"And finally, Perseus and Athena." - Hephaestus turned to the two, Lucas tilting his head up from the book he'd been reading while Hephaestus briefed the others on their final training operations. Lucas had heard the basics, at least where they were going, in a way he envied some of them, particularly Dorian and Elijah, who didn't want to go see the Running of the bulls? But then again, perhaps the fact they'd be there for work would ruin the experience a bit. Glancing down to his lap again, he saw Hephaestus had put a tablet there for himself and Risa, a picture of an older man shown, along with a map pointing to an area of upstate New York, along with photos of a fairly decadent mansion.

"The man in that photo is Dominic Braun, a billionaire philanthropist who's got a habit of funding drug cartels and human trafficking rings, supposedly, at least. Braun recently received a package which we think might implicate him to some of these crimes, so your objective will be to secure it. He's holding a Gala a few days from now for other socialites, and his drug-trafficking friends, you'll be infiltrating that gala in order to secure the package." On one hand, Lucas thought the operation was fairly decent, after all, the basic gist was that he would be going to an expensive party. On the downside, the place would no doubt be filled with the snobby kind of asshole who reminded Lucas a little too much of Oliver, and of course, he'd be working. On the other hand though, just because he would be working didn't mean he couldn't enjoy some of the undoubtedly free food and booze that'd be on offer.

"Sounds good, Hephaestus." Lucas commented rather simply, glancing over to the other pairs before he looked back to the tablet in his hand, he figured he and Risa would need far less equipment than some of the others, and far less weaponry.

"Spectacular, you're all dismissed, forty-eight hours preparation starting now, you're all autonomous on this operation, everything goes well, and after this you'll all be fully-fledged ARGUS agents." With that, Hephaestus tucked his clipboard under his arm, adjusted his glasses and made his way out of the room, leaving them all. Lucas glanced around the barracks area briefly. The lounge they sat in was a large, circular room, scattered couches, tables and bookcases filling the room, along with a few televisions. Most of the wall-space was covered in doorways leading to each agent's own room, the doors marked with their code names. The lounge had quite a different atmosphere to it than the rest of the headquarters, much less military, far more luxurious - in a way, mirroring the Stavros mansion which the HQ was built under.

"Well, good luck on your operations, Risa 'n' I will try not to have too much fun at the party." Lucas commented to everyone with a wry smirk, he never really cared if anyone got or appreciated his sense of humour, and he especially enjoyed the fact that it irritated Oliver and Yuuna. Handing the tablet with their briefing over to Risa for her to get a closer look at it, Lucas moved to stand, adjusting his suit jacket as he glanced over the others yet again, silently hoping that Oliver - the self-righteous cunt - would fail his operation, or that Greta would just leave him behind, though he didn't figure it likely. Watching as the others shifted off about the lounge and out of the room to start their prep, Lucas shifted his gaze back down to Risa, giving a nod of his head toward the door before he'd move off, assuming she would follow him.

"Doesn't a gala mean you need to wear a dress?" Lucas questioned, both as a legitimate query, and an amused quip - the man was more than aware of the woman's distaste for traditional female formalwear, which in itself was somewhat of a concern, considering ARGUS didn't make bulletproof cocktail dresses like they did suits. Wandering with Risa for a while, Lucas finally settled on one of the small study rooms, moving inside with Risa and taking a seat on one of the larger lounge chairs toward the back of the room - he didn't figure they'd have much need for heavy weaponry, so there was no need to stop at the armoury, he'd just carry the standard set of gadgets.

"So, how do you want to go about it?"

"Artemis, Poseidon." Hephaestus turned toward the two, setting a tablet in front of the two, displaying an image, and a map specifically pointing to an old Palace in Mongolia. "This man - Wilhem Grau - is the leader of an Asian crime-ring known as 'The Huns', he recently received a package we've been tipped off about, and we've got intel he's planning a major attack on Beijing. Your mission is going to be to get into that palace, assassinate Grau, and secure the package. The palace itself is far from any other civilization, so anyone you see there is going to be a member of the Huns, so use caution."

Yuuna courteously nods once in response.
"We'll take care of it." she replied, brief and to the point as always. As Hephaestus briefed the remaining trainees on their missions, Yuuna thought over her own; out of the trainees on staff she rightfully couldn't think of a better pair for a job. She felt confident, although she made a note of not letting it get to her.

As the word 'dismissed' came from Hephaestus' mouth, Yuuna returned entirely to the land of the living. She went straight to packing her things, seeing the planning room as a much better resource for the work they're up against, whilst offering Yongrui something of a sideways glance in the process. She respect him and was under the impression it was mutual although it didn't seem like there'd be much conversation - which isn't all that bad a thing for both of them, really.
"Planning room?" she asks as she tucks her open-up folder under her arm and stands. It's debatable how much of a question it really is because after she pushes her chair in, she's pretty much on her way. Unfortunately she didn't get to the door fast enough to avoid Lucas' simply inevitable comment and quietly wishes to herself that they only have wine - she'd probably wish for something involving alcohol poisoning and a hospital visit were the success of an operation not at stake. Assuming Yongrui follows in suite, Yuuna holds the door open for him.



Yuuna steps up to the large table in the center of the planning room as she comes in where she sets her tablet atop - it's leather case folded in such a way as to stand it up on an incline - before she reaches over to the controls and turns the table 'on'. The blank tabletop turns into something of a directory, within which she browses to the maps section and opens on Mongolia. By outstretching her arms and making an outwards gesture with her hands, she zooms in onto the vague region of the palace.
"What are you thinking?" Yuuna asks as she quickly brings up the weather on the tablet before briefly checking the scale of the map and grabbing a correlating compass and protractor, "From my experience with Asian gangs, particularly in the region we're operating in, females aren't generally welcome. If you're thinking infiltration by plain sight I don't think I can go in with you, but I can support you; even then, it might be better off that way anyway." She sets her folder down on the tabletop in order to withdraw a notebook and pen, with which she proceeds to note the weather forecast and topographic features in. She occasionally leans over to the table, tapping on a spot to display the grid reference.

---

---

Risa had pretty much tuned out what was going on around her while the others were being briefed; thumbing through a file she had been given the night before. It was filled with a transcript of a conversation that has been recorded; given to her to translate.

