“State your name for the record.” Director Aspern asked.

“Agent John Leif.”

“At ease agent, please take a seat. Let the record know it is Earth Standard Time, June 13th, 2257. Director Aspern and Deputy Direction Captain LeCroix are present. You were called here today to provide a complete debrief surrounding the Apex Garden Massacre and your individual contributions and actions during and following the incident. Please state how long between the incident and your return to Titan and describe the actions you took throughout that time.”

“Yes sir. The massacre occurred on April 27th, I returned to Titan station yesterday, June 12th. Forty-seven days took place between the attack and either apprehending or eliminating all of the attackers. twenty days were spent traveling between systems .”

Stealth shuttles were all but impossible to detect. They had the capability of launching themselves into space without assistance on all but the largest of super earths. But their maximum speed did not match most commercial space liners. The tradeoff being their stealth systems masking virtually any trace of their existence.

“My assignment was on Terra Nova. This was due in no small part due to bullshit politics and Naval policies because of my age and the Navy’s unwillingness to risk my capture or death in enemy territories. Which for the record, you ignored on more than one occasion. We lucked out in a sense as I happened to be in the right place at the right/most unfortunate time. My original objective was to interrogate an obnoxious fatass that’s been skimming the books on his military contracts, and confirmed while I was there, selling the military substandard gear.”

“Apologies for the interruption agent, but did you say obnoxious fatass?” Deputy Director Pierre LeCroix interrupted.

Once again, the young agent’s mouth had gotten the better of him. LeCroix was John’s commanding officer in Naval Intelligence. John’s attitude was on most days’ belligerent. Given the horrific attack that occurred and his subordinate seeing the results of the attack drove the young man well past belligerence and into levels that some would call insubordination.

“Well, the proper terminology would be morbidly obese, but the man was fat as hell. He stood fight foot four in tall boots and pushing four hundred pounds. Anyways, in the interrogation room he acted like he owned the planet. Typical rich asshole bullshit. I entered the room and just stared at him. I hadn’t bothered saying a word despite the man’s repeated questions and demands to be released. I opened up the portfolio and laid out several documents that I assumed he’d recognize. This was but a fraction of the proof we had on the man. His tone shifted from demanding things to accusing us of doctoring the evidence. I laid out a couple more images and then he was pleading for leniency.”

“Had you said anything to him at all?” the Director asked.

“No. I was surprised someone of his station in industry hadn’t been taught any methods to block telepaths from entering his mind. I was able to basically able to confirm all our evidence without him actually saying anything.”

“So, you entered the man’s mind without informing him of doing such a thing.” LeCroix once again asked.

“Yes. I was going to let him know what was going on, but he kept on droning on and on about what I had done, but he was insulting my intelligence why he was lying to my face. Just when I was going to start talking to the blubbering fatass is when I heard the gunfire.”

“Agent, tell me again where in the building you were?” Direct Aspern asked. He was reviewing an after-action report by the station chief.

“Apologies sir. Sixth Floor, interrogation room four. Agent DeNare and Thomas were in the adjoining room recording the interview. As you are aware, the Naval building is adjacent to the retail and green space called Apex Garden. It is used often by Naval personnel and their families to buy trinkets, goods, produce and fresh meals.”

“What did you do when you heard the gunfire?” LeCroix asked. He had several windows open on his terminal that he was reviewing. John suspected these were reports from other intelligence agents and first responders to the massacre.

“I jumped out of my chair, hit the base alert button on the wall. That was the big red button people told me not to push unless in time of an emergency. I turned around and saw the man had gotten up out of his chair. I hadn’t cuffed him to the chair because of the nature of the case and a perception he was not physically imposing. Except of course if he fell on me.”

John took a sip of water.

“I didn’t have time to deal with him, so I punched in the face, knocking him out which then caused him to fall awkwardly to the ground. I locked the door behind me, directed the agents in the adjoining room to guard the door and not let him out and ran to the weapon locker on the floor.”

“Wait, you punched the suspect?” LeCroix once again interrupted. “Jesus Christ John, you cannot be doing that. Like ever.”

