Catten leaped towards the leader of the group, weapon in hand, ready to kill. What he didn't expect, however, was the tractor beam stopping him dead in his tracks. The officer walked towards him and said: "Parasol: 1, Catten: 0. Think before you act, next time." The officer beckoned, and a medic stepped forward. As they whispered, the medic took a syringe out of his pack. And when the officer stopped whispering, the syringe went into Catten's shoulder. The world faded away as he fell to the ground.
Catten woke up with a headache that was splitting his head in two, a bag over his head and bound hands. He sat like that for a while. As he heard someone approach, the bag was pulled away. He recognized the officer that his commander was supposed to meet for the payment. Both men sat silent, staring at eachother. The officer finally spoke. "So, how's life treating you, Catten?" Catten seemed a bit surprised with the question, as the officer seemed to talk about the fact that he ordered the extermination of his entire company like he was speaking about the weather. "Good enough. I still live, although my friends don't. Something for which I hold you responsible." He answered. The officer let out a faint bit of laughter. "You really think that was me? That, my friend, was your boss showing up to our assignment drunk. Then he made several comments about my mother's profession after I gave him the promised sum, which I let slide, seeing his condition and the amount of men he lost. I take he was well-known by the troops?" Catten was surprised. The Commander would never go to such a meeting drunk. She never drunk, at least not on the job. And she lived for that job, so either the officer was lying or the Commander was devastated by the loss of her troops. "With all due respect, but I think you're lying. The Commander lived for his job and wouldn't drink a single drop of alcohol." The officer was confused by this. "You mean, how could he not drink alcohol if he was a dwarf?" Catten seemed a bit shocked. "First, the Commander is female. Second, the Commander's an elf, like me. It appears, my friend, that we have both been tricked." The officer stayed silent in thought for a bit. After seemingly hours of thinking, the officer talked again. "I have a proposition for you. You find the dwarf that did this, and we'll pay you the amount we payed the fake commander, and we'll cover the funeral cost for your entire company. You will afterwards, should you want to start a company of your own, have "first call" rights on six of our contracts. Do we have a deal?"
Catten was shocked. It might be a ruse, but it might not be. "What happens if I refuse?" The officer looked at Catten, as if he were measuring him. "You'll be transported back to your family, where you will hopefully stay and won't get in the way of our operations." Catten thought about it. He thought for at least a while, with the officer sitting right across of him. "I take the deal, if I can get a squad for this mission, and access to the Parasol Armory before we start." The officer stood up and cut the rope holding Catten's hands together. "I'll have to speak to my superiors about that. Behind you is a coffee machine, with some snacks." As Catten walked to the coffee machine, he took a look at the snacks. Mostly M&M's, which he actually liked, mixed with nuts. He took a cup of coffee, along with some M&M's and nuts. After about half an hour, the officer came back in. "It's a deal. You get to compose your own squad, get full access to the armory and the money. Five thousand before, the rest after." Catten seemed pleased, as they shook hands and as he signed the contract. First up, he had to go and find an old friend of his...