◹][◸
THIRTEEN
Sieges are never something to look forward to; especially when you are the one doing the assaulting. Consider it from my point-of-view. As my fraudulent reputation makes it clearly evident, the men and women of the Imperial Guard (and more importantly, those of High Command) expect that I would be the forefront of any suicidal assault against an exceedingly well-defended position and somehow break through. That goes doubly when you become the Commissarial aide to the Lord General (Bless Zyvan's heart, I still remember his chef's dishes to this day). That was part of the reason why I had requested my reassignment to a frontline posting, as well as meeting up with the 597th*221, because any further would mean certain death.
Much to my satisfaction, I have no history on this primitive world. Even better, the natives know not of my reputation, at all! In fact, some (though not all) believe me to be a recent Arbites recruit on his first day of the job. Now, if I could maneuver myself to use the "SWAT" teams as human shields between myself and Harvey Bullock–all the more willing to die for humanity–then all the better and my greatest dreams have come true*222. Now, here comes the tricky part, how am I going to convince these trigger-happy idiots to not shoot the hostages, one who is immensely more important than the others.
'Listen Montoya, we gotta go in now.' Replacement Jurgen No.2 stated, leaning against the Arbites MCV*223. 'We got no choice.' Sparing a glance on the dataslate, the Genestealers have yet to gift the hostages their "kiss", which was a good thing. Less mess and clean up for me to do. Even better, Paula Crock is still alive and utterly stoic in the face of these Xenos. Though, I do wonder what had happened to her that made her like this. I blame her lunatic-of-a-husband and Artemis' sister for her state. That poor woman, nothing surprises her anymore*224. 'It's either we go now, or these Aliens start raping them. That includes the men too, y'know!' Oh yes, Harvey was busy arguing with Detective Montoya about tactics.
'But a full-frontal assault is suicide!' Renee Montoya shot back. I think I like her already. She has some common sense and she recognizes the importance of self-preservation. It truly is a miracle! 'What if they start executing hostages?!' Which I doubt, considering the fact that it is not in the Genestealer's nature to execute their victims. Still, given the time, they should be able to dig themselves out by now. So, why are they holding up like this? Then the vox buzzed to life.
'Detective Montoya!' The vox-operator beckoned. 'It's the Perp.' This is unusual.
'This is Detective Montoya.' She said into the vox. 'What are your demands?' Wait, are we going to negotiate?!
'We want twenty boxes of pizza and water.' It said, sounding remarkably smug. 'For the hostages.' I shared a look with Bullock, who frowned. I thought so, this isn't right. I looked at Montoya, crossing my arms.
'Alright, but you'll have to get me something in return. I want the hostages.' Montoya said, playing a tad too aggressive. Certainly, they won't agree to this!
'I shall give you three of the fifty I have here.' He stated, tone dripping with smug satisfaction. My palms were tingling. Something isn't right. The vox cut off.
'Shit.' Montoya swore. 'Fifty people inside.' She shook her head. 'Alright, Malcolm, go get the pizzas and water.' I took a look at the dataslate. 'Madré de Dios!' Which I presume to be a swear*225. If it was, it would sum up the situation rather succinctly.
'It is the most logical thing to do.' My knife-eared Xenos "ally" stated, no doubt trying to earn points in Montoya's camp. 'At the very least, it will buy us time to launch an assault.'
'I don't know kid.' Harvey remarked. 'My gut's telling me something's up. See, even Cain's feeling it!' Oi, leave me out of it! 'C'mon, tell 'em!' Damn it, I am not given a choice. If I don't tell her, Harvey may throw me off to some other troublemaker and I am certain that one would be much thinner than he would be.
'Admittedly, something about this situation is throwing me off.' I finally admitted, leaving a bit of a dramatic sigh. 'I don't know exactly what, but something about this isn't right.' I spared a glance at the front of the back. 'I would advise sharpshooters to get ready for anything.' Harvey was already calling it in. I guess he and I are of the same mind.
'Detective.' An officer said, peering through the door. 'Pizza and water is here.'
'Go ahead and get ready.' Montoya stated, and everyone got into position for the exchange. 'Alright, we got the food and water. Officers will go over and place it right outside the door. Then, you will release us the three hostages.'
'Perfect.' It said, and I was thumbing my palm harder. What am I possibly missing here? Rebba, the Xenos, nudged my shoulder.
