A/N: Hello my fellow readers, I know I've been gone for a while, however that is because my computer s broken. Now that it's fix you can expect faster updates. However I also have good news, in the months during my computer's repair, me and a few talented writers have been writing a new story. I won't spoil the details, but if you liked my stories thus far, then you are going love this one. You can expect a teaser real soon! ;)

4-14- 2184 0500 hours (Citadel standard time)

Blue jay shuttle

Troop Transport

Anhur

The Blue jay shuttle buzzed through the cold reaches of space, proceeding on course towards the blue and green planet as it quickly began filling the field of view. The craft was painted white and yellow, Cerberus colors, and it had the organizations logo on the hull. This shuttle relied on weaponry rather than electronic countermeasures to insure the occupants reached their destination. Such an addition would require more time for testing before retrofitting any of the rest of the shuttles, but the current situation at the moment was ideal for the prototype Blue jay with its current range of operations. If things went well, then the pilot wouldn't need to use any of the shuttle's weapons. The constant fighting on the planet would allow the shuttle to reach its destination undisturbed; the explosions and AA fire camouflaging the shuttle from any operating sensors. Though categorized as a combat mission, it would be a regular one like many of Kai Leng's past operations, a quick infil and exfil with minimal contact with the enemy. It was simple enough by Cerberus standards: Eliminate any Broker agents operating in the area and fracture the local Hegemony-sponsored slavers. Simple enough.

The garden world of Anhur, named after the Egyptian god of war, began to find itself host to the Blue jay infringing upon its borders. Quickly, the front of the craft began to heat up as the friction from the reentry began to sear the metal, turning it red hot. Once the shuttle had passed through that initial border, the racing wind cooled the smoking craft and it proceeded on its way through the towering clouds.

A low layer of stratus clouds obscured the ground, but a few spires of black mountains rose along the horizon, puncturing the white layer. Even at night, the silhouette of the mountains slashed through the sky. The Blue jay raced on through, seemingly intent on a specific point on the planet.

Passing only a mile from the side of a particularly tall mountain, the Blue jay thrusters fired and the craft began to slow. Angling downward, the shuttle started passing through the low handing clouds, the instruments on the shuttle doing all the navigating. A few minutes of complete visual blindness occurred, itself not a reason to worry because a visual point of reference was no longer necessary as the shuttle's radar and HUD informed the pilot of the flight plan, surroundings, and distance from its designated landing.

With little fanfare, the bottom of the craft burst through the clouds and the landscape was revealed. The mountainous terrain was rocky and blackened, steam rose from vents halfway up the summit. There were a few places where heat was escaping into the air from the ground as denoted by the wavy distortion from differing temperatures. Obvious signs of volcanic activity.

A few miles west, the green edges of lush grasslands suddenly stood out, fueled by the fertile soil in the area. The canopy of tall grass covered the rolling hills that were not in the way of the many lava flows that had permeated the area recently. The howls and cries of animals echoed through the empty wasteland, birds could be seen flying in the air from tree to tree. It looked to be a very healthily place. However looks could be deceiving; on this very planet approximately three kilometers north laid the city of Thia with a population of 400,000 people. Yet the very same city was also being destroyed as a result of a chaotic civil war. Both sides acting as proxies for a greater war.

Home to one of the ugliest violations of sapient rights in modern history Anhur became a battleground and a dark stain to Council space, showing that batarian presence and influence was still strong. The Freedom Fighters, a group of abolitionist activists, were fighting against the Hegemony backed Na'hesit slavers. Both groups sought to gain control of the planet causing a world war across multiple continents. Of course assisting the locals was merely a secondary objective. Cerberus' main goal is to capture any Broker cells operating in the area and bring them in for questioning.

The Blue jay found a patch of soft, sandy ground in the middle of the valley and gently set down upon it, well away from any rocks that could jab at the shuttle's undercarriage. The thrusters quieted; the craft becoming a big white and yellow dot against the black background. With nothing but the wind creating noise, the low valley carried the sound of the shuttle door opening far and away, letting it last before the surrounding silence swallowed it up.

