll give you a discount," the old man said, "it's not every day a pretty young lady like you comes by here."

"How much?" Katherine frowned, growing impatient. The old man smiled at her, bearing some rather dirty teeth.

"Six hundred credits," the old man said.

Katherine gave up the money and collected the goods, turning around and leaving the old man to count his newly acquired money. She hurried back to the hotel, brushing past pedestrians of all shapes and sizes and ignoring the insults that were occasionally thrown her way after brushing against someone. She made her way with the medical goods back into the hotel, finding her way back to the hotel room and seeing that Kynarus was still lying unconscious where she had left him.

As she neared him she could hear him wheezing for breath, each one harder than the last. It pained her to hear it and she set herself down on the side of the bed, putting a hand to his hard exo-skeletal face and briefly admiring his features. It seemed like a long time since she had last come this close to him but in reality it was only a few days. She realized she was meant to be patching him up, breaking out of her thoughts and carefully removing the torso section of his armour. Kynarus shifted where he lay before resting again, remaining in his slumber.

The hotel room was fairly basic consisting of three rooms. There was the bedroom, populated with an empty wardrobe and a double bed. The bathroom was joined to the bedroom, separated from it by a sliding door that had fallen off of its hinges. A window was in the bedroom, the shutters drawn but if they had been open the view would have been of the street and the pedestrians below. The outside was lit by streetlights but otherwise it was still night, the thick dirtied windows in the ceiling of the underground city revealing this as a fact.
The lounge was just next to the bedroom, containing a pair of dirtied patchy couches and a vid-screen set into the wall. The kitchen formed part of the lounge, consisting of a small bench, a fridge and a microwave. The whole hotel room was fairly sub-standard but it would do; besides neither Katherine nor Kynarus had enough money to stay in a far more luxurious hotel.

Katherine had removed the armour plating from Kynarus' torso, revealing that he was wearing some sort of flexible under-suit underneath. His wheezing was getting shallower now and he seemed to choke on each breath, as if something was restricting the movement of his lungs. Katherine could only hope what she was going to do would work. She wouldn't be able to bear it if Kynarus died but she wouldn't know what to do if that did happen. She preferred to not think about it, instead concentrating on patching the turian up.

Katherine pulled away the under-suit, revealing the turian's light blue smooth and scaly skin underneath. She found a spot in the centre of his chest and took hold of the small glass valve in her hand, pressing its sharpened end against the skin and trying to work it in. The tough scaly hide made this difficult but after some fiddling she finally broke through the skin, pressing the thin glass pipe deep into Kynarus' chest. He didn't wake up; he was too tired for that.

Katherine released the white valve on the small glass pipe, hearing the sound of air being released. Immediately the turian's breathing eased back to its normal pace and he seemed to relax in his unconsciousness. Katherine knew she would have to release the valve after every fifteen minutes until Kynarus' body fixed itself up. She had no idea how long that would be but she was willing to wait as long as she had to. His state couldn't last forever, could it?

While Kynarus was breathing a bit easier she opened one of the tubs of medi-gel and put some on the two main fingers of her right hand, rubbing it into the wound in the turian's stomach. It had stopped bleeding, the blood there appearing to have clotted to a reasonable extent. She rubbed the medigel over the wound, noticing that the earlier application from when they had been on board Dieter's frigate had helped to some extent.

When she was done with his stomach wound she turned her attention to the bleeding shoulder injury, able to see that the bullet had passed right through the top of his shoulder. It was still seeping some blood but even so it didn't look too serious, probably causing more pain than harm. She spend a minute or two rubbing medigel into this wound, watching as the gel helped to seal up the wound and ease the bleeding.

She took a look at Kynarus' right hand and at the ragged stump that had once been the middle finger there. It was healed up and she figured it wasn't serious enough to need much attention, the finger having been blown clean off. Whoever had done it had been an expert shot, unless they had been aiming for something else but missed. Something told her the latter wasn't the case though.

It had taken a while for her to realize the truth of what she felt about Kynarus but during her time as a captive on board Dieter's frigate she had gotten plenty of time to think about it. It had been several months since her last relationship and that hadn't ended too well, as had the ones previous to that. She had never genuinely loved any of the men she had become involved with, this being a fact that she had realized during her captivity.

It had taken a fair bit of thought but she had come to the conclusion that she genuinely loved Kynarus. It was a surprise since she could never have seen her falling in love with a turian until now. Now it seemed second-nature, especially after the night they had spent together back on the Citadel.

