SPECTRES & ASSASSINS
CHAPTER 6: The Sword of Damocles
A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear. The traitor is the plague."
Quote attributed to Marcus Tullius Cicero
-Felicia Hannigan. Refugee Camp, Citadel Wards -
Operation Chimera Time marker + 00:25
It is said times of crisis and toil bring out the worst in people... but they also brought the best. For weeks, Kelly Chambers had attempted, and sometimes failed, to bring a modicum of solace to the war-ravaged families that had taken refuge in some of the Citadel modules and storage spaces specially habilitated to host the displaced civilians, people hailing from dozens of worlds.
Despite the toiling effort, her degree in psychology, her upbeat attitudes towards alien races and natural cheerful personality certainly came in handy in her volunteer role. Although a few people refused her offers of consolation or sympathies, a majority appreciated the genuine caring of the young human; many of them had lost absolutely everything in a rapid, devastating swoop.
If they only knew who I really was... Kelly had often pondered over the very likely possibility that not everybody would be so accepting and warm to her selfless endeavours had they found out about her past connections to the old axiom "your reap what you sow" held any truth, the consequences of the deeds done by her former employer would eventually catch up with her, regardless of the moral reasons justifying the comely young woman's decision to join Cerberus
Locks of unruly blonde hair dangled over her forehead, momentarily distracting her from her introspection. With her new hair colour, an incredibly trait in the XXIII century, Kelly Chambers had garnered more attention than she wanted ever since she changed her identity. For years, she had refused to believe that her former employer was really responsible for any of the nefarious deeds Alliance and Council-friendly media networks accused them of. In hindsight, the young psychologist regretted having had such a naïve tunnel vision of the values and goals Cerberus professed to stand for.
Her first dose of reality was when she began to lose contact with the rest of the Normandy SR-2 crew after Shepard took down the Collectors. After the Commander's mission completion, the Lazarus cell had been formally deactivated by its former operations leader, Ms. Lawson. But when those who had been recalled back to Headquarters disappeared entirely, Kelly began to realise what she had gotten herself into.
In the end, she came to the conclusion that their divided loyalty to both Shepard and the Normandy made her a liability to Cerberus, so Kelly had simply walked away. In the end, it had been too easy; she had simply failed to show up at a convened meeting point and went off the grid. She knew of her relative low importance to Cerberus in comparison to individuals like Jacob Taylor or Miranda Lawson. She knew, or rather she hoped, that Cerberus would be far too busy to even bother looking for her. She could spend the rest of her life free from moral obligations to the Illusive Man's vision and beyond the reach of husk thralls. Then the Reapers invaded the galaxy and she found herself having the same nightmares she suffered during and after her kidnapping, as if they were trying to get a hold of her in her sleep.
One of the turian refugees' representatives, Tactus, was trying to improve the conditions for an enormous group of forlorn refugees from Palaven, Taetrus and Digeris, among other planets. The turians were mostly concentrated in the vicinity of cargo hold B. She knew that Tactus hailed from one of the most important turian colonies, but his purple face markings were rather uncommon. More than once she had wondered whether he was a scion of a once proud and powerful family whose days of glory had withered after the Unification wars.
"Felicia" Tactus worriedly hissed, catching her attention, "there's a strange man talking about Cerberus, saying crazy things like how it's time to join them and other nonsense. His loud musings are really starting to bother our sick and wounded, we are struggling to keep them sedated as it is... if you humans don't shut him up, some batarians are going to put an end to this, and they will not do it quietly".
Kelly was taken aback by the sole mention of Cerberus, she feared the name and rightly so. She tried to keep the appearance of normality. It was a rather absurd, if not suicidal, to try to speak apologetically about Cerberus in public, right in a refugee camp, given the latest developments in the war. What kind of nonsense was this?
"I'll go check. It's probably some practical joke or a lunatic", she whispered back to him. The truth was that any mention of Cerberus put her on a defensive mood that she only managed to cover/hide thanks to her professional background; working in Cerberus had gained her the skill of quietly observing people, without raising attention, something even Miranda Lawson could not achieve.