'What are you thinking?' She asked, looking at the screen as the exchange was happening. It seemed normal. Just three prisoners, hunched over, in long thick coats. Then the coin dropped. They wouldn't, would they?
'Detective, get your men out of there now!' I barked, surprising her.
'What?!' Damn their hesitation! I hit the vox channel and gave it my best parade ground snap.
'Ambush!' Immediately, officers reacted and were running away. Just in time too. The supposed "prisoners" revealed their third arm–stubgun in hand–and opened up their coats to reveal explosives on their chest. Before they could get a shot off, sharpshooters took off their heads. Unfortunately, they must have had a dead man's switch because they exploded in a red glaze of icor and limbs. It was only then did the six perpetrators opened up, catching five un-armoured Arbites as well as one of those that escaped the attempted suicide bombing. To sum up the current situation, three instantly killed; an additional five were bleeding out; twenty boxes of "pizzas" and water were taken by the enemy; and nothing was gained. Obviously, the Arbites returned fire, all while I tried to keep my head down. This is going to be a long day*226.
A few hours passed and the firefight had turned into an uneasy cease-fire. Bullock had requested the intervention of this "New Jersey National Guard", some sort of Militia group*227 if I understand their purposes correctly. Good, let someone else take the brunt of the force instead of us. I knew I could trust my Replacement Jurgen! Now all we have to do is wait it out. I tried out these "Pizzas" they were talking about and I can't help but feel disappointed. It's simply a piece of flat, tasteless bread topped with red sauce and cheese. It's filling though, so I suppose that's enough for the Arbites but it really isn't my cup of Tanna.
'How long are we going to have to wait for the National Guard?!' Harvey bellowed, not unlike Jurgen when he realized his favourite pornoslate star unfortunately died while on the line of duty*228.
'A few more hours Harvey.' Montoya stated, as frustrated as he is. 'Apparently, the convoy sent to help us is held up. Something about a shooting.' Oh frak. 'They are taking in losses.' Oh frak, oh frak. 'The perps are said to have three-arms. Like our perps here.' This doesn't make sense! Why are they reacting like this?
'Is there something wrong, Cain?' The Xeno asked. 'You seem…perturbed.'
'Admittedly, this isn't normal Genestealer behaviour.' I admitted. 'There numbers are too few to launch a rebellion, let alone the lack of presence of their masters.'
'If that's the case, then they have a secondary objective.' She reasoned, peering over the trunk. 'And something tells me that the hostages are running out of time.'
'Meaning we cannot rely on the Guard.' I huffed, shaking my head. Just bloody typical of the civilian militia. 'We'll have to rely on ourselves.' Where's the bloody Justice League*229? I still can't quite grasp what these Genestealers are thinking. Why the raucous? Why now? On the screen, I saw Miss Crock still hold strong in the face of hard times. I don't think she's faking it either, unlike me. I truly pity this woman, yet admire her for such resolve. I think she may do well in the Imperium, at least as a Commissar. Suddenly, an explosion rocked the floor, breaking me off that line of thought. The Arbites around me, and myself, saw the smoke rising in the distance. Followed by a second.
'God damn!' Harvey shouted, nearly throwing me off balance when his gut rammed into my back. 'The hell's going on?!'
'It's not good Harvey.' Montoya stated, a vox in one ear. 'Gordon said that these freaks rushed into the business district and a known Falcone hideout and blew themselves up.' Then she winced, almost throwing the vox aside. 'Madre de dios! Shots fired! He's asking for reinforcements.' I certainly hope they don't pick me to go. Thankfully started yelling at any one mucking about to go. Good for them, those battle-crazed maniacs. Though, with how many being sent, our hold around the bank is considerably weakened. They may even try to break out, and with no telling how many are inside, they may be successful too. This is all too convenient. Then the coin dropped.
'Harvey, wait!' I began, just before the last car could drive off. 'We gotta attack now!'
'What, you crazy?!' He shouted, getting attention towards us. 'These freaks are blasting the city and starting shootouts! We gotta wipe them out!'
'Exactly! They are doing just that to divert attention.' I quickly stated. 'And they have to get their orders from somewhere, and it isn't via vox.'
'What are you saying?!' Harvey asked, or half-shouted. I could never quite tell with him.
'The Xenos communicate telepathically.' I said. 'And if they are doing this much to divert attention and prevent reinforcements, that means the leadership is at the bank!' His eyes widened, as did Montoya's and Rebba's.