Katherine sat watching Kynarus, adjusting the valve on the thin glass pipe that was stuck in his chest. It only jutted out a few inches so it wasn't too much of a hindrance but she would need to keep him supervised until he woke up and he was able to do it himself. Even now she could see a change in the amount of time it took for him to start fighting for breath again, as if whatever pressure was being put on his lungs was gradually getting relieved. Perhaps the medigel had something to do with it or perhaps it was just that turians were much hardier than humans, a thought that definitely made sense to Katherine. Regardless she made sure to remain by the turian's side, making sure he was alright. After about an hour of watching him and adjusting the valve she got up, heading out to the kitchen and checking the fridge.

She was feeling a bit peckish now, realizing it had been a few hours since she had last eaten. Finding a jug of water, a carton of eggs and a carton of milk in the fridge she summed up her options and took the carton of milk, checking the use-by date. Satisfied she poured herself a glass, heading back into the bedroom with the glass of milk in one hand while she occasionally sipped from it.

Her mind ran through what had happened back at the hangar and what had transpired for them to end up here. From Talerian to the Citadel they had pursued Dieter and his goons, hoping to at least be of some hindrance to the lunatic's scheme. It occurred to her she wasn't too sure what the scheme was but she assumed it had something to do with the mysterious package that they were after. It was only inconvenient how Cerberus had become involved and they had already proven to be a bit more determined in hunting her and Kynarus down. Hell, they had confronted her back in the hotel on the Citadel in the hopes of getting rid of her.

It made sense that Dieter and Cerberus had something against each other. After all, they were both after the package and so would very likely have some sort of rivalry between them.

It was all because of her stance in all of this that she had ended up meeting Kynarus. She would never have met him otherwise and he was but one bonus in the whole of this mess. If she was going to go up against two of the most powerful human-run organizations in the galaxy then she would want no one other than Kynarus at her side.

Katherine sat in silence, watching as the turian's chest heaved with each breath he took. She had nothing else to do and it was her responsibility to make sure Kynarus actually survived his injuries. He had helped her by taking her to the clinic on Talerian after she had been wounded by Dieter; the least she could do was return the favour. She cared too much for him to simply let him die, not after all they had done together.

She started thinking about what would happen when this was all over and if the two of them survived. She knew as well as Kynarus that the odds were against them, chances were they wouldn't make it through this alive. As much as she hated thinking about it there was a high chance that one of them would die and the other would live. However, she knew that the two of them were the only ones who knew what Dieter and Cerberus were trying to do. They wanted the mysterious package and whatever was inside and they were trying awfully hard to get it. Whatever was in it must have been of some great importance and it was vital that she and Kynarus stopped Dieter from getting hold of it. The same went for Cerberus but she had the feeling that they were in it merely to get rid of the Zahni Corporation.

Katherine had been a mercenary for several years but never had she been up against two powerful organizations like the Corporation and Cerberus. It seemed a tad unreal, as if it shouldn't be happening. Unfortunately for her it was happening and she and Kynarus were stuck in the middle of it all, both with the knowledge that they would be receiving no help. The two of them were wanted criminals as far as she knew since the Mars Colonial Authority had put their faces and descriptions on every vid-screen in the colony. It was only luck that no one cared enough to take action. Sooner or later the MCA would track them down to this hotel but until then she and Kynarus were relatively safe, able to maintain a low profile in the crime-ridden Venusville district. If she and Kynarus were wanted by the MCA, the chances were that the Human Systems Alliance wanted them as well. The MCA was, after all, a mere sub organization of the Alliance created to maintain law and order on Mars. So far the MCA had failed pathetically at that task and were simply exploiting the colony's population in order to benefit themselves. She had read about the terrorist groups that operated within the colony, attempting to overthrow the MCA. It seemed pointless really; all they were doing was pissing off the Alliance as well.

Katherine let these thoughts slide as she got up and stepped over to the window, peering down at the dimly lit street below. Pedestrians of all shapes and sizes milled past, congregating around street-side stalls but otherwise going about their own business. She sort of wished she could do the same, going about her normal life like she used to before being dragged into all of this. One glance at Kynarus made her realize how lucky she was to have met him and this quelled these doubtful thoughts, making her smile wryly. Even though the two of them were so deep into this mess of opposing factions she felt happy, happy for having met Kynarus and happy for the opportunity he presented her. He was a caring man in her life that she genuinely loved and who genuinely loved her. All the two of them had to do now was survive.