The blonde-dyed woman moved briskly through the ranks of hungry exiles trying to get their daily rations, the improvised bunks where some women held their children, telling them it was all going to be alright, children that often asked for their siblings, or why dad or mom was not there with them.
Finally, she caught sight of a tall, blonde man, probably in his late thirties, addressing a very large group of people who had congregated around him; they seemed to be paying attention to his rumblings more out of boredom than real interest in the message implications. A number were protesting and giving him with murderous looks.
"If Cerberus was good enough for Shepard, it's good enough for you!"
"Are you insane?" Was all Kelly could think, as the obviously naïve simpleton continued to expound on the benevolent nature of the organization.
A few meters to her right, she overheard someone in the crowed grumble: "Why doesn't C-Sec take that nut job away?" Another person responded with "all the C-Sec agents left twenty minutes ago, they seemed to be in a hurry". Yeah, I'm sure those damn turians probably heard that there was some dextro-friendly doughnut giveaway, they don't care about us", another bystander snarked, as the crowd began to mutter among themselves.
Suddenly, a strong, firm hand grabbed her by the shoulder, stopping her on her tracks. Taken by surprise by the entire ruckus caused by the strange orator, she had not realized the presence of several human strangers in the vicinity. She did not recognize their faces, and they lacked the haunting eyes or downtrodden features of the ill-nurtured humans assigned to the camp. Stranger still, they were oddly well-built and groomed to be simple refugees.
A strong human hand now yanked on her wrists, as the mysterious stranger dragged her away from the growing crowd and from all attention. Distracted by the blond idiot's ramblings, nobody noticed as Kelly was dragged into a dark, silent corner of the rearranged cargo docks.
"Do you need help? Is there an emergency'?", Kelly managed to stammer out, as the cold stab of fear ran down her spine, but she got no answer from the stocky man who led her to the back of the camp.
Suddenly, the stranger stopped a few feet away from other two humans; one was very tall, probably over 2 meters. The other, a bit shorter and with garments that covered his head and face, specifically a dark, weathered sweatshirt with a hood.
"Is this the woman you described?" the tallest man asked the hooded figure next to him.
"She kind of looks like one of ours". His companion responded. In close proximity, the two strangers stared at her, as if they were supposed to know her from somewhere. Glancing to the side, Chambers eyeballed a group of agitated men and women rounded up in one of the darker corners of the refugee sector, as they were aggressively interrogated by another human who could have passed for a colonist from a sun-soaked planet.
Noticing how her eyes were glancing in a different direction, the tall man grabbed her chin and held it, making sure she looked at them, and only them. Chambers' instincts told her these men were not to be taken lightly,
With a deep and powerful voice, the behemoth of a man asked one question, and one question only, "Kelly Chambers?"
Hearing her real name coming out from his mouth felt like a krogan machete piercing her skin and rib-cage, slicing her heart open. But she was better than this; she had been trained to resist lengthy interrogations and the scrutiny of her suspicious co-workers.
You ARE Felicia Hannigan. Believe in the identity and they will believe it too, a corner of her mind whispered.
She wanted to believe that she was Felicia, with every fiber of her being, she so desperately wanted to fade into her assumed identity. But even she could not hide the wave of panic that began to rise within her. She vacillated. Not good.
"I...Are you looking for any person, h-here in the camp? I'm sure I can help..." Kelly managed to mutter.
The tall, giant, scarred man spoke again, ominously.
"We aren't looking for anyone. We find whom we want to find. Now answer the damned question, woman. Are you Kelly Chambers?" His voice remained calm, but had a tremendously threatening undertone. His eyes were cold like steel. they had not flinched even once, as he continued to look at her the way a wild varren would stare down a gutted prey seconds before biting its jugular.
Control you body language and you will control them.
"No, I'm Felicia Hannigan, I am one of the people in charge of the humans in this camp" Kelly managed to sputter out,"… if there's anything you need..."
