Operation Decapitation

Sixteen-year-old Sarah Louis Kerrigan down and stepped into the half-closed cockpit door of a Wraith. Her blue and white environmental mimicry combat suit clung even tighter to her body as she bent over.

Thus, the beautiful curve between her slender waist and perky buttocks formed a lovely arc, and her flat stomach revealed her sexy abs. In that instant, her graceful figure was on full display.

Kerrigan sat in the height-adjustable pilot's seat, adjusting the equipment with practiced ease, pulling up a star map of the Koprulu Sector, and testing the sensitivity of the sensors. The seat cushion was so thin that she could almost feel the steel support beneath.

Outside the aviation glass, the sandstorm that had blotted out the sky above Victor V military base had dissipated, but the sky remained deep and dark.

This deserted planet, located on the edge of the Terran Confederacy star system, remains unchanged for most of the year; even the latest UNN bulletin takes a week to reach this "forgotten land of God."

The soldiers stationed here are all Marines who have undergone resocialization, and only they can endure this profound loneliness. For Kerrigan, who left her family at the age of eight and began training to become Ghost operative at the age of twelve, loneliness and pain are unfamiliar emotions.

Each Ghost operative has Psionics suppressor in their brain that blocks out most useless emotions; they are as ruthless as real ghosts or humanoid weapons, just as the instructors at the Ghost Academy expect.

Ghost 24718 climbed up from the other hatch, handed Kerrigan a fully enclosed helmet and a C-10 grenade launcher, and then sat in the pilot's seat, pressing the control stick. His voice, coming from behind the helmet, seemed to come from another world, hoarse as if liquid nitrogen had been poured into his throat.

"Reset coordinates, Lieutenant. Korhal System, Korhal IV." Ghost 24718 said, "Calling control tower, Wraith AG-18 is departing, over."

All Ghost operative are referred to by numbers, simplified names, or code names that reflect their special skills and personalities. Their communication is always brief and efficient. That's what Ghost operative are—assassins who don't need extra emotions or social interaction. They should be as cold as steel, forged and polished to become hard and deadly.

Kerrigan put on the helmet, tucking her long, fiery red hair, styled into a shoulder-length ponytail, inside. The helmet was lightweight and sturdy, and the HUD display activated in the blink of an eye, showing various data points before Kerrigan's eyes.

As the Wraith's engines started, a stack of mission briefings appeared on the HUD display: Assassination targets: Angus Mengsk, Senator Korhal, Katherine Mengsk, renowned philanthropist, Arcturus Mengsk, former Marine Corps Colonel, Augustus Mengsk, former Marine Corps Second Lieutenant.

More than ten days after the Korhal rebellion broke out, the shocking news reached all the major worlds. The Tarsonis Confederate Congress issued a stern statement immediately, condemning Angus's anti-government, anti-democratic, and anti-humanitarian atrocities. They declared that any act of secession from the Confederacy would be treason and pledged to take immediate countermeasures to free Korhal IV from the control of terrorists.

It now seems that their first reaction is to kill the terrorist leader, as if that would shut them up and solve everything once and for all.

For Kerrigan, this was just another routine assassination mission. She didn't need to feel sad about the person she was about to assassinate, because after the mission was over, the Ghost Academy would quickly erase their memory of the operation, just like in the past.

She didn't remember how many people she had killed, and perhaps she never would. At that moment, Kerrigan's cold heart was suddenly touched. She was only sixteen years old, in the prime of her youth, yet she couldn't even remember the people she had killed.

Memories of my parents and hometown are completely blank; only when I think of these words do I occasionally feel a heart-wrenching sadness.

Sometimes, Kerrigan considered changing, but the Psionics suppressor implanted in her brain made her cold and calm in the face of enemies, and incredibly obedient to orders—even though she didn't agree with these brutal assassination missions or their meaning. This emotion was quickly erased by the Psionics suppressor.

While going through the information of these people, Kerrigan paused for a few seconds on a photo of Dorothy Mengsk, who was only sixteen years old like her but had a happy and fulfilling family life.

