The Cerberus Files: Historical Analysis of Citadel and Terminus Space
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Beloved Jack, brave Rachel, and … well, screaming, angry Richard.
I take it from the rather impressive response to my last missive that Cerberus projections of the salarian military were somewhat understated. I have warned you repeatedly about confirmation bias, and I am glad that at least Rachel sees the importance of hard facts instead of propaganda in determining the threat the salarians present.
The salarians delight in being underestimated. I see no reason to oblige them.
The laid-back nature of the Black Rim colonies does not mean they are not dangerous. I am fairly certain STG units are tailing us. Miranda remains calm, but the endurance of that state of mind will not last forever. I believe that, after I finish up some last bits of talking and research, a short jaunt to the Citadel to meet up with one of your protective details is in order.
Events in the galaxy are becoming disturbing. The assault on Eden Prime was bad enough, but the most recent stories are linking Cerberus to Saren's forces. Saren's removal from the ranks of the Spectres has sent shockwaves through the media, and naming of a human Spectre has focused too much attention on your kind for Miranda to not stand out. I am sending her on ahead to the Citadel. I will obtain the information on last part of my report on my own and then follow.
As an aside, your 'thoughts of the day' are becoming increasingly disturbing. Is there no way to perhaps send messages that are more positive?
Cerberus Thought for the Day: Purge the asari witch. Immolate the batarian heretic. Suffer not the turian murderer to live.
Modes of Address:
Unlike my own people, the salarians do not truly bother with titles. Males are rarely, if ever, referred as anything but the polite turian borrow-word of 'cera', which is roughly equivalent to "good man" or "sir" in your language. Females, aside from dalatrasses, are called sisters among their own kind, and are addressed as 'young mother' by males.
The nobility are not much pickier about their mode of address. For most social situations, dalatrass is the title that will serve best.
Where possible (and such information is hard to find) I have included the full name of the salarian in question, with the exception of the Dalatrasses, whose full names are on public record and which reveal nothing of their true personality in any event.
High Dalatrass Linron Shuel, Dalatrass of the Shuel: the highest figure in salarian governance, the High Dalatrass is a bitter figure that is fighting for her political life against more adept foes and shifting family alliances. Linron is, to put it delicately, difficult, and to put it bluntly, bitchy. She was never chosen formally to breed, instead ascending to the position of family dalatrass through a series of accidents that claimed the life of her mother and elder sister. As such, while she is accorded the respect of the title, there a subtle undercurrent of disrespect for her.
While a cunning political operator, her ascension to the position of High Dalatrass had less to do with her own abilities and more to do with the ugly fight between Family Ergii and Family Manno, and quiet possibly the manipulations of Dalatrass Ergii. Linron is the first High Dalatrass in over a thousand years to not hail from the 'old blood', and her rule has not been smooth. Many on Sur'Kesh of the older families do not respect her, while the Yaan and Solus ignore her almost entirely, which only makes her more upset.
She has extensive (but not truly impressive) wealth, numerous (but not truly impressive) political connections, and sufficient (although, again, hardly impressive) sway with the business sector of salarian life. Like most Shuel, she is obsessed with guilds and the economy, and the bulk of her time is spent on mediating between the Service and Craft Guilds. As a leader of the Union, she is rather ineffective. She understands nothing of the military, little of foreign policy, and is sadly arrogant and self-centered.
Her potential political power is further neutered by her scramble to support her position, which has left the fortunes of her family somewhat in decline. Her main saving grace is her strong relationship with Councilor Valern, which at least gives her some influence in larger events – not that she uses it much, but it allows her to trade for other favors.
Venoth Yian Ergii, Dalatrass of the Ergii Family: A very dangerous salarian, Yian is one of the most paranoid beings in the known galaxy. She travels with a private bodyguard of no less than six Shieldbreakers and two asari commandos at all times, usually stiffened by a full regiment of Family Guards. Her normal residence is a private dreadnaught, which is docked inside the protective defenses of one of Sur'Kesh's moons and the gaze of the Home Fleet. She will not eat any food she has not prepared herself, wears full body armor with air filtration at all times, has a complete hospital setup on her dreadnaught, and hasn't been seen in public in the past six years.