"Shut up" said the other man. She could not make out his face, hidden under the fabric of his garments. What his clothing made no effort to abscond were the man's swell-developed muscles and ram-rod straight posture of highly trained men used top brutal violence. These were not refugees.
"Shut it, bitch. Now look at those men right there", the tall man's partner spoke once more as he yanked her around to stare at the direction of the three men and a woman who were lined up against the wall
"They're refugees, right? I found painkillers for one of them, he was wounded by the reapers..." answered Kelly, trying to present herself as helpful and unconcerned as possible.
The tall man slapped her across the face, and then pointed a menacing finger in front of her face. "Enough, we will ask you a question, you will answer with a yes or no. I won't repeat this again. Do you know these people, whom they worked for?"
Chambers could not contain her emotions much longer. Fear was spreading through her body as her legs started to tremble so lightly.
"No, no..." she barely managed to vocalise.
The hooded person made a sign to the other man, the one who seemed to be keeping an eye on the small group they had detained somehow. One of the men, a middle-aged male with a face full of creases and with a shaven heads tried something close to a protest, but always keeping a low voice tone.
"I've done wet work for Cerberus for decades, when Jack Harp..."
He did not finish his sentence he had begun to stammer out. The sun-tanned man moved his hand within his pocket and took out a gun equipped with a silencer, and shot him in the head. Before the others could even grimace with terror, he coldly executed them as well. The three men and the woman lied at his feet. He discharged his weapon on each corpse head once more, to make sure they were dead.
Cerberus executioners. Suddenly it had all become very clear to her. This was a death squad cleaning up former Cerberus agents.
The tall henchman and the hooded male did not even move a muscle, but they let go of her arms. Felicia just looked down so that she would not appear defiant, tears were spouting from her green eyes, but she was smart enough not to make any noises.
As suddenly as they had appeared, the four Cerberus agents departed without a word, they just walked away. Kelly kept her eyes closed, as if opening them would conjure up any the nightmarish savagery that had just happened in front of her. Those several seconds seemed an eternity, and Kelly Chambers found the strength in her to open her eyes again, just as her legs failed and she bent forward, finally giving in to the heart-consuming fear.
The young woman had to put her hands down, so as not to fully collapse on the floor. A few meters to her right, the corpses of four former Cerberus agents. Hers could have been the fifth. She heard some people talking right behind her; they helped her up on her feet again but she was trembling, shuddering. A female voice asked her "Are you OK Felicia? What happened here?"
Another alerted voice shouted "Someone call the bloody Turian cops, there're four dead people over here!"
Only then did Kelly Chambers fully realize the truth. There was no Kelly Chambers, former psychologist in hire of Cerberus. There was only Felicia Hannigan. Nothing more and nothing less. Henceforth, her survival would depend on truly embracing this new identity and never letting her guard down.
Once again, she owed Shepard her life.
-Commander Bailey, C-Sec HQ -
Operation Chimera Time marker + 01:16
Armando Bailey felt an excruciating pain but he did all he could to keep his composure as he slumped back against his chair. Even so he could not his keep gasping breath as his body struggled to stay alive.
Barely less than ten minutes earlier, Bailey was sure he would meet his maker. A desperate counter-attack to take back C-Sec headquarters had all but ended in disaster, as his fellow officers were cut down by heavier armed and armoured foe. Shot in the back as he tried to dial the door open, Bailey had been prepared to cross river Styx and move on into the afterlife.
Luckily for him, the cavalry had shown up before he had slowly bled to death. The medigel Commander Shepard had applied was working its magic and healing his wounds, but it barely contained his agony. He doubted the terrorists would have wasted any time in giving him a 'coup de grâce' shot. His ex-wife would have had a field day if she ever got wind that he had finally got shot, she had wanted to do it herself for so very long…
As he sat in one of the consoles, the C-Sec commander cursed under his breath while trying to stay on task. Mourning for the dead would not help the people who were still alive. He was not a hacker or a tech expert, so getting all communication systems back online and undoing whatever Cerberus software had done to their network was taking forever, since the Elkoss Combine omnitools were not as good as advertised for certain tasks. He tapped onto his ear-piece, opening a short-band comm. Channel previously linked to the Alliance Navy operative's helmet using headquarters short-band channels. Right now, he could have used an army of marines like him.