'Shit.' He blinked, shocked as I am. 'But wait, how the hell did they know we called in the National Guard?' I looked at the Arbites in the vehicle. The one closest to the door reacted, third arm ripping through her armour and aiming right at Harvey. Fortunately for my Jurgen, I was quicker on the draw with my baton and smacked the offending weapon out of its grasp, allowing the fellow officers to blast it at point blank range.
'Harvey, how many cars did you send out?' Montoya asked, and Harvey growled, throwing the body out and waving his fellow Arbites around him..
'Five cars.' He began loading shells into his shotgun. 'And I had enough of this body-snatching bullshit. We're going in.' Harvey turned to the others. 'Alright, if those bastards are taking orders from here, let's give them a nice Gotham welcome for trying to muscle in on our home.' That has got to be the worst speech I ever heard, but with the amount of cheering, I guess they were just about fed up as he was and these insane frakkers rushed up the steps and storm the bank. I, of course, was dragged along with them, lest I want to get trampled by Harvey and lose what little reputation I gathered with the Gotham Arbites. Rebba had much the same thought, and had forced herself to run with us, visibly looking exhausted.
To my utter astonishment, the Genestealers were ill-prepared and the six perpetrators that we know of were blasted at point blank range…and their bodies were riddled with bullets long after they expired. No quarter was given. When we located the hostages, they weren't removed as I was expecting them to do. I guess after the morning's shock, the Arbites were hesitant to even touch them. Some of the hostages tried to rush them, and were subsequently fired upon and killed on the spot. It took Harvey and Montoya a good five minutes to calm them down.
'Alright kid, you can tell the difference between a body-snatcher and a human so go through them and see which one's which.' Harvey said, clapping my back, a grin on his face. Great, now I'm the first one they'll attack when they get discovered. Fine, the faster I get this done, the faster I free Paula Crock and have her milkshakes.
'Can everyone please remove their shirts and hats.' I barked, much the same way I would use on the more irritating infractures committed by my guardsmen. They hesitated. 'That wasn't a request! If you don't want to be shot as a body-snatcher, you will remove your shirts and hats!' Almost immediately, twenty fell upon me. At least, they tried but the trigger happy Arbites killed them. Good, twenty-seven left. They seem clean, but one can never quite tell. I examined them, spotting five with tattoos. They seemed lithe, but then again, so was Kamella. 'These five!' Before they could bring about their hidden weapons, they were fired upon. I stopped at Paula, spotting a scar on her torso. I bit my lips.
'Miss Crock.' I tested, and her eyes reached mine, a certain sharpness upon me.
'Yes Ciaphas?' Eyes weren't vacant.
'How did you get that scar?' I said, kneeling down. 'And yes, this is important.'
'I got this after an…incident.' She sighed, leaning back. 'It isn't something I'm proud of.' Ah, I see. Her ex-husband must have done this. I'm happy she escaped him. I whipped around to see three others.
I snapped my fingers, getting groggy eyes at me. 'How did you get that scar?' I asked the one beside Paula.
'I don't know.' He slurred. 'Th-They just grabbed me but they suddenly just let me go.'
'When was this?' I asked, looking at Paula, who shook her head.
'I don't know.' I went to the other three. Same answer, same vacant eyes. I turned back, and only now did they hesitate. Montoya and Harvey included. I quickly un-holstered my sidearm and shot all three of them in the head.
'What the hell kid?!' Harvey barked, ready to pounce on me. I shook my head, finding a retractable knife*230 and sliced open the wound, ignoring the horrified gasps from the Arbites, and felt round with blood-slick fingers. I found what I was looking for and pulled it out, that familiar fibrous bundle of organic material. The Arbites gagged, one threw up, and Montoya looked at it.
'What is it?' Montoya asked, face paling.
'A genestealer implant.' I stated plainly. 'Once it takes root in a host, it gradually subverts their own genetic identity, turning any offspring into hybrids. A generation or two after that you start to get pure-strains showing up, along with hybrids almost indistinguishable from humans, and the taint continues to spread.' I might be reiterating what Amberley said, but it'll get my point across*231.
'This is sickening.' Rebba said, staring at it. 'I can see why you wish to use extreme measures.'
'So are these guys free to go?' Harvey asked, nonchalantly aiming a barrel at one of them. 'We got a good amount of hostages left.' He's right. Nineteen hostages remained and I could call it a day. Yet, I still felt something wasn't right.
'What about the attacks?' I asked, turning to a vox-operator.
