Chapter 18: Cerberus Retrieval Team - Part 1
POV: Marc Wayne
For three weeks, the timer in Marc's mind had been counting down toward an inevitable confrontation. Now, as his System displayed "Cerberus Team Detected: Multiple Signatures" in urgent red text, his stomach dropped with the certainty that Miranda's warning had come due.
[CERBERUS RETRIEVAL SPECIALISTS: 6 CONFIRMED]
[EQUIPMENT: MILITARY GRADE]
[MISSION PROFILE: ASSET RECOVERY WITH LETHAL AUTHORIZATION]
[USER SURVIVAL PROBABILITY: CALCULATING...]
[ASSESSMENT: SEVERE THREAT]
This wasn't gangs or mercs or even Blood Pack Krogan driven by personal vendetta. These were professionals trained specifically to capture augmented targets, equipped with countermeasures for the exact abilities Marc had been developing. The kind of team that made failure a terminal condition rather than a learning experience.
The approach came through official channels with the slick precision of corporate bureaucracy disguised as diplomatic courtesy. Agent Kale presented himself to Omega's authorities as a Cerberus recovery specialist seeking the "peaceful transfer of proprietary technology" that had been misappropriated from legitimate research facilities.
Marc watched the proceedings through Aria's surveillance network, studying the man who'd come to drag him back to a laboratory table. Kale was human, middle-aged, with the kind of calm competence that spoke of decades spent solving problems through the application of superior firepower and tactical doctrine. His eyes held the flat certainty of someone who'd never failed a retrieval operation.
[TARGET ASSESSMENT: AGENT KALE]
[THREAT LEVEL: EXTREME]
[SPECIALIZATION: AUGMENTED HUMAN CAPTURE]
[PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE: RESULTS-ORIENTED, MINIMAL ETHICS]
Aria's response was predictably pragmatic. She denied the official request through diplomatic channels while privately warning Marc that he was now entirely on his own.
"They'll try anyway," she said during their brief meeting in her private office. "Handle it, or I'll let them take you to avoid station conflict. I won't risk Cerberus retaliation for one asset, no matter how useful you've been."
The calculation was brutal but logical. Marc had value to Aria, but not enough to justify open conflict with an organization that could make Omega's existence significantly more difficult. He was being cut loose to succeed or fail based on his own capabilities.
That evening, Marc's encrypted channel chimed with a message from Miranda: "Kale has authorization to use lethal force if necessary. The 'peaceful transfer' is theater. They plan to ambush you in the lower districts where casualties don't matter. 6 hours."
The intelligence was precise and probably accurate, but it raised questions about Miranda's position that Marc couldn't afford to analyze too deeply. She was risking exposure to provide tactical intelligence that could only come from someone with access to Cerberus operational planning.
"She's choosing sides," Marc realized as he prepared for the coming confrontation. "The question is whether she's choosing me or just choosing against Cerberus. Either way, I need to make sure I survive long enough to find out."
Marc didn't wait to be ambushed. Using Miranda's intelligence, he began setting his own trap with the methodical precision of someone who'd learned that reactive defense was a luxury he couldn't afford.
The chosen battleground was a maintenance sector in Omega's industrial district—confined spaces that negated numerical advantages while providing environmental hazards he could exploit. With Anto's military expertise and Kreek's pack coordination, Marc prepared defensive positions that turned the ambush site into a killing field designed around his specific capabilities.
[TACTICAL PREPARATION: ENVIRONMENTAL COMBAT]
[ADVANTAGES: SEALED ESCAPE ROUTES, VENTED ATMOSPHERE SECTIONS, OVERLAPPING FIELDS OF FIRE]
[PACK COORDINATION: 8 VORCHA POSITIONED FOR MAXIMUM EFFECTIVENESS]
[TURIAN MARKSMANSHIP: ANTO PROVIDING OVERWATCH]
When the Cerberus team arrived expecting a cornered target, they found a coordinated ambush that exploited every advantage Marc's enhanced capabilities could provide.
The specialists were good—ex-military professionals with equipment specifically designed to counter augmented targets. Their weapons fired rounds that disrupted regenerative healing, their tactics accounted for enhanced speed and strength, and their coordination spoke of extensive training in asset recovery operations.
But they'd prepared to capture a single enhanced individual, not a pack coordinator directing alien allies through terrain that had been deliberately modified to maximize defensive advantages.
Marc's Four-Eyed Vision spotted their flanking attempts before they could develop while his Alpha Instinct turned Kreek's pack into precision strikers who hit targets with surgical efficiency. Anto's overwatch position let him provide supporting fire that disrupted enemy coordination while Marc's tactical mobility kept him ahead of attempts to pin him down.
[COMBAT EFFECTIVENESS: +67% FROM PACK COORDINATION]
[ENVIRONMENTAL ADVANTAGES: +45% TACTICAL SUPERIORITY]
[ENEMY ADAPTATION RATE: SLOWER THAN PROJECTED]
The Cerberus team found themselves facing something their training hadn't anticipated—a tactical combatant who fought like a commander rather than an individual, using alien allies and environmental hazards to multiply his personal effectiveness beyond their countermeasures.
But they were professionals, and professionals adapted. When their initial assault failed to achieve rapid capture, they shifted to heavier firepower designed to neutralize the threat permanently rather than preserve it for study.
A rocket impacted near Marc's position, the explosion catching him in a cascade of debris and superheated fragments that overwhelmed his regeneration through sheer kinetic force. As his health dropped below the threshold, Krogan Blood Rage activated automatically.