For all of that, she is one of the most dreadfully sharp political players I have seen in my entire life, fully capable of steering events to her satisfaction with almost elegant casualness. Her ability to read people is legendary – rumors claims she studied with Wheel Mystics in her youth, although that cannot be confirmed. Her cunning has lead the Ergii to vast wealth and control of almost all research and development in the Union itself. Her plans have continually derailed the fortunes of the Manno Family to the point of madness, and she is widely believed to be the true power behind Linron's rise to the position of High Dalatrass.
Her objectives are murky, but if she is continuing the plans of her predecessors, her main goal is very simply to ensure the safety of her Family first, and the dominance of Ergii over every aspect of education, research, and science. Her influence over the Sparak, if not the RRC, is dominating, and even your Commissariat could learn from her ability to twist propaganda to her own ends. An entire generation of salarians has grown up in an educational system dominated by Ergii teachers and Ergii haptic programming, and the families alliances have grown sixfold since that started, a trend that will only accelerate with time.
Venoth Sersai Manno, Dalatrass of the Manno Family : There is something in the task of, I supposed, being reduced to a brood mare for half one's life that makes most dalatrasses irritable and of poor humor. Sersai is no exception. Much like Linron, only the truly charitable could call her anything but abrasive. She is arrogant, dismissive of aliens, overly sensitive to criticism, and above all else, intolerant of dissent. Unlike Linron, her abrasive nature is backed up with a cool mind and an ability to turn on the charm when she absolutely has to.
The Manno fortunes have waned in the past decade, since a spat in a breeding contract between Family Manno and Family Ergii turned nasty. It resulted in a feud that has since devolved into a cold war, one fought with intelligence and economic sniping. This was not helped by a splinter of the males of the Family breaking away to join the Eclipse mercenary band (See Jaroth, below), smearing the Family name with sordid crimes.
Despite this, Manno's focus on banking and their control over what information reaches the Court of the High Circle ensures that the family is not down for the count yet. Sersai has been in recent months seen in the company of the always-dangerous Muvai Solus, and the two families have recently begun a series of new colony expansions being called the "Silver Rim" by families moving there. I am not yet sure why she is moving Manno away from it's traditional focus on Sur'kesh issues, but it has certainly stirred up a great deal of gossip. It also has the potential, if successful, of rejuvenating the Manno ranks with fresh blood and new markets and income to bolster their forces with.
Sersai is also notable for her like of turian technology and military concepts, going so far as to hire two turian mercenary bands to augment her Family forces. She has an excellent relationship with the Primarch and is often a guest on Palaven.
Venoth Muvai Solus, Dalatrass of the Solus Family: I cannot stress this strongly enough, Jack. For the love of the Goddess, don't underestimate this female. She hates Cerberus in ways I cannot enumerate, and if she ever locates our forces she will fully attempt to slaughter the entire organization. Your poorly thought out murder of two of her sons has made her our most powerful enemy.
Muvai Solus is a salarian so reckless and dangerous that even other Solus family members are terrified of her, and this comes from a Family whose motto basically translates to "You can only die once". Muvai was one of the very, very few females who spent time in the salarian military, going so far as to prod her sisters into bearing eggs while she tried (but failed) to actually enter the STG. Rebuffed at this goal, her attention turned to the design of military vessels. The most recent assault frigate design is hers, and so are the VI-backed drones that now reinforce many a salarian warship.
Finally taking control of her family after the terrorist group Remembrance killed her mother, sisters and most of her brothers, she endured a full year of egg-laying for the sake of tradition before ceasing to take up the role of dalatrass. She has browbeaten the Ministry of Defense to her every whim and has no problems with literally shouting down even salarian admirals on how to run the Navy.
Murvai personally lead the STG and military strike that destroyed Remembrance, and her sons are no less fearsome, the group including two Spectres, an assassin who took out several of the Shadow Broker's intel operatives, and a biotic form master. She only has two surviving brothers, both of which are just as dangerous as her: General Sasin Solus, senior commander of the salarian military, and Professor Mordin Solus, an STG doctor and scientist rumored to be involved with genophage research. Her connections are also impressive, as she is on good terms with many military leaders of various races and is seen by many as the best fit for Daltriana should war arise in the near future.
Muvai is staggeringly, insanely wealthy, in a fashion that boggles the mind. Her families gamble on the Black Rim colonies paid off in spades, and she has more money than the entirety of the Ashlands and Windsors of Earth combined. Even the most conservative estimates of her wealth come in at twenty to twenty two billion credits, not even counting her investments!