“With all due respect sir, I had more pressing concerns to deal with then injuring some two-bit businessman. I grabbed a vest, helmet, a Sig 310, three extra mags and a Sig 410 pistol. I then ran down the stairs, shot out the second-floor window and jumped onto the roof. I leveled the rifle and began shooting at the armed suspects.”

“Where on the roof where you shooting from son? This wasn’t immediately clear to our investigators.” Director Aspern asked.

An overhead image appears on a screen to the right of John.

“I jumped out here, then used the second AC unit from the left as cover here. The first two attackers I saw were inside fifty yards. I switched to burst fire and began the counterattack. They either didn’t know what I was doing or didn’t know where the fire was coming from. I was able to eliminate four attackers before I jumped off the roof. I turned and immediately saw an assailant running toward me. I was quicker on the draw and put three rounds center mass with the 410. It was loaded with reactive mass rounds. Those rounds explode on impact and basically vaporize golf ball sized chunks of anything they hit. I holstered the pistol and squeezed off a couple more bursts towards two more attackers that were behind the man I just shot.”

“How much time would you figure had passed by the time you were at ground level?” LeCoirx asked.

“Too damn long. Three minutes maybe? Afterwards, I then moved toward the waterway which was about fifty to sixty yards from my current location. I saw another three assailants and shot at them. Two went down but the other I either missed or grazed. At this point I stopped hearing any heavy weapons fire and was only hearing small arms fire, likely from conceal carry holders or the local police force.”

“John, were any other agents with you attacking back?” Director Aspern once again interrupted John

“I believe Agents Benning and Johnson were on scene. I think they accounted for wounding or killing the other assailants.”

“So, your body count was nine kills at this point?” LeCroix asked.

“Yes sir. Medics from the base and local first responders were arriving on scene. I rounded up the assailants at this point and all told nine were dead, one was bleeding out and four were seriously wounded but stable. I instructed the medics on site to focus on the civilians that were wounded. I stood guard over the assailant that was seriously wounded, he succumbed to his wounds before the medics had an opportunity to review him.”

LeCroix was watching the helmet cam video of this. John’s pistol was aimed at his head. It didn’t move. The man begged for assistance. John’s first aid kit had a wound closing coagulant that he didn’t even bother trying to use. He watched the man bleed out without uttering a word. He wouldn’t have put it past him to put a reactive round to the face were a medic to demand a chance to stabilize them.

“How many armed assailants were there?” LeCroix asked.

“Twenty shooters in total. We were able to determine that they arrived in four work vans which means the number of active conspirators was twenty-four. Fourteen of which were accounted for. Two of the drivers were arrested on the spot, while two others fled with the six shooters.”

“How were the vans discovered as the means of transportation to the scene of the crime?” LeCroix asked. Nothing in any of the reports shed any light on this.

“Blind ass luck. Two of them were double parked and blocking traffic. Traffic police were basically detaining everyone within spitting distance of the garden as a result of the gunfire. They were wearing the same clothing and masks as the assailant and weapons were found in the vans.”

John took another short break to take a breather and drink some water. The only reason they got a bead on the others was because of piss poor planning on the attacker’s part of where to park and dumb luck. Relying on luck was never something any agent ever wanted to do, but none would pass up that gift horse.

“I ordered my team of analysts to pour through the surveillance footage to discover who these other individuals were. Given that we had two vans and their drivers in custody we figured there’d be at least one to four more out there. We had near perfect confidence within thirty-five minutes of the shooting who five of the six criminals were. The one we didn’t know was the driver of the orange van. I should point out that as of today that individual still hasn’t been identified.”

The carnage that was left behind resulted in the first and only time the Terran Confederacy ever censored anything on the Holo-net. The unedited images of the results of this evil event will never be shared with the public. Six hundred twenty-three people died that day, not included the butchers of the people. Three hundred forty-eight of the victims were Elementary school students that were there on a field trip. Those children were all under the age of eleven lost their lives because some jackasses believed that the Confed needed a message to stop harassing the Human Alliance.

“The assailants that survived were brought to the military hospital and placed under guard. The moment they could be interrogated our agents did so. Station Chief Bentley ordered me back to the intelligence building. I suspect he overheard my interrogation plans to get the additional information we needed.”