"Shame about your legs," the Colonel commented, reaching into a pocket on the front of his long-coat and removing a cigar, "but I'm sure you'll walk stably again, some day." He placed the end of the cigar in the corner of his mouth and retrieved an old fashioned silver lighter from another pocket in his long-coat, using it to ignite the end of the cigar and send a thin trail of smoke up towards the ceiling. He was seated at a bare metal table, the single set of white LED lights in the ceiling above casting an illuminating glow through the small room.

Hermann Holst managed a weak smile, unable to ignore the throbbing pains in both of his legs. He needed crutches to get around since both of his legs had been all but rendered useless by the amount of bullets that had been pumped into them by an MCA officer during the firefight in the hangar. There were about seven wounds in total, three in the left leg and two in the right. He was lucky to be able to move them at all but medical technology nowadays was quite amazing, capable of all sorts of incredible feats. Hermann had been lucky because he had been treated early and that the MCA officer had had worse aim than he had originally thought, having missed any important arteries or veins that went through the legs.

Hermann had been working with the Colonel ever since his near-death at the Citadel when that turian Kynarus Vakarian had barged in on him, Dieter and Francis along with a bunch of officers. Dieter had been quite certain the turian had been bound up fairly well but he had obviously been wrong, Hermann almost getting killed by the turian until he had managed a biotic throw to give himself a chance to escape. He regretted not having killed the turian then since that turian had gone on to cause much more trouble since. He had become a thorn in the side of both the Corporation and Cerberus although Hermann wasn't too sure who was being interfered with more.

Now Hermann had been left on left stranded on Mars after the shootout in the hangar that had only been a couple of hours ago. Dieter had made good his threat to leave him behind and so Hermann had been left lying in the hangar, barely able to walk as he watched Dieter's frigate take off. He had also watched Kynarus and that Katherine woman escape in a rover, something which had angered him a fair bit.

Hermann had then been arrested by the MCA. At first he thought he was more or less screwed since he was a cop killer, having killed a few of the MCA officers during the shootout. However, he had been surprised when Colonel Sommers had appeared to take him into custody himself. He soon realized that Cerberus had more than just a slight involvement with the MCA. In actual fact Cerberus was truly in control of the MCA and the Administrator, it's just that the MCA officials pretended that this wasn't true.

The Colonel had helped Hermann into a rover and they had driven to the outskirts of the mostly underground colony, arriving at a dilapidated old office complex that dated back from the colony's early years. Apparently it had acted as an office complex for the United States personnel that had first set up the colony as a research outpost back in the early days of the planet's colonial history. The US and the Chinese had been the first ones to set up bases on Mars and most of those original outposts still existed, it was just now they were being used for different purposes.

The main US base had eventually expanded into the Lowell City colony, the only major colony on Mars. No other ones had fully blossomed into subterranean cities as Lowell City had so the Lowell City colony was effectively the only proper colony on Mars. Ageing signs of the US pioneers could still be found on the older buildings, including the insignia of NASA and the United States Martian Research Division. This particular office complex was full of ageing signs that referred to its history, including a tattered old American flag that hung behind the reception desk. It was obvious why Cerberus had chosen such a place as their makeshift base of operations in the colony. For one thing this office complex was out of the way and for another it carried a jingoistic human history, dating back to the days when the United States had been considered the "greatest country on Earth" and that humans had believed themselves to be the only intelligent species in the galaxy and perhaps even the whole known universe.

Cerberus was trying to recreate these good old days of human jingoism by working on making humanity the greatest race in the galaxy. This building was a testament to the history they were trying to recreate and the historical turning point that had occurred back in 2148 when humanity had discovered the Prothean ruins in the southern polar region of Mars. These old buildings had been abandoned soon after, left to rot in the subterranean caverns that had been dug out to originally make room for them.

The Colonel's thick American accent hinted at another reason why he had chosen this particular building. He was probably the patriotic alien-hating type, the perfect type of person to be working for an organization such as Cerberus.

Standing guard outside the building had been two armed Cerberus commandoes, looking rather bored with themselves but otherwise putting up with the job they had been given. Inside had been a few more but the majority of the office complex had been empty, littered with decaying signs of the planet's colonial past. Papers littered the desks as if they had been left in a hurry while some desks had even been flipped over during the intervening years from robbers who had attempted to take advantage of the abandoned building. The dull blue paint on the walls and ceiling had begun to peel, many of the old fashioned light-bulbs in the building having ceased working years before. Being so far away from the rest of the colony the building seemed desolate and forgotten.

