Doriano nodded slowly as Hunter went on. At some point his eye gave a slight twitch; he assumed it went unnoticed and waited for Hunter to finish before talking.
"So you mean to tell me, a mercenary came to us simply because he was bored? How can we be sure your greed will not look entertaining to you in the future?" Doriano removed his feet from his desk, sitting up straight. He had a small idea where this might be going.
Hunter took a moment to form his reply. Words linked to yet more words in an intricate web of detail, intended to expand further upon his previous speech. As he had imagined, the Major proved to be a worthwhile listener. He picked out the smallest details and questioned them with utmost precision.
"Perhaps I should have been more specific as to my intentions for seeking to join you."
"All my life I have been fighting, struggling to survive. Now I am in a position where that is no longer necessary. If you were to strip my nature down to the core, all I am is a man with a very small skill set. However, I feel that skill set has the potential to serve the SCRA's agenda. For a while, since the beginning of my mercenary career, I have been fighting to protect myself and to stay alive till the next day."
"As I have said, I no longer have this need and now, I feel empty. I wish to devote myself to a cause which I think is worthwhile. Your cause, Major."
With that, Hunter waited tentatively for the Major's reply.
Nickoli looked away for a moment. He hadn't thought of what he wanted in a long time, and he knew that the Commissar would want something more than...the norm.
He took a breathe, and looked into Commissar Koniev's eyes. The Commissar was looking to be an angry, very dangerous man. But, Nickoli thought, if you weren't these days, you would end up dead.
He paused for a moment, allowing both himself and the Commissar a moment to gather themselves.
He took another breathe, and said the only thing he knew he wanted. No. The only thing he knew he needed.
"Vengeance." He paused.
"Vengeance for the ones I loved, the ones I lost, and the ones I will lose to the capitalism, corporations and corrupt government that is called Sirius."
His bright eyes seemed to try to look into the Commissar's mind as he stared, waiting for a reply.
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"Vengeance? You're in the wrong place if you're looking for vengeance. Tell me why I shouldn't have you thrown out the airlock to be used as target practice for wasting my time."
"Well sir...I really don't know. However, I would much rather prefer walking. On the subject of wasting your time, I can assure you that I am not. I feel like I can be an asset to you. I've been fighting all my life...in fact, fighting what you've been fighting. I want to help the cause. It...its more than vengeance. It's the idea. The Revolution. It's all I have left. They took everything else from me."
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"You know nothing of the cause or the revolution. If you did, you'd know why I have little use for a man with nothing to lose and revenge on his mind."
He took his pistol out of its holster and cocked it.
"I'm going to give you one last chance. Your assets are meaningless to me. I'm sure if I look into the recruitment office I can find three or four people capable of killing should I ask them. So I ask you again. Why are you here?"
"Commissar...have you ever looked into a child's eyes, and seen how innocent they are? How wildly naive and perfect the mind behind them is?"
Nickoli opened his eyes and looked down at the pistol, and then at Koniev.
"I had a son once. He was the most beautiful thing I have ever loved...and the feeling a father gets when their son looks up to them, and asks "Why do we have to run daddy?" and I can't give them a straight answer because of my past? It is horrible. The disappointment that I saw when I looked at my son, when we were just beginning to settle down somewhere, then having to leave because some government official was looking for me. I want to join you and the cause because, I wanted to give him a perfect world. A perfect universe. Without the tyranny and corruption. I promised my son that one day, we wouldn't have to run. That someday, he could play with other children without fear. That someday soon, we could be a happy family."
Nickoli took a deep breath and looked around the room.
"I thought that's what the SCRA was fighting for. For freedom and independence for all of Sirius. Against the oppression. I want to keep my promise to my son, Commissar. I don't want to have to run anymore. I'm done running from my past."
Nickoli looked at the Commissar, and closed his eyes again.
"If you truly wish to shoot me, make it clean and fast. I have very little left to say."
He took in a breath and held it.
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As the pistol was leveled at Nickolai's head, Koniev contemplated whether or not he should waste a perfectly fine bullet. Every bullet was vital to the war effort. He could have the marines throw him out of the nearest airlock. He could be used for weapons testing, medical experiments, a whole gambit of other ways that didn't involve firing his pistol.
While he contemplated, he gave him another question.
