Kerrigan put on the helmet, tucking her fiery red ponytail inside. The helmet was light but sturdy. In the span of a single breath, the HUD display activated, and a series of status readouts floated before her eyes.
As the Wraith's engines powered up, the HUD lit up with a briefing:
Assassination Targets:
Angus Mengsk – Senator of Korhal
Katherine Mengsk – Prominent Philanthropist
Arcturus Mengsk – Former Marine Colonel
Augustus Mengsk – Former Marine Second Lieutenant
It had been more than ten days since the rebellion broke out on Korhal. By now, every major core world had learned of the shocking news. The Confederate Senate on Tarsonis had issued a stern declaration the moment it reached them—condemning Angus for his anti-government, anti-democratic, and anti-human actions. Any attempt to break away from the Confederacy was to be treated as treason. They vowed to take immediate countermeasures to liberate Korhal IV from the control of terrorists.
Apparently, their first response was to eliminate the leaders of the rebellion—believing that silencing them would make the problem disappear for good.
To Kerrigan, this was just another routine assassination mission. She felt no sorrow for the people she was about to kill. After all, once the task was complete, the Ghost Academy would promptly erase all memory of the operation—just like every time before.
She didn't remember how many people she had killed—perhaps she never would. Yet for a brief moment, something stirred in her otherwise cold heart.
She was only sixteen—still in the prime of youth—yet she couldn't even recall the faces of those she had ended.
And her memories of her parents and hometown? Nothing. Just a blank void. Whenever she tried to think about them, the only thing she felt was a deep, searing sadness that cut straight through her soul.
Sometimes, Kerrigan wondered what it would be like to break free. But the psionic inhibitor implanted in her brain rendered her cold and composed in the face of enemies, and utterly obedient when given orders—even if she didn't truly agree with the cruel missions or their purpose. Any stray thoughts like that were swiftly suppressed by the inhibitor.
As Kerrigan flipped through the profiles of the targets, her gaze paused for a few seconds on the photo of Dorothy Mengsk. The girl was also sixteen, just like her—yet she had a loving and happy family.
"Katherine and Dorothy Mengsk haven't appeared in public on Korhal IV for nearly four months now. Angus's eldest son, Arcturus Mengsk, has also vanished without a trace. Only Senator Angus Mengsk and his second son, Augustus, are still on Korhal," said Agent 24718.
"That's irrelevant. Angus Mengsk is the only one who must die," he added.
"24506 will take care of Augustus."
Three Terran Confederacy Ghost operatives were participating in this beheading operation. Each of them had an average PSI rating above level 8, and at this very moment, Ghost 24506 was seated in the cramped crew bay of the Wraith fighter—evidence enough of how seriously the Ghost Academy regarded the threat posed by Angus Mengsk.
"Intel suggests the Mengsk family has reinforced the defenses around their leader's residence. A large number of rebel forces are garrisoned in Styrling, the capital city of Korhal IV," said Ghost 24718, steering the Wraith fighter out of the launch port.
"No matter how tight the defenses, there are always cracks. We'll find those cracks—and sneak into Angus's bedroom to take his head without anyone noticing," said Kerrigan, her voice distorted beneath the helmet. She went about inspecting her C-10 canister rifle as usual.
This high-powered 'rifle' was a masterpiece combining reinforced steel with lightweight polymers. It fired 25 mm high-impact fragmentation canisters and specialized locking rounds capable of paralyzing mechanical targets for a short time.
"Like a snake slithering up to the treetop… swallowing the birds right out of their nest."
The cockpit fell silent once more. Ghost 24718 focused intently on piloting the Wraith, the plasma thrusters blasting searing flames behind them. After a few short, controlled warp jumps, they broke free of Victor V's gravitational field and entered a hyperspace corridor along the synchronous orbit.
This retrofitted and upgraded fighter was equipped with a warp drive, enabling rapid interstellar travel. Its advanced stealth system ensured it could enter Korhal undetected by the rebel forces entrenched there.
...
Mengsk Sky Tower, Styrling City, April 12th – 02:00 Hours
The sixty-story Mengsk Sky Tower—with its Gothic curves—stood out starkly among the surrounding skyscrapers. Like the rest of the city's high-rises, it blazed with lights even in the dead of night.
