SPECTRES AND ASSASSINS

CHAPTER 4: Ghosts

All Warfare is based on deception

Sun Tzu, "The Art of War"

-Councilor Valern, Presidium -

If any species was opposed to the unexpected and improvisation, that would be the Salarians. Their traditional military doctrine dictated conflict had to be finished and wars won before they even started. Among salarian war heroes stood out 'The Silent Step, who defeated a nation with a single shot. Or the Ever Alert, who kept armies at bay with hidden facts'. Councilor Valern that all these tenets and principles had gone down the cloaca as soon as he was yanked from his embassy and rushed to a secure location.

Despite the rigorous training and systematic study of the evacuation processes, which had become standard procedure for C-Sec personnel and the persons of interest that had to be extracted, this predicament was unacceptable for a salarian of his stature. The lack of information regarding the threat and the number of alarms in so many different levels of the Presidium were something to be very concerned about. No drills of this nature and scope were allowed at a time of war, emphasising the severity of the matter.

It had been close to 12 hours since he had spoken with Commander Shepard on vidcom. Apparently, the Alliance officer had been spending time in the Krogan demilitarized zone sorting out problems, trying to bring the full power of krogan infantry into the conflict, while head-butting with Dalatrass Linron and some members in the STG hierarchy. Too many variables, too many unknown quantities. Still, he could not keep a small smile from forming in his thin salarian lips when he thought about it. He did not like Linron very much, he would have enjoyed seeing someone standing up to her and getting her infuriated over matters of which she had no control. Despite their allegiance and his Spectre, Shepard would do well to be wary of her, nonetheless.

Upon gathering sufficient evidence, Councilor Valern had been in contact with the Executor via secure channel for days. It seemed like Councilor Udina was up to his neck in dirt, so it seemed logical that the Chief of C-Sec had summoned him to offer extra protection during the crisis. Their headquarters were one of the safest and most defensible positions in the Presidium.

His security detachment was formed by three Citadel security agents, no Spectre accompanied them. In the most recent weeks, a smaller than usual group of Spectres had been assigned to the Citadel. Udina himself had insisted a series of operation had be conducted against the Reapers and several rogue factions in the Terminus Systems and in the Attican Traverse. Valern decided to break the tense silence, his nervous nature getting the better of him:

"Why are we going through this area, aren't we too exposed?"- His voice came out more highly-pitched than he intended.

"Sir, our path has been re-routed, we will follow an alternative plan and we will get support from the Executor's bodyguards. Then we will resume the standard evacuation protocol" said the human officer.

"How many more men will you have, then?"

"Our detail will have five more agents, and we will proceed to take you to the RV point right away, the other councilors will be there by the time we arrive. Comms are down, and it would be safer to bolster our numbers before we venture the wards for extraction. Executor's orders said Councilor Valern was to be escorted to his office and to have an extra security detail"

"Sgt. Harding, if I may ask, when was the last time you talked to Commander Bailey or the Executor? We tried to contact him and C-Sec HQ many times before you came to Councilor Valern's office for evac". Asked one of the turian guards.

"I talked to him in person, he had some of his best men working on these technical difficulties. Some lunatics blew a few communication relays and hacked our systems to make our response more difficult. He seemed optimistic that this would soon be under control."

Valern was accompanied by two turians and this human who seemed to be in charge, all wore blue and black C-Sec standard issue body armor along their M8 Avenger rifles. At a time like this, he would not feel safe even with a full STG platoon by his side; the lack of information and the interdiction of all communications kept them all in the dark.

The hallways and promenades in this part of the Presidium were deserted, they had not run into any other C-Sec patrols or civilians, it seemed like everybody had been evacuated from this level. One could hear shots and explosions in the distance, there was no way to downplay the importance of this attack, even if the agents were all acting calm and conducting themselves with professionalism. Sergeant Harding was a rather new face to Valern, but he seemed to know what he was doing.

