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“There must come a moment when the soul knows: this far, and no further. But we are cursed never to hear that warning until it is too late.’
– attributed to the remembrancer Ignace Karkasy [M31]”
― Garro: Knight Of Grey
– attributed to the remembrancer Ignace Karkasy [M31]”
― Garro: Knight Of Grey
“You make it sound like the end of the world,” said Pritchard. “Not yet,” Jensen told him, as he walked away, “but you can see it from here.”
― Deus Ex: Black Light
― Deus Ex: Black Light
“So you’re ex-Royal Navy, right?’
He tensed. ‘How do you know that?’
Lucy pointed at his arm. ‘Cabot wristwatch. It’s a dead giveaway.’ Marc frowned. The military-issue dive watch was the only connection he still had to that part of his past. ‘And also my boss is a billionaire, remember?’ The woman went on. ‘Information gets bought real easy, if you know how to deal.’ She smiled again. ‘So you’re all about Queen and Country. From navy puke to covert spook, all for the union jack.’
‘Something like that,’ he muttered. ‘And just so you know, we only call the flag the ‘union jack’ if it’s flying on a ship.”
― Nomad
He tensed. ‘How do you know that?’
Lucy pointed at his arm. ‘Cabot wristwatch. It’s a dead giveaway.’ Marc frowned. The military-issue dive watch was the only connection he still had to that part of his past. ‘And also my boss is a billionaire, remember?’ The woman went on. ‘Information gets bought real easy, if you know how to deal.’ She smiled again. ‘So you’re all about Queen and Country. From navy puke to covert spook, all for the union jack.’
‘Something like that,’ he muttered. ‘And just so you know, we only call the flag the ‘union jack’ if it’s flying on a ship.”
― Nomad
“The colour of a man’s skin, the flag he revered, and the god he prayed to . . . None of that mattered. They were all convenient hooks upon which one could hang an ideology that would fit the needs of the war.”
― Nomad
― Nomad
“I built Rubicon from ashes,’ said the other man. ‘Ashes of war. I have worked hard to raise myself up from the poverty I was born into. Believe me when I tell you I have seen every kind of injustice, all across the heartland of my mother Africa. And now I have made billions of dollars from land and mining and technology. Now I can do something about it. As Lucy says, I am a very rich man.’ He reached up to his neck and pulled out the silver chain between his fingers. ‘I see you looking at this. Do you recognize it?’
Marc gave a slow nod. Now it was clear to him, he could see that the odd bit of discoloured metal was actually part of a weapon. It was the trigger from an AK-47 assault rifle.”
― Nomad
Marc gave a slow nod. Now it was clear to him, he could see that the odd bit of discoloured metal was actually part of a weapon. It was the trigger from an AK-47 assault rifle.”
― Nomad
“There was no movement around the discoloured walls, and Lucy turned the Land Rover about in a slow crawl, the tires crunching on the desiccated earth. She scanned the windows, black squares punched through the sides of the silent blockhouses, looking for threats.
As the grumble of the engine died, Marc heard the moan of the steady breeze, and the desolate cluster of buildings seemed like the loneliest place on Earth.
‘Stay alert,’ said Lucy, reaching down into the wheel well to grab her backpack. ‘We don’t know what we’re gonna find here.’ She reached inside and her hand came back with the compact shape of an MP7 sub machinegun. She cocked it with a snap of the receiver, and handed Marc a walkie-talkie. ‘Just in case,’ she added.
Marc followed her out of the Land Rover, slipping out of the door with his bag over one shoulder. He had the Glock ready, close to his chest and his finger resting on the trigger guard. He felt acutely aware of every tiny detail around them, the crumbling rocks beneath his boots, the heavy heat of the late afternoon sun, the weight of the loaded gun”
― Nomad
As the grumble of the engine died, Marc heard the moan of the steady breeze, and the desolate cluster of buildings seemed like the loneliest place on Earth.
‘Stay alert,’ said Lucy, reaching down into the wheel well to grab her backpack. ‘We don’t know what we’re gonna find here.’ She reached inside and her hand came back with the compact shape of an MP7 sub machinegun. She cocked it with a snap of the receiver, and handed Marc a walkie-talkie. ‘Just in case,’ she added.
