Chapter Text
The Superior calmly walked through the empty house. The owners had fled into the night when they were found to be supporting a small group of rebels.
Cowards, the lot of them. Cowards and traitors.
It didn’t matter in the long run, though. Soon, the authority would hunt down and terminate their insubordination. She sighed. So many criminal corpses in order to maintain peace.
How many more to teach the lesson?
Rebellion is not the answer. She of all people would know-
Why did she think that?
She paused in her internal monolughing to wonder why she thought that, but she was interrupted before she came to a conclusion.
“Superior, Sir!”
A member of her team held up a shaking salute. Clearly unsure of what to do.
“I think you’ll want to see this.”
The Superior chose to see what had shaken up the recruit.
The two turned through a door and continued through the small house. On the way, the Superior took a moment to look at the few pictures pinned to the walls. A smiling couple, a scrappy cat, and a young girl.
So they had a kid. Strange, risking the life of their daughter. And for what? A failed group of insurgents? Of renegades? Of terrorists? The Superior sighed. An immense feeling of deja vu filled her. She wasn’t quite sure why.
The house was plain and simple. There was nothing out of the ordinary there, if you didn't count the various papers and plans found strewn around. Evidence of betrayal.
They passed by a few more doors before stopping at the end of the hall. The floorboards had been peeled up, revealing a shallow basement underneath. A soldier stood by the hole, clutching his hand.
“Are you injured so badly that you cannot continue working? What’s the damage?”
The man jolted at her outburst. He slowly held out his arm.
Red dripped down from where he had obviously been trying to stop the bleeding. A deep gash ran from his elbow to his wrist, and one of his fingers was missing. The finger almost looked like it had been bitten off. That was ridiculous though. What could have possibly bit off his finger here?
He mumbled something.
“Speak up, soldier. I can’t hear you.”
“She was too fast. I couldn’t grab her, and when I tried…”
He fell off as he looked embarrassed at the gap in the floorboards. The Superior walked over to the torn up planks and looked down.
“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” She twisted her mouth into an alligator’s grin as she reached a hand down into the hole.
Kierra stared back up, clutching a bloody knife to her chest.