The small group came to a stop in front of a secure door leading to C-Sec HQ. The human officer punched a few numbers in a panel, and the red-coloured lock turned green, allowing them access into C-Sec headquarters. Everything was silent, there were not C-Sec staff personnel running from one place to another, delivering reports, there was nobody manning the communication stations, trying to repair them or receive any field reports. C-Sec HQ was disquietingly silent, dead calm.

"By the Spirits, where is everybody?"

The first shot hit one of the turian guards right in the forehead, the man who was standing right on his left. The blood splat his formal councilor vest. Sergeant Harding, the other turian and Valern took cover behind the counters and desks that served as reception for that particular wing in the main headquarters. There was automatic and semiautomatic fire coming from all directions. The remaining turian marksman carefully aimed his weapon and shot two bursts at the upper level, someone shouted, clearly in painful agony.

Despite the reputed marksmanship of his protectors, Valern knew they were cornered and outmaneuvered by a hostile force, and that the only way to escape would be through stealth and wits, not in a stand-up firefight. He pulled one of his sleeves, his omnitool had an advanced cloaking device of salarian design. He distanced himself from the human and the turian while keeping his head low, his blue robes prevented him from moving as fast as he wanted, but he then activated his device. At this point, he stopped caring about the safety of his protectors, he just wanted to save his skin. A blur surrounded the slim figure of the salarian councilor, making him literally invisible as long as he remained static. Even if he moved, only someone paying close attention would see a certain level of visual distortion, revealing his approximate location. When he thought he was safe, he saw a horrendous scene that made him understand how the trap had been set up. In the middle of the firefight, Sgt. Harding turned around and opened fire against the turian. At close range, the mass-accelerated projectiles from his Avenger rifle ripped the turian guard's armor to pieces, sending bloody pieces in Valern's direction. The turian died almost instantly, probably trying to understand, with his last flicker of life, why he had been shot by a brother in arms.

It took all his concentration and training to face difficult scenarios to remain immobile while witnessing how Harding had turned against his own comrade, and killed him without a glimpse of remorse or pity.

"This is Harding. Code Kappa-5. I repeat Kappa-5" When he cried out loud this message, actively trying to have their attackers to cease fire, Valern understood the degree of betrayal this coup had reached, they had had help from the inside all along.

"Acknowledged, Kappa-5" Responded another voice, metallic through the air filters of Cerberus helmets.

"Everybody watch the exits, the salarian is hiding in this room, he has activated some kind of stealth device!"

One of the Cerberus leaders, wearing a scary visor, a hi-tech black Cerberus armor and carrying a blade as main weapon, approached the traitor, visibly upset.

"Are you telling me you lost him?"

"We got him right here, cornered. Then he vanished, like a ghost".

-Ashley Williams, Huerta Memorial Hospital-

Operation Chimera time marker + 00:33

Thanks to Dr. Revin's assistance, Ashley and Thane advanced efficiently through mostly empty rooms in the rehabilitation wing of the Huerta Memorial. The layout was not complicated, which meant they had to be extremely careful when going around corners, there was almost no cover in the hallways, so they maneuvered silently to get the jump on any potential hostile units. Also, they were perfectly aware they had to hurry up to surprise the Cerberus terrorists with an attack from behind while the others protected the civilians.

"They took most of the conscious patients to that room, but there are people in comma or heavily sedated who require our constant attention… if we can't tend to them soon…". whispered Dr. Revin, her medical instincts of protecting the welfare of those under her care had not waned despite the horrors of the attack.

"Doc, I promise you, we'll finish them off as soon as possible so that you can all return to your work. Now we have to tread carefully, they may have set up booby traps or left someone behind watching their backs." Williams voice was husky, and showed signs of fatigue.

Ashley could not stop thinking about the men who had died in the first skirmish with those Cerberus agents. Although they were fighting in a very adverse scenario, due to their inferiority in weaponry and protection, it was question of time before Cerberus decimated their ranks. This was not a mission where she could actually hope to keep everybody alive. She had been leading men into combat long enough as NCO, particularly as an Operations Chief, to understand that their losses, even if she did not know their names, would haunt her forever, just like the names of all the casualties from the 212 back on Eden Prime. Good leaders tended to ponder if things could have been done differently, if deaths could have been avoided while keeping the mission objectives in sight; Williams would not let these emotions shake her resolve in the middle of combat.