“What were those plans?” LeCroix asked a question he honestly didn’t want to know the answer too.

“It was highly effective, painful, brutal, and ultimately fatal.”

“I needn’t remind you are under record.” LeCroix reminded the young agent.

“Thinking about doing something and doing said act are two entirely different things. The mayor ordered an immediate lockdown and the military police, along with the militia and civilian police went on a manhunt to locate the conspirators. Three of the six were captured at the Leivala Spaceport. The driver of the orange van as I had stated has not been identified and has obvious slipped into the ether. The remaining two subjects were on the last flight that was cleared to leave the planet prior to the lockdown.”

“How did the two subjects escape the planet?” LeCroix asked.

“Rank incompetence by immigration officials on one case. Private shuttle on the other.”

“Can you elaborate on this agent?” Director Aspern was reviewing the images of the three individuals that were captured.

“The immigration official saw the name of the attacker, Maxwell Bernhard. Verified his ID had the same name. Even looked at the bloody picture. Stamped him and let him get in the space elevator. Which apparently continued to operate despite the bloody fucking lockdown. The Station Chief absolutely tore into the poor civvy that was in charge of immigration. Pretty sure he’s no longer a resident of Terra Nova.”

“And the private shuttle?” Director Aspern was now looking at a tablet with some additional information.

“Avery Johnson was on the private shuttle. They were apparently exempt from the lockdown order because heaven forbid the rich fuckers that ran the plan couldn’t be delayed or imposed upon. Avery Johnson was the son of ridiculously wealthy industrialist in Alliance territory on Veridian Minor.”

“Interesting. This is something that the Terra Nova governor will need to rectify.” Director Aspern was perturbed.

He had a grandfatherly figure and look to him, both in the figurative and literal sense. Disappointing him was almost worse than failing him.

“The private shuttle took off and followed its flight plan initially. It then deviated from the plan the moment it got out of the planet’s gravity well. The local fleet was spread thin with a smuggling interdiction operation. It then slipped away on a vector toward Alliance territory.”

“So, this Avery Johnson was effectively out of reach?” LeCroix asked.

“Effectively yes sir. We had more luck with Maxwell. On the station he booked four flights and checked into all four flights. He boarded the flight to Ivalin Prime. We managed to contact the flight crew and requested they slow down so I would be able to reach Ivalin Prime prior to them.”

“Were we aware what the motivation for the attack was by this point?” LeCroix had read all the interrogation records. A motive for the attack didn’t seem very clear to him.

“There didn’t seem to be a clear motive beyond a general dislike of the Confederacy. What was surprising is that the issues they had with the Confederacy were minor and annoying things to complain about. They didn’t rise to the level to target Naval personal and their family. That said this wasn’t a group of people that was overly intelligent or thought through this properly. In defense of the Alliance, they condemned this act officially. They don’t have a problem with people protesting our military and political leadership, but they know material or tacit support of terrorist activities would leader to war.”

“Thank you. Please get back to your next actions.” LeCroix made a couple notes in the report.

“I boarded Naval Frigate Tuscaloosa which immediately set sail for Ivalin Prime at full burn. We estimated that we’d arrive to the station with about an hour to spare.”

“So, you left the planet, alone?” Director Aspern interjected.

“I left without any Field Agents from Terra Nova. I had two squads of marines that were going to come with me onto the station from the Tuscaloosa. I also notified the local intelligence station who sent two field agents and had the passenger terminal filled with marines and military police.”

“You do realize you have a partner, correct?” LeCroix was angry. John was exceptionally skilled and was an excellent agent. But he played fast and loose with the rules and regulations surrounding partners.

“I do sir, but time was of the essence. We arrived at the liner’s gate minutes before they were cleared to dock. When he exited the line, we apprehended him and brought him back to Terra Nova.”

“Yes, about that Agent.” LeCroix asked in an annoyed tone. “There were eyewitness reports that indicated that it wasn’t that simple.”

“I may have intimated that his life was at risk were he to ignore my directions. Some colorful language was likely used.”