Marc followed her out of the Land Rover, slipping out of the door with his bag over one shoulder. He had the Glock ready, close to his chest and his finger resting on the trigger guard. He felt acutely aware of every tiny detail around them, the crumbling rocks beneath his boots, the heavy heat of the late afternoon sun, the weight of the loaded gun”
― Nomad
“Some might say that the most potent torment a man could experience would be to see into the beating, bloody heart of his darkest inner soul, to look upon it with perfect and unfiltered clarity. To know the rage, the hate and evil that he was capable of.”
― Fear to Tread
― Fear to Tread
“He was dying when I discovered him, you understand? But even in those moments I realised what kind of being I had found. A kindred spirit. Something nigh-immortal, with an intellect I could actually spar with.’ He sighed. ‘So few can match me. Can you blame me for wanting someone to talk to? A confidante to keep me sane?”
― The Buried Dagger
― The Buried Dagger
“Each one was naked, and bloated around the torso and belly with gaseous buboes and grotesque sores that wept thick pus. Heads were shrunken balls of flaking skin over rictus-grinning skulls. All of them had trains of buzzing insects following behind them, tiny bottle-green flies that dived in and out of the invaders’ open wounds.”
― The Flight of the Eisenstein
― The Flight of the Eisenstein
“The moment became long before he spoke. ‘It knew what I was. It said it could see tomorrow. It told me all I worship would die.’ Garro sneered. ‘But I am an Astartes. I worship nothing. I honour no false god, only the reality of Imperial truth.”
― The Flight of the Eisenstein
― The Flight of the Eisenstein
“was something different about his genetic structure. His ex-lover Megan Reed had once told him he was a ‘super-compatible’, a rare human anomaly who could accept augs without the yoke of the anti-rejection drug to keep him whole. Jensen was still undecided if that was a gift or a curse, and he couldn’t stop himself from wondering if this unique quality was some loose thread left behind by other unanswered questions from his past. Questions”
― Deus Ex: Black Light
― Deus Ex: Black Light
“Marc didn’t hesitate to activate the laptop and check the portable computer’s security. His firewalls and lockout protocols had been tested but not penetrated, just as he had hoped. Still, he resolved to crack the laptop’s case at the first opportunity to check for the presence of any bugs, key loggers or other unwanted additions. The daypack had also gained some extra content in the form of an emergency survival kit and a box of 9mm ammunition for the Glock. The pistol was in there too, and he was surprised to note that someone had cleaned it for him. Five star service, he thought.”
― Nomad
― Nomad
“They say the warp has turned black with tempests and the freakish things that lurk within them! And here we sit, on a ship held together by rust and hope, with intent to dive into that ocean of madness.”
― The Flight of the Eisenstein
― The Flight of the Eisenstein
“That’s the closest you’re going to get to a compliment from her,” noted Jarreau. “And all I had to do was nearly kill myself.” Jensen took another draw on his cigarette. “How is Interpol gonna deal with all this?”
― Deus Ex: Black Light
― Deus Ex: Black Light
“His smile grew into a feral grin. “Beyond all this… and into the mirror.”
― The Ashes of Tomorrow
― The Ashes of Tomorrow
“So many places it could be,’ Ramaas replied. He was moving closer. ‘Paris. London. Rome. Berlin. All the rest. I wish God had given me enough weapons to strike them all. But I will be satisfied with what I have. A city full of thieves will be burned to ashes and all who gave them succor will suffer for it.”
― Exile
― Exile
“He caught sight of the church spires and tiled rooftops across Mdina and Rabat.
In the tallest of the towers, the light of the sun glittered in reflection. A flare off the glassy eye of a telescopic sight.
A moment later, a single steel-cored 7.62mm bullet penetrated Lex’s body a few degrees off his sternum and tumbled violently as it passed through him. In the brief instant it took to enter through his chest and burst out through his back, the round spun and ripped through the tissues of his lungs, and tore open the bottom of his heart. Blood gushed into the ragged void created by the passage of the sniper shot and his body twitched as it went into brutal, fatal shutdown.