Gingerly, Kai Leng stepped out of the shuttle, boots sinking into the black green-colored grass. He surveyed the landscape for a minute breathing in the rich air, before gesturing to the other person inside, a clear indication for them to follow. Once the all-clear was given, Randall Enzo joined him on the ground, both starting to trudge up a slope, weapons out and ready as they left imprints on upon the ground. Randall carried the standard ARC5 assault rifle with grenade launcher under barrel, a 4x magnification ACOG scope, and a suppressor. For close quarters he packed a M35 shotgun and a Beta pistol. Unlike Randall, Kai Leng carried two Locust SMGs, hand blasters, and his deadly katana for any personal encounters.

Randall looked down at his omni-tool briefly as he opened it up. "Intel confirms locals have seen humans and batarians wearing white armor with two grouped boomerangs in the middle of their armor. They have to be Broker agents," he informed Kai Leng as the Cerberus assassin hefted the Locust he carried in his hands.

"Let's move we have a job to do," Kai said, getting straight to the point.

Randall silently agreed as they maneuvered across a large boulder. The sight of two of them being together would not really be considered normal for anyone, but the job required two soldiers and they were the best Cerberus had to offer. The duo did not utter a word to each other until they crested the hill. Smoke rose from a hole in the ground a couple of meters to their left, itself reeking of sulfur. The atmosphere was entirely breathable to humans, however the operatives decided it best to wear helmets for this operation.

Kai craned his neck and took a few deep breaths, not winded from the short hike, but careful to conserve energy all the same. He was not planning to stay long on this planet therefore he wanted to minimize any opportunity for resource consumption. Unlike his partner, Kai was not experienced in long duration operations. Being a biotic meant Kai had to travel light as well as consume more calories.

Randall looked in the other direction with his binoculars while Kai gazed at a rocky cliff. A quick tap on his shoulder caused Kai to turn his head to the left.

"There!" His partner said, pointing with his finger to the general area.

Taking the binoculars from his partner's hands, Kai looked where Randall was pointing, taking a step forward. The hill they were on provided an excellent vantage point, giving the Cerberus operatives an undistributed view of the area. Approximately 500 meters south of Thia, a military convoy carrying red and white soldiers, was heading towards the city. The dust thrown by the vehicles wheels would have masked their signatures, but it did nothing to protect them from magnetic vision.

"We have our destination. Most likely there'll be more in the city," Kai said.
Randall glanced at his omni-tool once more, the orange glow dancing across his visor before replying. "It's going to be a long hike, but with the fighting going on no one will see us coming."

"Considering we have a possible mole it's likely they know we're already coming," Kai shot back, stepping over a jagged piece of a rock. The ground was coated with dead leaves from trees that had fallen from their high perch. Colorful fungi sprung up between the clutters, rising up to claim the title of the tallest. Bushes and ferns grew substantially in between the tall trunks of the huge trees, masking the ground.

The howls of unseen animals echoed through the night. Add that to the rustling of the wind, the grassland seemed far from silent. As the agents marched through, they made sure to watch their footing, being cautious of any mines.

Several bugs buzzed around the duo. They persistent on trying to find exposed skin from where to suck blood from, but they had no such luck. Kai and Randall continued walking over the uneven terrain at a slow pace to avoid any possible detection. As they got closer to the city limits, the sound of artillery fire increased in loudness and in frequency.

It took less than half an hour for the duo to reach their goal. Kai was able to see clear ahead as loud noises of small arms and heavy weapons fire increased in noise level. Spread throughout the entrance to the city were roughly a dozen individuals, most of them wearing some kind of red and white armor. Dispersed were a number of Mako transports, their blueprints most likely stolen by Batarian spies. A few tanks were also in the area, perhaps to show strength and dissuade anyone from attacking.

The mercenaries seemed to be deeply engrossed in a conversation and, while Randall and Kai couldn't make out the words, it looked like their attention was relatively relaxed at the moment. Two varren were chained as sentries and they growled for food, while a third slept in the dirt and the mud.

As Randall's eyes wandered, they eventually became fixated on six individuals, all human females, on their knees in the middle of the field. They were garbed differently than the red and white-suited mercenaries, and clearly in a position of submission which denoted that they were prisoners. Or slaves.