Her Family's fixation on the military has lead to them basically establishing a private fleet roughly the size of a squadron, with a dreadnaught known as the Curiosity as the flagship. This is backstopped by a private army that rivals the entire defense force of the drell.
Muvai has been repeatedly involved (in both a business and sexual sense) with Matriarch Thessial, the eccentric leader of the asari Steelshape Clans. The wild parties the two have thrown are … quite extensive and entertaining, if you go in for hallucinogenic drugs and maidens barely old enough to call themselves such. Their military and scientific collaborations are even more frightening, as the two of them have a very wide range of shared investments, from weapons factories on Korlus to backing R&D firms on Ilium. Muvai herself recent purchased Armax Arms for over eleven billion credits, an act that sent shockwaves through the military community. Already Armax's lineups are changing from blunt assault to more elegant and refined stock.
Muvai is not reclining figure presented by most dalatrasses. I have met her only once, but she was slim, very fit, and fiercely intelligent. For all of that, she is probably the most morally bankrupt creature I know of, and will stop at nothing to ensure her family is ascendant. Rumors state she has begun to cast her eye on the position of High Dalatrass, and if true then Linron's days in the role (and her life, most likely) are numbered.
Venoth Chara Yaan, Dalatrass of the Yaan Family: Thankfully, Chara is unlike most dalatrasses, and is neither insane nor grumpy. A sensible, elegant figure often seen on the Citadel at social parties and fundraisers, she is an intimate of the entire Citadel Council as well as many business figures on the Citadel.
Refined and educated, Chara only loosely dabbles in Family affairs, her staggering twenty six daughters doing most of the work for her. Yaan spends the bulk of her time engaged in political maneuvering with the Council of Matriarchs, the Patriarchy, and your own SA Parliament, and is the primary mouthpiece of the Salarian Union's viewpoint. She is not the Union ambassador, but since the salarian holding that role and the current councilor are both related to her, she might as well be.
Chara seemingly has no goals aside from ensuring the Salarians can call on their allies if need be, often smoothing over difficulties caused by cultural disconnects and the acts of other Families. I've met her several times, and she always struck me as very hard to read. Not false, precisely, but I had the impression that whatever she was doing that moment was but an afterthought, and her true attention was … elsewhere.
As a rule, when you are entertaining the most powerful asari in the galaxy (I was there with the Solarch and six of the Thirty), I find it hard to imagine what could be more important than the conversation at hand.
Rumors state that she is beginning to suffer the onset phase of Shego's Fire, and there already fierce jockeying within the family to determine who will be the next Dalatrass. That will undoubtedly neutralize the Family's long-term goals for the next year or two.
Venoth H'tho Di Daaso, Dalatrass of the Daaso Family: Of all the Six, H'tho is the strangest. Her name indicates she is a full-fledged Mystic, and she spends the majority of her time engaged in meditation, seeking the path from which her Family should walk. Her predictions have ensured that, while Daaso has not made any staggering jumps in prosperity, they have avoided any of the setbacks the other Families have.
A quiet salarian female who dresses in plain white robes, she puts me in mind of meditating Justicars when it comes to her focus. The disturbing thing about her, of course, is that she is in frequent communications with the STG, the STG Master, and other figures involved in it. Some have termed her 'the Spider' and seem to feel her predictive abilities are being used mostly on behalf of the STG, but to what ends I cannot say.
It is very hard to get a read on what activities she's really up to, as she uses the STG as her intermediaries with regularity, and her estates are literally surrounded by STG facilities and defenses. Her followers as a mystic number in the millions, and she has often made subtle proclamations stating the need for galactic society to unite and prepare for future troubles.
Professor Sur'Kesh Maando Mori Than-sil Vurn Mannosan Rurda Manno, High Lord of the RRC: The Professor is the leading figure at the Reach Research Compound, and the ostensible leader of the guild that controls it, the Hand That Seeks. He has not been seen in public in almost a decade, and his name mostly pops up in research papers into certain obscure mathematical texts and studies into high-energy molecular manipulation.
Rurda Manno has little contact with the rest of his Family, who are more involved with finances and banking than hard science. While rumors always fly around in salarian society, there are strangely few involving him.