"Shepard?", he managed to growl into his omnitool.
"Shepard here" was the terse response.
"Have you found any survivors?"
"None yet. This has been a massacre"
"I used to know most of the people working here, Ridgefield, Lamont…" chipped in Vakarian, one of Shepard's squadmates. At least Shepard, had someone who knew his way around here.
"We're getting close to the Executor's office; we've met sporadic Cerberus resistance but most hostiles seem to have left the facility. I'll stay in touch, Shepard out"
When the re-established short-range channel sparkled off, Bailey could not shove off a feeling that there was something that they were missing. Just a while ago, they had met with a huge Cerberus contingent defending all accesses to C-Sec HQ, and now the resistance within HQ was minimal? What was he missing?
I have a very bad feeling about this.
- Senior Spectre Agent Tenora. Citadel Presidium storefront -
Operation Chimera Time Marker 01: 18
Ayvali Tenora did not trust the sudden quietness in the Presidium. Ever since they managed to ward off the attack by the stealthy Cerberus assassin, the signs that there was a terrorist attack in progress appeared to have all but disappeared in the vicinity. All of a sudden, her omnitool came alive with a soft beep, as it lighted up in her wrist.
"What is that thing signaling, Spectre?" Udina snapped, the tension evident in his voice.
"Councillor Udina, this is great news, my omnitool has just detected another Spectre signal within range" Tenora replied, as she hid the relief in her voice.
"Weren't all communications severed?" Udina skeptically asked, as he cocked an eye at her.
"They are. However, this signal 'pings' as soon as another Spectre is in relative proximity" Tenora explained. "We can find each other's position on our area map. I'm sure this agent can detect both your transponder signal and my own device".
"We can't wait, the other Councillors must have reached the evacuation site already"
No, sir. We'll be stronger with backup, and then we'll double time it to the rendezvous".
Udina did not look too happy to have his accustomed feeling of authority void during exceptional situations. For Tenora, this did not come as a surprise, he had the typical uppity demeanor of many diplomats and politicians in the Citadel. It only took a few seconds to verify the signal I.D: Spectre Ashley Williams, and she was headed their way, fast.
"Agent Williams seems to be rushing in our direction", Tenora completely ignored the Councillors earlier rebuff. Given the circumstances, it was not like disobeying a direct order since the protocol instructed that the asari was the one trained to make security-critical decisions; they needed all the manpower the could muster for the escort mission and, later, for the inevitable confrontation to regain command of the station.
It did not take long for the second human Spectre to appear on sight. She was not alone, Williams was accompanied by a turian and a salarian. The two others struggled to keep her pace. When she stopped close to them, Ashley took a second or two to recover her breath as droplets of sweat dripped down her face.
"Spectre Williams reporting for escort duty", she managed to gasp. The sweat and black dirt in her cheeks revealed she had encountered problems in her way rejoin with their group. There were some blood stains and burnt spots in her blue vest, but she seemed to be fine.
"It's good to have you here, Williams". Udina's voice sounded different now, as if the revelation of the incoming ally's identity had swayed his skeptic remarks from a few moments earlier.
For a brief second, Tenora wondered whether there was more to Udina's relationship to Williams than met the eye. Even so, it was more likely that humanity's Councilor preferred to trust a human with his life than an 'alien'. Was that all? Despite years of experience, the commando could not put her finger on the undercurrent that bellied their situation.
"What is your operational status?" She professionally asked.
"I'm not wounded, if that's what you ask" Williams breathed heavily "Sir, Ma'am, Cerberus commandos ambushed us in the tunnels, we barely got out alive. I'm sure they were up to something in there".