The mercenaries were shooting their guns in the air in a show of victory and Kai nudged Randall in the arm, causing him to look where his partner was indicating. Over the near edge of the city entrance laid a small pile of what were unmistakably bodies, obviously executed given by the general tone of the gathering.

"Looks like they're executing their prisoners. It'll provide a distraction for us to slip inside," Kai said calmly unfazed by the situation.

Randall on the other hand though differently. "Cerberus Command, this is operative Enzo. I have six civilians captured by batarians, permission to engage?" He asked.

Kai grabbed Randall by the armor and vehemently whispered into his air "What in the hell are you thinking? This people are done for and we can't do anything to help them."

"They're going to kill those humans! If you won't do anything then I will." Randall protested.

"You're willing to compromise this mission for the sake of civilians?" Kai questioned.

"Like you said, chances are they already know we are coming." Randall countered. Before they could continue their banter, they were interrupted by a voice in both their helmets.

"This is Cerberus command to Operative Randall. If necessary engage batarians, but do not compromise mission. I repeat, locating Broker agents is number one priority," A Cerberus comm. officer responded. Judging by the voice, it was a woman.

"Copy that, command," Randall replied.

Before the Cerberus soldiers could take any action, the batarians suddenly quieted as if a blanket of silence had been thrown over the scene. Instantly Kai and Randall froze, noting that the mood of the mercenary crew had been dampened as if they dreaded something occurring in the next five seconds. Only the sounds of constant weapons being fired within the city were the source of any noise.

Suddenly a figure emerged from behind one of the armored Makos, their gait long and purposeful. Instantly, Randall and Kai could tell that this person was different. For one, their armor was all black, matte, and professionally sculpted in such a manner that left the specific species ambiguous. The boots could fit a human, turian, or even a salarian or perhaps even a drell. This person was certainly tall enough to qualify for any of them. The figure's hands were clasped behind their back, making it difficult for the Cerberus soldiers to identify any key features.

The individual had a cloak around on top of the impressive armor, giving it a slightly regal appearance. The cloak flapped slightly in the cool air, the smallest breath of wind causing it to flutter at the lightest touch. But the key feature of the individual of the person was the helmet. Unlike regular Broker operative helmets, the one the figure possessed was colored pale white. It seemed to posses two parts; the one that covered the jaw, had a gas mask placed and appeared to be slightly coned shaped. The mask continued to rise until it touched where the nose should be located and barely touched a ghostly covering that was placed on top of it, obscuring the figure's face. Gray eyes blazing with an uncontrollable fury shot through the openings of the mask scanning the surroundings before deciding to approach a batarian, who seemed to have been marked by his group as the spokesperson.

"Is this all of them?" The newcomer said, its voice giving an indication of boredom.

"Yes, Operative Lunis," the batarian said, careful to keep all four eyes on the ground. "The Mantis made a quick pass over the immediate area. Six humans in total."

The piercing gray eyes did not blink as Lunis took his time to emit his reply. The batarian began subtly shifting from one foot to the next, obviously uncomfortable. The ghost-like helmet slowly turned, clearly seeing the pile of bodies at the edge of the forest, not even twenty meters from where the Cerberus soldiers were hiding.

"There were eleven initially," Lunis said casually, a deep distorting noise was easily heard as he spoke. "I do hope you checked the four you have rotting in that pile over there before you killed them?"

"I…I…uh"

"I'm going to assume that your stuttering indicates a clear 'no', then. But I am still lacking an answer from my first question." Lunis said calmly.

The batarian gulped before calming down a little. "They…um…their blood samples were all negative…sir."

Randall and Kai looked at each other, both thinking of the same question: what are they talking about? If the Shadow Broker was conducting experiments on humans, then this was certainly news Cerberus command should be informed of.

"Very well," Lunis nodded slowly. "And what of the eleventh?"

If the batarian's heat rate had slowed down at all, it had shot right back up again. "Well... you see..."

"Where is the body?" Lunis' voice had gone dangerously quiet in an exasperated tone, but because of the stillness of the area Randall and Kai could hear the exchange just fine.

