Fleur Russo

Fleur "Kali" Russel is a member of the BeiTech assault squad, and the girlfriend of the late Petyr "Romeo" Bazarov.

## Relationships

### Enemies

Hanna Donnelly
Nik Malikov
Ella Malikova
Isaac Grant
Charles Donnelly †
Jackson Merrick †

## Other Information

### Occupation

BeiTech auditor team (Seargeant, Alpha Squad leader)

## Plot

Kali was dispatched with the team to Heimdall Jump Station to make sure no survivors of BeiTech's invasion of Kerenza IV were left to spread word of the company's crimes. She leads the Alpha Squad in securing the engineering and other areas, capturing essential staff and keeping the wormhole online.

After she learns from Commander Travis "Cerberus" Falk that her boyfriend Petyr Bazarov (callsign "Romeo") has been flushed out of an airlock by Hanna Donnelly, Kali becomes very angry at both Falk and Hanna. She goes on to disregard Falk's orders to stay in the Engineering sector and oversee the wormhole operstions, and instead leaves to hunt down Hanna.

The two have their first encounter on Corridor A17f near the infirmary, where Hanna escapes into the elevator shaft and barely avoids being squashed by one of the lifts.

Some time later, Alpha Squad is caught in a trap that Isaac Grant and Hanna have set up, in which the automatic lighting is rigged with sugar to explode when activated. This gives Kali a concussion, and a bloody nose.

Hanna and Kali's last face-off is in the magnetic monorail on Level 3, where Kali fatally shoots the Nik Malikov of the alternate universe created by the wormhole. Kali insists on having a fair duel with Hanna, which Hanna would have lost if not for Kali's flair for the dramatic in throwing away her own guns and armor. Hanna ends up killing Russo by throwing dust into her face, although she is unable to save Nik.

## Appearance

Russo is described to be “fit and lean", with short platinum blond hair, "not an ounce of fat on her body", reflex enhancements, and various cybernetic augments.

## Personality

Throughout the book, Kali is seen to be a coldhearted, ruthless killer, killing "nonessential" hostages with no remorse even though she's under no obligation to do so. However, she is prone to losing her temper and getting angry, as shown by her reaction to Petyr Bazarov's death. She cared for him in a way, but Analyst 7213-0089-DN surmises that "she figures if anyone was going to space Romeo, it was supposed to be her, and only after she was done with him". In addition, she's willing to get rid of her armor and weapons to have a proper hand-to-hand fight to the death with Hanna.

These and other actions taken by Russo suggest that she has an intense sense of pride, ego and revenge. She clearly sees Romeo as under her thumb, and her anger at his death is likely fueled by her inability to use him to her benefit anymore. She also wants to bring down her valued enemies (namely Hanna Donnelly) in a fair way, presumably so she can gain more satisfaction from it.

## Trivia

* In Sanskrit, the name "Kali" means "she who is death".
* Russo, like Hanna Donnelly, has extensive knowledge on combat and important figures in war, such as Sun Tzu. This is apparent when Russo reveals that she's looked around Donnelly's room for information on her weaknesses and strengths, citing that one should know their enemy as they know themselves.
* The book states that Russo is someone that Hanna could grow up to be, with a few bad decisions and given enough training.