The L.C. had had to learn these lessons the hard way in the fight against the Geth, with the loss of a great friend like Lieutenant Alenko, and some other excellent soldiers during her time as Operations Chief...and when she lost, or thought she had lost, Shepard to the Collectors' surprise attack.

All of a sudden, a stray of bullets hit the wall behind them, the doctor ducked and Thane instinctively protected her with his body as he also went down. Ashley plunged forward, landing right behind a desk which she could use for cover. The shots had been fired from a weapon sounding very different from a Mattock, she could swear, but there was no way to know where they had come from, not at this time. Thane moved the doctor to the relative safety of the doorway they had just crossed. Despite advancing very carefully, any Cerberus sentry with a good vantage position could spot them. It was then that they heard fire coming from behind, where they had left a few men defending the recently liberated hostages. It was a fight against time now, since they could not be sure if the others would be able to hold them off long enough for them to backstab the remainder of the Cerberus thugs deployed in this area.

"Thane, I need eyes to spot where the fire is coming from". Whispered the Lieutenant Commander "I'm going to push this chair to the next desk, see if the shooter exposes himself".

To make the room darker, Ash shot several lights over their position to mask their movements to an extent. That took a few rounds, and she remembered they did not have too many thermal clips. She only had two spare ones in her belt.

With the reduced light, Williams exchanged looks with the drell, and then pushed one of the wheeled chairs behind the desk to her right. The ruse worked perfectly, several shots were fired in the dark, which allowed Thane to spot where the rifle fire came from:

"It came from your 10. One shooter" The semiautomatic fire Ash heard allowed her to recognize the M-21 Raptor... the smart sniper was not using laser sights to avoid easy detection, it also meant if they were alive it was because the Cerberus sharpshooter had probably shot at them without careful aim, caught by surprise by their presence in this part of the hospital. This could mean they were facing a single enemy with a weapon that was not conceived for short range combat but, given the current scenario, would be equally lethal if they were careless. Williams knew the Raptor was a hybrid between an assault rifle and a precision sniper weapon, with semiautomatic fire. The only chance to take the shooter out probably was to fire from two different positions at the same time, and hope that whoever was chosen as target, was not hit in the process, which was a rather slim probability.

"Thane, we have to flush him out of cover, or make sure he exposes himself." Whispered Ashley.

"I'll create a distraction; keep your attention on the shooter's position". With these words, Thane lowered his face, stepped forward and became one with the shadows. Ashley Williams could not determine whether her eyes were fooling her, if exhaustion was playing tricks with her mind, but the drell had literally vanished from her sight. It was dark after shooting down the lights, but the assassin seemed to have used some kind of strange ability. She got ready facing the direction the early shots had come from. A few seconds later, someone opened fire from the right, against the area where the enemy shooter had seemingly fired from. The very moment their opponent opened fire against Thane, who had used some trick to move stealthily away from Ashley and Dr. Revin, Ashley came up from behind the desk and shot in the direction of the brief, intermittent lights of the Cerberus weapon barrel as it was discharged against the decoy. Two, three rounds of her Carnifex and a groan full of pain came from the other side of the room, followed by a heavy thud against the floor. From the corner of her eye, she noticed how Thane moved with an unmatched speed, over tables and gurneys; she tried to follow him, quickly covering the ground between them and the downed enemy to make sure it did not pose a threat any longer.

