Alarm blaring, emergency lights flashing, she sprinted through the cramped hallway. Others were also running across the hall, albeit in a more frantic matter than the woman heading in the opposite direction. A few glanced at her, possibly wondering why she was ignoring protocol, but dismissed her when they saw the uniform she wore, missing the faint bloodstains near the collar. Or maybe it was her blank face and cold brown eyes, her blond hair tied back in a tight knot, that made no one question her.
Not a single person she passed even thought about stopping her.
This wasn’t supposed to be part of the operation, but someone just had to give her outdated patrol routes for the compound, insisting he couldn’t get a hold of anything recent. She couldn’t decide if Roderich was overconfident in her abilities, or just didn’t care too much about her life. He never really tried feigning compassion anyway, and neither did she. Thanks to that bastard, she had managed to run into a guard who turned a corner just in time to catch her in a particularly long hall. Luckily, she had managed to dispatch him before he could trip the alarm, but his chip had recorded his sudden loss of a heartbeat, and the alarm went off seconds later. At least she had been able to carry his lifeless body into a nearby supply closet, throw his uniform over her own, and blast a small hole in the ceiling to climb through. That had led into another supply closet on the next floor, at least the floor plan she was given was correct.
While this was definitely not the most elegant mission she would conduct, it was certainly going to be quick with the speed she was progressing now. Running through the blank halls, filled on both sides by identical steel doors, was much faster than trying to sneak around the cameras a floor down. Although, the fluorescent lights spread across the ceiling were harder on her eyes than unlit corridors. As she moved further down the hall, making multiple turns without hesitation, the number of people frantically rushing past her thinned. Just three more turns and she would be at her destination.
She picked up her pace, her breathing steady, turning right, 50 meters left. The endless array of depressing doors that were abundant further out in the compound were absent here. Instead, the sparse scattering of doors were more ornate with chip readers replacing the keycard scanners of the previous ones. The designers even went so far as to paint the doors in black and light blue, with a small smattering of gold, Resistance colors. Typical, for the commander to invest more funds in fancy hunks of metal rather than weapons or supplies. Though, based on the blueprints of the place, the suites behind those doors were pretty nice, if you ignored the fact that they were located in the middle of a windowless, steel building.
She made another turn, this time to the left, only 20 meters away. She could see the door now, its unpainted, silver surface standing in stark contrast to the more decorated ones before. The only things distinguishing it from the walls were its chip scanner and in the center, the symbol of the Resistance: a triangular enclosed in a circle.
Two pairs of syndre stood outside guarding the door, just as expected. The two humans, a slightly muscular man with an even more muscular girl who couldn’t have been older than 20 were wearing the usual guard uniforms which were almost entirely black signifying their rank. Their partners, a gray wolf stood by the group while a small hawk perched on the girl's shoulder. Even though they were most certainly trained to react properly to a situation such as this, the Resistance lost all of its competent soldiers in the raid two years ago. Despite the alarm that was still omnipresent throughout the hall, none of them were preparing for a fight, but were instead nervously glancing at each other and the door they were assigned to protect. The wolf’s ear perked up as they picked up the woman’s footsteps over the sounds of the alarm.
But it was too late to stop her.
Drawing the shortblade she hid in the folds of her coat, the woman ran it across the wolf’s throat before they had the chance to turn their head. Their partner fell with them, body hitting the solid floor. Moving past the body, she started towards the second pair, who both quickly fell back upon noticing her arrival, dodging her second swing. The girl threw out her right hand, while the hawk flew from her shoulder, poised to attack. Wind whipped against the woman, slowing her down a small amount. In the same moment, the hawk dove towards her, steel encased talons poised to attack, she quickly stepped to the right before she turned around and swung her blade aiming for her previous location. The hawk fell for the maneuver, only able to veer slightly to the side before the blade cut through a portion of their wing, causing them to fall to the floor, blood trailing behind their path. The wind rushing against her faltered as the girl gasped and fell to one knee, clutching her arm. The woman sped towards her, allowing her blade to clatter to the ground as she carelessly dropped it.
Hands now shaking, the girl struggled to grab the handgun holstered at her hip. The woman ran into her, slamming the girl into the door behind her. The sound of a bone cracking rang out as the woman grabbed the girl’s wrist, moving her arm under the chip scanner. The door unlocked with a small click. With the difficult part over, the woman released the girl and walked down the hall to retrieve her blade. The hawk was still there, now struggling to stand on their legs, eyes locked on the woman as she bent down to pick up the blade. She turned her head back to look at the girl who managed to get on two feet with the same hateful glare. She reached for her own gun, hand shaking slightly as she grasped the handle. The girl coughed, blood spilling out in a light spray as she looked toward the hawk, what seemed like grief replaced the hatred in her eyes.
The girl looked back at the woman, eyes locking with hers. The woman lifted her gun, pointing it at the girl’s forehead. The girl gave a slight nod, a small smile creeping up the side of her face as she glanced back at her hawk, then towards the woman for the last time. The woman did not return the gesture.
