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"Hey, it's not to be mean, I just think there ... better ... designs. What do you say, I hook you up with some of my "friends" , hum ? You could use a new look. is all I'm saying..."
Malvia smiled and couldn't resist, taking an ironic languid tone : "Oh my, never to late to give your name after all your fawning earlier..." he then leaned forward and added in a whisper "And yes, I'm quite enjoying the view..."
The snaked winked at Francis and licked his lips in an ostencious way, before turning back to Henry.
"Alright Major, why don't you give me a little tour while you lead me where I need to be. I know I'm an ennemy of the nation and all but.. You could at least give me that, right ?"

"Gah .... Look the designs are of no importance to us, they are what they are! Now come on."

"Henry's words were harsher than he intended them to be, since while he didn't really care about the aesthetics of the design. He still had great pride for the military and his workspace, pride which was hurt by Malvia's words. Pointing wordlessly to a set of doors he gave a motion to follow him and strode stone-faced towards their oaken surface.

From just behind the snake, Francis gave him a friendly pat. "Try not to anger the Major too much, he's a good sort under it all. Just a bit too into the whole national pride..... oh and Malvia .... see ya there."

With those parting words, the rifleman turned and quickly ran in an opposite direction on an errand of his own.

"Yeah yeah, I know, let's just get this over with.. I'm starting to sober up from my tea anyway, I'm gonna need a drink really soon."
Taking off his coat as they entered the building, Malvia followed the Major with a resignated pace, looking around to notice the details of the place, wether it was the location of the stockroom or the direction of the toilets.

The major led what was still effectively his captive down several dark grey corridors, each one indistinguishable from the last and each lit by the same dull lamps which hung from the ceiling. Every door they seemed to pass led to either another of the samey corridors or a barracks room, creating lots of easily defensible positions around the entrance. It was only after they had got much further in did things begin to change, storerooms and communication rooms beginning to add variety to the halls.

Suddenly Henry stopped in front of a door, no different to all the others before it, apart from this being the one the bulky man had paused at. "In here, the captain will be waiting to brief you."

"And you're not coming in first for me, are you Major ? uuuugh, fine... What could go wrong anyway ? besides everything..."
On that note Malvia opened the door and walked in, pincing the bridge of his nose while giving a desperate sigh and a tired expression for first impression.
"Alright let's get this over with, I'm really not in the mood for more of this farce..." he said, low.
Advancing in the room and opening his deep green eyes, the prisoner scanned the room while maintaining his exhausted expression so that he wouldn't give away his examination of the place, notig how many people where in here, looking for a vent or a window, and looking for weapons.
"Hiii~..." said the snake with his most exasperated voice ever.

The room like all others in the massive complex was solid, dull and without escape, lit by two lamps, hanging in protective casings from the ceiling.

Inside was a collection of hard wooden chairs arranged somewhat in a circle, as if whoever was putting them out was attempting that layout, but found creating a line hard. On said furniture were sat a collection of soldiers who made the chair arrangement look organized. In order from nearest to furthest there was a muscled woman, so covered in minor scratches and burn markings that she looked like a walking battlefield. Next was a smaller looking man, much older than the woman who even with her scars looked no older than thirty. His body was thin but wiry, but most notable was the missing eye.

Behind them sat two more soldiers, a short man in his early twenties who had a certain hard glint in his eyes and another figure who looked go be dressed more camouflaged than the others, their face obscured by a muffler.

At the centre was the captain, a rather plain looking man in comparison to those around him. Carrying neither the same imposing presence of the woman and the major or the odd feeling of strength the older man had about him. Smiling softly he greeted Malvia with a wave. "Ah there you are, good to have you with us."

(Herefor some gloomy mood music....)

Malvia looked around the room gauging the soldiers inside. They're was definitly no escape here : these people would tear him into shreds even in one on one. It was quite the sickening feeling for the informant to be trapped to such an extent : he couldn't even run ! if he could get past the major : would he only be able to find his way out of here ? without being stopped ? His voice deepened as he lowered his head, glaring sharply at every movement each of them.
"This is really not my day is it ? I'm starting to feel like I won't make it till tomorow..."
His green eyes found the exact center of the room, equidistant from the door, the captain and the four man group. Taking off his coat once again, the snake hung it behind the door and walked slowly toward the welcoming leader, as if dreading to step on a trap at any second.
"Of course, how could I refuse such a polite invitation, Sir..." he said, his spite quite eroded by the feeling of ineluctable fatality of this situation. Politely, Malvia offered his hand, on which the major could have noticed the absence of a certain silvery wristband.

The Major waited until his "willing follower" had entered the room before carefully shutting the door behind them. Turning the room into an enclosed capsule of space. "Don't worry, you'll be fine. It's gonna be the militaries job to keep you safe on your travels."