[HEALTH: 23% - CRITICAL]
[KROGAN BLOOD RAGE: ACTIVE]
[COMBAT EFFECTIVENESS: +200%]
[WARNING: PSYCHOLOGICAL MODIFICATIONS IN EFFECT]
The transformation was as disturbing as it was effective. Pain vanished while Marc's strength doubled and his regeneration became incredible. But more significantly, his tactical thinking simplified into predatory hunger that viewed the Cerberus team not as opponents to outmaneuver but as threats to eliminate through superior violence.
What followed was systematic destruction conducted with Krogan ferocity guided by human tactical intelligence. Marc moved through the Cerberus positions like a force of nature, his enhanced capabilities allowing him to take risks that should have been fatal while his pack coordination turned the Vorcha into extensions of his will.
By the time the Blood Rage faded, four of the six specialists were down and the remaining two were retreating with professional discipline toward prepared fallback positions.
That's when Agent Kale activated his failsafe.
The neural shock device he triggered was specifically designed to overload IDA System integration—three months of research condensed into a targeted attack against the exact vulnerabilities Cerberus had built into their own technology. Marc dropped mid-stride as his System crashed in cascading failure, every genetic enhancement going offline simultaneously.
[CRITICAL ERROR: SYSTEM INTEGRATION FAILURE]
[ALL GENES TEMPORARILY DISABLED]
[ESTIMATED REBOOT TIME: 10.7 MINUTES]
[WARNING: USER DEFENSELESS DURING REBOOT CYCLE]
The sudden loss of enhanced capabilities was devastating. Marc's strength dropped to baseline human levels while his regeneration stopped entirely, leaving him vulnerable in ways he'd forgotten were possible. Kale approached with professional satisfaction, restraint fields ready to secure the asset for transport.
"Marcus Wayne, IDA Project Alpha," Kale said as he prepared the capture protocols. "You've caused considerable trouble. Time to come home."
That's when Miranda appeared.
Three precision shots punched through Kale's biotic barriers with the accuracy that came from intimate knowledge of Cerberus equipment specifications. The agent spun around in shock, his weapon tracking toward the new threat while his tactical mind processed the impossible.
"Miss Lawson?" Kale's voice carried the disbelief of someone whose worldview was actively crumbling. "You're... you're protecting the asset?"
Miranda's expression was ice given human form, her weapon steady as her authority settled around her like armor. "I'm preventing a diplomatic incident on Omega that would damage Cerberus interests. The Illusive Man will receive my full report on this operation's compromised status."
The words were lies wrapped in official language, and Kale knew it. But Miranda outranked him, and insubordination in the field carried consequences that even experienced operatives avoided. He retreated with his surviving team member, promising through gritted teeth that this wouldn't be the end of the matter.
Miranda didn't watch them go—her attention was focused entirely on Marc, whose System was struggling to reboot while his unenhanced biology dealt with injuries that would have been manageable minutes earlier.
[SYSTEM REBOOT: 47% COMPLETE]
[GENETIC INTEGRATIONS: OFFLINE]
[ESTIMATED FULL RECOVERY: 6.3 MINUTES]
Marc found himself shaking as the implications of his temporary vulnerability crystallized. Without his System, he was just a baseline human with military training—dangerous enough to civilians, but helpless against the kind of threats he'd been facing since his arrival on Omega.
"I'm addicted to the enhancements," he realized with uncomfortable clarity. "I've become dependent on capabilities that can be taken away with the right equipment. That's a weakness I need to address."
"That device," Marc said as his voice returned. "They made it specifically for me?"
Miranda nodded grimly. "Three months of research into IDA vulnerabilities. Kale was supposed to be a last resort, but the Illusive Man is getting impatient."
Marc studied her face, reading the micro-expressions his training had taught him to recognize. "You just burned your career for me."
Miranda's smile was bitter as winter starlight. "I burned it the day I started questioning orders. This just made it official."
She handed him a data drive that felt warm from her body heat. "Everything Cerberus knows about you, and everything they're planning. You deserve to know what's coming."
[NEW QUEST COMPLETED: CERBERUS RETRIEVAL TEAM]
[EXPERIENCE GAINED: +800 XP]
[LEVEL ADVANCEMENT: 6 → 6 (OVERFLOW: 500/3500 TO LEVEL 7)]
[MIRANDA LAWSON: RELATIONSHIP CHANGED TO DEFECTED ALLY]
[WARNING: SYSTEM VULNERABILITIES IDENTIFIED]
[NEW PRIORITY: DEVELOP COUNTERMEASURES]
As Miranda prepared to leave, disappearing back into Omega's chaos before her betrayal of Cerberus could be traced, Marc realized their relationship had just shifted irreversibly. She was no longer his observer or his potential enemy—she was complicit in his survival, which made her either his most valuable ally or his most dangerous liability.
[SYSTEM REBOOT COMPLETE]
[ALL FUNCTIONS RESTORED]
[NEW THREAT PROTOCOLS UPDATING]
[ANALYSIS: NEURAL SHOCK COUNTERMEASURES REQUIRED]
The return of his enhanced capabilities was like putting on familiar armor, but the memory of helplessness lingered. Marc had learned something crucial about his evolution—power that could be taken away wasn't true strength. He needed safeguards, redundancies, ways to remain dangerous even when his primary advantages were neutralized.
The game was escalating, and Marc was finally beginning to understand that his enemies were as adaptive as he was. The question was whether he could evolve faster than they could develop countermeasures.
In the distance, Omega's neon chaos continued its eternal performance while Marc added another item to his growing list of impossible priorities: find a way to protect his System from targeted attacks, because the next time someone tried to take his enhancements away, he might not have Miranda Lawson watching over him.
The war was becoming personal, and Marc was learning that in wars between enhanced individuals, the winner was often simply the one who retained their advantages longest.
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