'Gordon's calling it.' He stated. 'They seem to be running scared.' Not good. They could be driving right towards us to defend their master.
'That means we still haven't gotten their leader.' I frowned, taking a look at the remaining hostages. They were all terrified, sans Paula, and some were begging to go home. After all that they witnessed, I wouldn't blame them, but if I did then this whole mess will happen again, and I'll be on the frontlines again. This has to end now.
'I wish I had a gene-scanner.' I grumbled, rubbing the back of my head. 'This would make things so much easier.'
'I have one.' Rebba said, pulling out a dataslate. Quite frankly, I was shocked. What rational mind would ever decide to bring a gene-scanner here? Only Cogboys would do that! Still, if she's offering.
'Alright, please scan them.' I said, and I allowed her to get to work. She collected a sample of blood from each person, all while I relaxed. Good, she was on the firing line now, and I can throw her to their grasps if worse comes to worse. It was all going so smoothly, until a certain irritating Team arrived.
'What's going on here?!' Robin shouted, his impractical throwing knives*232 in between each finger.
'Searching for the aliens among us.' I stated, waiting for the results. While I am hesitant to trust xenos-technology, but I felt safe. If it failed, I could blame it on her. If it succeeded, I won't be used for frontline duties anymore.
'Commissar.' Kaldur said, bringing my attention to him. Fortunately, he seemed to convince Robin to stay out of it so only we can talk. He scanned the mess I had created, and he was in shock. 'What have you done?'
'As I told Robin, searching out the Genestealers among us.' I answered, trying to hide my frustrations. Though, by the look from his face, I failed. 'I understand how it looks, but there is a good reason for this, I assure you.'
'Please do.' He said, grimacing at the mess. 'Because this could lead to your dismissal from the Justice League and possible incarceration.' That earned him a harsh laugh from the Arbites, and a glowering look from both Detectives.
'I can explain later.' I sighed, before turning to the machine. 'How long will this take?'
'Too long.' Rebba huffed, playing around with it. 'We may be here for a few hours if I'm unlucky.' Yes, that is indeed too long. I want to go to Paula's house and get those milkshakes already! Unless…
'Aqualad.' I approached, mainly so I could whisper. 'Kaldur. Can you bring M'gann over. I need her Psyker abilities to read their minds.'
'I can do that.' He agreed. 'Only if you take them prisoner.' Damnation Kaldur, not now!
'I cannot do that.' I hissed. 'This isn't a species you can negotiate with. They will do whatever they can to bring forth their masters, and trust me when I say that their masters will eat everything in this world that has biomass.'
'Explain.' He's going to make me beg. Fine, a little embarrassment here is better than dying horribly.
'Please Kaldur.' I whispered. 'They will eat everyone. As much as it pains you, the Team, and the League, if we let them free, they will telepathically contact their masters. They will bring a fleet of bio-ships to Terra. They will eat this world until it becomes a husk. This is life and death here.'
'I will ask for M'gann.' He sighed. 'Only if she reads your mind to verify your claims.'
'Very well, but she must make it quick.' I huffed, rubbing my forehead. No reply. Probably telepathically communicating with the xenos. I walked to both Montoya and Harvey, rubbing the back of my head. 'I understand how disturbing all this may feel, but–'
'Don't bother kid.' He said, arms crossed. 'This alien bullshit is nasty enough as it is. For them to do this to our people, our home, well I ain't keen on taking them prisoner anytime soon.' Harvey referred to Montoya. 'What about you Montoya?' She looked catatonic, whispering something like "Esta something something mi madre*233." I don't know much of the local lingo to understand what that means. I have Amberley to help with that*234. 'Right, listen kid, GCPD will back you up for this. You got my guarantee and the Commissioner's.'
'Thank you, Detective.' I let out a small sigh escape me. If they are willing to support me, then I would be safe from any wrath of the Justice League. Moreso if the Commissioner and his closest friend is willing to go this far for me. After a few moments, Kaldur approached me, head shaking. Damn it, I'll have to rely on the xeno's dataslate. Still, better to firm up Kaldur's support for me.
'I must ask, how did you know to come look for me?' I wondered, making the Abhuman snort in pure amusement.
'Robin told us.' He answered. 'Batman has put a tracking device on your person.' Ah, so that's how it is. Still, why come now?
'Where's the rest of the Justice League?' I pressed on. 'I would have expected them here first.'