With a shaking finger, the batarian pointed behind him, towards a scattered region of trees. "It's… it's back that way…"

Lunis took a step closer, but the batarian stood his ground. It wasn't like he had any choice, the four-eyed alien was paralyzed with fear. "Judging by your intense reaction, I doubt I'll enjoy the news very much but for the sake of a proper accounting, I'll let you tell me the overall result."

"It wasn't my fault! The others…they couldn't control the varrens… they just ripped the female human to pieces before we could stop them. It wasn't my-"

"The human did she test positive or negative?" Lunis asked, not really concern with the batarian's excuse.

"I… I…"

"Positive or negative?" Lunis repeated again, allowing a large amount of distaste to creep into his tone.

The batarian's own mouth opened, but no noise escaped from it. Finally, he took a breath and closed his eyes for a few seconds before addressing Lunis in an oddly calm tone. "Um… positive?"

Lunis' hand whirled down to his holster, equipping a revolver-like pistol within a second.

BOOM! A lone shot echoed through the air as the batarian in front of Lunis began making strangled noises as his throat began to dribble blood, staining his armor. The top half of his head was completely torn to chunks of meat, only the lower jaw remained on top of the neck. As the nearly headless body toppled to the ground, Lunis holstered his pistol.

"I should hardly need to remind all of you," Lunis began, letting his careful and meticulous tone linger, "That I have a stainless record, a record mind you, that won't be jeopardized by a squad of worthless slavers! Unlike the rest of you parasites I have a mission, a mission that I intent to complete. I have explained to all of you that I have a quota to fill, an assignment that is beyond your capacity to understand and if you constantly kill the subjects that check positive for the mutation, then my quota will never be get filled."

Lunis was slowly turning in place, making sure to fixate each and every soldier with his gray eyes. "If you wish to behave like animals, then I will treat you like animals. My employer wants these humans for his own reasons, which I neither know nor care. If he becomes unsatisfied, then I become unsatisfied." He pointed at the body leaking blood from the neck. "It's very simple, you kill anyone that tests positive then I kill you. If you assist me in succeeding in my objective, then all of you will benefit greatly. If any of you cause delays in my operation, then I delay your life permanently."

One of the humans kneeling down the line whimpered and Lunis strode over to her, pistol still in hand. Randall's breathing was labored as he continued to watch while Kai kept a stoic expression on his face.

Lunis kneeled down to the cowed man for a few seconds, analyzing them like they were property before standing back up. "What about these humans? What were they're results?" he spoke out loud in the direction of the trees.

Nobody spoke, aside from a scattered bunch of hesitant murmurs and stammered words the air was completely silent. Impatient, Lunis whirled around and aimed his pistol at the nearest batarian, his finger dangerously close on the trigger.

"Are you going to speak or do I have to start killing all of you one by one until I get an answer?" Lunis appeared to be more annoyed than angry, possibly due to the incompetence of his workers.

"Neg-negative!" the batarian squeaked rather quickly, but Lunis appeared to have caught the batarian's answer. "They were all n-negative, sir!" To show his loyalty and respect the batarian gave a salute once he gave his answer, hoping he wouldn't be the next to die.

Lunis quickly drew back his pistol, satisfied with an answer. "Now was that so hard?"

The batarian stared at him, unsure if Lunis would start killing all the mercs right then and there. In an instant, Lunis turned around again lowering his pistol at the first prisoner and fired at point blank range. A series of shouts escaped from the other women, seeing their fellow prisoner executed like an animal. The woman fell to the ground, a huge chunk of her head missing as brain matter stain the grass. The batarians stood around silently, still deathly afraid of Lunis and unsure of what to expect next. A few prisoners began begging for mercy and crying hysterically, but Lunis just ignored them.

"Son of a bitch," Randall growled, his fists tearing through the soil on the ground. "Kai, we have to do something. These mercs aren't going to take prisoners."

"Command has give-"

"Command told us our priorities are finding the Brokers' agents, well here is one. I'd say we show a little initiative and take this one with us. At the very least, he'll know something about what is going on here."