The Colonel had escorted Hermann into a small dimly lit officer, switching on the set of newly installed LED lights in the ceiling. Hermann had sat himself down at the metal table in the centre of the office, noticing a thick musty smell hung about in the air. The oldest air in the whole colony was in this area and the ventilation systems that pumped air throughout the colony barely reached here, leaving the air dusty and smelly. The Colonel didn't seem too bothered about this though, simply blowing on his cigar and helping to add to the musty smell of the office building. He looked thoughtfully around the office, nodding towards the tattered old banner that hung at the other end of the room. On it was the insignia of the no longer existent United States Special Research Division, an organization that had changed its name several times in the past and was a sub-group of the Military Industrial Complex. It had acted as the specialist arm of the United States government, taking part in all of the black projects that very rarely saw the light of day. They had been the ones to first perfect the flight-plan to Mars and they had been the ones to first set foot on the red planet, quickly followed by their Chinese rivals.

"I sometimes like to think that Cerberus is much like the Special Research Division," the Colonel said, Hermann managing a glance up at the tattered banner. He wasn't too sure about what the Colonel was trying to get at but decided he would be best off listening to him anyway.

"We're doing the things others think are impossible," the Colonel said, getting Hermann's attention. The Colonel had a thoughtful look on his face, as if he was reminiscing about good times gone by. "No one thought they would beat the Chinese to Mars but they did. They helped develop advances in technology, such as satellites and mobile phones. Cerberus is continuing this legacy by attempting to do much the same."
He leaned towards Hermann slightly, holding his cigar in between two of the fingers of his right hand.

"The Special Research Division represented the best of humanity during its time. You can imagine what happened when those ruins were found down in the south pole of this planet. You see Hermann; those ruins destroyed the Special Research Division." The Colonel shook his head, as if he found this fact worthy of pity. Hermann sat listening, trying to ignore the dull aches in his legs.

"Those ruins helped put humanity's progress forwards by two hundred years. Unfortunately this meant that we weren't as significant as we would have hoped ourselves to be since we had just found proof of intelligent alien life. This fact was brought into the light even more with the advent of the First Contact War. We were let into the galactic community as a result but we weren't as great as we humans liked to be, you know? As a result we lost nations and instead gave birth to the Alliance. The Alliance is, as anyone with half a brain cell knows, is incompetent when it comes to dealing with alien races.

"That's why Cerberus exists. We're trying to reinstate those old times of humans being the greatest species in existence. We ruled the Earth so why can't we rule the galaxy?" The Colonel chuckled. He sounded satisfied with the speech he had been conducting. Hermann only raised an eyebrow, still unsure of why the Colonel was telling him this.

"What's all this got to do with me?" Hermann couldn't help but keep the uncertainty out of his voice, "are you just trying to sell your organization?"

"I'm reassuring you, Hermann, that by helping us you're helping humanity," the Colonel said, unfazed by Hermann's reaction to the Colonel's well thought-out talk.

Hermann had told the Colonel about Dieter's plans to breakout Schraeder from prison. He had also told him where Dieter's ship had been landed and that was what had lead to the shootout in the hangar. Hermann had been informing on Dieter's actions since he figured it would have done him some good. Instead it seemed to just be drawing him deeper and deeper into Cerberus.

"That's why I brought you here," the Colonel said, puffing on his cigar again, "that's why I stopped the MCA from taking you into their custody. You see, they don't take too kindly to cop killers. Chances are they would have just killed you for the satisfaction."
The Colonel paused for a moment, taking the cigar out of his mouth and blowing a few smoke rings. Hermann watched carefully, a good idea of what the Colonel was going to make him do next forming in his mind.

"I need you to help Cerberus again," the Colonel said, "you helped us interfere with the plans Dieter had for breaking out that bastard Schraeder. You helped us trace him back to that hangar. Now you're going to help us track him down so we can remove him from our way once and for all."
Hermann nodded, not because he agreed but because he knew he had to. The Colonel wasn't the type of person someone got away with trifling with so Hermann decided he would go along with whatever the Colonel had planned for him.

"Tell me, did Dieter ever mention anything to you about where he was going?" The Colonel asked, "Anything at all?"