As her and Lucas came up to be briefed she slowly lifted her eyes from the papers; eyeing Hephaestus as he filled them in. Her hand stilling as she closed the file and rested her hand on it. She didn't say anything, only giving a slight nod as she took the tablet from Lucas; a small smirk playing on her lips as she rose and clutched both the tablet and file against her chest.

"Just have to poke the bear don't you?" she said flatly towards Lucas, but there was a lilt in her voice he would know well that meant she was anything but serious at that moment.

"I have an idea, why don't you wear the dress this time and I wear the suit. You have the legs for it. Well, once we give you a proper waxing," she quipped as she followed him out of the room and made their way to the study.

"Flattered as I am, and as spectacular of an idea as that is, I'm going to go ahead and insist I get the suit, 'sides - as gorgeous as I am, I don't think I'd compete to you in a dress." He commented with a sly wink.

Closing the door behind them she turned and shrugged as she tossed the file and tablet down on the table. Stepping over to him she sat down on the arm of the chair and chuckled.

"You know for their whole it's against regulations to fraternize with co-workers," she said imitating Hephaestus, "you'd think they wouldn't assign us to a gala where us posing as a couple would be the simplest means of infiltration."

Lucas smirked as he leaned back on the chair, resting his head back against the top of it, head tilted upward so his gaze focused on hers. An amused chuckle escaped his lips at her comment, giving a slight shrug as he laced his fingers together, resting his hands over his stomach comfortably.

"Maybe we ought to take it as 'unofficial permission' - or at the very least use it as an excuse next time Hephaestus brings it up... Good impression, by the way, really captured the whole 'robot' attitude he's got." Lucas' trademark smirk remained on his face as he watched Risa, taking a moment or two to think before he spoke up once more.

"Yeah, unofficial permission, fine then we'll have to make sure we can make it believable," she chuckled as she reached over and picked the tablet up from where she had tossed it on the table.

"Or maybe that was their whole plan, it'd be the easiest way to infiltrate generally, and they probably figured we'd be able to pull it off more convincingly than the others. After all, there's no way I'd be able to pass that off with someone like Yuuna" He shuddered visibly as he mentioned the Japanese agent, he was aware of Risa's close relationship with Yuuna, but he figured that with the amount Yuuna and Lucas complained about eachother behind their backs, she would have to have been used to it by now.

"I may just pretend to be sick so I can watch you trying to be lovely with my bestie," she teased. The thought alone nearly made her break out in laughter. "Or perhaps I should see if Oliver would rather attend the Gala with me," she taunted, knowing how Lucas felt about the man.

Replying with little more than a long groan and a few faked vomit noises, Lucas gently snatched the tablet from Risa to look over it once more, going through any of the information he might've missed before. Risa could only smirk at his noises. Scrolling through the information they'd been provided, a basic layout of the mansion, a dossier on Mr. Braun, the invitation to the gala, and finally some information on the package.

"Package shouldn't be hard to sneak out, only about the size of an A4 envelope, but no doubt it'll be in a secure area of the mansion, my money's on an office - kind of place he won't want guests wanderin'." Lucas thought allowed, simply expecting Risa to pipe in with any suggestion or comment.

"Seems simple enough, I can work on Braun, keep him occupied while you," she began, running her fingers through his hair, "find what we are looking for. Even with an envelope the size of an A4, I doubt I could hide it in the dress," she said rolling her eyes.

Nodding his head, he allowed the woman's fingers to slide through his hair. Lucas was usually fairly protective of his hair, it was perhaps the only part of his appearance he took special care with, but he'd learned to let Risa mess with it herself. Reaching over to the table beside their seat, he set the tablet down on it, elbows resting on the arms of the chair as he looked back up to her.

"Sounds like a plan, most of Braun's security will probably be watching him, so anyone he's got over by the office I can probably deal with quietly enough." He nodded once firmly, a look on his face as if he were saying 'not bad' - satisfied so far with hte plan the two had come up with.

"I am sure you can handle things, now for me to find a dress to wear," she said making a visible shudder and mimicking Lucas's vomiting noises. "I still say you should wear the dress," she sniggered as she sat there, glancing towards him out of the corner of her eye.

"I'm sure Hephaestus has one on-hand somewhere, he seems like the type." Lucas smirked, amused both by his own comment and by Risa's mimicking him, Risa had to cover her mouth to stifle the gaffaw that came t of her mouth. "And never going to happen, not without a fair few drinks, first." Lucas concluded in a matter-of-fact manner, shifting slightly so he sat forward, moving his hand to idly rest it on her knee as he looked up at her.

"You think I'd need a different suit?" He questioned suddenly, glancing down to the one he was wearing, his personal ARGUS suit, black with white stripes and - while quite fancy, certainly more business-like than formal. "Can't say I've ever actually been to a gala before."

"Yes, a tuxedo for such an event in New York with this class. I've had to attend several when I worked for the U.N. Put on your best Oliver," she teased as she leaned over.

"My best Oliver? So be a pretentious, snobby wanker? Great - i'm going to have a ball." He chuckled at his own comment, both for the fact he was insulting Oliver, and for his rather terrible pun.

"I'm going to go ahead and get my fitting over with," she grumbled before kissing him softly. Rising from her place she grabbed the file she has been working on earlier and headed for the door.

"That is unless you'd rather take my measurements," she teased, giving a little coy glance over her shoulder before slipping out. She had a feeling if she stayed he'd take her up on the offer.

Gently returning the kiss, Lucas chuckled as he moved to stand, watching Risa make her way over to the door before he heard her last comment, making a face of mulling the thought over. "Well..." He started to speak before she made her way out, the man letting out another chuckle as he picked up the tablet once more, moving off to get his own outfit for the gala.

---

---

Rise stood there looking irate in front of the three fold mirror that had been set before her in her quarters. they had set a raise platform for her to stand on while the tailor took in the last bits here and there on the gown that had been created for her for the upcoming Gala and from the look on Risa's face she was anything but pleased. On the floor around the platform where several previous attempts at a dress ripped and shredded on the floor, beads and sequins scattered about.

"And where am I supposed to keep my gun?" she snipped as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I've seen whores working the street corner with more fabric covering them!" she grumbled.