"Katherine and Dorothy Mengsk haven't appeared in public in Korhal IV for nearly four months, Angus's eldest son Arcturus Mengsk, is also nowhere to be found. Only Senator Angus Mengsk and his second son Augustus, are still in Korhal," Agent 24718 said.

"That doesn't matter, but Angus Mengsk is the only one who must be killed," he said.

"24506 will take care of that Augustus."

Three Terran Confederacy Ghost operative participated in this decapitation operation, all with an average PSI value above level 8. At this moment, another Ghost operative, 24506, was sitting in the cramped crew cabin of this Wraith. This is enough to demonstrate the Ghost Academy's high regard for Angus.

"Intelligence indicates that the Mengsk Family has strengthened the defenses of their leader's residence, and a large number of rebel forces are stationed in Sterling, the capital city of Korhal IV." Ghost 24718 piloted the Wraith out of the launch port.

"Even the most secure defenses have weaknesses. We'll find those weaknesses and sneak into Angus's bedroom undetected to take his head." Kerrigan's voice, distorted beneath her helmet, continued to check her C-10 shotgun as usual.

This powerful "rifle" is a masterpiece that combines high-strength steel with lightweight polymers. It uses 25mm lethal "canister" ammunition and specially designed locking rounds that can temporarily disable mechanical components.

"It's like a snake climbing up a tree and devouring the birds in their nests."

The cockpit fell silent once more. Ghost 24718 focused intently on piloting the Wraith, its plasma thrusters spewing out scorching, bright flames. After a few short, powerful leaps, it emerged from Victor V's gravitational field and entered the hyperspace passage on a synchronous orbit.

This modified and upgraded fighter jet is equipped with a warp drive, enabling it to traverse the galaxy at high speed. Its advanced stealth system prevents it from being detected by the rebels entrenched there when it enters Korhal.

Mengsk Sky Tower, Sterling City, 2:00 AM, April 12.

The over 60-story Sky Tower's Gothic curves set it apart from other skyscrapers. Like other high-rise buildings, the Mengsk Sky Tower remains brightly lit even in the early hours of the morning, burning all night long.

The Mengsk Family's security personnel did their utmost to transform this magnificent tower into an impenetrable, seamless fortress. Laser sensors connected to a security network sealed off every blind spot at every entrance and in the long corridors, while vibration sensors beneath the marble walls and mahogany floors could detect even the slightest movement of a mouse.

Any financial tycoon or powerful politician or official in Tarsonis would consider such security measures to be foolproof. Intruders would be detected the moment they stepped into the Mengsk Sky Tower, at which point they would have no chance of escape.

When Kerrigan, completely invisible thanks to her environmental mimicry suit, entered the corridor on the 42nd floor, and those who scanned her body showed no reaction, she couldn't help but feel regretful about the overconfidence of the Mengsk Family's security personnel.

It appears that the Mengsk Family's security system is impeccable; they even utilize a considerable amount of Umojan technology to compensate for it.

The latest Umojan laser sensor can detect invisible agents, while the Ghost operative ' combat suits can block infrared and laser beams, rendering even the largest security measures at Tarsonis Ghost operative ineffective against them.

Kerrigan admitted that this was perhaps the safest place in the entire Terran Confederacy, after the Confederate Congress and the Family Sky Tower the Tagore family.

But their opponents are Ghost operative Ghost operative, who can do more than just rely on their own strength.

Intelligence experts working for the Confederacy Intelligence Bureau cracked the laser sensors in the Mengsk Sky Tower in a week. By changing into combat suits that could simulate their reflected wavelengths, the Ghost operative made the sensors mistakenly identify them as two ordinary servants.

The Mengsk Family's security personnel would update the security system's algorithm daily to prevent hacking, but they overlooked the most basic laser sensors, forgetting that humans can be deceived by their eyes rather than by their brains.

Kerrigan and her companions walked quietly among the magnificent artworks, beautiful sculptures, and paintings of the Mengsk Family ancestors. They climbed from the first floor up the spiral staircase instead of the elevator, brushing past numerous security personnel in black uniforms.

As she walked through the corridor to the next level, a weary maid passed by Kerrigan. In that instant, a torrent of emotions—weariness, excitement, pride, and fanatical adoration—rushed into Kerrigan's mind.