Hermann nodded again. This time he had a proper answer, one he hoped would satisfy the Colonel to a certain extent.

"He told me he was going to Buenos Aires," Hermann replied, "Apparently he had made a breakthrough…"
The Colonel raised an eyebrow, intrigued when he heard about this new development. He eyed Hermann with some interest, curious to hear what else the informer had to say.

"I think it was because of Schraeder," Hermann said, "Dieter wanted him out of prison because he thought Schraeder knew where the package was. It's obvious he knew something since I was only told of this new plan at the last minute."

"Were you told much else?" The Colonel had a hopeful look in his eyes as if he was hoping that Hermann had more to tell. However, Hermann shook his head in a disappointing fashion.

"That's all I know," Hermann answered, "I was only told about going to Buenos Aires over the radio a few minutes before I was shot in the legs. Then Dieter decided to leave without me, probably taking Schraeder and the extent of his forces with him."

The Colonel nodded understandably. He didn't seem too fussed about the lack of information though. After all, he had a reliable informer sitting across from him in the same room. All he needed was Hermann's information and they would be able to do the rest, possibly leaving Hermann to take a break from it all. He hoped this would be the case but was left disappointed when he heard the Colonel's response.

"Well, it sounds like Cerberus needs your services again for sure," the Colonel said casually, blowing again on his cigar, "and from what it sounds like you're going to need to act like best friends to Dieter like you have been."

Hermann didn't like the way the Colonel was making it sound. If Dieter ever found out about his betrayal then it would be curtains for him.

"We're going to arrange for you to find your way back to Buenos Aires," the Colonel said, "after all, the whole of Argentina is more or less under the control of the corporation. It's the heart of Dieter's empire and thus if Cerberus were to take any sort of action there it would be easily noticed. That's why you're going to find your way back to Dieter and report what he's doing straight back to me."

Hermann nodded because he had no choice. In actual felt he felt like banging his head against the wall for stupidly getting himself in this situation in the first place. He realized he would have been far better off just remaining with Dieter throughout the whole operation rather than betraying his actions to Cerberus. However, now that Hermann was working for the Colonel he knew he couldn't simply quit.

The plan itself sounded simple enough but the Colonel was a man who could make anything sound simple. It was a habit of his and Hermann knew this. He also knew that finding his way back to Dieter would be a little more difficult than what the Colonel made it sound to be. Buenos Aires was at the heart of the Zahni Corporation and so it made sense that Dieter would be well protected while he was there.

"You're going to find your way back to Dieter and you're going to report everything he does," the Colonel said again, "that includes when he eats, sleeps, goes to the toilet and just plain exists. I want your full loyalty this time around Hermann. I don't mind if you follow Dieter's orders, just as long as you don't get caught. Do you understand?"

"Yes…"

The Colonel nodded; satisfied that he had made his point and plan clear to Hermann. The Colonel managed a slight grin, realizing that the Corporation would be out of Cerberus' way in no time.

"I'm glad you could agree Hermann," the Colonel replied. He paused for a moment, thinking of what else he should say. "I'm going to make sure we get all the support we need for this plan so you shouldn't have to worry about whether I have enough men this time. I'm going to convince my boss to direct far more resources our way than he already had been."
Hermann found himself intrigued at what the Colonel had just said, raising an eyebrow and trying to figure out whether he had just heard the man correctly.

"You have a boss?"

The Colonel nodded, chuckling as he did so.

"Of course I do," the Colonel replied, "we all have bosses, don't we?"

Hermann couldn't do much else than to agree, still intrigued at the thought that the Colonel was not the leader of Cerberus. He certainly made himself out to be in charge but Hermann realized that was just part of what made him so good at what he did, emitting an air of confidence and good leadership wherever he went. No wonder he had been put in charge of the scheme to find the package and remove the Zahni Corporation from Cerberus' way. The Colonel was a charismatic man and very few people could say no to him.

"Who is your boss?" Hermann asked. He knew he wouldn't get much of an answer but he tried for one anyway.

The Colonel took a moment to answer, puffing once more on his cigar and inhaling the thick smoke.

"I'm not even sure of that myself," he replied. It was a moment before he was laughing again although Hermann failed to see what was so amusing. Hermann had no reason to laugh seeing as he had just been forced into a potentially suicidal plan to help Cerberus. All Hermann could hope for was for things to go Cerberus' way and not Dieter's.