The tailor just snickered as he held a few pins between his teeth, pulling a needle and thread through the fabric to take in the gown here and there. "You'll just have to figure something out Athena," he quipped as he cut the last thread free.

"Yeah, I have a place for it, right up someone's ass," she snapped.

"Oh come on Athena, you have to admit, you look stunning," the tailor said as he stepped around her. Grumbling under her breath she looked in the mirror. The gown itself was lovely, golden and shimmering. Low cut in the front; too low for her liking. In the back, it was open as well with small golden beans lattice working its way to each side of the dress; again, too much skin showing her taste. The slit was the only thing she was not complaining about even though it was all the way up her thigh; at least she would be able to move in it if she had to run or do anything else for that matter, like walk.

"I look like I am going to fall out of this thing!" she countered and stepped down on the platform, the heels they were requiring to wear clicking against the wooden floor.

"You won't I promise, well that is unless you want to," he smirked. "I doubt Perseus will complain." Risa shot him a look the tailor took a step back laughing.

"Oh he will when he is the one wearing this," she said as she narrowed her eyes and stormed off, the door flying open as she pushed them open. The Tailor just chuckled as he started packing up his things now that the dress was completed. He was just thankful she hadn't ripped it off like she had the first three he had tried to get her to wear. It was progress... Kind of.

Risa made her way through the building, half tempted to just rip the dress off and half wondering just how much she would have to bribe Yuuna to trade places with her. The look on Lucas's face alone would be worth a kidney at this point she thought to herself as her heels clicked against the floor, echoing around her. She hated that sound, it made someone approaching way to obvious; and running in them was just plain old ridiculous, tipping around on the balls of ones feet... She was at least thankful that their day to day suits were pantsuits and not skirts. She would have told the company to shove the skirt where the sun don't shine when they recruited her if that had been the way of things.

---

"Aeneas, Romulus." Hephaestus turned toward the two, setting a tablet in front of the two, displaying an image, and a map specifically pointing to Paris, France. "The individual in that photo is the supposed leader of an organized crime syndicate in France known as 'The Normans'. He's recently received a package we were tracking, which we believe may have information which actually implicates him as the groups leader. Your objective will be to find this man, tail him to his hideout somewhere in Paris, and secure the package."

Rucks looked over the mission dossier, it seemed simple enough. Shouldn't take too long either, little bit of set up, a quick flight and then just find the guy. Should be easy enough to accomplish with all of Argus' brand-spanking new gadgets. Rucks flicked through the documents casually, trying to pick up on any notable features of the target. No scars and a fairly average face. Then Rucks' eyes trailed to a ring. There wasn't anything particularly noteworthy about it. But maybe Abel would notice something unusual about it.

He threw a glance at his partner for this mission, Aeneas - or Abel when they weren't on the job. The man was ex military and a gem when it came to rough parts of missions. Maybe that's why him and Rucks worked together so well, Abel could act the tough guy while Rucks worked with more finesse. He looked over the mission again - Paris. A good deal as far as Rucks was concerned, it was his kind of place to be, although he wasn't sure how Abel would cope, hopefully this guy didn't hang around anywhere too fancy. He couldn't see soldier boy fitting into that kind of place.

Rucks stood up, handing to dossier in all it's glory to Abel, "What do you think Abel? The city and lights and love. What more could you ask for? Not to mention it's a simple tailing mission, with a light grabbing section,". Rucks looked around the room, Dorian and Elijah were off to the running of the bulls from the sounds of things. He was sure Elijah would share some interesting stories with him over a quick drink when they were back. Lucas and Risa were off to a Gala - turns out the whole rule about work relationships wasn't as strictly held as Argus had left the recruits to believe. "So, how are we going to go about this one? Any ideas?".

In what was becoming a more common spasm of good sense. Eli saved his comments for Dorian until they were by themselves. Eli didn't say much until they got to the armory.

As he gathered his things, he paid special attention to his sidearm. The gadgets were fun and handy bit at the end of the day. It was his side arm that was gonna be most helpful when things went south. Although he had to admit the watch was amazing. Eli went in to take apart the side arm and inspect every single possible piece of it.

”So what are you thinking Dorian? Package to The Gout, strap the The Gouts nuts to a car battery and make him whisle Dixie... I'm thinking in the neighborhood of B." The joke wouldn't get him far with Dorian, which for better or for worse, Eli could understand. That stone face and almost ice cold manner that Dorian carried about himself was a great foil to Eli's never serous enough ways.

’Joking aside, I think these suits will make us stand out too much. Dressing down would help us blend more than the suits. If we time it right we might be able to use the Bulls to hide the bodies, maybe even gun fire if things work out right. What you got rolling in that head of yours friend?"

"Apollo, Theseus." Hephaestus turned toward the two, setting a tablet in front of the two, displaying an image, and a map specifically pointing to an area of the Congo, specifically a small village. "This woman is in charge of a rebel group in the Congo referred to by locals as 'The Amazons'. She's recently received a package we were tracking, and we believe it may be connected to a previous series of attacks in the local area. Your objective will be to infiltrate the village, assassinate this individual, and secure the package she has received."

Roland looked at the the pad and sighed. Everyone else seemed to be getting the good missions. They were going to parties and the running of the bulls. He and Lens were going to the damn Congo. They were not having any kind of fun. Of course that they would have to do some sort of assassination in the middle of the damn jungle. It was not fair. It did not seem that he and Lens were getting any missions worthy of them. A few machine guns were easier. It felt unfair. Like Hephaestus had chosen some random odd job for them.

Roland sighed as he turned to leave. He was in a foul mood. It was so lucky that Lucas and Risa got a party. Why would they send a thief and a cop on an assassination in the middle of nowhere? Roland was not the type to kill someone. Sure he had been trained with a snpier rifle while he was with Argus but he was no expert. He was more worried about Lens. They were about to brutally murder someone. Roland had no idea why he had been paired with Lens. They were not friends and they did not get along. They would be a bit of a bad team. He wished he had been paired with Eli or Yuuna. He got along with those two. Lens, not so much.

"We can either take her out from afar or up close. I want to take her out with a sniper rifle. It will be easier. " Roland said to Lens as he walked towards the armory. He needed his gun.