She could hear a vague, feeble moaning. When Ash reached Thane, he was lumbering over the dying female human whose ghastly cybernetic augmentation implants could not hide the fact that they were looking at a relatively young woman. A heavily altered human being. The faceplate had fallen off her face, it probably broke after her head had hit the ground. Her intense, irregular breathing indicated she was asphyxiating after the wounds probably punctured one her lungs. As anonymous as the Cerberus operatives they had been fighting seemed behind those strange helmets and faceplates, they looked very human once the masks were off, in a very disconcerting way. Ashley Williams could only feel sadness for the dying person at her feet. She did not know if this young woman had entered Cerberus of her own accord, if she had been 'transformed' somehow through these horrifying devices or if she had joined them convinced she could make a difference in the galaxy, despite their unethical agenda. Once again she wondered if Shepard had been altered like this, maybe without leaving evident cybernetic implants on his face. What if some kind of control chip had affected his way of thinking somehow, without his noticing. How could have they brought him to their fold, otherwise? How had he survived the Collectors' attack and the destruction of the Normandy SR-1? What had happened to him in those 2 years?

As the young woman exhaled, she almost half expected Thane's face expression to reveal some kind of grief, but the seriousness of their situation and how many more people's lives depended on their resolve brought her attention back to their current predicament. Some strands of her black hair had got loose at some point, they got stuck to her face, wet in sweat. She pulled them to the side then addressed the drell in a grave tone.

"Double-time to the hostiles position". They had to stop Cerberus before they got the upper hand and killed everyone.

"Right behind you" was the laconic answer the drell gave.

Never exteriorising any feelings, Thane had come to the realisation that despite all his efforts, there was no way violence and death would stop being a part of his life, wherever he went, whatever promises he made.

-Senior Spectre Agent Tenora, Citadel Presidium -

Operation Chimera time marker + 00:30

"I'm sure C-Sec will lead a counter-offensive to try to regain control of HQ. Once we retake HQ, we'll control the Station".

Out of a professional reponsibilty, she omitted a 'pray the Goddess' that asari frequently uttered. Whether she was an person of faith or not, she preferred not to let her worries or insecurities transpire in either the tone of her voice or her choice of words. The other security agents, probably less experienced than she was, needed their confidence reinforced by the way she conducted herself at a time of crisis. The Terminus systems, the outer Council Space, the Attican Traverse... she had been deployed to hazardous planets with hostile fauna, she had assassinated heavily protected targets, sabotaged criminal mercenary operations in the far edges of the Milky Way. This mission was not more dangerous than many others she had already completed successfully.

"C-Sec... They should have known better, it should have never come down to this..." murmured Udina.

Tenora did not bother to reply. She did not hold Udina in high regard, but everybody was edgy and she did not want to distract herself with petty bickering. The elevator descended several levels and took them to the exact level in the Presidium where the RV point was located. After a few minutes, it came to a sudden halt with a metallic clunk sound and a hiss. The secure elevator had taken them to an exclusive access to ward, where they would rendezvous with the other Councilors and then proceed to the landing pad for evacuation.

They approached the door decidedly and with their weapons at the ready. Tenora punched some numbers and the door VI recognised the correct input.

"Emergency access code accepted"

The large door had its retractable panels recede into its frame. According to her omnitool They were approximately 20 minutes away from the meeting point. Hopefully, by having taken this normally unused route to this Presidium level, they would had avoided the brunt of the enemy strike. There was an access panel on this side, so the asari Spectre took mental note that this could be a good retreat option if they found themselves blocked by an insurmountable hostile force.

In the distance, they could hear the ruckus, the crying of voices, accented with the inflections of all species and the resonance of a hundred different choirs. All of them sounded horrified, begging for mercy or dying. It was a smoking, deadly chaos. They follow the path and observed the corpse of a salarian to their right. Several wounds in the abdominal area had gutted the torso of the ill-fated civilian. There was death everywhere they turned their eyes to. The stench and the gunfire spoke volumes of the unraveling tragedy, but the only response was the silence of those who would not speak ever again.

Tenora checked her left flank, they all saw a few corpses piled up. The deceased were all bleeding gushingly, but they did not seem to have gunshot wounds. There was no time to stop and try to assist anyone, she hoped they would not encounter wounded victims begging for help, because they would have to refuse and continue their way.

"Do you think we may find survivors?" Asked officer Langdon, the human C-Sec agent.