"The terrorists are Cerberus? Are you serious?" was Udina's incredulous response, but Williams and Tenora did not respond to his show of disbelief.
"Their being in the tunnels could mean anything. They have locked down the Presidium, it would make sense they would try to keep reinforcements at bay, by watching all potential accesses. Are you three alone?", Tenora cut in, as she tried to get a handle on their situation.
"We had a larger group, we split in two, the others went to try to infiltrate C-Sec HQ, we assumed the worst when C-Sec communications went offline", answered Ashley.
"Without the network, we're all blind. I hope they can join Commander Bailey or whoever is in command, that operation doesn't concern us now". Tenora curtly replied, as she took command of the situation, "you know the drill, we take Councillor Udina and the other principals to the landing pad first".
"Understood, Ma'am"
Tenora knew the human was undoubtedly biting her tongue, she had to be shell-shocked from the non-stop fighting prior to their arrival. Fortunately, they were not too far away from the main group. Secretly, the asari was much more confident now that there was a fellow Spectre at her side. Williams' service record as a special Council agent may have been short, but last time she checked they did not just let anyone into the Spectres.
-Councilor Sparatus. Citadel Presidium, blocks away from Shalmar Plaza -
Operation Chimera Time Marker 01:23
Many described Councilor Sparatus as cold, strict and unforgiving. Others were far less generous with their description of the turian representative. But what nearly everyone agreed on was the fact that Sparatus was completely unflappable. His upbringing had been very strict and unforgiving. Every single blow he had received in his lifetime, metaphorical and real, had prepared him to face the luxurious and prodigal life in politics with a stern, quasi-ascetic attitude. Even when news of 22nd and 33rd Fleets complete destruction at the hands of the Reapers reached the Citadel, the turian ambassador quietly stated that declaring war on the reaper was merely academic at this point.
Councillor Sparatus fought the impatient urge to snap at his escorts for dallying around this obviously exposed position on the faintest of hopes that the rest of the Council had survived the vicious assault launched by Cerberus.
"Officers, what is the hold up?" Sparatus coolly and politely asked his security detail, a mixture of C-Sec officers and Spectres, who had handled their protection as soon as all the Presidium alarms went off.
"We have to go, we can't wait here in these modular stores, and we're an easy target".
"Scanners just picked up the other Councillor's signals...and two other Spectres." The captain in charge of the escort said, at least of those who survived the initial answered.
Sparatus could hear the relief in the man's voice. The attack on the Citadel had come as a complete shock to the officers in charge. With communications near scrambled and squads of armed-to-the-teeth terrorists prowling the halls and causeways of the Presidium, the man was right to be relieved by the idea of two friendly Spectres coming their way.
"Excellent" Was all Sparatus offered. It would not do for the Councillor of the Turian Hierarchy to give a hug and a slap on the back to his escort. After all, he had a reputation to maintain.
A security detail protecting him and Councillor Tevos had so far brought them to the RV point with the rest of the Council, but two of the most powerful people in Citadel space had failed to show thus far.
He resisted the urge to express frustration, and simply addressed his escorts with the respect and self-control of someone who knew his life was in their hands.
"Sir, the Spectre agent in charge of this detail just informed me that Councillor Udina's transponder has entered the scanner range, plus two Spectre signals.
"Excellent"
The turian's optimism could not hide behind his stoic mask was not met with any kind of enthusiasm by the security officer. His grim expression communicated that there not everything in the plan was as it should have been.
"Communications with the landing pad for evac continue to be blocked. Shalmar Plaza is right ahead, we should be there within minutes. I suggest we proceed with caution and with the Spectres conducting some recon first. I'll give them the NTM* in 2 minutes.". The captain turned around and walked towards the elite operatives assigned to them, a salarian and a turian.
