2 Weeks Earlier
Dendri sat back as he watched the scene play out on his network of monitors and holograms, they were even better than he had suspected and he thought very highly of them. The Thief used her magic as a cover but could work quite well without it, the Merc knew how to extract information from anyone in any situation, the Assassin never missed the target even blindfolded, and the Spy could convince a scorpion to stab itself in the back if he wanted to then could blend in with surrounding environment before it had died. They were the very best and he had gotten them to join forces to help him, he still couldn't believe his luck, he heard the buzzer through the screen and remotely opened the garage door by simply pressing a few buttons on his holopad. The four of them entered the darkly lit room to find a console sitting squarely in the center, Dendri finished typing the final codes to his encryption and stood on the homemade hologram platform, the console in the empty room lit up with his silhouette but thanks to his codes did not show his image."Welcome," he said, the hologram on the screen copied his movements but spoke in a much deeper voice, "I am the one who has gathered you all here today, you may simply call me the Leader."
They seemed surprised by the sudden appearance, then when they had recomposed the Assassin said "Ok, Leader but we thought we'd be meeting you in person, everyone who knows anything about people like us would know that we need to trust the people we do jobs for. It's our way of making sure that we don't end up with a doublecrosser or madman." Dendri hadn't thought of that so he merely said "I'm no madman or backstabber but it's clear to me that saying that won't make you believe it so I propose an agreement, you work for me one time on a mission that even you would fail at without my guidance, and if you come out unscathed then you can keep all the profits and I will show my face to you. If not then I'm not to be trusted, that's a risk you'll have to take, I can only tell you that if you choose to trust me now then it will pay off for you more than any job you have ever done or will ever do." They stood quietly soaking it in, they wondered if this was really what he claimed it was, after all they would know better than anyone what happens when you trust someone that willingly.
Still it was very tempting, if it were true they'd never have to do another job again, better yet they could live that new life honestly and in luxury, they huddled together and all came to the same crazy conclusion. "We''ll do it" the Assassin said on their behalf " just remember, Leader, what we do to those who betray us." With that they left, Dendri stood alone once more on the platform "I did it," he thought "the plan worked, they'll do it, I just hope they're good enough to bring back Helsan. After all, he'd do it for me."
The next morning the four of them returned, the Leader was standing patiently on the platform, "Let's begin" he motioned to a screen behind him, "this is a map of the city of Beldai, most of you have called it home for the majority of your lives. Therefore, the places and people I'm going to mention should be familiar to you, use this to your advantage. On this street corner" he indicated the corner on the graphic map "is a skyscraper known locally as-" "as the Dark Tower, we know. Don't forget, Leader that we are professionals." the Merc interrupted, he pointed at the Spy who sat silently in the background observing the others. "This guy could even tell you that, just standing near it freezes my blood" he continued, " thank you for that, by the way why are you all the way back there?"
The Spy stood up, took three huge steps forward and said "I think better when I'm able to see everyone in a particular scene" the others jumped when they heard the voice that had come out of his mouth, it was a perfect imitation of the Merc. Even the Merc had to admit that it was like listening to a recording of himself, the Leader ignored the spectacle and continued with the mission at hand, "the Dark Tower is one of the tallest building on this planet standing nearly five thousand feet tall. What I need you four to do is sneak up to the penthouse located at the top and steal something for me." "What is it you want stolen?" asked the Thief suddenly very interested, "A person" suddenly the Assassin was interested as well, "where should I set up my gear?"
The Leader replied "Two blocks down the road, I need him alive so you will make a perfect lookout to watch for bots as the others apprehend him." The Merc perked up, "I can catch them alive or dead, just tell me who he is and he's as good as ours" the Leader rubbed his forehead in exasperation as far as they could tell, "you all need to calm down, you're used to working alone but I need you to work as a team, all you need to do is follow my instructions and we could pull this off in less than twenty minutes. However if you feel that my instructions aren't work your time then you might as well leave now because you're endangering your fellow teammates and yourself." At that point they began to really listen, when he was finished they all felt secure in their respective roles and left to go perpare themselves for tomorrow, the Leader shut down and prayed fervently that this wouldn't end with death. If he had to run from these guys for the rest of his life because something unforseen happened to one of them, he wouldn't live very long.