“Colorful is one way to put it. I quote ‘Maxwell fucking Bernhard, hands up asshole, if you so much as twitch a single fucking muscle I’m going to skull fuck the hole I’m going to make by shooting you in your stupid fucking skull.” LeCroix was not one to swear and it showed. He was visibly angry and embarrassed at the recruits use of language.

“That sounds vaguely accurate.”

Director Aspern smirked. “I’m aware of your eidetic memory son. I suspect you know and remember exactly what was said. I would advise a more diplomatic approach in the future. And to not lie through omission on official after-action reports. Continue please.”

“Apologies sir. The main problem that we now faced was bringing Avery to justice. He is originally from Meridian Minor. His father is the CEO of ArmCo. I was then recalled back to Titan by Deputy Director LeCroix where I began to formulate plans on how to either extract or kill the preppy bastard. Our investigation had also determined that while he wasn’t the mastermind behind the attack, he was the one bankrolling it.”

“Was the elder Johnson involved?” Director Aspern asked.

“While I believe his father to be every bit the scummy rich fuck everyone believes him to be, there is no evidence to suggest he was aware of his son’s activities ahead of time. Nor do we believe he actively provided any material assistance to his son. We believe the son diverted the funds on his own accord.”

LeCroix interjected “With what certainty are we sure of the accuracy of that statement?”

“Not perfectly sir, but we were exceptionally confident of our conclusion. The father did pay several bribes and convinced Alliance higher ups to reject any extradition requests made on the son. Which the Alliance shortly afterwards ordered the Meridian governor to refuse any extradition requests. So, while he wasn’t guilty of any conspiracy to commit murder, he wasn’t about to let his son face justice.”

“Do we know who gave the go ahead to plan or commit this act?” Director Aspern.

“Two retired generals, a retired admiral, and the sitting deputy chief of military communications. All members or former members of the Alliance cabinet.”

John got angry at this point. These motherfuckers were protecting a mass murdering asshole. His only regret in this whole god damned mess was he didn’t get authorization to go after the shot callers here. Though to be fair he never bothered asking for it because that would start a war between the superpowers. The alliance wasn’t going to do much if anything were to happen to Avery though.

“I then presented the plan to you Director, which you signed off on it. I departed Titan station in a Ghilie class Stealth Shuttle and headed to Meridian Minor. The original plan was to take an Alliance made, Mark 5 .750 caliber remote operated turret, set it up five or miles away from his home and then turn him into a bloody mess. That plan basically went to shit immediately as the whole damn family were wearing holo suits outside. They also had military grade windows in their mansion which didn’t allow me to see into the house. Thankfully for us, the family is your typical bunch of rich, arrogant assholes. The whole family sans Avery was at the mansion. The kid was bored and had to get out of the house for a week and was living it up in the Vector entertainment district. He was staying in a penthouse at the Arielle-Youble Towers.”

“How did you discover this information?” LeCroix asked.

“Alliance Holo-net. Turns out the kid was a bit of a pedorass. He had three outstanding warrants for indecent acts on a minor. The police always happened to be conveniently looking away whenever he was near them. His favorite hobby, besides murdering children, was fucking middle and high schoolers. At that point I just decided that I was going to put him down like the piece of rotten garbage he was. Extracting him was ruled out.”

“Was there any possibility of extracting him alive?” Director Aspern didn’t have a problem with agents taking the lives of their targets. He didn’t appreciate it when an agent casually dismissed an option over person or vindicative reasons.

“Unlikely given that it was a one-man operation. It would’ve been high risk, low reward. With multiple agents perhaps, but effectively impossible to do quietly by myself. Given the high-risk nature of this plan in general you weren’t willing to send more than one agent.”

John wanted justice for the victims. He wanted to play his part as the Grim Reaper. The Grim Reaper was reportedly across the holo-net as a viciously effective, borderline sadist Confederate Secret Agent. Wherever they went the victims were brutalized, killed slowly and almost always had limbs or parts of their bodies amputated.