Kai stood silent for a moment, thinking the situation over in his head. While Lunis almost certainly was an agent of the Broker, Kai still didn't know if there were possibly anymore in the city or on the planet. Given their time restraint, Kai was inclined to agree with Randall, but at the same time wanted to gather as much intel as possible. Not having any other alternative, Kai reluctantly agreed.

"Fine, but if things to side-ways it's all on you," Kai warned.

Randall nodded before speaking. "Come on, let's see if we can circle around back and approach them from behind."

"Lead the way," Kai acknowledged, still wary and reluctant at the actions they were about to take. Quietly, they began pushing through the bushes careful not to arouse any suspicion.

Back on the field, Lunis holstered his pistol as the remaining hostages began shaking in the wake of their demise. "Now you may kill them," he said nonchalantly, pointing to the fresh corpse lying on the ground. "Just make sure to check them before hand. I don't want another valuable hostage to be so carelessly dispatched by your incompetence. Am I understood?"

All batarians gave a nodded quickly, fearing any hesitation would result in bullet to the head. "Good. I'm glad this presentation has made you aware of being more careful with the subjects and please act like professionals." He then gestured to the five living hostages still kneeling on the grass. "Since my presence here was ultimately wasted, should I even our discrepancies as well? Surely these humans would make poor slaves. I mean look at them, they are obviously not suited for manual labor."

Another batarian chose this moment to pipe up. "But… they can fetch a price back in the cities. I'm sure there would be some interested buyers."

"Yes, but you see you've disposed the only valuable commodity in the area to me so why not do the same to you? Between your consistent abuse and acts of what you brutes call entertainment, you wouldn't see a single credit going into your pockets. So why don't I save us all the trouble here and now?" Lunis said, hands close to his pistol.

"Sir… I-"

The batarian was cut short, a single shot ringing through the air and piercing through the alien's neck. The head exploded in yellow paste, showering the nearby Mako. Lunis stood nearby, oddly calm and unconcerned with the batarians predicament.

Calmly, he grabbed a nearby batarian and used him as a human shield, a second shot impacting the merc's torso. Lunis let the body drop and began firing his pistol in the direction of the shots. Near him, the other batarians responded with fire as well. A grenade was thrown, most likely from the unknown soldier, directly at Lunis' feet. Instead of scrambling for cover, Lunis merely eyed it before kicking it with his foot, the grenade detonating a few feet away from him and directly behind another batarian mercenary. Lunis was utterly astounded by how stupid his subordinates were, not bothering to realize their surroundings.

Randall, positioned behind a stack of cages, blinked at the calmness and uncaring nature of the Broker agent. Firing short controlled bursts, he watched the remaining mercenaries scrambling for cover.

Lunis merely stared at the mercenaries' stupidity before giving them orders. "It's just one soldier, you idiots. Kill him!" he shouted.

Suddenly, the nearest Mako inexplicably exploded, engulfing two batarians in a cloud of flames. Metal rained down on the small field, the red hot pieces starting small fires in the area. Running through the edge of the forest, Kai had little time to admire the effect of his work, trying to reach the hostages before he was spotted.

Randall picked off two more enemies from his cover, before a heat sink was ejected. The batarians had wised up at this point, starting to spray his cover with bullets and forcing him to crouch down. With the amount of suppressive fire Randall was receiving, he switched to his ARC5's grenade launcher. Leaning from cover he fired the weapon, a smoke trail exiting the weapon before detonating once the ground hit a target. A mercenary screamed as his legs were torn off, having been caught out in the open. Randall fired another grenade, hoping to reduce the enemy combat effectiveness. It seemed to work as the batarians seemed to become more cautious. He continued firing short controlled bursts, careful to make every round count.

Lunis spotted the source of the incoming fire, noting the discipline and precision that this opponent wielded. His enemy's skill was leagues ahead of the incompetent mercs he was forced to work with. To prove his point correct, Lunis continued firing at the Randall's cover with the intention of keeping him suppressed, however a batarian rose up to get a better position and walked straight into Lunis' line of fire. Expectantly, the merc was killed with a round to the back of his head causing Lunis to roll his eyes at the mercs' idiocy.