Kerrigan was already used to this; the entire security personnel and servants inside the Sky Tower were fervent worshippers of Angus, who felt they were engaged in a great and glorious cause.

Liberation, freedom, saving others, sacrifice, dedication.

These feelings, which Kerrigan had never experienced before and which she considered noble, surprised her. In Kerrigan's past assassination targets, most were despicable politicians or rebels against the Confederacy; people of high moral character were never her targets, because such people could not hold high positions in the corrupt Tarsonis.

Korhal IV has completely broken free from the control of the Tarsonis Confederacy. Those members of parliament who remained loyal to the Confederacy have been sent to the guillotine. The government was reorganized in a very short time, and Angus and his supporters took control of the entire Korhal.

This prosperous planet, the jewel in the Confederacy's hands, has in fact broken away from this vast regime.

Sometimes, Kerrigan would consider the meaning of revolution, but even she believed that Korhal's uprising was nothing more than a futile attempt.

As the maid in the long black dress walked past Kerrigan, she was unaware that a pair of pale golden eyes were staring into her pupils; powerful psychic abilities instantly took control of her brave but still not strong mind.

The maid suddenly stopped, her dazed eyes staring straight at Kerrigan before mechanically turning and walking toward a cubicle on the 42nd floor—the room of Charles Borrett, the head butler of the Mengsk Family.

If you look closely, the people in the monitoring room will notice something strange, but in reality, the time from when the maid stops to when she turns around is only a second or two.

The maid gently pressed the doorbell, then pressed it several more times as if in a fit of rage. When the butler, Charles, who was sleeping fully clothed, came out to ask what was wrong, his dark pupils suddenly became unfocused, and he walked in front of Kerrigan like a walking corpse.

In Kerrigan's telepathic perception, the Charles's will was constantly struggling; this seventy-year-old woman possessed an astonishingly tenacious will. But Kerrigan was an unprecedented Level 10 Psionics, and the gap between her terrifying psychic power and that of ordinary people was like the difference between the ocean and a stream.

As Charles led Kerrigan toward Angus Mengsk's bedroom on the 60th floor, the maid, completely bewildered, headed toward the kitchen where she was originally going to prepare breakfast for the security personnel, with no recollection of what she had done before.

After a tense and long stretch of several tens of minutes, Kerrigan arrived at the sixtieth floor. The highest twenty floors required the butler's retinal and genetic recognition to pass through, but Charles had bypassed all the defenses for the Ghost operative.

Ghost 24718 harbored malicious thoughts about how his loyal servant would feel when he learned that his master had died because of him. He resolved to spare the poor man's life and make him suffer eternal torment for the rest of his life.

This Ghost operative was mentally twisted by the torture he endured in the laboratory. He was originally a kind person, but the instructors permanently changed him through various tests that tested his humanity, making him cold-blooded and giving him a profound pleasure in the suffering of his enemies.

Kerrigan felt a surge of unease at her companion's despicable thoughts; she believed she would never do such a thing.

The butler, Charles, trembled with fear, as if possessed by a ghost, fully aware of what he was doing yet powerless to resist.

The bedroom door opened softly, and the lithe Ghost operative stepped through the tiny gap between the door and the frame, her movements light and cat-like, onto the deep red carpet, followed closely by her companion.

Angus Mengsk was lying peacefully in bed, covered with a velvet blanket, fast asleep. His slightly snoring breathing suggested that he wasn't sleeping very well.

Kerrigan drew a sharp dagger from her hip, a loaded pistol in her other hand. She didn't need the gun on her shoulder; her assassination training told her that she could simply hold the dagger to the man's neck, grab his collar, and pull, and that respected head would be severed by the extremely sharp titanium blade.

She was certain that this was Angus and not a stand-in, because Angus was dreaming of his own Terran Democratic Republic.

The scenes of spending time with family in my memory are so warm. Six-year-old Augustus Mengsk is wearing a denim jumpsuit and building blocks with his sister. On the black and white checkered floor at home, Arcturus Mengsk is jumping up and down like a headless monkey.

Something came up today, and I almost missed the update. It wasn't that I wanted to stop writing...