Breaking the Spirit

[Heresy]

It wasnt long before communication was re-established with the outside world. The only thing that worked after the ridiculous quake was the resilient radio transmitter. Even though it was crude, it got the job done.

News quickly spread that the surrounding area and a large part of the surface of Cambridge was turned into a smouldering cinder. However, news of the culprit was not so forthcoming. Wild accusations of the culprits being Gaians, Mollys, Outcasts, Corsairs, even Hessians were rampant inside the remainder of the police station as well as outside in Bretonia. No one quite had a clue who did it. Even so, such rumours were crushed by the surprisingly ruthless Bretonian Intelligence official and her Rheinlandic compatriot.

A few days passed, and slowly the inhabitants of the reinforced police station began to understand the situation. They sat on the floor of the corridor in silence as a relayed and amplified news report was played to them. The culprit was the pilot of a Talarca light destroyer, which the BAF had failed to stop before it careered bridge-first into the planet, full of toxic and evidently very volatile MOX.

Some slept. Others sat on the floor, holding back tears. A few had let go of their inhibitions and were crying uncontrollably.

Tim was lucky. He had no-one to care for on the outside, no relatives, no friends, no-one at all. He was one of the few trying to comfort those who had presumably lost relatives, no, their whole family. After all, being high level intelligence personnel didnt absolve anyone of their feelings. Tim felt their sadness and helplessness as he had once for himself, but at the same time, he felt overjoyed. Finally, other people knew what it felt like. That joy allowed him to smile while others suffered, and helped them to smile too.

What really puzzled Tim though, was the reason for this horrific attack. Bretonia had done little in the way of preventative action against criminals, bar handling obvious and constant threats of raids. It was unfathomable as to who would do such a horrible thing, even if it did make Tim feel slightly warmer on the inside.

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