'Idiot,' Lunis scowled, continuing to press his finger on the trigger. 'The Broker does not pay me well enough to force me into working with these idiots.'

Soon, Lunis' own weapon ejected a heat sink, but he didn't switch. Rather, he expertly holstered the weapon with one hand while taking an assault rifle with the other all in the matter of a second. The Broker agent continued his relentless assault, two operatives from opposing organizations fighting it out in a battle for the ages.

Operating out of pure instinct, Randall dove into another set of cover, hoping to get a better position. Lunis didn't get a shot on the operative, but his eyes were able to get a good glimpse of the logo on his opponent's chest.

"Cerberus," Lunis muttered much to his amusement, crates being chipped away at the result of the agent's continuous fire. "Now this is interesting." He allowed himself to smile before static electricity sparked erratically around him. It was then Lunis realized that he was being shot at. His shields were being bombarded with a continuous assault, before snapping and dropping. Before he could continue firing or take cover, Lunis felt hot piercing pain erupt from his shoulder as he saw a katana pierce through his armor from the edge of his eyes.

"I must admit, I did… not expect that," Lunis managed to say, seeing all of his mercenaries laid dead and the hostages being freed. He had to hand it to the two operatives, they were professionals unlike the idiots he was forced to work with. Quickly, Kai pulled his katana from Lunis' shoulder, causing him to groan in pain. "But I fear time has worked against you." Lunis began laughing, much to the confusion of Kai and Randall.

A loud whip zoomed by Randall's helmet, indicating the presence of a near miss. But Randall kneeled and fired in the direction of the shot, while Kai took Lunis as a hostage. Appearing out of the shadows was a group of soldiers, all of them wearing the batarians SIU logo on their armor.

"I would let me go. My partners aren't known for patience or mercy," Lunis said, a smirk evident in his tone.

"Or we can kill you right now and save us the trouble later," Kai responded.

Lunis burst out laughing, a katana blade still close to his neck's armor. "If your mission was to terminate me, you would have done so by now. No, you need me alive if your hesitation to kill me is anything to go on."

"Unfortunately for you, Lunis, the Broker cannot let that happen," one of the SIU operatives said, causing Lunis to narrow his eyes.

"You wouldn't dare!" he growled

"Nothing personal," the SIU operative raised his weapon to fire, but was stop by Randall throwing a grenade.

"GET BACK!" the batarian yelled to this team, getting into cover as the grenade exploded. Once clear, he saw the two Cerberus operatives retreating with an angry Lunis. "Don't let them retreat!" he yelled, firing at his former partner and now current target.

Running into the jungle, Lunis felt his right arm had suddenly gone numb. Clutching his limb, he roared in pain as his right glove came off bloody caused by a ragged cut to the side of his arm. It was then that he realized that a high-velocity round had pierced his shield effortlessly, cutting through his armor and flesh.

"He's wounded," Kai said, taking cover behind a tree. A squad of SIU operatives closes behind.

"Come on get up," Randall growled. Firing his weapon, he managed to suppress the two closest enemy soldiers.

"N-never mind my injury," Lunis winced as his arm throbbed. "We've got to find a place to hide right now!" Equipping his pistol, he fired off multiple shots with impressive accuracy, killing three batarian SIUs. Lunis mentally vowed revenge on his former employer and his unknown allies.

Watching the disappearing form of Lunis retreating into the jungle, the SIU squad leader gave a disappointed sigh. He heard heavy breathing erupt from behind him, turning around angrily to see a wounded batarian merc on his knees. "Report. Now!"

"Sir, Lunis executed our leader before two elite soldiers ambushed us and freed the human females. Sergeant Haesh, do we continue chasing them?"

Haesh shook his head. "No." It was the last word the merc would ever hear before Haesh fired a bullet into his head. As his squad regrouped, Haesh opened a comm-link with the Shadow Broker.

"Have you any updates on Lunis' progress?" the Broker asked in a heavy and disguised voice.

"I regret to inform you that Lunis has betrayed us. Seems he is working with two Cerberus agents. They've retreated into the jungle."

"WHAT!" the Broker roared.

"Orders, sir?"