It did not take long for Councilor Udina and his bodyguards to reach their position, a few blocks away from Shalmar Plaza. The human politician seemed quite calm, despite their very serious predicament. One of the bodyguards was the recently appointed human female, Williams. Sparatus remembered how Udina had asked for his personal appraisal and support on proposing another human candidate for Spectre induction, in exchange for future support to turian interests. The existence of four Council races rather than three helped to counterbalance the leverage the salarians and asari often had when their mutually beneficial interests coincided. Humans and turians had more in common than what both species cared to admit.
"I'm glad you didn't leave without us" said Udina curtly, as ways of greeting Sparatus.
"We almost did, but we can't wait for Councilor Valern. We have already exceeded the reasonable time to evacuate and we have not detected his transponder signal".
"I think we are ready". Councilor Tevos had approached them without his noticing, the grace and beautifully smooth moves of the asari representative never stopped to amaze him. "Agent Tenora, did you find heavy resistance while escorting Udina?".
"No, but we lost a man. Operative Williams seems to have had more trouble". Sparatus and Tevos now paid more attention to the most recent additions to their security detail. The turian had seen Williams on numerous occasions and it was hard to believe the Eden Prime survivor had seen her career sky-rocket since she joined Shepard's crew and had become Anderson's protégé.
"I'm at 100%, nothing serious". Although Ashley Williams looked exhausted, her voice remained stern and resolute. Their security detail efficiently passed the order and resumed the careful progress through the escape route.
"Williams believes these are Cerberus agents we're fighting, but some of the weapons and armor they wear doesn't correspond with anything we had in our intel reports", added Tenora. "We'll handle the threat later, hopefully there will be enough security forces left to mount a serious counter-attack".
Sparatus did not say another word, only one pessimistic thought crossed his mind: May the spirits protect us all.
-Subject Kappa-05-12. Formerly known as C. Talavi –
Operation Chimera Time Marker 01:18
Kappa 05-12, along with several units of Cerberus commandos had taken overwatch positions over the now deserted Shalmar Plaza. Barely five minutes ago, their respective squad leaders had relinquished part of their operational authority in favor of operative Leng, hustling them into ambush positions.
The 'Chris Talavi' Kappa05-12 identified as his former self had had very brief interactions with this man before, and they had never been pleasant. Just as heavily modified and enhanced as they were, he had been permitted to retain many functions he had not. Enhanced subjects like him knew Cerberus needed infiltration agents with more autonomy and less noticeable implants; there was strength in the specialization of their training and he felt as a much better shock trooper than he ever was in a low-budget colonial militia.
Sanctum, the name crossed his mind once more. Kappa05-12 irritably shook his head, as an unbidden memory crossed his cerebral cortex. Now was not the time for introspection. They were in the heart of enemy territory and every second would be difference between humanity's death or salvation.
The operation, albeit successful, had not unfolded exactly as planned. The radio chatter between Centurion operatives from squads Kappa 03, 05 and 06 included failed communication attempts with one of the insertion teams, the one in charge of taking control of Huerta Memorial and its critical elevator nodes.
"Weapons check. Target is on the move. I'll cut through their rear-guard to secure targets". The dangerous Illusive Man's right-hand's voice came through their communication devices. Surprisingly, he was not present at their site, a contingency their programming reflected and adapted to in mere seconds. Nobody made a snarky comment about his delay, no Cerberus operative distracted their thoughts when so much was at stake.
The wonders of advanced Cerberus technology had allowed Leng's implants to seamlessly and effectively communicate his plan to the rest of the assault teams. For all intents and purposes, their neural pathways were linked together in a coordinated web of thoughts and ideas, as their HUDs and brain synapses worked in unison. There was no clash of egos or personalities; there was only Cerberus. There was only the mission.
Protect humanity
His mental activity was not really his only; under the complete networking of their teams, he could not hide his thoughts, misgivings and mostly erased memories. What little was left in their minds was sometimes involuntarily shared for brief seconds, then it all vanished. He recognized a child's laughter, an old man crying, the promises made by two young lovers… He did not know whether these thoughts were his or someone else's.