'They are currently preoccupied by a League-level threat. It was Red Tornado who asked us to assist you in the chaos occurring around Gotham.' He briefed. 'By the time we arrived, everything seemed well-in-hand and we were helping with cleanup.' He looked at the bodies. 'Is it truly as bad as you say it is?'
'It is.' I readily admitted. 'This always happens in preparation to the main invasion. Anybody infected by its taint will become part of the Hive Mind.'
'Is there no way to free them?' He pressed.
'No, there isn't.' I reiterated. 'They are fully devoted to the Hive Mind. Believe me, we tried.' Before we could speak more of this, Rebba interrupted our conversation.
'Got something!' She brought the dataslate up and I scanned it. 'We got lucky!' Thank the Emperor she colour coded this, overwise I would have lost my mind trying to decipher what it says.
'I'm assuming everything in green is human, and everything in red is not?' I queried, already counting the number of green in one hand.
'That's right.' She said, a grim smile on her face. 'At least, we would expel this virus from this world.' She showed it to the others, and they immediately opened up. There were only five humans left, out of the fifty that were taken hostage.
Clean up was always something I never did enjoy. It was always such a mess, let alone the fact I didn't have Jurgen here to do the job for me. Still, I had to do what I must if I were to keep my reputation with the GCPD. True, while my work with the Team has gone to waste, I can trust that they won't kill me. The Justice League was still in debate about my actions, but I know my supporters will ensure I won't be thrown in prison*235. Speaking of my actions, Amberley had alerted me that the Cult around New Jersey had fallen into disarray because of my actions. Apparently, my actions at the bank had killed both Magus and Primus*236 of the Cult. As such, the Genestealers had been effectively wiped out of New Jersey. I had wondered why they reacted this way, and Amberley had admitted something about the residents being too undesirable to be used as effective hosts*237 and left it at that. I didn't feel like pushing her any further than that.
Still, with much of the work done within a few days, I was finally invited back to the Crock's home and I can finally enjoy her milkshakes!
I knocked on the door, and Artemis answered it. She then caught me in an embrace, which I was not anticipating at all*238. I patted her back, feeling her tears wetting my shoulder. 'Thank you. Thank you Cain.'
'Just doing my duty.' I replied, nonchalantly, and thus cementing my reputation before her eyes.
'Sorry.' She said, pulling back to wipe her tears. 'It's just that, mom is about the only thing I have left.'
'No need to mention it.' I smiled, trying to look demure. 'I just got lucky.' She smirked and lightly hit my shoulder.
'Sure you were.' Artemis said, dragging me along. 'Mom, Cai's here!' Oh Emperor damn it! First it was Divas, now Artemis! Why do they want to use the shortened version of my name anyhow?! Keep it together Ciaphas. All of it for a chance to have milkshakes.
"Ciaphas, welcome back." Paula said, rolling up to embrace me. "I wished to thank you once again for saving my life and those that haven't been body-snatched."
'Believe me when I say that I came as quickly as I could.' I said, meaning every word I said. 'I try to save those I could, of course.' Just in case she had any doubts and I needed to sway them.
'I know, I saw how much it pained you to do it.' Does everyone in the Crock family have a bad sense of character? Possibly. 'But I know you did it because you saw no other option left.' I turned to Artemis.
'Batman decided to tell the rest of the Team. He had even given up on finding a nonlethal way to save the body.' Artemis stated, which was a change of pace. 'Apparently, the virus is too complex, too adaptive that anything we could try now would be useless.'
'So what is the League going to do?' I asked, unable to help my own curiosity.
'Something about expanding space observation posts, a closer relation with Mars.' Artemis shrugged. 'Don't really know besides that.'
'Enough talk about work.' Paula said, whacking both of our arms. 'Let us eat.' Couldn't have asked for anything better! I was just about to dig in when my vox activated. I apologized and turned it off. Nothing will stop me now! Then Artemis' vox rang, and she turned it off. Persistent frakkers, aren't they. Then Paula's. Well, we turned off all the phones so we could eat. For the next hour, we were happily eating, and enjoying our dinner. We got all the way through and were just about ready for dessert when the doorbell rang.
'Could just be a door-to-door salesman.' I suggested, but the doorbell rang again and Artemis excused herself. I licked my lips, seeing the milkshake right before me with this "whipped cream" and "red cherry" on top. So close, so close.
'Cai!' Artemis called, and I forced myself to look away to see Batman, Black Canary, and the Greenskin enter.
