Assassin - Zoe Lionheart, #23

I heard the chafing and then clacking noise of a pistol slide, reached the door, spotted an athletic man with bald spot and thin beard in a pale suit aiming at another man on a chair. He turned back to me with eyes widened in surprise. He merely had to pull the trigger and our mission would have failed. My name is Monique Arnaud. I am a Mamba. My teammates and I were biochemically enhanced and trained by the Cartel as professional assassins.
Now we're working for the Dragon empress as secret agents instead. Our mission is to extract the Cartel's instruments-Dragon technology experts-from their captivity. The world-wide crime cartel is shattered, but still numerous graduates of the old Dragon technology university are in the hands of merciless criminals. To free them and win them as supporters for Johanna's defense efforts is the perfect challenge for her special unit, the Mambas.
But such a mission bears high risk and doesn't always run smoothly. What kind of sacrifices must the fighters make to reach their goals?