"Pursuit at this moment is a futile effort. Return to base. I will not let this treachery go unpunished." The Broker then cut the link, unaware that a Council Spectre was in the area and conspiring against Lunis.

"Has the message been delivered?" A purple skin asari spectre asked, clad in black armor.

"Yes, Vasir. Lunis is a dead man."

"Good, one less curious operative that we have to deal with. Now load up in the Makos. We have a long way to go." As the batarians began loading up on the Makos, Vasir marched to the lead transport and climbed on board. Within minutes, she felt the Mako rumble and begin moving with the other transports following dutifully. Satisfied with the results of the day she took out a holo-pad and tried once again in vain to decrypt it.

"So, Lunis," she whispered to herself, making sure no one else heard her. "What is it you've uncovered on the Broker?"

Pupai Forest

Anhur

"Well I'd say the situation is FUBAR!" Randall growled, binoculars in hand and keeping an eye out for any pursers. Having the enemy be both aware of their presence and having more questions than answers, Randall was far from pleased. Thankfully it seemed the enemy had no intention of pursing them, perhaps realizing that the trio would be coming towards them. The trio was not too far deep into the jungle, however being elite operatives, they ran in a zig-zag fashion rather than a straight line. The enemy might have suspected this would have been the case, instead of searching all night and risk being killed one by one, they wisely took the armored transports back to whatever fortified base they had in the area.

"So any reason why your partners would want you dead?" Kai asked the Broker agent.

Lunis shrugged his shoulders. "I have a lot of enemies, who knows which ones have tracked me here."

"Well now that we have you, you're going to tell us everything you know about the Broker and what it is your doing here," Randall told him.

"I suppose it would be a fair trade, information in exchange for not putting a bullet in my head," Lunis mocked.

"You fuckin-" Randall began, walking over to the Broker agent with the intent of smashing his brains and attitude.

"Enough," Kai said calmly, stepping in between both men. "Right now we have bigger problems."

Randall snorted before stepping back. Kai turned his attention to Lunis, hoping he would cooperate. "The way I see it, you're going to want revenge, but since you're wounded, I highly doubt you'll be able to pull it off alone. You need our help and we need yours."

Lunis eyed Kai for a minute before mentally agreeing with him. Activating his omni-tool, Lunis brought up a holographic display of a well fortified base. "Parno, the Broker's base in the planet," Lunis explained. "I was commissioned with studying the effects of herbs and concoctions on the humans mind. From what I know, the Broker was interested in serums that could make a subject more… responsive to his commands."

"More like brainwashed," Randall growled.

"We can argue semantics later, but if you are interested in assaulting the base then we will need an army," Lunis responded.

"And where are we going to get one?" Randall questioned.

"Well the Raloi navy is scheduled to arrive within three days, but I imagine you'll want to be out of here by then?" Lunis questioned, smiling at the skepticism on the Cerberus operative's face. "Well," he continued. "Luckily for us gentleman, I have contacts within the Freedom Fighters that may be happy to assist us."

"And how did you managed that?" This time it was Kai's turn to ask.

"Simple, I sold them arms, armor, medical supplies, food, etc. How else do you think they've lasted this long?"

"You sold arms to the enemy?" Randall was shocked, but he didn't know if it was at their sheer luck or the agent's lack of loyalty.

"More like to both sides," Lunis clarified, clearly proud of his work.

"Well we have an army, now how about a plan?"

"Relax, the best time to attack would be at night. Most of the guards would be drunk by then and it'll give us the best chances of succeeding."

"Knowing you, wouldn't the SIU make sure tonight everyone was alert and be ready at a moment's notice?" Kai asked.

"Which is why we'll be attacking tomorrow night," Lunis said, getting slightly annoyed at the operatives' questions. Seeing the reluctant faces on the Cerberus operatives, Lunis tried reassuring them. "Look it'll give me time to get a hold of my contacts and inform them of the situation. Plus by not attacking today, they'll think we'd attack once the Raloi arrive. Tomorrow night would be the best time to attack."

Randall sighed, before kneeling on the ground. "Now how about a plan?"

Lunis laughed before getting into more specific details. Maybe, just maybe, they might actually pull this off.