Lex died as he sank toward the ground, his life ended in an instant. When his corpse finally crashed into a row of vines down in the valley, his clothes and the orange chute were soaked with a wet mess of dark, arterial red.”
― Ghost
In the tallest of the towers, the light of the sun glittered in reflection. A flare off the glassy eye of a telescopic sight.
A moment later, a single steel-cored 7.62mm bullet penetrated Lex’s body a few degrees off his sternum and tumbled violently as it passed through him. In the brief instant it took to enter through his chest and burst out through his back, the round spun and ripped through the tissues of his lungs, and tore open the bottom of his heart. Blood gushed into the ragged void created by the passage of the sniper shot and his body twitched as it went into brutal, fatal shutdown.
Lex died as he sank toward the ground, his life ended in an instant. When his corpse finally crashed into a row of vines down in the valley, his clothes and the orange chute were soaked with a wet mess of dark, arterial red.”
― Ghost
“He knew, with unwavering certainty, that just like organic beings, artificial ones had the same capacity to bring goodness into the universe, as much as they could do the opposite. The nature of a sentient being’s origin did not matter. It was the expression of that life that created light or darkness.”
― The Dark Veil
― The Dark Veil
“so, then Lucius DeBeers was vainer than DuClare had given him credit for. “More errors of judgment like this will not be tolerated,” he concluded. “From anyone. You realize that?”
― Deus Ex: Black Light
― Deus Ex: Black Light
“MI6 aren’t supposed to operate inside the UK. They’re external security.’
‘Yes. That gives you an idea of the exigency of the situation.’
‘What’s the protocol here?’ Lucy gestured absently toward a Walther P99 semi-automatic lying on a bedside table. ‘Is this a wet job? Do I need my tools?’
‘Henri has made the arrangements,’ said Solomon, nodding in the direction of his assistant, who hovered in the background. ‘Expect a delivery.’
‘Okay,’ she replied. ‘Got a target for me?’
‘You misunderstand,’ he told her. ‘This will be surveillance, not tactical”
― Nomad
‘Yes. That gives you an idea of the exigency of the situation.’
‘What’s the protocol here?’ Lucy gestured absently toward a Walther P99 semi-automatic lying on a bedside table. ‘Is this a wet job? Do I need my tools?’
‘Henri has made the arrangements,’ said Solomon, nodding in the direction of his assistant, who hovered in the background. ‘Expect a delivery.’
‘Okay,’ she replied. ‘Got a target for me?’
‘You misunderstand,’ he told her. ‘This will be surveillance, not tactical”
― Nomad
“The heart is the grandest temple of all.”
― Day of the Vipers
― Day of the Vipers
“Captain, someone is stealing the Enterprise.”
― The Ashes of Tomorrow
― The Ashes of Tomorrow
“Fox was going to add more, but Dog turned to him. ‘Just drive,’ he said. ‘If we don’t get what we came here for, then we will have to consider our alternate options. That will extend the duration of the mission.’ He gave Cat a look. ‘None of us want to be here any longer than we must be, no?’
Cat shook her head, and began reloading her weapon, swinging out the revolver’s angled chambers to insert fresh rounds. There might be witnesses at the landing site, she reasoned, and if that were the case it would be necessary to silence them as well.”
― Ghost
Cat shook her head, and began reloading her weapon, swinging out the revolver’s angled chambers to insert fresh rounds. There might be witnesses at the landing site, she reasoned, and if that were the case it would be necessary to silence them as well.”
― Ghost
“Jensen has agreed to join us,” said the metallic symbol. “I honestly had my doubts, but what do I know?” “You should have believed me,” said the human. “Fine,” came the reply. “That’s a ten-spot I owe you.” “This is good news.” The cube’s flat, mechanical voice robbed the statement of any potency. “With Jensen in play, we can increase the tempo of our operations. We can redeploy Saxon and Kelso, and some of the others.”
― Deus Ex: Black Light
― Deus Ex: Black Light
“Phobie de l’avion?’ said the man in the next seat.
Marc shook his head, raising his voice to be heard over the sound of the helicopter’s rotors. ‘No. It’s more like I have a professional sense of concern . . .’