The only one I could pin down is that he meets regularly with several STG cells, who are somehow involved in the research on the planet Makana. I was unable to obtain more information (given the fact that the RRC is better fortified than the Citadel Council Chambers) so you may wish to dispatch forces to investigate Makana yourself.
I am aware this is rather scarce, but I do not have the resources to find out more at this time.
"Vani", Wheel Mystic : The Wheel Religion is not an organized church, and thus it cannot have a 'head'. Each mystic sees the Wheel in a different light, from a different perspective. However, when it comes to those who tend to speak for the Mystics, Vani is the salarian of choice. He is the highest ranking savant of the religion, and is allowed to advise the Court of the High Circle itself.
No one knows this salarians real name. He has the faded tattoo of an STG operative visible on his shoulder, but that tells us little, since the STG hardly lets others investigate their ranks. He lives in simple seclusion in a small but well appointed townhouse not far from the Reach, and is usually only seen in public when he is headed to advice the Court.
His speeches and writings mostly touch on the Wheel's influence in salarian life, but he has also written a series of monograms on the difference between peace and stagnation, and on the need for vigilance. Like Di Daaso, he has also called for greater galactic unity, going so far as to tour briefly with Matriarch Uressa T'Shora in doing so.
Oddly enough , Vani is in the constant company of a female turian known only as "Blue". She seems to act as a mix of bodyguard, servant, and secretary, and only speaks when he instructs her to do so. Vani's entourage of followers is notable not for it's size – which, despite his high rank, only numbers in the low thousands – but for the fact that almost half of his followers are themselves Wheel Mystics.
Perhaps most the most confusing aspect of his character and history is his background: Vani is one of the extremely rare salarian biotics. That is anomalous because he is at least thirty eight, and almost all of the salarian biotics I have ever heard of died around thirty. I have only heard of him demonstrating his talent once, during a botched assassination attempt, but his power was impressive.
Spectre Sur'Kesh Yaansi Vuel Solthan Kaan Sitthoon Jondam Bau, Spectre, STG: With Saren's delisting as a Spectre, Jondaum Bau is the senior-most of the Citadel Agents of the Office of Special Tactics and Reconnaissance. A clever intelligence specialist with a skill in data hacking and skip-tracing, Bau is hardly the match for the public image of Spectres, dangerous gunslingers operating above the law, spouting pithy catchphrases. He is a figure better suited in a data center, and often aids other Spectres in finding their targets or amassing information.
That is not to say he isn't dangerous. Jondam Bau can locate almost anyone, and given enough time is famous for setting up truly chilling ambushes and traps. He rose to high rank in the STG before being tapped as a Spectre, and is still often called upon by the Court of the High Circle to advise them on matters military, intelligence or Citadel related.
Bau maintains tight relationships with almost the entirety of the Spectres, often acting as a coordinator when multiple Spectres deploy into the field. He is an accomplished pilot, and has trained with asari commandos and the Turian Blackwatch extensively, meaning he is not going to be a pushover in a fight. He is a master sniper, according to most reports, and collects exotic sniper rifles as something of a hobby.
His inclusion in this report is mostly due to his ongoing interest in Cerberus, which he has stated is the most dangerous organization in the galaxy. No doubt that will please your egos, but remember that he is very good at locating those who don't wish to be found.
It may be time for him to have an accident, one involving Pel, no?
Edat Kurass, the Shifter : Probably the most powerful salarian crime lord in space, the Shifter is a smuggler and hacker unmatched in salarian society. In his youth, Edat was heavily involved in the Eclipse gang, and broke away from that group in the aftermath of an ugly small war on the fringe of the Terminus. He ended up being double-crossed by his colleagues and saved by a group of quarians on Pilgrimage, whose ranks included the father of the future High Admiral, Rael'Zorah.
He took what he could salvage of his operation and set up shop on the Citadel, and in a decade had gone from a two-bit thug to a dark figure with links to Aria T'Loak, P., and the Shadow Broker. It is an open secret that he is one of the most highly placed members of Aria's 'Alliance of the Fallen', an intergalactic crime ring, but C-Sec cannot seem to pin anything on him.
A well-dressed, erudite figure, Edat is often involved in sponsoring or backing other criminal activities while keeping his own hands relatively clean. His criminal syndicate has been linked to eezo and red sand smuggling, weapons smuggling, slavery, restricted technologies, and illegal cyberware modifications, just to name a few, but his own person is never directly tied to any of these actions, operating through a bewildering array of intermediaries and allied gangs.