"Apollo, Theseus." was the words that brought Len's attention to the briefing, having been pondering his thoughts about other matters until Hephaestus had called him by his codename. He'd give the brief his full attention, folding his right leg over his left as he readjusts his glasses in a serious manner, if that was even a thing. A few moments later, Len's attention was brought to the tablet now sat in front of him; showing the image of a woman of Caucasian ethnicity, clearly dyed purple hair and a set of very strange coloured eyes; the three distinctive features that Len kept a mental note of for ease of identification on scene; much like he had done day in day out in law enforcement. With the information of their target picked up, he'd study the map that was information in addition to their target; noting that their destination was the Congo of all places. Great; Len thought, having spent all his life in Los Angeles; they sent him to Central Africa, at least the job included travelling.

"This woman is in charge of a rebel group in the Congo referred to by locals as 'The Amazons'." Hephaestus continued. 'The Amazons', another piece of mission critical information. Sure, Len wasn't some special forces operative or a tactical genius but if rebels acted anything like criminals, their base would probably be hidden away. They'd probably need to ask locals for information and pin-point the location of these rebels, infiltrate their base of operations and assassinate the target without arousing suspicion from the crew that this woman was probably pulling the strings for. "She's recently received a package we were tracking, and we believe it may be connected to a previous series of attacks in the local area." Well then, it appeared that the hard work was already done for them; with the package tracked, Len could only guess that their job would be infiltration and assassination. Previous series of attacks? These 'Amazon' guys weren't joking around; clearly they were getting too bold than they should be and that was clearly about to bite them in the ass. Your objective will be to infiltrate the village, assassinate this individual, and secure the package she has received."

Everything seemed simple enough; it wasn't what he had thought of a first assignment but someone had to do the dirty jobs. Being a detective in the LAPD sure did show that these sorts of jobs weren't all glitz and glamour and a part of his mind told him to be sort of glad; it was something he had dealt with before and felt comfortable in that fact; he wasn't so sure about Roland though. He was a street thief and probably hadn't killed anyone in his life. Though that was probably a good thing; he was a thief, meaning that this package recovery would probably be right up his alley minus all the rebels probably carrying assault rifles. Len got up from his seat and nodded towards Roland; "We can either take her out from afar or up close. I want to take her out with a sniper rifle. It will be easier." he heard him say, to which Len simply shook his head as he followed him on the path the armoury; "Sniper rifle? That would mean you'd need a decent position to set up in which gives you both plenty of concealment and a high enough elevation to get a decent shot." he'd pause in his speech, thinking a plan over; "We'll need to sneak in and take her out from up close, out of sight, grab the package and get out of there before her little group finds out that their leaders out of the picture. Unless you want to snipe her and let me do the infiltration and recovery whilst you cover me; that'll mean you'll need a place to set up and some way to hide that scope glint and sound. I'm sure the quartermaster can sort you out with that." Len finishes, seeming to also enter the armoury at the same time.

He'll probably need a silencer for his Thunderbolt; out in the Congo, he'd probably prefer if he didn't wake up the rebels and any wildlife that could probably paint a damn target onto his back. On the way; he'd begin to formulate the smaller parts of this mission; particularly if it was possible if they could wait and try and attempt the mission at night; darkness is a great concealer, especially for the killer on the prowl.

---

---

Lucas' experience with the tailor was going far better than Risa's. A subtle smirk on his face, Lucas looked over his outfit in the mirror which had been set up before him. After one or two unfinished attempts, which had been discarded in a much neater fashion to his left. Now, Lucas wore a deep, navy blue velvet smoking jacket, and a pair of darker trousers to match. Under the jacket was a white shirt and black bow-tie, and the tailor had been kind enough to conceal a holster around the small of his back, his thunderbolt would fit, along with a suppressor, rather snugly in a totally concealed manner.

"Not bad, not bad at all," Lucas commented idly with a smirk, giving himself one last look in the mirror before he stepped down from the platform set up in his quarters, shifting his gaze over to the tailor. "Athena was far less pleased with my work, i'm afraid." He commented with a smirk, seemingly still amused by Risa's displeasure.

"It's no surprise, probably just upset she can't fit her gun anywhere." Lucas commented with a chuckle, moving toward the door as the tailor began to clean up after himself.

"Either way, you'll thank me when you see the dress." The tailor said with a wry smirk, Lucas didn't give him another glance, though he certainly heard the comment as he moved out of the room and closed the door behind him. Adjusting his sleeves as he left the barracks, Lucas began to go for a wander. It didn't take long for him to hear the tell-tale clicking of Risa's heels on the floor, following the sound until he came to the source, the woman dressed to the nines - and clearly furious at what she was wearing. Lucas took a long look over the dress as he approached, much like the tailor had assumed - he wasn't complaining.

"That definitely looks better on you than it would on me." Lucas commented with a smirk as he approached her, shifting his left hand into the pocket of his trousers as he approached her, a wry grin on his face as he kept his eyes locked on her.

---

---

Risa stopped in her tracks as she saw Lucas coming up on her, pulling the heels off quickly and pointing them at him with an eat shit and die look flashing across her features.

She felt like one of those scantily clad women in online fantasy games. Why yes, this chainmail teddy will protect me just fine, yet she didn't even have the benefit of a few scattered pieces of metal dotting her extremities in the current get up.

"I will wax you," she hissed.

It was no secret with the group that she hated dresses or skirts. Last mission she had to wear one she forgot to bring a change of clothing and ended up walking through headquarters in her underwear, ripping the dress apart as she walked down the hall; telling the higher ups they could at least develop some sort of bullet proof fabric if she was going to be forced to wear one on ops.

Heels were bad enough but at least they had a pointy end. What was she going to do with a dress? Shock someone to death? Groaning she stepped over to Lucas and shook her head slightly.

"You know, I may push to see if we can change the male standard suit to be a kilt," she smirked as she crossed her arms over her chest.

---

---

Smirk plastered on his face as he watched Risa remove her heels and approach him, Lucas appeared all-too-amused at her displeasure with what she was wearing. The threat of waxing was one she'd given to him the last time she had to wear a dress, and considering he still had a reasonably masculine amount of hair on his legs, he assumed she was only bluffing this time as well. He glanced down to his legs at the suggestion of a kilt, giving a light shrug as he shifted the hand in his pocket over somewhat, more than aware of the damage she could inflict now that she was close.