'Commissar.' Batman began. 'We're here to discuss with you an incident that happened recently.'
'If it's about the Genestealer Cult, then I assure you that there are reasons for what I had done.' I hurriedly explained, praying that my dessert didn't melt by the time I finished my conversation with them. 'There was nothing more I could have done.'
'It isn't about that.' Black Canary said, sounding oddly soothing. 'It's not about the "terrorist" cell you and Artemis found at Gotham either. Something happened at StarLabs.'
'StarLabs?' I pondered. 'I'm not familiar with it.'
'It is where most of the Justice League's technology comes from.' Black Canary stated. 'It also happened to be where scientists had begun trying to replicate a way for you to return home.' Now, that sounds highly far-fetched*239. 'Well, let's just say, they found someone.' They actually did it*240?!
'Well, who did they find?' I asked, and the Martian presented me with the Dataslate. My eyes widened in shock. No, it can't be. How did she find herself here? How is she this young again?
'Felicia Tayber?'
Editorial Note:
What follows was a US Government After-Action Report transcript regarding the "Terror Attack" in Gotham. Suffice to say, most of the government officials acted exactly how I predicted them to act, sans the few I believe to be reliable. I think you'll be able to pick out which I would have approved. For now, their plans are still in its infancy and I would like to give it a chance to flourish. If anything, there is potential. Better yet, given the amassed resources of the United States, it could prove a useful pawn to protect Holy Terra and hold it until the Emperor's Grace reveals Himself. For now, I shall be holding the line.
Incident 09-10-10, September 12th, 2010
President Buford "Bull" O'Neil: Jack, will you calm down for one second. C'mon, you gotta breathe man.
Senator (NJ) Jackson Carlie: [deep breaths] Sorry Bull. It's just, the people are calling for my head! What was I supposed to do? I didn't know terrorists would attack some piece-of-shit gothic nightmare, let alone Alien terrorists!
Bull: Hey, I'm not blaming you. None of us are. We didn't expect it, like how we didn't expect 9/11. But let's table that for now. First off, we gotta come up with a way to protect ourselves. General, you got any ideas?
General Wade Eiling: As of now, nothing. Fighting them in a head-on fight isn't going to be a problem, since they lack any form of air support. Problem is, we don't know how long that'll stay like that. These aliens are infiltrators and they won't attack until the time calls for the actual invasion. Like it or not, we have to be thorough with our DNA testing…and excise them and their family if possible.
Secretary Hailey Hall: The people won't stand for it! It is unconstitutional! They will never agree to government sanctioned military hitman murdering men, women, and child. I will protest this!
National Security Agency Director Smith: Unfortunately, we may not have a choice. Right now, I am having all operations suspended pending my approval. I'm sure Director Jane is doing the same thing.
Central Intelligence Agency Director Jane: As are all of our overseas allies and adversaries. This wasn't the only attack. China had one too, but had kept it quiet. They are going to be increasing their internal security measures.
Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Julia Hawkens: My Agents will be reviewing all potential targets for the alien threat, as well as the current discovery of Aliens on our shores.
Secretary George Bowman: Oh yeah, those illegal aliens came over to our shores! We gotta have better security against them coming in through space.
General Wade Eiling: Well, what do you want us to do? Launch a SAM against all air targets that don't comply?
Secretary George Bowman: If you have to, yes. No damn alien is coming here to steal my job!
[collective facepalm]
President O'Neil: Ignoring that comment, what is true is that we are vulnerable. We are under attack by body-snatchers. So how about this? I funnel more money into NASA so they make more telescopes to see deep into space for some Alien invasion force. I send money to the military to ramp up training. I put money into hospitals so they have better stuff to detect aliens. Let see, what else…right, and maybe coordinate with Allies and see what they think?
[collective agreement sans one]
Amanda Waller: That won't be enough.
President O'Neil: What do you suggest, Ms. Waller?
Amanda Waller: You are all thinking defensively. Giving initiative to the Aliens. At some point, we will have to attack.
General Wade Eiling: The Chiefs and I believe we might never have the initiative against the Aliens. Not until we secure our homefront, which may take years.
Amanda Waller: That's why we go unconventional. I believe you have my report for Task Force X.
CIA Director Jane: The one where we recruit criminals to perform black ops on behalf of the United States Government?
Amanda Waller: The very same. They already have the gear for it, and they are already trained to fight. We just need to give them a target, and motivation to do it.
