Cognoscitur

[Char Aznable]

Sector 1, Harburg City, Planet Hamburg
21/11/822 AS, 11:58 AM

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"Breathe. In. Out. In. Out. You can do this, Nika. She's going to come on stage soon. Backhand insurance is in place. Lia is safe. You only have this one chance. Don't screw this up. You've ruined enough lives already, and today you'll add more. Keep it to a minimum."

The biting cold of the planet was gone. She hadn't felt it for this whole day. Nothing mattered anymore. Today she was going to die, and she was likely to take more lives with her. Just to deliver a message that she wasn't even convinced was the right one.
And yet, she had sworn an oath.

Yes, she had doubts. After over two months on the surface, her life with her best friend had almost reached a kind of... "normality". Sure, she'd have left the flat at night times to meet with people of... questionable renown, at best, and at least twice she came back just in time to flee a fingermen patrol, but in total, her life had reached a degree of casualness that made her feel comfortable again. She'd wake up around noon, or whatever passed for noon on this godforsaken world, with tea and breakfast waiting for her. After a while of planning and thinking, Lia'd come home, and the two spent the rest of the day drowning the grim reality in alcohol, games and jests. It was feigned joy, of course, but the closest she had felt to being home for years.

A breeze went over the thermotent she was hiding in. So close to the "chimney", the heating exhaust of the tower, nobody would see her in the scans of the area, a perfect hiding spot for the shot she was lining up. The one she had. Another look down the sights. No, the target was still not in sight. Maybe she wouldn't come? After last nights' events, she might consider showing her face in public to be too dangerous?
More doubts clouded her mind, and with a slight, almost unhearable sound the wind changed directions again. Nika adjusted the gun, again, at least for the hundredth time.

This was ridiculous. She was a teacher, not a killer, yet in these past times she'd accumulated more blood on her hands than she thought possible. It was not the first time these concerns surfaced, but this time it was with an incredible force. Impossible to think of anything else.

Another look on her wrist told her that only a minute had passed. Still time for the target to arrive. Still time for the Witch calling off the operation. Still time for her to run, to return to Lia. To begin anew, here or somewhere else.
And yet, she had sworn an oath.

So she stayed.

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#notmyfrankfurt