Nation above all

[Skorak]

The morning was freezing, she was chilled to the bone and all she craved was warmth.
And yet she was standing on a hill overlooking this cursed city on Houston. There was two people standing next to her, armed of course. And yet she'd had to hand hers over before walking up here. And she was starting to feel fear. There was no one up here to meet and for a moment she was certain that she was here to be shot. Until a phone rang. The thug to her right handed her the phone and she picked up.
"Did you genuinely think you could go behind our backs?" The voice made her skin crawl. She could not figure out who it was, but that did not matter in the position she was. And now her fear was all she felt. Unable to reply. Unable to move.
"You assured me that we were your only commitment. And yet you-" The voice at the end was seemingly losing his temper. "Converse with this foreigner dogs! Rheinlanders?!" He spat out the last word, managing to get a startle out of her. She clenched her teeth. It was clear now that someone had seen her meet her sister. After so long. It was shocking to see her wear that corporate uniform and how could one hate their own family for no reason?
"When we took you in, you said there was nothing left. That you would swear to protect the Liberty Free Republic. With your life." With the last words she felt the gun press into her back, making her close her eyes. This is it then, she thought only to be offered one last chance. "They have one of their fancy branch offices here. If you really are one of us, you will set it ablaze." The connection cut out, the gun in her back was pulled away and the man next to her handed her some explosive. A symbolic gesture considering that wouldn't nearly be enough.

Not thinking she would ever calm down from the moment on the hill, she walked back into the building. And a night of planning turned into a day of restlessly lying in her bed. Unanswered calls from her sister and terrible feelings of guilt and helplessness. Twice she had put in the number for the LPI only to throw her phone across the room. There was no helping it. Her sister was due to depart this noon and the operation was planned for tonight. Struggling over and over with these thoughts she eventually fell asleep. Ripped out of her uneasy rest by her alarm, she got ready, grabbing her gun and leaving her phone. This wasn't anything someone should be able to trace back to her.

Hopping into the freight vehicle, anxiously tapping her foot the entire way. They changed into corporate uniforms on the way there, looking exactly like the enemy they would snuff out tonight. The radio was playing song after song of awful nostalgia, then reported about a Xenos planted bomb at the spaceport, delaying launches until she smacked the thing off. This wasn't good. She really wasn't in the right set of mind to deal with this. And yet there was no other way. A friendly nod at the entrance gate, an exchange of forged papers a hidden symbol to one of the sympathisers and the heavy vehicle rolled into the warehouse. They left the vehicle in a hurry, opening the doors to look at the precious amount of incendiary explosives.

Each of them grabbed their share and her small person had earned her the right to climb down into the basement. Her backpack was filled with enough fire to envy Prometheus and she couldn't help but chuckled in anxiety and at the irony of the situation. Finally reinvigorating the relationship with her sister got her into so much trouble to set a branch office of her employers on fire. She had to stop and only after sighing at the relief that her sister had already left, she continued the last metres down into the lower levels of the building. Her weapon at the ready she slowly moved through the building's innards. She was aware that a single hit to their backpack would not only ruin the plan but kill her instantly. And without anyone knowing this wouldn't even work to her defense. When she reached the building's auxillary reactor she heard steps. Taking cover behind the door to the room just as a worker was leaving it. She debated if she could let him go. Shuddered at the thought of shooting him from behind. He would die anyways. Die in the fire she would cause. But it was something else to press the button from afar than it was to pull the trigger. Her hesitation let her chance of shooting him pass and relieved she entered the room. With the explosives placed in various spots she turned around to leave.

Only to face the worker. His shocked face at her being there, being armed, in front of something that unmistakenly was a bomb. Before he could sound the alarm she fired, startled in shock from her actions. She'd never killed a man so closely and never this fast. And never was she personally there to see them suffer and die. She heaved and thought she would throw up, struggling to stand up straight. There was no time. And yet it was so difficult to get up. She grabbed his badge, ripped it from his neck for what reason she did not know and ran out. Climbing back to the surface as fast as she could. Within the warehouse she was greeted by the lifeless bodies of two guards and one of her accomplices. The third one was already pulling the vehicle around and she barely managed to get inside.

The way out was rushed, nearly smashing through the gate impatiently. Nearly causing people to become suspicious. But they got out, hid the vehicle, climbed back up the hill. There they were waiting, looking over the industrial landscape and onto the complex they'd just escaped. An unknown man with a very familiar voice was giving her the detonator, patting her on the back. She had to get it over with, pressing it immediately. In a firestorm, parts of the buildings immediately burst apart. In eerie silence they waited until a sudden wave of heat washed over them when the generators unstable energies were no longer kept in check. Within seconds nothing was left. There was cheering, pats on her back and hidden whispers.
Proudly she was told: "I knew you would always put our nation first."
Towards the end of their small celebration she read the message of her sister's. Her flight had been delayed. And she would stay at the company for the night.
The night was freezing, she was chilled to the bone and all she craved was death.

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