President O'Neil: I don't know. It seems like a tall order anyhow we cut it.
Amanda Waller: A small price to pay for the safety of our country.
President O'Neil: Shelf it for now, but bring out a list of possible candidates when the time comes.
Amanda Waller: I already have.
—FOOTNOTES—
221. See Ciaphas Cain: Hero of the Imperium – For the Emperor. In a brief summary, Ciaphas Cain had formed the Valhallan 597th from two fractured regiments (that being the all-male 301st and the all-female 296th) where they still exist to this day.
222. Aside from meeting me, of course.
223. To follow the Imperial Guard's penchant obsession with three-letter abbreviations: Mobile Command Vehicle. The Gotham City Police Department (GCPD) uses a heavily modified variant of the MCV. At a glance, it bewildered me as to why the GCPD even needed a turret until I read deeper. Read: Arkham Asylum Inmates.
224. Little does Cain know that Paula Crock is also an assassin. He still has trouble wrapping his head around the fact. Honestly, she wasn't born on a wheelchair!
225. Meaning, Mother of God, in Spanish. Assuming I have my translation correct. Bane is, if nothing else, rather eloquent in his syntax.
226. Somewhat true, but not exactly.
227. The National Guard is a state-based military force that forms up what makes up the reserves for the larger, Federal United States Military. By the Imperium's standards, they could be what amounts to the actual Planetary Defence Force considering the fact that the United States possesses military bases around the world. Though, I find myself unimpressed by their "Marine Forces".
228. Cain isn't exaggerating, nor making a euphemism. Pornoslate star, Helouise "Cinder" Falls had enlisted into the local PDF and acquitted herself for multiple counts of heroism and death-defying stunts that were pivotal in the war to defend her world against the Ruinous Powers. Unfortunately, her death by a heretic shooting her in the back just as the world was retaken had shocked many of her fans, men and women, in the Guard. It took a good month for Jurgen to fully mourn for his loss.
229. They are a little bit preoccupied, by my design. I had ordered the launching of several kidnapping operations of key astronomers, scientists, and the like. At least, that is what my warband Lieutenants believe. In actuality, Bane and I wished to test a chemical weapon. I won't bother going into the specifics, but it has a history of promoting Risus Sardonicus. It was our hope that it would wipe out the Genestealers with efficiency. As predicted, and to my surprise, it was immensely effective against the enemy. Oddly enough, Batman managed to get a small dose, and had to be knocked out for the time being. All-in-all, I got the data I required, none of my warband were discovered, potentially harmful factors had been eliminated, and I got a gift for Sanguinala. God-Emperor, I was exhausted that day.
230. Box cutters, Ciaphas. Those were box-cutters.
231. More like outright plagiarism. That is what I said, word-for-word!I demand compensation Cain! But, at least this proves you do listen to me, so I can't help but feel touched.
232. Bird-a-rangs, Ciaphas.
233. She probably said, "Esta podría haber sido mi madre." or "This could have been my mother." I could tell you, with some degree of confidence, that anybody that tries to hurt the family of any Spanish-speaking man, woman, and child will expect no mercy from them. Bane's words, not mine.
234. Is that the only reason you have me along, Ciaphas?
235. They were actually debating your punishment. Mainly for the summary killings you did. Your usual supporters were advocating for leniency and a simple timeout on some vacation island. As well as some therapy sessions for your "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder." They believed you were having flashbacks and defaulted to your training in the stress. They were actually winning out too in the discussion.
236. Right and left hands of the Patriarch, respectively. With the death of both figures the Genestealer cult had been thrown into disarray. When local National Guards moved in to conduct a Search & Destroy effort, they came across a Purestrain Genestealer that has yet to turn into a Patriarch.
237. Bane had let slip to The Joker that there were some aliens operating a cult in Gotham. Apparently, the "Clown Prince of Crime" took immense offence to that. I believe he said, and I quote here, "Forgive my inhospitality, but terrorizing Gotham is my job." before he rushed to meet the Genestealers in open combat and melted them with an…Acid-spewing gun, Joker Venom, and bombs attached to wind-up dolls…all while laughing maniacally. I don't know, that's what it said on the report.
238. Seriously Cain? You just saved her mother. Why wouldn't she embrace you?
239. I was in agreement with Ciaphas. It was ridiculous. They kept muttering on about some wave-particles and radiation this-and-that.
240. Yes, they did.