Kappa 05-12 HUD pinged, as one of their marksmen spotted the advance party of C-sec officers. Adjusting his aim, Subject Kappa 05-12 stared through his sights at the heterogeneous group of uniformed security officers and a detachment of heavily armoured bodyguards. The commandos set their sights on the unsuspecting vanguard, scouts, as they advanced in a staggered, two- by- two formation. Unaware of the danger that awaited them, the officers took up positions in the burning ruin that Shalmar Plaza had become, littered with broken everything. The Cerberus forces remained hidden, a few levels above and out of sight from the enemy scouts. Despite their advanced armor and shielding technologies, the Spectres would hardly resist the combined fire of three fire teams, an Atlas mechanized support unit and the onslaught by Leng's stealthy assassins. A few minutes passed, period in which the escorts had radioed the all-clear signal to the rest of their party.
Prioritize Spectre targets . Citadel Security secondary.
Whilst Kappa 05-12 and the rest of his fellow brothers in arms setup interlocking fields of fire, a targeting solution was automatically assigned to him: an implant lodged in his front cortex released as a small stream of endorphins and dopamine as the rest of his squad chuckled mirthlessly as their targets walked unaware of their impending death. Conditioned to kill and be killed for the betterment of humanity, the sudden rush of dopamine stilled any hesitation he would have felt about the taking another sentient being's life.
A Salarian target. Somehow, the little humanity left in him was glad for not being assigned another human, but his preferences or choices were of no matter to operational routines.
Obey the program. Kappa's implants quietly adjusted the operative's's line of thought. Now was not the time for second-guessing. Re-routing thinking patterns. All fire-teams set their sights on the advance party of C-sec officer, as they advanced in a staggered, two-by-two formation.
Kappa 05-12, aimed for the alien fitted with a dark-yellow, light armour. Adjusting his aim, so that his crosshairs rested between the salarian's shoulder blades, Kappa patiently waited for the signal. After a few seconds that seemed irrelevant for his mind, an order came through the brain synapses: Engage.
Subject Kappa 05-11 fired a stream of projectiles that slammed against the Spectre's slender chest, the impacts caused the shields to lose consistency as they reshaped and readjusted to continue protecting the wearer. The surprised salarian ducked and dodged the incoming hailstorm, but it was already too late.
Kappa 05-12 caught the telltale flash of the infrared beam of a Cerberus sniper, before a high-powered round punched through the salarian's thorax. The skinny frame of the alien shook violently as it was propelled against a nearby wall. His body fell and remained immobile
Without a pang of remorse, he switched from his first target to a human C-Sec agent with a charred chest wound, barely alive. Another target down. There was no pity or mercy on the enemy, human or otherwise.
From all around him, the deafening sounds of Mattock, Harrier and Raptor rifles drowned the cries from the people below. The surviving bodyguards bravely took positions and provided suppressing fire for their advancing units, while a group of richly-dressed civilians stayed behind and moved away from the crossfire.
Councilors in sight. Check your targets.
The Atlas mech fired a rocket at a stationed vehicle behind which two enemy units had ran for cover. The explosion wiped them all out and reverberated with a fallout of metallic pieces and other debris. A smoke curtain now engulfed the lower levels, which made targeting a bit more difficult from their vantage point.
The enemy is using smoke grenades. Kappa 05 squad, prepare for close quarters combat. The councilors are to be taken alive.
Hidden two levels above until the order to engage came down, the technological behemoth jumped and pounded the ground with all its weight, barely contained by its mass effect fields. The impact sent a shockwave of fear into the heart of the enemy.
As the Council forces had suddenly found themselves outsmarted, outnumbered, outgunned and outmaneuvered by Cerberus, Kai Leng silently de-cloaked behind the enemy lines. As he lifted his sharp blade and prepared to cut through the ambushed foes, Kappa-05-12 knew that this was the final stroke of Operation Chimera
Next Chapter: A Williams' Honor
* NTM: military slang for "notice to move".
Special thanks to survivor_686 for his invaluable help. Go check his work, it sincerely is some of the best I've read in this site.
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