"Y'know I wouldn't complain that much, the freedom would probably be wonderful," Lucas grinned, shifting his gaze back up to her eyes. "Besides, you did that and they'd probably swap out yours for a skirt." He continued with a sly wink.

Lucas more than enjoyed poking fun at Risa's distaste for dresses and skirts, it gave him even more satisfaction to what was already the rare pleasure of seeing her in one. He could see where some of her complaints came from, of course. Hiding a firearm was far more difficult in a dress, particularly one such as that, knives were less of an issue, but overall practicality was rather greatly diminished, he'd stick with his own formalwear, even if it was a tad high-class for his liking.

Reaching up, Lucas adjusted the bow-tie around his neck, loosening it somewhat, they were the only part of his outfit that ever irritated him, they were always far too tight for his liking, and generally he figured they looked stupid. Alas, he trusted the Tailor and Risa on what was appropriate wear, as much as he disliked the feeling of the tie, he had to admit that he looked spectacular, even more-so than he usually thought he did.

"Though you really should thank the Tailor, in a dress like that my attention probably won't drift to the other women at the gala... Probably." Lucas smirked, poking the bear a bit more as he lowered his right hand from his tie back down to his side.

---

---

"Aeneas, Romulus." Hephaestus turned toward the two, setting a tablet in front of the two, displaying an image, and a map specifically pointing to Paris, France. "The individual in that photo is the supposed leader of an organized crime syndicate in France known as 'The Normans'. He's recently received a package we were tracking, which we believe may have information which actually implicates him as the groups leader. Your objective will be to find this man, tail him to his hideout somewhere in Paris, and secure the package."

Impassively, Abel skimmed through the file. The mission sounded like something right out of a spy movie, and he had to suppress a grimace at the thought of gallivanting amongst the bourgeoisie. Paris wasn’t at all what he was used to - he’d always felt more comfortable in the trenches of war - but then again, what was life without a little adventure? In any case, he was certain that if they were to encounter any pesky locals, his grasp of French would help speed the mission along.

...But that didn’t mean he had to like it; this was his job, and Rucks’ unfailing enthusiasm only served to frustrate Abel further. Eyes narrowing, he set the tablet back down on the table, taking a brief moment to formulate his thoughts. As clichéd as the dynamic seemed, Rucks was very much the brains of the pair, and Abel the brawn. It was why they worked so well together, he supposed. When diplomacy didn’t work, there needed to be someone who could punch their way out, and Abel was more than happy to oblige.

“The City of Love?” Abel scoffed, eyeing Rucks with a measure of incredulity. There was a strange lilt to his voice, a mishmash of accents that’d accumulated over the years. The most obvious was, of course, Russian - as evident by the way he rolled his R’s. But there were noticeable undertones of South African and Guatemalan, as well, bleeding together into something a little more monotonous and bland. It used to be worse, sharp stabs of the frigid Russian winter flavouring his speech at every turn, though he’s been working on smoothing things out a bit.

“Like you said, it’s a simple tailing mission.” Leaning back, Abel’s gaze flickered momentarily to the others in the room. A number of them were already off, now that the mission briefing was complete, and he felt a quiet sense of relief that they hadn’t gotten Lucas and Risa’s jobs. Dorian and Elijah’s, on the other hand, now that was something he was interested in. It was such a pity, really, that all they had to do was retrieve a package, and a part of him secretly hoped that the mark would put up a fight - it’d spice things up, for sure.

“He’s unlikely to be alone, but I’d wager standard procedure still applies - keep a safe distance, etcetera, etcetera. Once he gets inside, all we have to do is grab the package and run.” At this, Abel cracked a smile, eyes darkening with ferity. “Provided he knows what’s good for him, anyway.”

Many things had changed in the past year. Eli had experienced a great number in his personality. He was wiser, more efficient, drinking and doing the right things much more often. As he jelled with his new teammates, he was more or less shocked at how much he had calmed down since joining this motely crew. He was still by far the wild one of the group and one of the chief enforcers. Yet through it all, there were things about him that were never gonna change. Get better? Maybe, but not change. It was never more true when Elijah saw Risa storm down the hall in a dress. As the wheels turned a devilish smile crossed his face.

Risa was a strikingly attractive woman. Who fit well in that dress, but she hated every second of it and everyone knew it. Everyone knew she'd rather lick a bear's ass than have to wear a dress again.

” Dorian I know you hate this and I apologize but I gotta do it." Eli said as he grabbed one the umbrellas. ” You know I gotta spread my wings and fly.” Eli said as he rolled his arms and shoulders in a circular motion. Like he was getting loose for a prize fight. I'm his mind he was.

Eli stopped at the door for a moment, he considered a great many outcomes. Nine of them were gonna go well. He took a deep and slid out in the hall as music began playing in his head.

”I love myself, I want you to love me
When I feel down, I want you above me
I search myself, I want you to find me
I forget myself, I want you to remind me

I don't want anybody else
When I think about you, I touch myself
Ooh, I don't want anybody else
Oh no, oh no, oh no

You're the one who makes me come runnin'
You're the sun who makes me shine
When you're around, I'm always laughin'
I want to make you mine

I close my eyes and see you before me
Think I would die if you were to ignore me
A fool could see just how much I adore you
I'd get down on my knees, I'd do anything for you

I don't want anybody else
When I think about you, I touch myself
Ooh, I don't want anybody else
Oh no, oh no, oh no

I love myself, I want you to love me
When I feel down, I want you above me
I search myself, I want you to find me
I forget myself, I want you to remind me

I don't want anybody else
When I think about you, I touch myself
Ooh, I don't want anybody else
Oh no, oh no, oh no"

With each word sung in the tip of the umbrella, it was clear Eli knew that song a little too well. While by no means was he 's great singer he was certainly passable… and into it. It was like he thought he was Mick Jagger.

His suggestive dancing and high pitched singing would be the stuff of Internet legends, if it were to ever get out. As his song came to a close, Eli popped open the umbrella and spun it around in his hand a time or two before resting it on his shoulder. His performance over, he wasn't sure what to expect from Risa, but the smile on his face told a story of no shame or apologizes.