The Mengsk family's security personnel had gone to great lengths to make this massive tower an impenetrable fortress. Every entrance and corridor was lined with laser sensors connected to the security network, sealing every blind spot. Beneath the marble walls and peachwood floors, vibration sensors could detect even the crawling of a mouse.
To any corporate tycoon, political powerbroker, or high-ranking official on Tarsonis, these measures would have seemed flawless. Any intruder, they believed, would be detected the moment they stepped into the tower—at which point, escape would be impossible.
But as Kerrigan, fully cloaked in her adaptive combat suit, walked silently through the corridor of the 42nd floor—her body completely invisible to the naked eye—and the sensors swept past her without the slightest response, she couldn't help but feel a tinge of pity for the Mengsk security team's blind overconfidence.
It appeared that the Mengsk family's defense system was truly state-of-the-art, even incorporating a significant amount of Umojan technology.
The latest Umojan laser sensors could, in theory, detect cloaked individuals. Previously, Ghost suits had been able to block infrared and laser detection—rendering even the most secure Tarsonis banks vulnerable to them.
Kerrigan had to admit, this was perhaps the most secure facility in the entire Terran Confederacy—second only to the Federal Parliament and the Tygore Family's Sky Tower.
But their adversaries were Ghost operatives. And Ghosts didn't rely solely on their own strength.
A team of intelligence specialists working for the Terran Confederacy's intelligence bureau had cracked the tower's sensor systems in just one week. By modifying their suits to mimic the reflected wavelengths recognized by the sensors, the Ghosts tricked the system into identifying them as nothing more than two ordinary servants.
The Mengsk family's security personnel updated the algorithms of their security systems daily, guarding against hacking attempts. But they overlooked the most basic element of all—the laser sensors. They forgot that it's not the human brain that's easily deceived, but the eyes.
Among the refined artworks, elegant sculptures, and oil portraits of the Mengsk ancestors, Kerrigan and her partner moved silently. They climbed floor by floor using the spiral stairwell rather than the elevators, brushing past numerous security guards clad in black uniforms.
While moving through a corridor to the next floor, a weary maid passed close to Kerrigan. In that fleeting instant, a torrent of emotions—fatigue, excitement, pride, fervent devotion—rushed into Kerrigan's mind.
She was used to it by now. Every staff member and guard within the Sky Tower was a fanatic follower of Angus Mengsk. They truly believed they were serving a grand and noble cause.
Liberation. Freedom. Salvation. Sacrifice. Devotion.
These were emotions Kerrigan had never experienced herself—feelings she could only categorize as noble, and they took her by surprise. Most of her previous targets had been despicable politicians or traitors to the Confederacy. Rarely had she been assigned to eliminate someone of integrity—because in the rot of Tarsonis, such people never rose to power.
Korhal IV had completely broken free from the Confederacy's control. All senators still loyal to Tarsonis had been executed at the guillotine. A new government had been swiftly formed, with Angus and his loyalists now ruling all of Korhal.
This once-prosperous world—the shining jewel of the Confederacy—had, in truth, slipped from the regime's grasp.
Sometimes, Kerrigan had pondered the meaning of revolution. But even she believed that Korhal's rebellion was like an egg hurled at a stone wall.
When the maid in her black gown passed Kerrigan, she never noticed a pair of pale golden eyes locked onto hers. In that instant, a powerful psychic force seized her thoughts—brave, but not nearly strong enough to resist.
She suddenly stopped. Her vacant eyes stared blankly at Kerrigan, then she turned around, as if in a trance, and walked toward a room on the 42nd floor—the quarters of the Mengsk family's chief steward, Charles Borret.
If anyone in the monitoring room had looked closely, they might've found the moment suspicious. But in truth, the pause and turn lasted barely a second or two.
The maid gently pressed the doorbell, then, seemingly flustered, jabbed it several more times. Charles, still fully dressed from sleep, came out intending to ask what was going on—only for his black pupils to suddenly lose focus. He began to walk forward like a puppet, leading the way for Kerrigan.
In Kerrigan's mind, she could sense his will struggling to resist. At seventy years old, Charles's mental resilience surprised her. But Kerrigan was a Level 10 psychic—an unprecedented power. The gulf between her and a normal mind was like the ocean to a stream.
As Charles led her toward Angus Mengsk's bedroom on the 60th floor, the maid—utterly dazed—wandered off toward the kitchen, returning to prepare breakfast for the security staff. She had no memory of what she'd just done.
---
I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
---