Beneath them, cerulean-blue waters flashed past as the red-and-white EC130 followed the French coastline north toward the Ligurian Sea. The journey from the airport in Nice was a short one, but flying over the water was always enough to dredge up some of Marc’s more unpleasant memories. He had hoped it wouldn’t show on his face, but that clearly wasn’t the case.
‘I used to fly these things myself,’ he added, feeling compelled to explain away his reaction. ‘I don’t like it when someone else is the pilot.’ For a giddy second, he feared the sea was rising up to reach for them – it could be deceptive that way, easy to gauge your height wrongly if you weren’t paying attention – and he closed his eyes to banish the thought.
It didn’t work. He remembered a stretch of ocean half a world away, and the heart-stopping impact of a Royal Navy Lynx’s canopy hitting the water. He took a deep breath before the recall could take hold and pull him under.
‘Backseat driver?’ Somewhere in his late fifties, deeply bronzed beneath a panama hat and an expensive safari suit, the man next to him studied Marc’s face.
Marc gave a wry nod. ‘Yeah, you could say that.”
― Exile
Marc shook his head, raising his voice to be heard over the sound of the helicopter’s rotors. ‘No. It’s more like I have a professional sense of concern . . .’
Beneath them, cerulean-blue waters flashed past as the red-and-white EC130 followed the French coastline north toward the Ligurian Sea. The journey from the airport in Nice was a short one, but flying over the water was always enough to dredge up some of Marc’s more unpleasant memories. He had hoped it wouldn’t show on his face, but that clearly wasn’t the case.
‘I used to fly these things myself,’ he added, feeling compelled to explain away his reaction. ‘I don’t like it when someone else is the pilot.’ For a giddy second, he feared the sea was rising up to reach for them – it could be deceptive that way, easy to gauge your height wrongly if you weren’t paying attention – and he closed his eyes to banish the thought.
It didn’t work. He remembered a stretch of ocean half a world away, and the heart-stopping impact of a Royal Navy Lynx’s canopy hitting the water. He took a deep breath before the recall could take hold and pull him under.
‘Backseat driver?’ Somewhere in his late fifties, deeply bronzed beneath a panama hat and an expensive safari suit, the man next to him studied Marc’s face.
Marc gave a wry nod. ‘Yeah, you could say that.”
― Exile
“What we are is as much where destiny takes us as it is what we do with the journey.”
― The Flight of the Eisenstein
― The Flight of the Eisenstein
“The blood drained from Segan’s face as Spear came closer, letting the change happen slowly. With trembling fingers, the reeve pulled something shiny and gold from inside his cuff and clung to it, as if it were the key to a door that would spirit him away from the horror all around him. The dour little man was pinned to the spot, transfixed with fright. ‘The Emperor protects,’ Segan said aloud. ‘The Emperor protects.’ Spear opened his spiked jaws. ‘He really doesn’t,’ said the murderer.”
― Nemesis
― Nemesis
“His fury peaked in that moment. He refused to die because of something so random, without cause or purpose. He had to know the reason. There had to be an answer to it.
He would not die now, ended by a bullet from a nameless assassin.
He saw the killer shift his stance, moving to line up his shot. He was heavy-set and broad across the shoulders, easily Marc’s superior in terms of muscle and power, even without the matter of the semi-automatic pistol in his hand.
He didn’t have a plan. There wasn’t any training he had gone through for a scenario such as this one. But he had no other choice”
― Nomad
He would not die now, ended by a bullet from a nameless assassin.
He saw the killer shift his stance, moving to line up his shot. He was heavy-set and broad across the shoulders, easily Marc’s superior in terms of muscle and power, even without the matter of the semi-automatic pistol in his hand.
He didn’t have a plan. There wasn’t any training he had gone through for a scenario such as this one. But he had no other choice”
― Nomad
“Emperor or Warmaster, he didn’t give a damn whose name he had to salute. He had no respect for any of them.”
― Nemesis
― Nemesis
“And clearly, you have the skills. If you’re interested, Task Force 29 is always hiring.”
― Deus Ex: Black Light
― Deus Ex: Black Light