Yongrui contemplates in silence for a moment as he looks over the map.
"I agree, partly. Let's examine the topography first." he replies as he shifts his weight to one foot and raises a hand to his chin, watching the map as if to wait. Yuuna nods in agreement as she continues to now silently take notes, scribbling details on things such as the conditions of roads and tracks, prominent watercourses, time of first light, time of last light and population density, to name a few.

Yuuna remains silent as she moves on to summarizing the situation and mission in that order within her notepad before moving on to the execution, the much more meaty part of the plan. She sets her notebook down next to her tablet to look at the map once again, studying it more intently this time. On one side of the palace is significant mountainous terrain, with an overlook over the palace and obstructing observation to the other side. Yuuna reaches out to create three rectangular 'highlights' after 3 areas: a re-entrant on about 1/3 up to the mountain on the opposite side of the palace, a saddle near the top of the mountain slightly towards the palace side and the palace. She reaches out to the control panel to pull up satellite imagery on the three locations which, after they arrive, she studies intently.

Yongrui looks over the imagery for the palace, studying it quietly before he vaguely nods to himself in understanding as he commits a few key features, guard locations, entrances, exits and routes to memory. He produces his tablet in order to download the imagery and begin forming a plan for the infiltration itself. Yuuna takes her notebook to continue taking notes before she speaks.
"The population density is too low for a close insertion," Yuuna begins, gathering Yongrui's attention who nods in agreement, "but I have an idea. We can conceal our approach using the mountain," Yuuna explains as she gestures to the map, "with the highest safest place likely being this re-entrant. We hike up the mountain to this saddle at which point, using the concealment of the inner saddle, we stop to eat and wait for dark. We can call this stage 1. After dark we can begin the main operation which we can call stage 2. Once the operation is complete, I'll cover your exiltration and we'll call in the exfiltration craft either to the saddle if we can confirm a lack of anti-air threat or back to the re-entrant if it's unconfirmed or we can't disable it." She pauses for a moment to look up towards Yongrui. "What do you think?"

"And if stage 2 goes wrong?" Yongrui asks as he folds his arms.
"We'll improvise. We'll also prepare code-words for the aircraft's reference and transferal to HQ, such as Ordered Steps for compromised. Work for you?" Yuuna answers as she looks to Yongrui flatly for a response. Yongrui stands still in thought before he nods, content with the plan.
"Sounds good. Let's continue planning." he answers. Yuuna nods once before returning to her notebook, concluding the execution of the plan and moving on to administration and logistics.

---

Yongrui stayed in the planning room to write up the request for the VTOL transport whilst Yuuna went to the armory to grab both of their gear. They decided to try to get a VTOL with beds in it so they could sleep on the way to the AO considering that they could be operating for up to 12 hours. Staying awake for the trip out there then pushing on through the operation would be unnecessarily fatiguing as far as they could see it. Yuuna nods her greeting to Len as she paces up towards the armorer to slide a couple sheets of paper across the counter. The armorer looks down to the paper as he tilts his head and pushes his glasses up to sit better on the bridge of his nose.
"Two sets of multicam uniforms, two sets of bulletproof vests, low-sitting rear-side webbing, chest webbing, an Accuracy International AW-" The armorer looks up from the document to speak directly to Yuuna, "Aren't you meant to be spies, not the bloody SAS?"
"You should know as well as any of us that our work goes beyond suits." answers Yuuna, flat-faced as ever. "Can you do it?"
"Let me go get it together," The armorer replies with a bit of a sigh, "in a trolley. The quartermaster will have your attire, I'll let him know in advance to have it ready."

---

---

Risa narrowed her eyes towards Lucas, he enjoyed taunting her as much as she did him. In an odd way they had bonded over their mutual quips towards each other. Half the time if one was to look at the couple they would think they despised each other the way they laid into each other or threatened each other. Quite to the contrary though, it was one of the things that made them such good partners; both in and out of the field.

"Well, I will say this dear about your getup; you look almost as dashing as Oliver in it. Almost," she said with a smirk playing on her lips as she reached up and adjusted his bow tie. At his mention of other women she just shrugged.

"I'm sure there will be plenty, maybe we could bring one home to share," she taunted. Lucas commonly made quips about other women but it didn't bother Risa. She was secure and as much as he tried to provoke her, he never followed through; like her threats to wax him.

The woman was about to lay into him though just out of fun but was cut off short as she heard Eli start singing. Slowly her attention was draw from Lucas to Eli, her eyes widening somewhat and her mouth going slack jawed; a look of utter disbelief washing over her features.

Was he seriously doing this? She looked over at Lucas as if to go what the bloody hell before quickly looking back to Eli, the same look still plastered on her features. She, for a few moments, didn't know whether she should be furious or flattered or just dumbfounded. She settled on a mix of pissed and stupidfied.

As the song came to an end ans he was standing there with that cheeky shit eating grin on his features Risa took a single heel and chucked it right towards his chest. She doubted it would make contact unless he wanted it to but it was more of a point she was making; if said point impaled his chest, even better.

"Oh touch this!" she barked as she turned around, slapping her left ass cheek as she stormed off. Stopping suddenly she turned and chucked the other heel right at Lucas just because she could.

"And you can kiss this!" she followed up, slapping her other rear end cheek before she continued on her way.

"Where's my gun," she muttered under her breath, more to herself than anyone but loud enough to be heard.

---

---

"Y'know, I think I prefer almost, if I was as 'dashing' as him I figure i'd look like a wanker." he smiled as he watched her move to adjust his bow tie, pulling his hand from his pocket to rest both of them on her hips, giving her another brief look up and down before he opened his mouth to speak.

However, it was at that exact point when he heard the beginning of Eli's horrid rendition of "I Touch Myself" - Lucas was committed to irritating Risa, especially when she was in the dress, but even he wasn't bothered to make this much of an ass of himself. As Lucas watched Eli, the only real reaction he made was a raise of his eyebrow, brain trying to process if the man was in fact actually doing this, the dancing, the singing, all from someone like Elijah, it was...

"Spectacular, absolutely spectacular, bravo, encore!" Lucas brought up his hands to begin applauding the man, Risa on the other hand seemed far less satisfied with the performance, Lucas watching as one of her heels flew in Elijah's direction. Jumping slightly at Risa's shout, Lucas shifted his gaze over to her just to catch sight of the woman slapping her ass, and in time to bring up his arm and block the heel which was tossed at him, followed by another ass-slap.

