At first he listened quietly but then there was something in Ryan that changed a bit then once Eric mentioned the Shalona fleet. His posture tensed a bit and his eyes stared at the man he held captive intensely. His finger remained on the trigger of his pistol, hand almost shaking. Surely he was joking, right? There was no way the Shalona fleet was still operational, Thomas had said it was disbandedâ€¦ Was everyone here a liar? Ericâ€™s tone was showing him that he was telling the truth but on the other hand some people were so good at lying. So much was not making sense and he felt his thoughts swimming around frantically as he struggled to make sense of things.<br/><br/>He wondered if he should believe the man or just kill him now. What bothered him the most was this business about a top secret mission; was it possible that after all these years he was finally busted? His family has lived on Blandar for awhile after fleeing Kemiel during the war that caused its destruction and since they have ran a successful drug business. Once he met Benito, Marcelo and Stefano among other people it just became better. Then Thomasâ€¦ Thomas came and gave him Winslow, explaining that he was from the â€˜disbandedâ€™ Shalona fleet, who controlled a lot of the law enforcement throughout all of space. Or something like that anyway. For all Ryan knew that was also a lie.<br/><br/>â€œShalona fleet?â€ Ryan raised an eyebrow. Despite his seemingly mad gaze, his tone of voice reverted back to the one he had first used. â€œI see. I knew you were too good to be true.â€ There was almost disappointment right then. Ryan holstered his gun and glared at Eric. â€œTake your friend and get out of here. And you can forget your mission, for if I ever see you in my city again I really will kill youâ€¦ well maybe not you per say, but your partner for sure.â€<br/><br/>He exhaled sharply through his nose and ascended the stairs. There was no say for sure if he truly did believe Eric, but if the Shalona fleet was involved he was not going to take that risk. Ryan hasâ€¦ history with themâ€¦<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>They werenâ€™t backing down at all and that was when Kat really began to worry about her safety. She could handle maybe one or two men, but since Benito had not been intimidated by being cut with a knife she was officially out of options and had to stand her ground. This would be the first time in a while she has had to deal with a situation like this and it brought back horrible memories. The men back then were probably around the same size as these, and just as scary, and she was about seventeen at the time. They really did a number on her even though she did her best to fight back and left her with a horrible scar both physically and mentally. She was almost panicking right now but she was far too stubborn to show it.<br/><br/>â€œYouâ€™ve made a mistake,â€ she said trying to sound as confident as she could. However, she knew that saw she was afraid, what they did not know was that when she had to fight for her life she would literally do so.<br/><br/>Instead using her fists however, almost lightning fast, she aimed her gun at Benito and shot him, watching as he dropped to the ground. One down two to go, but she was barely managing to hold her own with the other two. She managed to ram her knee into Marceloâ€™s gut and knock the wind out of him for a moment before striking him as hard as she could in the jaw with her fist. It felt like she was hitting metal and her knuckles stung; she frowned at the thought of it leaving a bruise but she had more important things to focus on now. Marcelo was still conscious and Stefano was eying her menacingly. She swallowed hard as she watched them and slowly they backed her into a corner against her will, and that was when the panic really started to set in.<br/><br/>â€œLet her go, boys.â€ A deep voice filed with authority suddenly shouted. She looked over to see a man with dark hair that was well built standing near the doorframe. There was an edge to his voice, like he was angry about something, but she didnâ€™t think much of it. â€œThese people are with the Shalona fleet.â€