With a soft crackle of electricity, Ghods materialized at the other end of the bar. A few startled patrons edged away from the sudden appearance of a 205 centimeter tall suit of light combat armor. A hiss of air and a stream of fog escaped the helmet as his suit repressurized to match the atmosphere of the bar. He nodded, and two nearby men in old Liberty Navy uniforms stood and made their way to the door. The tattered 9's on the shoulders of their shirts were quickly hidden under their coats as they left. Ghods turned his attention to the opposite end of the bar, to the woman in the kimono.

He walked across the room silently, handing off a large knife to a nearby Zoner security agent. "It really wasn't a trap." His tone is deadpan, yet somehow mocking at the same time. "You must be dumb, desperate, or reckless. Either way, I'm Romulus."

Netsakh took the liberty of telepathically skimming the mind of this Yuki. Not enough to find anything beyond surface level, but also not enough to trigger any sensation other than a chill up the spine. Their name was Sinon Yuki. They were about ten cycles younger than Netsak's bearer. Affiliated with the Liberty Navy. Deeply invested in Kusarian beliefs. Living parents. Netsakh stopped there. There was enough information to read her personality, and that's what their bearer needed.

"Talking is generally wasting time. Especially when there's no actual information being transferred." A light whirring noise came from his helmet as the ocular sensors there began adjusting. "So, what exactly do you want that you'd need a unaffiliated agency for? Surely not just unwillingness to get your hands dirty."

He flipped through the document and laughed, but it wasn't a funny laugh. It was more of a judgmental, grating laugh. "Locate and recover. Fair enough." He looked up from the document. "I guess daddy issues don't come cheep in Liberty. You said something about a teammate, right? Tell him he won't be needed." Ghods closed the document and looked over his shoulder. "I don't need someone getting in my way."

He paused for a few seconds, then added "Keep in mind: Finding someone who doesn't want to be found isn't easy or fun. You'd better hope you have what you need to pay your end of this deal."

Ghods shook her hand. "I'm pretty sure I can imagine exactly how important it is to you, but I digress." His helmet's ocular sensors adjusted again, followed by a sharp air intake and the sound of a few small latches. "I'll be in touch when I find something important." He turned away, and the air was filled with the crackle of electricity as he began to fade into the air. Before he had completely vanished, he tapped two fingers to the side of his helmet, a half-salute to his new employer.