It was neither the major nor the captain who noticed the missing silvery wristband, but the wiry old man. "Hohoho, come now Major, I thought you we're better than that! He's already slipped the inhibitor, a gutsy move, but not entirely the smartest."

The words produced a certain air of tension which flooded out of his mouth and smothered the room with the impact. If Malvia was paying attention he would suddenly be acutely aware of everyone reaching for weapons all apart from the captain. Who maintained his cheery optometistic smile, directed in full at Malvia.

"Oh come on guys, as if I would try anything at this point ! Look around you : the room is closed, there's six of you and my weapon is in a case : I missed my escape window an hour ago... Plus, in my defense : that thing was really throwing off my style, I need to have a word with the designers if you want me to wear it more often 'cause it's terrible." Malvia turned to the major adding with a comedic seriousness "I mean : this was much worse than the uniform, by far."
looking over his shoulders he added : "and thanks for ratting on me , old man, I'll remember it..."
Turning back to the smiling captain, he withdrew his hand and sighed. "Okay so you don't shake hands or exchange names with the people you abduct either, nice. I'm starting to get flashbacks of my gangs here..."

It would be the woman's turn to speak, rising out of her chair where her huge size really began to show. "Oi punk, what did you say about our uniforms? You got a problem with them?"

Before she could even get into what was clearly going to be a long tirade the old man cut over her, his words holding surprising clarity over hers for such an elderly gentleman. "Oh ho ho, I like your style, quite interesting. Though I do believe there is more to the situation than it merely not being compatible with your style. You're far too engaged in the situation for that to be all."

Throughout the entire commotion, the captain's face had never changed from an easygoing and pleasant smile. "Now now now, I'm sure we will all get along soon. My name is captain Johnathan, its a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance Malvia."

Malvia clasped his hand tighly hand threw his head back, eyes closed, as if praying, but actually just taking a deep breath.
"Right. I get kidnapped and brought here, and you are asking me to make friends. Hmhm. That's fine, I'm totally cool with all of this, there's no need to scream..." *said the snake in one breath, sounding like a heavy smoker in the end.*
*taking a second to scream internally and calm himself, Malvia took back a normal position and continued facing the Captain, trying his best to keep on a polite merchant smile.*
*Taking an exagerated happy tone he added* "And so, Ô my dear new ... friend-that-I-am-trying-very-hard-not-to-punch-because-i-wish-to-live-a-little-longer .... How may I help you today ? What was so important that you had to send Major Killjoy over there to drag me here under what seems to be the very definition arbitrary justice ? Because, I mean.. you know that I would have found a solution to whatever problem you would've payed for : it's not my first time helping your kind..."

"Because," here the captain paused a few moments before continuing on in that sing song tone that his voice seemed so naturally to fall into. "Because three days ago Tideal made an alliance deal with Caloros, giving them a large amount of access to a lot of Caloron land and in a way stabilising the country. The alliance itself is not the problem, that has been long coming, what is the problem is that both nations seem to be mobilising their fleets into a combined force. Who they plan to strike is unknown, the best guess is that their target is Gheist to our east."

"This should it happen leaves Aurea and her allies to our northwest with a perfect opportunity to strike us and their military is stronger than ours. So our only hope is outsmarting the opposition. The only problem being that six days ago we lost contact with our most prominent general who was on a trip to Collineus... it shall be your job to help this team find and bring them back."

"Hmhm. . . . A rescue mission.. You kidnapped me .. for a rescue mission... I need a few second to process that. And a sit."
*Slowly, Malvia grab a chair and dragged it to the wall opposite to the door, and let himself fall in it what a next-level exasperated sigh. Physias, as if feeling his mster's distress, crawled out the heavy furcoat hanged by the door, slithered slowly accross the room to come coil itslef on Malvia shoulders, the informant petting it mindlessly.*
*Putting a hand to the inside pocket of his shirt, he pulled out a metallic flask and drank from it, rubbing his eyes again as put it back in his pocket.*
"So" *he continued with an irritated tone* "Just so we're clear : You brought me here against my will... just to save a few thousand lux ? Because you know you could've come to my office with the exact same problem, and payed me to help you. Or even better : I could've sent a group of mercenarieswith far better training and capabilities for this kind of operation. And I would've kept my mouth shut about it. Aaaaah.... I'm starting to believe you guys have more than a few screws lose..."
*Throwing himself back in the chair, he raised his eyes to the ceiling and added, lower* "This is definitly the worst kidnapping ever.. It's almost art at this point..!"

Johnathan pre-emptively held up a hand to silence any criticism or anger which he felt could swell forwards from the more volatile members of the group any second.