He also maintains his friendship and connection with the quarian Admiralty, and often acts a sort of protector to quarians on Pilgrimage on the Citadel. He is positively ancient for a salarian, fifty seven years old, and is rumored to use a mix of cybernetics and experimental drugs to stay alive at this point. He hasn't been seen in public in the past few months, leading to rumors that at long last he is finally dying.
Rannadril Ghan Swa Fulsoom Karaten Narr Eadi Bel Anolais , CEO and Director, Noveria Development Corporation: With any luck,you will never have to speak with this icy figure, who is one of the richest and most ruthless businessmen in the ranks of the salarian race. A former member of the STG who parlayed his connections and knowledge of military weapons systems into a business, Anolais is in charge of the Noverian Development Corporation, and also the Noverian Court of Corporations. His personal wealth is estimated, conservatively, in the low billions, putting him in the rarefied ranks of names like Jonah Ashland, Thana T'Armal, and Klanor Palavanus.
His company, Apex Electronics and Defense, is a major player in the starship sensor, ECM, and GARDIAN defense markets, and his investments range from a thirty percent stake in Haliat Armory to half-ownership of Baria Frontiers. Like many wealthy salarians, he dabbles in research and development as well, in this case working on superluminal weapon systems using charged particles and mass cannons.
Noveria is basically run by him as a thinly disguised, business friendly, low-tax haven for every sort of reprehensible and reckless research or industrial activity. The fact that he has, in the past few years, built up his defense forces from a handful of mercs and police boats to a well trained military force boasting a unified command structure has not gone unnoticed, but his death-grip on a good fifteen percent of the galactic economy means that, for now, no one plans to challenge his acts.
His connections with the rest of salarian society are irregular. His family is a small seroth group from the Black Rim colonies with minor ties to the Solus family, but his second in command and closest friend is the second-son of Dalatrass Manno. He is an old enemy of Councilor Valern, but is good friends with Councilor Tevos, balancing his influence on the Council.
Anolais will stop at nothing to make the NDC the most powerful corporate group in the galaxy, and often works with the Corporate Court of Ilium and Vol to counter other groups trying to claw their way to dominance. Between the three courts, they control a good forty percent of the galactic GDP.
Citadel Counselor Mannovai Urvesh Takan Nain Dulsoon Shueltar Erdat Valern: Valern is a strange being, a gentle philosopher and a brutal STG soldier turned influential politico. The elderson of a minor jenoth closely tied to the Shuel family, his Family is currently in alliances of some form or another with the Solus, Manno, and Yaan families, making them something of a mediator, a task he often performs on the Council.
Less aggressive and emotional than Sparatus, and more clinical and realistic than Tevos, Valern often acts as the cynical spy to the turian's angry warrior persona and Tevos's insincere motherly persona. He is focused first on the stability of galactic governance and second on ensuring the Salarian Union's close ties to the asari are not threatened by anything or anyone. He is a curiously close friend of the High Dalatrass, and often acts to shore up her position with his own allies and influence. The reason for this (aside from friendship and family allegiance) is unknown, but rumors swirl that she may have blackmail material on him.
Guileful, reflective, and free thinking, Valern is often the swing vote on issues that divide turians and asari, mostly of a military or economic nature. It comes as no surprise that he often sides with Tevos in such debates, but he will on occasion take the turian's side, although I suspect it is more to maintain a balance of power rather than true agreement or consensus.
He was quite the fearsome operative in his STG days, codenamed 'Ghost' for his ability to vanish from sight and take out his enemies with well placed sniper fire. He left the STG after the massacre of his unit in a botched raid on turian separatists, and after a few years in the Ministry of Intelligence was nominated for the role of Citadel Council after the death of the former holder. Since his ascension he has worked hard at expanding salarian access to markets in the Terminus, making ties with human research corporations, and suggesting cooperative military practices with other Citadel powers.
I admit the … constant theme of unity and cooperation coming from more than one powerful salarian figure in the past three years has my nerves on edge, as salarians as a rule are usually not driven by a need for such, unlike asari. I cannot help but wonder at the impetus or eventual goal of such a push. Perhaps they merely wish to lull others into lowering their guard to allow for salarian intelligence to penetrate more deeply into their ranks, but I do not think so – Valern, at the least, seems sincere, even offering salarian assistance to improve the military of the volus, hanar and drell.
