I Hate Being the Good Guy

"Well, that doesn't really make any sense."

"Doesn't it, though?"

"Of course not. They're terrorists, but not toward humans. Everything they do is to promote humanity. To protect it. Why would they nuke Earth? What could they possibly gain from that?"

"This is Cerberus we're talking about, Rehoni. They are more than willing to make sacrifices, even human ones, to push their goals forward."

"But how does killing millions of humans push their goals forward?"

"By screwing over someone else. Do you really think they're going to slap their emblem on this thing and leave it out for someone to discover before it goes off?"

Ryori listened in contemplative silence while her two most trusted commanders debated back and forth over the information Ahote had given her. Her eyes roamed over the files that Edgar had decrypted and organized for her. The conference room was currently occupied by herself, the two commanders Rehoni and Castien, and four others of her top officers and soldiers. It was the entire membership of the original squad that had long ago earned the nickname of the Sanguinaires, or "Bloodletters", within the Alliance. A varied and talented bunch, they were ruthless under Ryori's command and always got results. Though, sometimes they bickered a lot to get them.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I have to agree with Castien." The brunette woman spoke up, her voice soft but her tone firm. Lieutenant Verisya Nalvirr was notorious among their small group for her vehement dislike of Commander Castien Matthews, which was almost as notorious as the painfully obvious sexual tension between the two of them. Thankfully, Matthews was tactful enough not to comment on the woman's first words in light of the seriousness of the situation, and instead opted to stay silent and let her speak her piece. "If this information is legit, and we don't even know that it is yet, Cerberus is clearly trying to set someone up. The only question is: who?"

Rehoni looked more than a little annoyed, but her lack of response was evidence enough that she'd relented the debate. Instead, she continued to scowl at the datapad before her.

"Turians wouldn't make any sense. They're the best allies we've got, and even Cerberus wouldn't do anything to hinder that. Not with a Reaper threat on the horizon. My guess is the Batarians." Fleinn's low rumble of a voice took up about as much space in the room as his bulking mass. A few of the others nodded in agreement with the line of thought.

"That's fair. Either way, we're not going to know for sure until we verify the validity of this information. For all we know, none of this is even true. Cerberus has plenty of enemies, both human and alien. It could be someone trying to set them up, as well."

Or worse, trying to set up Ahote, Ryori thought. She was concerned about her former trainee. He was more than capable of handling himself, but he also had an affinity for biting off more than he could chew. What if someone found out about his history with the Alliance? What if this was some form of revenge for the soldiers he'd gotten killed, or even just someone using him as a pawn to hit the Alliance? Ryori had plenty of enemies herself, and her own name was starting to be known throughout the galaxy by more than just Alliance soldiers and other humans.

She hated it.

"Chienne, you have your mom face on." The colonel blinked and looked up to see everyone watching her, and she realized she had tuned out the last couple minutes of conversation. Castien's eyes held hers a little more firmly than the others. "You're worried about Hawk." She hated that he was always able to read her so well. A brief glare was all he received, but given that he was used to such looks from her and was hardly fazed by them anymore, she quickly quelled the expression.

With a small sigh, Ryori leaned forward over the table and rubbed her temples. "There are too many variables at this stage, and not enough concrete evidence of anything. I'm just trying to figure out how to verify what's really going on without putting Ahote at risk. He already had one reputation ruined, he doesn't need another putting him out of work."

"Colonel. There is a transmission coming through one of your personal frequencies. I believe it is Ahote."

She gave the command for Edgar to patch the information through. Everything was fine right up until the very end when she heard gun fire. The message ended with Ahote's expletive being cut off. "Shit." Within a matter of milliseconds, all seven of them were on their feet. "Edgar, trace that message as closely as you can. Castien, Fleinn, get your squads on suited up. Castien's group will infiltrate, Fleinn's will stand by as back up. The rest of you get in contact with Abel and get what information we have sorted out with him." There was a chorus of crisp Yes, ma'ams before everyone was moving.

They would find Ahote alive and in one piece, or by the gods Ryori would tear Omega to the ground to find his attacker.