Shifting his gaze over to Eli once more as he picked up the heel, he made his way over to the man to collect the other, settling the pair in his right hand as he shrugged, reaching up to adjust his glasses slightly as he watched Elijah - still there with his shit-eating grin.

"Stunning as the performance was, Eli - I don't think you made the wrong choice when you became a spy instead of an entertainer," Lucas smirked, reaching up to give Eli a pat on the shoulder "Now then, she's pissed - so you know, comforting and all that, duty calls." Giving the man a wink as if Eli had just done him a favour of sorts, Lucas shifted on his heel and moved off after Risa, just managing to catch her last comment as he called out after her, tucking his left hand back into his pocket.

"You left it in my room, under the pillow again." He explained in a helpful manner, far too amused at all that was going on.

---

"The city of Love?", Abel scoffed, shooting Rucks with a look disbelief - did he really not know that? Or did he just not believe that Rucks would refer to it as that? He assumed it the former, fitting in with Abel's rough, tough caricature. "Yes Abel, the city of LOVE. Surely even you know that? Or didn't you believe in love back in Russia?", Rucks teased his partner. He probably shouldn't but Abel's militarist attitude meant he'd go insane if he didn't take the occasional jibe at him.

"You're right, it is like I said. Simple. Until someone tries to kill us that is, in which case we're going to have to deal with some collateral. But nothing you can't handle right? he gave his partner a quick wink, "I'll meet you in the armoury, we should be armed when the French finally decide they want to fight rather than surrender,". The last comment was in poor taste, but it didn't make it any less true of a stereotype. Rucks cracked himself a smile as he walked through the lounge exit, towards the armoury - the domain of Ares.

---

---

As Rucks walked toward the armoury his ears were greeted by the regretfully familiar sound of Elijah singing. "Sweet mother of god what is he doing?", he asked himself, he wasn't a bad singer but no one should have to listen to him in public. He neared Elijah as he finished his performance, giving him a pat on the back as he passed, "Stunning performance as usual Elijah", Rucks commented walking up to the armoury check out, "I can see you've been practising for karaoke night haven't you?". He quickly filled out a form for an Aegis and placed it on the counter. He - like most of the other agents - kept his thunderbolt at hand and always wore his Olympian and Signet ring. The Aegis on the other hand was a little more difficult to keep in tow.

As he waited for Ares to bring Yuuna her items and then his, he listened to Risa and Lucas' reaction to Elijah's rendition. Risa was - as you might expect - not impressed making it very clear that Elijah could kiss her arse, "I think he might have gotten a good deal there," Rucks said under his breath to try and stop Risa hearing him. Lucas was a lot more positive about the situation though, as laid back as he always was. It was what Rucks liked about the guy, he could take anything in his stride. It wasn't long until his Aegis was in hand and he just had to wait for Abel to ready up.

Oliver had listened carefully to the assignments of others in the room, making quiet judgements in his head. "A gala. How romantic - and how odd the two lovebirds should be sent on it... eugh, are we sure Artemis isn't actually leading 'The Huns'? It wouldn't surprise me... Hah - the running bull race. Hopefully Hermes doesn't confuse his partner with one of the bulls. God knows they act almost exactly the same, mindless brutes..."

"Achilles, Aphrodite."

Oliver suddenly broke out of his mind-rant, turning his attention toward Hephaestus immediately with a slight nod at the mention of his codename. He couldn't help but allow a small smile to form on his lips when Greta's codename was noted alongside his, for he always did love working alongside her. She was, without a doubt in his mind, his closest friend in Argus and one of the few respectable members of the team. Aside from her and a few select others, the team seemed to be full of 'ex-criminals' who, as far as Oliver was concerned, probably still were.

Hephaestus turned toward the two, setting a tablet in front of the two, displaying an image, and a map specifically pointing to a radar station in the Italian Alps. "This man is the leader of a Mercenary group referred to throughout Europe as 'The Carthaginians', they've recently taken over a military radar station in the alps, unfortunately we aren't exactly sure why. Your objective is to get to the station, clear the Mercenaries out, and specifically assassinate this individual, your secondary objective is to secure a package we've tracked to his location."

Nodding once in acknowledgement after Hephaestus had finished speaking, he moved closer to Greta and the tablet containing the information for their assignment. Looking it over briefly, he reached for it and tucked it under his arm, turning to his blonde partner with a smile, "Well. I think we ought to find somewhere private to discuss the assignment, mm?" Lowering his voice somewhat as he turned to leave with her, he continued, "I have to say, I've always wanted to visit the Alps. I used to go on skiing holidays to Canada, so it seemed like it would be only natural to visit there once for a skiing holiday. Admittedly I expected to go under different circumstances, but alas."

Greta began making note of the assignments that were going on in the room. There were plenty of interesting ones going on in the room, as pairs after pairs were assigned with the missions. Soon enough, her turn came, after all it was only a matter of time before it got to her. "Achilles, Aphrodite." She perked up visibly as her codename was called, her eyes twinkling with excitement as her partner's codename was announced. Achilles, for Oliver. She loved working alongside the man, one of her closest friends and fellow agent. The two of them had worked alongside each other remarkably well, and hS hit it right away since the moment they first met. Greta may have gotten along with several others on the team, but no where as close or as good as Oliver. He would as you call it, the right fit.

As Hephaestus briefed them on their mission, which involved getting to a military radar station in the Alps which had been taken over a mercenary group. Their intent was not made known, but ARGUS's own intent was made known soon enough. They had to assassinate a man by the name of Bruno Farinacci, a known leader of 'The Carthaginians' after clearing out the entire radar station. That objective puzzled her, clearing out a base seems more suited for a team of commandos than a pair of agents, the two of them sure did have a challenge on their hands. Fortunately, Greta was not one to let a difficult mission deter her or get in her way, in any shape or form. Their secondary objective was to get a package somewhere in station, but it wasn't the priority right now.

