Divide and conquer, deceive to prosper

[Char Aznable]

Nika Haupt

---

Through her closed eyelids, Nika was only able to discern if the corridors she was led through were dark or bright - and she preferred it that way. Clearly dark, and clearly bright. Clear-cut sides, states of positive or negative. Not like reality, in which everything was full of shades, intermixing light and shadow. There was no clear side in this, especially not for her.

After her explosive escape from Planet Hamburg, she had been spending her days in one of the few prison cells on Bruchsal Base, being cut off from everything. Time to think, to recapitulate on her recent life-choices. Leaving her home, leaving the Hessians, joining Freya's camp instead of Klugmanns... And always, she had left a pile of bodies in her wake. Her recent escapade was the worst one - and it hadn't even been successful.
Did she regret it? Not really. At least not anymore. She'd spent months in that cell, and finally decided that if she would ever get a chance to get out, she would change her way of working, interacting with the world around her. And this chance had finally surfaced, a few weeks ago, when she received a visitor.

He had introduced himself as the one responsible for planning her defense in court. That came as a surprise to Nika - she hadn't been expecting to survive for long after she left the cell, as Freya was usually quick to dispose of assets that had become a problem rather than a boon.
As it turned out, Erich Klugmann, the leading figure of the VWA, had stepped down, and nobody really knew who was to replace him. And furthermore, the man who had been visiting her had a message, which he sneakily placed in her palm when they shook hands at the end of the meeting.
Small letters, a clear, almost printed look.

The Colonel is gone. The sparrows sing. The kettle is boiling, we just need the proper ingredients to finish the brew.

When she received this message, her eyes narrowed, filled with determination. For the past two years, she had been drifiting, going where fate brought her, always on the run. This changed in that instance.
Nika Haupt had a plan.