The woman stood a few moments, staring daggers at Malvia, before giving one final glance of anger and sitting down, fuming at not being allowed to say her piece. "Bah."

This, in turn, allowed the captain to continue striking his explanation back up "We kidnapped you because we needed to make sure that the assignment was seen through and particularly by people whose loyalty is unquestioning. This isn't a matter of the lives of a few thousand soldiers, but the survival of our entire nation. This is the survival of millions of people."

"And you thought that I would say no even if I knew the survival of an entire country was at stake, just because .. what ? I'm freelance ? Daaamn, you people must have a really bad image of me... Also, expecting unquestionnable loyalty from someone you recruit against their will isn't a smart move. But then again, that's doesn't seem to stop you..."
*Finally giving a resignated and defeated sigh, Malvia shrugged his shoulders and added* "uuuugh, fine... But only because the pretty one offered me jewelry. But I will renegociate this into a contract sooner or later, be sure of it : There is no way I'm joining you lot for longer that your time of need..."
*Playing with his pet a bit more, he asked, more calmely * "So, who's who ? And what's the plan ?"

A simple nod was all the reply the snake would get to his first few sentences, the captain inclining his head slightly to show that he had listened and understood. There was no maliciousness in the reply, merely an understanding of what the informant was saying and a desire to hurry the proceedings up. For every second wasted here was a second their commander was missing.

"Very well, let's get introductions out of the way, then the plan. The heavily scarred woman is the team's heavy weapons soldier, Maria. The older gentleman is the combat engineer Austin, probably the best in tactics you'll mind in most squads. That younger man is Elliot, the explosives specialist, a mean shot with a rifle too. Although ... probably not as meaner shot as our marksman, who is the muffled one. Phillip is their name. There are three others ... but they seemed to be delayed. The squad captain will be Major Henry and I know you two are already acquainted.

"AH ! I told you you'd get stuck with me you stuck-up rhino bully ! In your face !" *almost shouted Malvia, before realising that this was not the best place to do such things* "Hum, sorry Captain, just a quick burst of I-told-you-so... At least I won something today... Anyway, Maria, Austin, Elliot, Phillip, Rhiney and you're Johnathan. Alright, I'll try not to forget your names in the next ... maybe three ... hours...? No promises. Anyway, I myself am Malvia, and I guess if you need to categorise me, Spy and Infiltrator would be fine. Also quick warning : NEVER, under no conditions, give me a gun. I use poison, blades and hand to hand combat, nothing more. Not even a bow." *he looked at the squad so that everyone would see he was dead serious, and dare them to try make fun of him, and then sat back down.* "Captain, the plan ?"

A splutter and suddenly Henry the previously stoic and unflinching Major was gasping in surprise and indignation. "What... But.. But Sir, you never told me anything about this! My plan was to go back to the front."

A wave of the captains hand silenced Henry's indignant protests, "Major, this decision was made without you precisely because you would argue and waste what little time we have. Understand?"

"Yes sir, but this means you have to follow my orders Snake, got that?"

Sensing what could turn into a petty match of trading even prettier insults the captain cut them off, "very good, anyway. Our commander went missing along with his subordinates while visiting the major trading and port city of Collineus: Viara. We need you to get there and discover why we lost contact and the whereabouts of our missing commander."

Malvia gave a defying look at the Major, as if to say "Sure,believe it." and then turned to the captain while pulling out of his jacket a little notepad. As if taking an order in a restaurant, he said :
"Okay, so I'm supposed to find him and bring him back. Alive I presume. Do you have kind of lead that I can start with ? Any clues or ransom demand ? Also I'll need his file, yes I know you have files about people, don't bother asking who told me. Ah, and a picture or two."
*He rose up his nose from the paper and looked around the room and smiled, adding "Correction : I'll need all of their file too. If we're going to work together I need to know what they can do. I mean, they clearly have read mine so it's only fair to give back the courtesy, right Captain ?"

“You seem to be living in a delusion young snake. No one here has read any files on you. The only information they have is that standardly given out: you an informant who has been brought here to aid with the mission. Nothing more.”

He straightened up before looking around in what to most, would appear as an expectant manner. Yet there was a more wearily, resigned look in his eyes. “Anyone here seen Francis and his…”

The sentence was cut short by a crash from behind the door. The sort of awkward noise someone made if they were trying to move without bringing attention before falling over. Followed by scurrying footsteps and dead silence moments later

The larger woman turned arms folded towards the door, grinning softly “I think we found our latecomers! Shall I let them in”

“Indeed… See them in." The captain sighed and the resigned look disappeared just as quickly as it had come. Vanishing like it had never existed.

She crossed briskly towards the door and swung it open, revealing three sheepish looking soldiers outside. Francis was clearly visible at the front of the group, trying his best innocent puppy-dog look.