[center][h1][color=00a651][b][u]NERO KAYAKOS[/u][/b][/color][/h1][/center] [h3][b][i]Before The Mission...[/i][/b][/h3] During the their pre-mission prep time, Narvia had actually remarked to him about the attention to his stealth, always straight to the point when talking their battle plans. For some reason, the girl's laugh made him feel...what? He wasn't sure. It felt like she was putting him on the spot, but her words sounded more like approval and her laughter pleasant. [color=00a651]"Well, I mean...if you're gonna do a job right... Right?"[/color] It was difficult for him to place people, sometimes. Part of the reason why would always be that his life had been a kind of bare-bones survival among largely indifferent caretakers, followed by the army taking him away for torturous experimentation, then fighting in their war. Seeing and hearing something warm and unpleasant, and having it directed at him, was an uncommon thing in his life. Mostly, he felt he was accepted because they were all in the same boat. Nobody minded that he'd actually enjoyed killing. Ash and Flame always thought of him as part of the team. He and the others talked regularly, albeit sometimes he felt a little awkward. This was just different, somehow, more than being merely accepted into the fold. He didn't know how to deal with it. [hider=Flashback: The War] The dust and smoke settled from the latest attack, soldiers calling out the all-clear and sounding off their positions. It was moments later that several same Ascendancy soldiers found their commanding officer, lying half-cooked on the ground by enemy fire. A quick glance was all you needed to tell that he was a goner, a [i]long[/i] goner. As in, he was cooling from the initial blast that killed him already. The Sergeant-At-Arms glared coldly at this, his teeth then gritting as he shouted... [b]"Nero, you son of a [i]bitch![/i] GET OUT HERE!"[/b] Naturally, he appeared from the shadows, as per always. There was just darkness, and then there he was, bandaging a wounded arm where one of the Rau've had slashed at him. Nothing serious. He had a way with gathering only flesh wounds while others expired around him. That's what they hated about him: He lived. He opened up with [color=00a651]"What the hell do you want?"[/color], and the Sergeant rounded on the young figure behind the Killer Mask, pointing at the corpse on the ground. [b]"The Commander is DEAD! You were suppose to be looking after him. Bodyguard detail... Do you know what that fucking MEANS, boy?!"[/b] [color=00a651]"It means that I'm to kill the enemy that's trying to kill him."[/color] [b]"It means you're suppose to protect him! Keep him alive! DOES THIS LOOK ALIVE TO YOU?!"[/b] [color=00a651]"Looks like he forgot to duck to [i]me[/i]."[/color] The Sergeant lost it. This whole time, this whole stinking campaign, this kid had been nothing but trouble. He never defended them, never warned them of an incoming attack, never did anything more than just kill and bust their chops, laughing at how weak they were to depend on a BOY to do their fighting and complaining when they told him to do anything other than his job as one of the thrice-damned 'Star Marines', which was to kill. He lost it, and immediately drew a bead with his rifle to shoot- One of his men cried out [b]"NO!"[/b] and shoved the barrel aside as he pulled the trigger, simultaneously aware of both the rage exploding towards the thought of beating the soldier for insubbordination...and a sudden twist of fear in his gut as he'd seen the boy snake in a manner clearly meant to avoid the shot and launch himself forward to tear him open...had the soldier not intervened. As it stood, the shot went wide and rage found him glaring at the soldier in question. [b]"Sir, we need him!" "No, we don't! Better to kill 'im now, and handle this mission with good [i]dependable[/i] men!" "You can't-"[/b] [color=00a651]"Fucking [i]let 'im[/i]."[/color] Both men stopped and stared at Nero now. [color=00a651]"Shoot me, you fucker. I [i]want[/i] you to do it. Make it easy. Gimme the [i]excuse[/i], so I can gut you dead."[/color] [b]"Nero, you shut your goddamn-"[/b] [color=00a651]"I don't take orders from [i]you[/i]. I have ONE order: Kill the enemy. That's what I'm here for. Kill the enemy and kill the enemy and [i]kill the motherfucking enemy![/i] Not to look after some shit-for-brain soldiers like you! So, go on. Shoot me, so I can [i]kill the enemy.[/i]"[/color] They glared at this boy without words, and they knew that they had a far worse danger with them than their own opponents in war. What had the Ascendancy been thinking, turning [i]this[/i] loose on the battlefield...? [/hider] They were all classic cases of being forced to grow up too early. What'd it mean when they still acted normally? [h3][b][i]Mission Start![/i][/b][/h3] They had entered the ship, and immediately the twins saw him running off to do his thing. Indeed, they saw him cast the Shadow Step upon himself and become shrouded in night, the shadow that would merge with other shadows when in proximity and render him invisible, the shadow that would walk wraith-like even in direct light and make it difficult to distinguish who and what he was. The Matthews knew, of course. Everyone in the Star Marines knew each other's powers, especially post-war when they actually started talking to one another properly. Nero was quiet and stuck to the shadows all the time. For the moment, he didn't call upon Ariel via communicator yet because she likely needed some time to set up and be prepared. It was alright. With no one aware that he was around, he had the upper-hand. So far, no opposition to be found. Were they all dead? He'd remain in stealth, regardless. He'd once done a whole mission, this way. The enemy suspected everything [i]except[/i] an enhanced human stealth agent, and it was too late before they even realized it. Anyway, Nero had still been investigating corridors by the time he got the signal from Iris and Samuel that they were checking out an Armory. He'd passed that a little while back. Go back? Make sure no one was coming? Nero paused in the darkness. He'd been eliminating a few lights around here for good measure, but now... [i]”Hehe, always to the point, aren’t you, Nero?”[/i] [color=00a651][i]Yeah, I said I'd be watchin' 'em, so I guess I'd better stick to them.[/i][/color] The light directly outside the Armory was one that he'd conked out when he'd passed there before, because he'd been planning to get in there earlier, and now he saw Samuel and Iris walking in. Whether they noticed his wraith-like form in between shadows was down to them. He'd said where he'd be, what he was doing around them. From the doorway, Nero saw what the Twins did first, the microwave weapon, and immediately recalled a few times when some commanding officer had decided to 'discipline' him for doing what he'd been placed in the army to do. Bastards... He was brought back to reality when some guns were primed from the part of the room that [i]none of them[/i] had been watching. [color=00a651][i]Oh, for fuck's sake... I slack off for ONE SECOND...[/i][/color] [b]"Didn't expect to meet you three so soon - Would you mind throwing down your weapons and surrendering?"[/b] There was a...we'll assume [i]man[/i], for now. He was wearing a voice-modulator mask that was in the shape of a [url=https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1BPTlKeuSBuNjy1Xcq6AYjFXav/GEARDUKE-Steampunk-Plague-Bird-Mask-Doctor-Mask-Long-Nose-Cosplay-Fancy-Mask-Exclusive-Gothic-Retro-Rock.jpg]bird[/url], protecting their identity for the time being. Armed though he was, the main issue was his back-up dancers, four [url=https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/masseffect/images/5/54/Geth_Shock_Trooper.png]mechanoids[/url] ready to open fire. Well, at any rate, we all know what the answer to the guy's question was going to be. It was going to be NO. And...it's hard to know who really acted first here. Was it Iris with the deconstruction? Was it Sam with the sudden earthy barracade for them to drop down into? Or was it Nero, whose shadowy self slipped from the darkness of the hallway to throw monomolecular knives at the lights before drawing Electro-Daggers to attack robots and masked humanoid alike with as the Armory was plunged into darkness? Well, [i]![/i] dunno, but one thing's for certain: There would be blood tonight!