Far above on the top floor, the Directors of The 26 begin their quarterly meeting. They all sit at a large round table made of onyx and quartz, elaborately designed to show the globe etched into its surface. Several bottles of wine and spirits are found next to glasses half full with ice and alcohol. Various charts, maps and papers rest in front of each individual as they go over the necessary paperwork for their organization. Zulu, Romeo, Juliet, Bravo, and Yankee let off a light laugh as they joke about some facts of their business. Yankee levitates a full glass of scotch with his magic as the forest green unicorn takes a seat, his reflection in the glass clear to reveal the various small scars found under his amber eyes. "I'm just saying, if we manage to improve our numbers by 4% withing the next few months, we'll be sitting easy for the rest of the year. So now that that's settled, let's move on to more pressing matters. Zulu, your thoughts?"

The Minotaur leans forward, his black armor lightly reflecting off of his charcoal coat, "To be honest Yankee, I feel we need to pull the plug on this. Now I know Agent 04 has shown tremendous progress under the Phantom Initiative, but we need to face facts: he's eluded capture ever since he intercepted the intelligence about the program, and more than likely he'll be here shorty to confront us about it. I know how much time and effort you put into his recovery and implementation of magic, but he's becoming less of an asset and more of a threat." Romeo and Juliet nod in agreement, the two griffons sifting their beverages about before taking a sip. "Lima says she's lost contact with him entirely, Bravo and Oscar's assumptions that she may have had a hoof in his retrieval of the files are now on point. Unfortunately even she has dropped off the map. The one thing we have going for us is that this is just an isolate incident, no other agents in the field have knowledge of what's going on."

"Of course they don't." Juliet interjects, letting out a light yawn and a stretch of her navy blue feathers. "We've had them spread out so much they don't even have any word unless it comes from our handlers. If Agent 04 manages to escalate the situation, we'll flag him and send a few of our own to take him down."

Romeo looks over to his mate, "You sure that's a good idea? I mean we sent a freelance agent after him just a few days ago and we haven't heard from him since. Knowing him he's been found out and now 04 is coming to get us. I don't even know why we're even having this meeting if all he has to do is just barge through that door."

Bravo's sudden chuckle draws Romeo's hazel eyes over to him, "Even if he does, we can handle him. We always come prepared Romeo, you know that, unless you forgot to bring your primary means of offense?"

The cracking of Romeo's knuckles are heard right after as he reveals his serrated, steel covered talons to the beige pegasus sitting across from him, "I always have that ready Bravo. Better than that lance you always lug around; but then again, that's not nearly as cumbersome as Zulu's mallet."

"Hey don't bring my Sasha into this." Zulu adds as he looks at the war-hammer resting next to him. The handle itself is certainly long enough for two handed use, the head itself is as large as his forearm. "She hasn't had any action recently and to be honest I'm sure she's ready for some. When 04 shows up I'll be sure to introduce them personally."

"Alright, that's enough." Yankee calls out, calming the others at the table. "Look, Foxtrot is going to be here, soon. Hell he knows that we're here and will more than likely try now to confront us; but we're not going to escalate the situation with violence." He leans back on his chair, his longsword spotted in the corner of his eye, "We're all adults here. We've all managed negotiations with hostile parties in the past, we treat this scenario no different than that. Fox is a bright kid, certainly not stupid enough to pull a stunt like that. Do I expect him to be pissed? Of course, with what he learned from that file why wouldn't he? But we explain the situation, calm him down, and open his eyes to the bigger picture here. If everything turns out as expected he'll be back with us enjoying the progress we've made and will look forward to furthering our cause."

"And if he doesn't?" Bravo asks as he leans forward onto the table.

Yankee pauses as he takes another sip of scotch, placing the cup down and pointing his hoof to the bottle across the table. His hoof lights up with his magic, encompassing the bottle as well and levitates it over to him. With the bottle in hoof he pours himself a refill. "Then we handle him the same way we handled his folks, plain and simple. Now, assuming he may show up today, I'm sure you've all brought your equipment?" The Directors nod in confirmation, "Good, now let's finish with our business here and get the hell out. If anything he may not even arrive in time for our departure."