“I’m sorry” was all the woman said before she pulled the trigger.
With no one left to stop her the woman stepped over the girl's body and walked through the door, shutting it behind her. The area inside had the same layout as the other suites scattered throughout the compound, one large main room containing various monotonous couches, tables, and seats with three doors leading to a bedroom, bathroom, and study. The entire room was noticeably colder than the rest of the building and quieter too, thanks to the blessed entrance being soundproof. The only noise came from the woman’s footsteps as she walked towards the study, still gripping her gun tightly in her hand. It took her only a few steps to reach the shockingly normal door to the study (it even had a handle!), and she took a moment to draw a quick breath before she opened it.
The only notable objects in the room were a plain desk that was paired with an equally boring computer, still no windows. A woman sat behind the desk. She was dressed in what looked to be formal business attire, a black suit and pants, the outfit complete with the resistance logo over her heart and a blue tie. Her long, sleek, black hair that fell evenly over her shoulders, tan skin, and deep black eyes served as a stark contrast to the overwise light room. While she wasn’t engaging in any activity before now besides tapping her pen against her desk, she looked at the woman who now stood in her study.
“Well, look who finally decided to show up,” she remarked in a sarcastic manner, casually twisting a strand of her hair around her finger. “You know Cerna, I was surprised that you weren’t immediately here to slit my throat once the alert went out. But, I guess nobody’s perfect.” She leaned forward, eyes locking with Cerna’s. “So, implore me, how is it that I’m not dead on the ground yet?”
Cerna upholstered the handgun at her hip, responding with a flat tone, “I can finish the job if you like Karola”.
“Aw, this early?” Karloa mocked, as she let out an artificial sniffle, “But I have a little something that I so desperately want to tell you”.
Cerna walked up to her, bringing her gun to the woman’s forehead, expression blank. “No more games Karola, what do you want?”
Karola leaned back in her seat, swinging her legs onto her desk in a comfortable position. A small smile crept up the side of her mouth. “See, I would bargain for the lives of myself and my associates, but I’m guessing that’s not an option”. Cerna’s face remained unchanged. “As I thought, so how about I interest you in another offer?”
Cerna forcefully stepped forward, leaning over Karola as she kept her at gunpoint and growled, “How about you get to the fucking point or I’ll create a perfect little bullethole to compliment that perfect little face of yours.”
Karola’s smile left her as she abandoned the sarcasm and slowly moved her legs off the table. She looked up at Cerna. “I know where the last Catalyst is”.
Her face unchanged, Cerna stared back down at her. “Do you really think I’ll spare your life over an Eila forsaken rumor?”.
“Don’t worry, I’ll tell you where they are.” Seeing no change in Cerna, Karola continued, “Right here, right now. But, you have to promise me something”.
Cerna’s finger tightened on the trigger. “I’ve already told you I’m not sparing your sorry ass so don’t waste your time trying.”
Karola’s grin returned. “Oh please, surely you of all people don’t expect me to be that simple. So can I interest you in the info we have on the Catalyst on the condition that you vow to protect them”.
Cerna’s trigger finger pulled back a small amount. “And what makes you think I’ll keep my word if they really are the last Catalyst?”.
Karola leaned in, forehead positioned directly in the path of the gun pointed at her. With her expression unfazed she casually responded, “Because I know that even without your word, you’d protect them as long as it meant getting to see Scorza again. This is just a safeguard to make sure you don’t go on a limb and do anything stupid”.
Her arm locking, Cerna snarled, “Don’t you dare mention his name ever again”.
Karola leaned back as she waved her hand to her side. “But you know this is your only chance at getting him back. So, are you going to take the offer or not?”.
Countless emotions clouded Cerna’s eyes as she lowered her arm. “Fine”.
Karola clapped her hands together, exclaiming excitedly, “Great, good to see we finally came to an agreement for once!”. She opened a drawer on her desk, fishing out a nondescript holotab before holding it out in front of her. Cerna reached for the holotab, but Karola pulled it back before she could grab it. Any hint of sarcasm left her before she told Cerna, “Just… make sure you keep them safe, okay?”.
Cerna reached out her hand as Karola dropped the holotab in it. She took her time, making sure to carefully store it in the folds of her coat before looking back at Karola with uneven breaths. “You know I will''.
Karola nodded, “Good”. She feigned a smile as she leaned back in her chair for the last time. “Now, you came here to do something, didn’t you? Get it done.”
Cerna kept her head down as she brought her shaking arm back up and pointed the tip of her gun at Karola.
A lone tear fell down Karola’s face as she searched Cerna’s eyes, rasping, “I just wanted to say… sometimes I think about… you know, how things could be different. And I’m sorry… for all of it.”
An identical tear escaped Cerna’s eyes. Without looking up, she struggled to get her words out, “Me too”.
With a resounding boom, she pulled the trigger..
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