I'm only a handful of hours in. So far they seem like the faction I'd most like to face- I'm not sure I even take a health hit when they defeat me- except that I actually can't bring myself to use lethal force against them. Even with my characters who only have lethal weapons. It might be because I usually play less-lethal and/or lawful, but it doesn't sit right with me to end a person who uses a stungun.
That said, there are far worse fates than death. 1984 wasn't about wanton murder, after all.
I'm overthinking, but it's a good game.
Also, reminds me of Iji. Not even just killing via active reflective shield-teching, which I think was "addressed" in a patch. A purely pacifist run of Iji still involves a lot of people dying. Not to touch story spoilers, but even a purely pacifist run usually involves plowing through explosives which kill aliens. Is that on you? Is there a state of morality where you take responsibility for and try to avoid those deaths? Is that a *higher* state, or a snobbier one? Either way it's just another kind of challenge like speedrunning, heh. Unless you kinda care about the enemies, and want a canon ending with least bloodshed.
... Shit, least-bloodshed literally involves jumping in front of projectiles a LOT and also a lot of disappointment. In Iji, also in Deus Ex.
And in Thief, heh, I remember trying to jump in front of the arrow of that shopkeeper...
Edit: I like that they might normally be Marsec (XCOM 3) or similar, but definitely aren't. Fanatic pacifists is a thing I wish we saw more. I feel like a lot of games could benefit from more of either. Noncoms (like in the arcade shooters back in the day) or... less-lethal enemies, where you get to make a fair choice. And lethal should be easier, because... it is. But they chose to let you live, at the greater risk of dying themselves.