Rumors state he consults frequently with a Wheel Mystic aboard the Citadel, leaving the meetings disquieted and going off to practice sniping at the C-Sec ranges.
Sur'Kesh Maando Mani Than-sil Suil Jaroth Manno, Eclipse Co-Founder: Anyone who sleeps with Jona Sederis is certifiable. Anyone who thinks she has lots of good ideas and works with her on a regular basis without having their head blown off is, on the other hand, both crazy and impressive.
Jaroth left Family Manno with a segment of disaffected younger sons to chase fortune and fame in the Terminus systems, after a violent disagreement with the Dalatrass over breeding rights. While most salarians would never break from their Family over such things, whatever set off the conflict was bad enough that shots were fired and Jaroth angrily declared himself lythari. Such an important Family suffering a public break placed a great deal of scrutiny and shame on Family Maano, and Jaroth's work with Jona Sederis has not improved that.
Sederis was always crazy, but Jaroth's cold blooded evil has only pushed the unstable woman deeper into madness. Nothing, it seems, is below him, including every form of drug smuggling, slavery and shipping fake or tainted eezo to far flung colonies. He has executed his own people out of pique or anger and is a habitual abuser of red sand.
Dangerous and with a hair-trigger temper, his relationship with Jona Sederis is rather puzzling, as asari very rarely take salarian lovers (Thessial and her lunacy notwithstanding. She's baked her brains with enough hallex to stupefy a krogan, after all.) The two distrust everyone but each other, and more than once Sederis has escaped capture or death only by daring rescues at the hand of Jaroth.
He operates out of Omega these days, far beyond the casual reach of Manno assassins or STG units seeking to bring him to justice. Aria seems to find him amusing, and tolerates his presence as long as he pays her tribute and respect.
"Tazzik", name unknown: I have included this person not because of his noteworthy impact on salarian culture, but because of his danger to Cerberus and, well, to anyone or anything he comes across.
Tazzik is the left hand of the Shadow Broker, much as Tetrimus is the right. He is, quite possibly, the most brutal figure in the Broker's employ. Tazzik stands six feet eight inches tall, towering by a good feet over any other salarian I have ever heard of, and his form is along the lines of a bodybuilder. He is believed to have heavy cybernetic enhancement, and uses a multitude of gruesome weapons to execute his kills with. At the very least, he can lift a turian with one hand and snap his neck with no difficulty, and there is video of him engaging in heavy martial arts with a drell and winning easily.
He has butchered hundreds of targets, including asari matriarchs, heavily defended crime lords, salarian lythari outcasts, a batarian general, and a hanar priest. He rarely uses the same methods twice, being a master of infiltration, sniping, direct assault, poisons, explosives, sabotage and even hand-to-hand combat, which almost no salarian is ever seen doing much of. His only touchstone is the unrelenting messy brutality of his kills, which are calculated to sow terror and disgust in any onlooker.
There seems to be no real pattern as to whether Tetrimus or Tazzik is dispatched by the Broker to clean up problems, but both are equally deadly. Tetrimus seems to favor less flashy tactics, while Tazzik will burn a man alive in front of his own family, then shoot them all dead to leave a message.
Tazzik and I crossed paths during my flight from asari space, when the Matriarchy decided to have the Shadow Broker snuff out my life. He was able to shake off my strongest throws, ignored direct kinetic attacks that would have snapped any other salarian in half, and when I closed to try to take him out with my warp-sword, engaged me for several minutes with a reinforced omniblade. I was unable to overpower him and he very nearly killed me.
I do not consider myself 'powerful', but Dr. Minsta and Agent Lawson can inform you that I am certainly not weak, and I can hold off the attention of multiple Night-wind operatives by myself. Against Tazzik I felt like a maiden going up against the hunt mistress. He could withstand blows that would have left a krogan gasping for air, and simply did not tire. I was only able to escape with aid from some of my former followers, who he murdered to the last.
He reminds me much of Pel, except Pel is mostly quiet and soft-spoken and Tazzik is brutal, cold, and mocking. Eliminating him would certainly cripple the Broker's capacity for countering our operations and perhaps send him a message, but I doubt that anything short of a full combat team would prevail.