Turning towards the voice he saw Tivon leaning sitting at one of the tables, half turned toward the wolf. The panther waved him over lazily. Marcellus had half a mind to ignore him but could not think of any other reason than pissing him off to do so, which – considering he was being paid – was not a good enough reason.

Walking over he asked, “What is it?”

“Considerin’ what we are payin’ you for and the fact you are already up I figured we’d go over your part in this mission - other than just being extra muscle.” Tivon stated business-like.

Considering Tivon’s approach to this current discussion, Marcellus followed him without a word, sat at the tables, and acted cordial in return. “Give me the sit-rep.”

Tivon began to shuffle through the pile of papers on the desk until he found a photo. “As we said yesterday, we are hitting a munitions depot in Zone 11. Get in, grab what we can carry, blow the rest.”

“You make it sound like that’s simple,” Marcellus stated knowing how tight security would be after the Zone 10 bombing.

“It won’t. That’s why we are going to try a different approach. We are going to infiltrate the depot, using as little force as possible,” Tivon said confidently.

“Again, you make it sound simple,” Marcellus repeated. Did he really think you could just put on some suits and that will be enough to fool them?

Tivon paused, narrowing his eyes at the wolf. “Again… It won’t. But Declan is working on something special for us. He’s making sure our IDs identify us as soldiers.”

Marcellus raised an eyebrow when Tivon did not continue. “Go on.”

“With our IDs we pose as soldiers. Before the shift change we ambush the guards on route to replace the garrison at the depot. We take their place, continue to the garrison. After the real guards leave we’ll have the place all to ourselves,” Tivon finished, clearly proud of himself for this plan.

“Won’t the current garrison have a record of exactly who is to be replacing them?” Marcellus inquired, looking for any and all holes in Tivon self-seemed flawless plan.

“Yea, that’s where you and Declan come in,” Tivon responded.

Marcellus's cocked eyebrow rose higher.

“Declan is goin’ to hack their system so that they will have a change of orders to allow a different set of guards – us – and when they go to confirm the orders, you’ll be there to give it to them.”

“Why me?”

Tivon huffed a humorless laugh. “You were a Templar, weren’t you? Unless that was all talk.”

Marcellus’s face dropped to a humorless, straight mask. “I was.”

“Then you know their procedures and how to talk to them. We’ve never had someone on the inside before. So, this plan, in this way, only works if you can do your part as needed. Can you?”

Marcellus thought for a moment. It had been years since he had been in a Templar. Something had to have changed by now. Then again, bureaucracy had its way of stifling such change. This thought made the plan more reasonable. Besides, most normal soldiers looked at Templars with reverence. So, by that alone he could bluff his way through. “I believe I can. But we need a plan in case they have changed things since my time.”

“If… that happens,” Tivon drummed his fingers on his rifle that lay on the desk. “We do things real easy-like.”

It was Marcellus’s turn to huff out a humorless laugh. If plan A did not work, in all likelihood there would be no plan B. He could not tell if Tivon was brave or stupid. He supposed a little of both, which made him dangerous.

“Sounds like a plan,” Marcellus said with finality. He stood and turned to head back to his spot underneath the entrance.

“Pretty boy,” Tivon said, stopping Marcellus. When the wolf turned to face him he continued. “I’m assumin’ you’re leavin’ after this mission?”

Marcellus just nodded.

Tivon let out a hiss of annoyance. “Whatevah man. I could give you the whole ‘savin’ the planet’ speech and the ‘you can make a difference’ spiel but that’d be no difference to you, won’t it.”

“You’re catching on,” Marcellus responded.

“And I don’t s’pose that offering you more money would be enough for a third job?”

Marcellus just shook his head. “Let’s just get this job over with so we can both go back to what we do best.”

Tivon sat there thoughtfully for a moment. He waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. “Pshh, fine. We did fine before you anyways.”

“And I’m sure you’ll do so when I’m gone.” Marcellus said, continuing on to his resting area.

“You’re damn right,” Tivon concluded.