"Not our problem. Just follow our mission parameters, nothing more". The cold and unemotional tone of the Spectre's voice surprised the human. He had never worked so closely to one before.

The asari pointed her right hand towards one of the corners, right ahead. The other C-Sec agent carefully looked at the commercial modules they were leaving behind, just as the door closed behind them. No activity. Most shops windows and screens had all been destroyed or shattered. The burned walls and charred corpses bore witness to the indescriptible carnage occurred before they arrived on the scene.

Tenora took point, and then they took turns to advance using the protection corners, puublic announcement holo-columns, cars and anything they found along the way. Whenever they could, the small group took the higher ground by means of balconies and overlooks to advance while avoiding being ambushed by hidden snipers or shooters from the upper levels. There were very few back alleys that helped them stay on course; they carefully followed the nav points from the omnitool while trying to attract as little attentions as possible.

They could hear they were getting closer to the shootings, as the chatter of numerous types of guns became louder; the actual combat never came in sight. Too calm for her taste, it was almost like they were going through a safety corridor that allowed them to escort Udina unopposed while people died in the levels above and below them. A lucky break? She did not believe in such things. When listening more carefully, she could hear the characteristic rapid thrum of M-8 Avenger rifles, which signified that the hostiles were meeting with some resistance in the form of C-Sec Security forces. Whether they were being succesful or violently crushed by the terrorists, there was no way to know for sure at this time.

Her omnitool said they were getting very close to the RV point, the other councilors had to be just two modules away from where they were. Suddenly, a strange noise caught her attention, almost like a computerized voice coming through a malfunctioning microphone, she spun around, checked all her surroundings just in time to see a blur approaching one of the men. Before she could warn him, the blur became an arm, a sword wielding arm. The ghostly shape had used the sharp weapon to stab the more exposed area neck of the man who was guarding their rear. The C-Sec agent had not been able to even voice surprise, the monomolecular blade had caused mortal damage to his spine, esophagus and arteries in one quick, accurate skewering thrust. The man was dead, instantly.

With a quickness that came from centuries of a martial life as an Asari commando and as a Spectre, Tenora aimed her Paladin M-77 pistol at the sneaky operative and discharged it twice, before anyone else reacted to the attack, but their foe had vanished. The surviving C-Sec agent shot his Avenger, but missed his target completely... they could not see the enemy, but they could hear him... they could hear the breathing system, barely, but they could not pin point where the feeble, almost inaudible noise was coming from.

Suddenly, the enemy materialized out of the blue a few meters to her left, and shot her with the palm of the hand. An accurate burst of energy impacted her Spectre armor shields and drained them completely, a second disrupting shot came just as she had managed to create a defensive biotic barrier. This all happened in less than 3 seconds, her human colleague shots barely grazed the agile and smallish frame of their assailant, who seemed eager to take her out next. The powerful impact of the phase disruptor on her barrier had made her lost balance and fall on her back as she was trying to distance herself from the blade. The Asari used a paralysis biotic power just when the phantom was closing in, that seemed to stagger him. Udina's bodyguards did not waste a second, they both discharged their weapons mags at the enemy. The uncloaked body contorted with the impacts of both shooters, and then the blood stained the floor and the strange hi-tech vest their enemy was wearing. A chilling scream, female-like, came as the Cerberus agent collapsed on the floor with a thud... bleeding profusely. Tenora put another high caliber round in the lying corpse, just to be sure.

"What the hell was that?" Said the nervous turian - This thing killed Langdon!- He was terrified about what they had just seen, an invisible enemy who could hide and attack with a devastating arsenal. "Is this thing human? Who is really behind this damn attack?". It was rare to see a rattled turian, even in the fiercest and most vicious skirmishes.

"No time for Q & A, officer. Pull yourself together. We have to double-time it, quickly. Councilor, it's safe now, come out".