As Oliver or rather, Achilles took the lead, grabbing the mission tablet under his arm, he turned, giving her a rather infectious smile of his, as he proposed looking for a quieter and more private place to start their discussion. Greta had no problem with that, and simply replied with a smile of her own. " Yeah, I don't see why not. Let's do it." As the pair of them left the briefing room, she could hear him talking about how much he had always wanted a skiing vacation in the Alps. "Skiing holiday you say? Why that sounds like fun! How exciting! What are we going as however, got our cover identities sorted? How about a way to take out an entire station full of mercenaries?" The accent she spoke with was mostly one recognisable as German, although not entirely German, with several hints and characteristics of an English accent as well thrown into the mix, the multiple influences of her stint in England for several years clearly making themselves a part of how she spoke from then on.

Having made their way to a private, glass-walled briefing room to go over the intelligence they'd been given, Oliver closed the door behind his colleague and moved to take a seat, resting the tablet on the table. "Mmm, well, that depends. See, I figure this is going to get ugly either way, an' I also figure this mercenary troop is going to be expecting trouble. Hell, what they thought they could get out of this is beyond me. It'd be interesting to find out, actually. Perhaps a 'conversation' with their leader, here," Oliver tapped a finger on the image of the leader, which quickly zoomed while additional information was revelead along the edges of the screen. "Bruno Farianacci, would go a long way. Admittedly, having this conversation may be difficult, and I get the feeling he, nor his friends, will be particularly talkative." Folding his arms across his chest, he reclined in the chair and looked toward Greta, "Here's an idea. See that mountain the station is built into?" Oliver minimised the image of their target, instead bringing up one of the few available pictures of the remote radar staiton. "They've got good observation of the area around them - so I suggest going in at night. You think you could scale the back of that mountain, where the rock is?" Huffing somewhat, he bit his bottom lip in thought as he studied the image, "Getting to the mountain itself via snowmobile is perhaps the most efficient option, a helicopter would likely be too loud." Turning to Greta, he continued, "Then again - with guards no doubt posted along the walkway, even scaling the mountain could be risky. You'd be an easy target. How about this - I'll take a more direct route, and you scale the mountain. I expect I could at least draw the attention of those on night-watch, leaving you free to make an entrance through the back door, if you will." Grinning somewhat, he shrugged nonchalantly, "I mean - you'd have to be as perfect as you normally are and arrive in time to save my skin."

Yeah, so cover identities weren't needed since they were going in without any pretense or disguise. That should at least save them some time as they won't have think of disguises or anything of that sort. They would most probably have to go in shooting, albeit with a silencer attached to their weapon of course, wouldn't want to alert the whole entire base of their impending death now, did they? "Ugly? Let's try not to make this ugly, shall we? Ugly's not nice. And no, no talking. This Bruno Farianacci doesn't look like the talking type, he'll just probably shoot you on the spot right there and then, to send a message to any future talkers." As Oliver brought up an image of remote radar station, she saw the rock he was talking about. "Yeah, I could scale that, with proper equipment of course. Going at night would be the most option stealth wise, but to be honest, I'll never really done all too well at rock climbing during night before, but you know how I am, I'm always up for the challenge!" Greta said as she gave him a wink. "Yeah, no helicopters, waay too loud, and the sound reverberates among the mountain walls. What about skiis? Or snowboarding even? Those may not be as fast as a snowmobile, but they're definitely quieter, without any sound of engines." Her eyes narrowed as she gave his words some thought. "I've no problem with scaling the mountain, feel free to go ahead with the direct route, while I'm going on from the back." Returning his grin with one of her own, Greta replied. "I wouldn't classify myself as perfect - but close, close enough." The German lass ended with a quick tongue stick-out before giving her partner yet another playful wink.

"Given how isolated it is, I figured a snowmobile would close the travel time, and we can make our way to the radar station via ski, good old fashioned walking or what not when we aren't so far it'll take us hours to make the journey. That way - they don't hear the engines, and we aren't dug up months from now having been frozen to buggery." Nodding with a contented smile he proceeded, "We should travel to the resort of Klosters-Serneus, it's the nearest village, if you could call it that, to the radar station. I expect we'll be able to rent some snowmobiles or skiis from there - it's a damn sight easier than having it lugged over as cargo. Or maybe I'm just lazy. Either way - we can sort that out when we're there."

"I suppose it's a plan, then." Rising from his chair, he jerked a thumb over his shoulder, "I'm off to requisition some equipment from the sass-maestro himself, the Quartermaster. Then, I expect it'll be me, a good book and a warm drink to celebrate our future success. I'll have somebody arrange our flights, they'll be scheduled for early tomorrow morning, no doubt. Do be sure to be up bright and early!"

Turning on his heel to leave the room, Oliver paused momentarily to cast a glance at Greta over his shoulder, "Well - perfect or not, as long as my perfect face is saved from a bullet, we're fine and dandy." Allowing a small chuckle to escape his lips at his own joke, he held open the door to let her pass as the two left the briefing room to begin preparations for their journey the next day.

[justify]Dorian was not amused. His face was perfectly still as Elijah outlined his asinine plan. Carefully Dorian turned, inspecting the rows of gear that were outlined, as he mentally selected pieces and guessed what would fit into a pack. Though what he said about the suits made sense, they would want to blend in, especially if they were taking someone with them. Alive seemed to be the mission parameters however Dorian assumed dead also worked if alive was not possible. But Dorian never only partially completed a mission.

"Interesting you call me friend. Anyhow, the Bulls are a good cover, but also an issue. Means there will be a crowd and extraction is more difficult. It entirely depends on where exactly the Gual is hiding as to what the bulls mean. I say we bring-" Dorian stopped as Elijah spoke and excused himself. Grimacing he watched Elijah go and then spotted Risa. Sighing he turned back to the equipment, making final calculations on weights and exactly what they might need. Two more entered and Dorian was slightly relieved to see them retrieving equipment in a more serious manner. Moving and taking his place he swiftly grabbed some requisition forms up on the tablet and sat down again. Swiping through listed assets that were on hand. Looking up he grimaced again as he saw Lucas converse with Elijah, though he couldn't hear what Lucas said. He disliked Lucas, didn't hate the guy. But he was someone who just got under Dorians skin, and whilst Elijah was brash and loud, he was simple. And Dorian liked simple. Having finished skimming he saved up the file and connected it to the armoury database. Standing he stood behind Yuuna and Rucks.

Rucks. Another one he disliked. However you didn't have to like someone to work with them, and Rucks was less abrasive than Lucas and so he was quite content to merely stand and wait his turn, trying to look as unintimidating as possible and keep himself out of the way.