“I brought a Mark 3 mod B stealth suit as my ‘oh shit backup plan.’ I simulated his old man to get a Penthouse room two floors above his. I made some idiotic, rich sounding demands and was able to pick up my room key without interacting with anyone. The suit wasn’t going to hold up to close inspection, but if I was quick, I could escape scrutiny. In any case I got the penthouse, climbed up to the roof and dropped off my duffel bag and immediately started to scout his room.”

“And how did you do that?” LeCroix knew he was asking a question with an answer that was just going to annoy him.

“Oh, I did one of them Spiderman-like things hanging upside down from the wall of the penthouse above his.”

LeCroix put a palm to his forehead and shook his head. Of course. One hundred fifteen stories up from the ground and naturally he’s hanging upside down in a stealth suit without thinking about what may happen should he fall. Even with John’s enhanced physique he wasn’t sure he could survive a fall from that height.

“Well turned out the asshole had two kids and an adult in his room.”

“And you used the Alliance Holo-net to verify this?” Director Aspern interjected.

“Yes sir, that and I had hacked the local government census bureau while I was Spidermanning next to his penthouse.”

“So, you’re telling us you were hanging on for dear life one hundred fifteen stories up, hacking the local government, and reconning his penthouse unit at the same time?” LeCroix asked rather incredulously.

“I was also instructing the VI on the shuttle to run a few checks and be prepared for startup protocols when I ordered it to do so. And it wasn’t one hundred fifteen stories, it was more like ninety-eight stories, I think? Maybe ninety-nine. I decided I didn’t want to rope those girls into this shitstorm that was coming so I used some jedi mind tricks to compel the girls to leave.”

“You mean you used your telepathy to force them out?” LeCroix had always wondered the extent of his psychic abilities.

Officially John’s classification ranged between a Level 3B and 4A class telepath. Unofficially, every examiner said they suspected he was at a minimum level 4A, possibly 5C. Two of the Navy’s best, and up to that point, most powerful telepaths believed John’s capabilities far exceeded the Navy’s official classification. John had never been an active participant in any of the exams and swore up and down that he’d never be one either.

“Yup. None of the four in the room had particularly closed off minds. The girls left the room without issue and prior to him getting his dirty hands on them. Avery got ‘tired’ and wasn’t in the mood anymore. He ordered the guard in his room to escort the girls to the lobby and pay for their rides home. There were two more guards outside the door and one that was walking back and forth on the outdoor patio. I shimmied over near that agent, swing over and landed on the terrace. I knocked the guard out by getting him into a sleeper hold. I used his keycard to gain entrance into the penthouse. Avery noticed the door open and walked over to see what was going on. I ran inside and jumped over a couch and punched Avery in the facing knocking a few teeth out. I then grabbed my knife and shoved it through his neck and basically decapitated the poor bastard.”

John took another break to take a sip of water.

“I was happy that I just ended the little shit’s life, but then I may have gone a little over the top with my next actions. I cut his hands and feet off, then crucified him over the central fireplace. I noticed the little shit bled all over me, so I then went into the shower to clean up. Climbed up to the roof, grabbed the bag I had stowed there and entered the service elevator. I put on a mask and a janitor’s overalls over the suit then exited the hotel in a laundry truck that had just finished offloading a bunch of stuff. When the truck had stopped, I opened the back door and hopped out, the driver had no clue I was back there. I walked to the industrial district where our hangar or landing pad building is and left the planet and booked it back to Titan.”

“How confident are you that you weren’t discovered?”

“No chance of discovery or identification.”

“Ending Avery in the way you did was brutal but acceptable. Mutilating the corpse is where we cross a line. This Grim Reaper nonsense needs to be reined in agent. I worry about the damage you are doing to yourself son.” Director Aspern was annoyed at the level of violence that was confessed too.

“My use of his father staying at the hotel had an added benefit of causing Alliance and local intelligence and police forces looking into him. ArmCo lost ten percent of their military contracts and the dad was forced out as CEO because of the suspicions surrounding his son’s murder. He’s still chairman but I suppose some bit of justice has been enacted upon his actions for this god damn mess. The guard on the outdoor patio was summarily fired and exiled from the planet too.”