Udina had quickly hid himself behind a corner when the spectral figure had first materialized before their disbelieving eyes. He started to show signs of preoccupation and fear, while up to that moment he had behaved as if all the security precautions had been a nuisance. Tenora could tell he was not used to the gruesome and bloody realities of combat, this was nothing like those epic warfare vids civilians were used to. There was nothing heroic in the way their colleague had died, there was nothing heroic in the way they had taken down their foe.

"We are almost there, we have to stick together and watch our backs in a close formation. Let's move out before the shots attract more Cerberus operatives".

"I will forward your name for a medal, Spectre"

The asari did not care about medals or commendations; she was a Spectre and had a job to do. She would protect Councilor Udina's life, whatever it took. But if they were facing an enemy with highly advanced stealth technology, the people behind this attack were not regular mercenaries. It was then that Spectre Tenora started to exteriorise clear signs of concern.

-Ashley Williams, Huerta Memorial -

Operation Chimera time marker + 00:46

The fight was over, faster than she could have imagined. Thane and the Lt. Commander had caught the Cerberus operatives flat-footed, as they were distracted by the opposition ahead. The combined fire of their weapons and their lack of cover on their six had done the rest. Their inert bodies still looked threatening in their bulky Cerberus armor, but this just seemed to be a small force concentrated on Huerta Memorial. The real threat was still out there. They took a few moments to rearm themselves with whatever weapons and ammunition magazines they could recover from the fallen operatives and allies.

After checking on the status of the other combatants and the hospital staff and patients, they stepped aside to discuss their next move.

"Thane, we have to get going. There's no way to know the real scale of this attack, but if they could spare these agents just for the hospital…" Ashley made a pause, she was lost in her thoughts for two seconds, looked down while she recovered her breath. She was exhausted and wondered if her body and mind could take the stress and exhaustion of combat so soon. Finally, she looked up and spoke again.

"I have to get to the Councilors. We can leave a token defensive force here, and take some able men with us".

"Agreed. We should try to avoid the main elevators to the Presidium and the wards, Cerberus probably has them under control and would detect any movement. Any alternative routes you were instructed to use in emergency situations?"

"Yes, the Keepers tunnels. I don't know them very well, but I am familiar with the one connecting to the Presidium location where we would have to take the councilors for evac. It's near the Shalmar Plaza area., and that would be a possible route to approach C-Sec HQ indirectly, as well. I need to get close enough to Udina and the other councilors to communicate".

"But you don't know if they are still alive. For all we know, they could have been killed in the first wave. C-Sec Headquarters could be a rally point for C-Sec forces in case of attack, I think we should make a run for it, it is one of the most defensible spots in the Citadel. Maybe get a message through, somehow".

"I know, Thane. But we both know we are not the kind of people who would stay away from enemy fire for too long. I swore an oath when I became a Spectre. Until they're confirmed KIA, I have my orders and I must follow them. I won't ask you to come with me, your plan also makes sense."

"I understand, Williams. Let's re-arm the men, once we get out of the hospital we will part ways. If one of us manages to reach their objective, we may still avert the complete disaster. I know why Shepard spoke highly of you, you have fought like a true huntress, you have my respect".

Ashley Williams did not know what to answer to that. Many things had crossed her mind in the heat of combat, including Shepard. She was very grateful to this stranger, she doubted they would have saved so many lives without his skills and combat proficiency. At the same time, she also hated the idea of dividing the small force they had, but regardless of their decisions, they did not have the man power to spearhead a counter-offensive against Cerberus. They had several Mattock rifles and a few other military grade Cerberus weapons, but they lacked the numbers. Particularly if she was right in assuming the size of the task force sent to Huerta Memorial was just a small percentage of the full strength the Pro-human extremists were likely employing for more critical areas. Thane had noticed her fatigue, so he walked towards the men who were infighting condition and spoke up.

"Let's move out, everybody. We have no time to spare. Lt. Commander, please show us the way to the tunnel access".

Next Chapter: Tunnel Rats

Trivia: the frequent use of the Greek letter Kappa for many of Cerberus operational codes is explained by the fact that the word 'Kerberos' starts with this particular character.