Page 6 of 3013: Justice

Now, all of his victims could finally find some peace.

The man had been accommodatingly drunk as he’d stumbled down the street with two of his incompetent friends. They’d been too caught up in the festive mood that had spread throughout the city to even notice Talon brushing past them in the crowd of people.

If they had pushed it through proper channels, the operation could have been reviewed and approved by Alliance command. However, Talon wasn’t willing to risk the chance he could slip through again. Taking him out was a simple job that could have been handled by someone with less experience, but he didn’t mind taking care of it personally. It was offensive to see the corrupt, smiling fuckhead strutting around as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

The simple task had only taken a few seconds to complete, and it left Talon feeling slightly unsatisfied. The authorities usually ended up declaring a natural cause of death for those he assassinated. However, this time, they would probably blame it on the copious amounts of drugs and alcohol the man had consumed.

It was a shame, really.

Some might have thought him ruthless or cold-blooded for feeling that way, but he thought this particular target deserved a far more painful end to his existence.

“It’s done,” Talon informed his team through the comms system he was wearing.

“Copy,” Cedric Twist responded.“For the record, I still say this was too damn merciful. I really wish you would have made that nasty fucker suffer more.”

Since Talon had just been thinking the same thing, he didn’t bother responding.

Cedric was the team’s communications specialist and an expert hacker. At the moment, he was safely stashed away in his quarters on their ship. Whether they were traveling, docked at a space station, or on planet, he chose to remain onboard their vessel. While he claimed he didn’t have to pay rent that way, it also saved him from having neighbors since he hated crowds, and well… people in general.

“It’s not done until he’s no longer breathing,”Winston Hawes countered. “There is still no sign of distress yet.”

As second-in-command and an all-around cynic, Winston insisted on watching Talon’s back, even during low-risk missions. He was an exceptional sniper with an almost supernatural gift to hit whatever he was aiming at. He took care of most of their long-range targets and also provided cover for the rest of the team during active missions.

But right now, he was simply shadowing Talon and their mark.

“Relax,”Talon ordered, unbothered by the delay since he’d deliberately planned it that way. Besides, he could still feel his gift was doing its thing by the slight strain on his own energy.

“That’s right. Boss never fails,”Cedric bragged.“He’s a freak like that.”

“Never say never,”Winston said dryly.“There’s always a first time for everything.”

“Remind me to kick both of your asses later,” Talon murmured as he continued to stroll down the street. “Freak? Really?”

Cedric let out a nervous laugh.“Just a slip of the tongue, boss.”

“Careful, or I might just cut it out for you.”

Some might think it was unprofessional or even callous to joke around while they were in the process of killing someone, but keeping their banter light and casual helped offset the heavy burden of their duties. No matter how justified their reasons were for their actions, ending lives took an emotional toll.

Unlike his older brother who was famous for having an explosive temper, Talon was known for being pretty laid back and calm most of the time. He had to be since getting emotional was dangerous with his abilities. As commander of the team, he preferred to treat the members more like family rather than a strict military unit. Since there were only six of them, it worked out better for all of them that way.

That didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy scaring the shit out of them.

“If you’re going to maim him, at least wait until after we eat,”Teale Murphy interjected from where he and Laken Kyon were seated at one of the coveted tables located on the second level balcony of Exodus.

The outdoor balcony was fairly private and gave them a perfect view of the surrounding area. The two of them were dressed like civilians to blend in with the other patrons at the bar, but they were really there to do surveillance.

“The food was just delivered. You better get moving, or we’re going to start without you. Sure you won’t come join us, Ced?”Laken asked.

“Hell no. There is no way I’m going anywhere near that crowd. Besides, Fadi is already making something for us here,”Cedric said, mentioning their pilot.“Damn it, I’ve lost track of the mark. All of those fucking street vendor stalls are blocking my view, so facial rec isn’t picking him up. Give me a minute, and I’ll hack into some of the security systems in the area.”

“Don’t bother. I’ve still got eyes on them,”Winston assured them.

“Switching to the feed from your glasses. Fuck, you’re so far away. How can you even see them?”Cedric complained.

“Quit bitching and just zoom in. I can’t help that my vision is better than yours.”

All of the members of the team were wearing high-tech sunglasses that could magnify the view, replay the recorded feed, and had lenses that could display necessary data. Cedric usually preferred using a satellite view or tapping into the local system instead of the feeds from the glasses. He claimed it was too much like being in someone else’s head, though sometimes there was no other option.

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