“Thank you, Agent Lief. The director and I will need to discuss a few things and we’ll get back to you before the end of the working day with our findings.” LeCroix was concerned.

John’s past violent and brutal operations as a field agent were unsettling. LeCroix felt that when John was focused appropriately he was an impeccable agent. But too often he was sent off after truly awful and horrendous people that did terrible things. The brutality he delivered to those bad actors was beginning to be too much for him to tolerate.

“That won’t be necessary Deputy Director.” Director Aspern interjected. “Agent John Lief please rise. There are elements to this case that warrant both commendation and reprimand. Given the horrific nature of the crime you witness some of that violence can be understood. Your promotion to secret agent is however denied.”

“Sir, with all due respect. I understand I was a little loose with the rules.”

“Please be quiet John. I wasn’t finished. LeCroix and I agree that you lack the appropriate disposition for a deep cover agent. I don’t doubt that you could accomplish any mission that we offer you. Son, you just turned eighteen in March. The fall semester for the Naval Academy on Earth starts in September. You will be heading to the Naval Academy to get the college degree you should have and become an officer in the Navy.”

“Sir, again with respect. I’m common born, from a colony no less. You know full well that the admiralty makes it difficult for my status to command any significant vessel with ‘dirty blood’.”

For the first time in the past 2 hours Director Aspern smiled. “John, I’ve known you for six years, thanks in no small part to LeCroix’s, colossal oversite on your aptitude test. Yet, you exceeded every single expectation anyone in Naval Intelligence could have come up with. Your security clearance to our databases will, LeCroix, what’s the term?”

“The removal of access will be an accidental oversight I believe sir.” LeCroix smiled at that.

LeCroix was the director in chief in waiting. He only made the rank of Captain because he was in intelligence officer and not a command officer. He, like the Director, despised the direction the Navy had taken in determining who was in command.

“Should any situation present itself in the future we may need additional research or help from you. Any questions for me before you need to leave son?” Director Aspern winked at John.

The outgoing director wanted a mole in the Navy. This was an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. Make the young agent do more with his life and root out corruption and possibly destroy it within.

“Don’t suppose I can head to academy with my Mark 9 Power Armor and Stealth Suit?” John grinned at his request.

John was being polite with this request. He was going to smuggle those two items to Earth somehow in the event it wasn’t authorized. The Director laughed at the brass balls of the youngster in front of him. That stealth suit alone cost nearly five million credits. The Mark 9 Power Armor suits typically cost fifteen million credits.

“You know you don’t have any right keeping either as they aren’t technically your suits. Even if you’ve been wearing the same ones for the last three years. But if I say no, we’re going to find both of these missing when we conduct the fall audit. LeCroix will investigate this and then find no proof that they are anywhere in Confed space.”

“Well, yeah basically.” His CO knew he wasn’t going to lie to them, but the suits were coming with him come hell or high water.

Aspern just shook his head and let out a deep belly laugh. “Hmm. Deal, assuming you accept a desk analyst job at Miami station before you head too basic.”

John smiled, not entirely happy about having to work throughout the summer but he got up and shook both their hands and immediately ran out of the room and headed toward the armory to get his suits boxed up.

“Director, do you really think he’ll cut through the tape the admiralty will put up? Even for him that’s a mountain and then some to climb.” LeCroix was keenly aware of said red tape.

“Pierre, that boy at age eleven graduated High School with honors. When he was twelve years old, he completed the aptitude test you administered at the top of his class. The physical portion of the test, taken a month later he just barely achieved a passing mark. Twenty-five percent of the recruits fail that test at least once. He was the best damn analyst we’ve seen in four decades and while his actions in the field were often chaotic, he was one of the most accomplished field agents we had. He’d make a hell of a deep cover agent too, but I suspect if we continued to let him continue being himself, he’d turn into a monster.”

“Now then in my last act before retiring, delete all records of John’s involvement in this investigation. Let me know when you’ve finished scrubbing the records. I’ll be packing up the things in your new office if you have any questions.”

“Aye sir.” LeCroix headed to his office to begin removing any trace that Naval Intelligence had anything to do with Avery, the butcher of Apex Garden.