Leanne went meekly to the group of soldiers Resek pointed her to. Walking still hurt, but she insisted that she didn’t need to be carried. Being carried by Resek was one thing, but she had no intention of being so uncomfortably close to anyone else.

Her head was spinning. It would be insane to do what she was thinking of doing, but the thought of sitting behind and worrying about Resek was unbearable. It surprised her to realize how much she’d come to care for him. Despite the circumstances of their being together, she found the thought of something happening to him repulsive.

The other soldiers kept shooting nervous looks at her. Leanne could only imagine what Resek had told them about her. Probably that he’d tear out their intestines if they let anything happen to her. She rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help being just the slightest bit pleased.

Resek wouldn’t be at all pleased once he realized what she was planning, but that wasn’t going to happen until it was too late for him to stop her. Leanne would make sure of that. She’d try once more, though. Maybe Resek would change his mind, and none of this would be necessary.

As she expected, Resek pulled her away to say a private goodbye. She spoke before he could say anything. “Please, let me come with you. I can help. I don’t want to be left behind while you run into danger.”

She could tell long before she finished her plea that it was a lost cause. Resek was already shaking his head. “No. You’re still hurt. You could be killed.”

Leanne bit her lip to stop herself from arguing. She knew Resek well enough by now to realize that she wasn’t going to win this, and any further discussion would just make him suspicious. She’d have to go through with it after all.

“Ok, just hurry back to me.”

“I will.”

He gave her a deep, long kiss before breaking away and gesturing one of the other soldiers to follow. Leanne watched as they started walking back towards Snu’s compound. She turned away and followed the bigger group, trying not to think about how furious Resek was going to be with her.

Her plan was a good one – sneak off when the other soldiers weren’t looking and go after Resek. The plan didn’t take into account the fact that these were Resek’s men. They watched everything like a hawk, including Leanne. Just sneaking off wasn’t going to be possible any time this century. She needed a distraction.

It was difficult to plot distractions when every step was a struggle. Maybe Leanne should have let someone carry her. The sound of communicators going off all around was giving her a headache. Did they really need to get constant reports of every little thing?

She glanced at the nearest communicator, clipped to a soldier’s belt. It was worth a shot.

Leanne stumbled and grabbed onto him for support, muttering her apologies. He set her on her feet and made sure that she didn’t appear to be hurt before moving on. Leanne hurried forward, out of his line of sight, then smiled down at the communicator in her hand.

As she’d hoped, the communicator had a self-destruct button. Leanne surveyed their group, thinking. Falling back would be the best option, but the soldiers would just fall back with her. They’d never let her get lost. Instead, she moved to the side of the group, close enough that they didn’t worry about her, but far enough that she could slip into the trees to the right.

Before she could lose her nerve, Leanne pressed the small button and threw.

Right on target, the communicator exploded as it hit a log they were skirting. As she expected, the soldiers went into immediate defensive positions. She didn’t wait to see anything else. Leanne ran, ignoring the painful protests of her body. Soon, she was far enough into the trees that she couldn’t see the soldiers anymore.

She slowed to a jog, and when she couldn’t hear them anymore, to a walk. They’d probably send someone after her when they realized she was missing, but it was a big forest. Leanne covered her tracks as Resek had shown her. Though they’d probably guess where she was heading, searching for her would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

A couple of hours later, Leanne was rethinking her brilliant plan. She kept up a punishing pace. But it was taking more of a toll on her than she’d expected. Maybe she should have listened to the healers when they told her she wasn’t ready for strenuous exercise. At this rate, she may well only reach Resek on his way back from the mission.

She broke a branch from a nearby tree and used it as a walking stick, which helped a little. Leanne breathed deeply and pulled on her experience from Resek’s endless training. She knew how to continue when she was exhausted and in pain. That was what happened in battle. Resek had prepared her. Now, he might need her help.

Time seemed to drag. Leanne knew the rough distance to the camp, but she had no way of tracking how far she’d gone. She only knew that if she kept going in the right direction, she’d find Resek. That thought kept her going if nothing else.

By the time the camp started to come into view, she felt as though her legs may collapse. Leanne realized that she’d be no good to Resek like this and sat down against a tree, getting her breath back. She gulped water from the bottle strapped to her side and ate the last of the travel rations she’d snuck into her pockets.

Looking at the compound, everything seemed calm. There were almost double the number of guards, but no one was running around frantically. Resek had so far managed to remain undetected, then.

She didn’t want to mess up his plan by rushing in and getting herself caught. She calmly scoped out a safe location. She’d wait and watch. If things went wrong, she would know immediately. The whole base would be in an uproar. If that happened, she’d go in for Resek. If all went as planned, she could meet him here in the woods once Snu was dead.

Resek’s voice came back to her, the one thing he constantly drilled into her. In war, things seldom go as planned.

Leanne got as close as she could. There was a tall tower, probably a water tower, which she managed to hide behind. From there, she could see most of the goings on of the camp. She wondered where Resek was now. His aim was to get out before anyone realized Snu was dead. She hoped he managed that because getting out when the soldiers were searching for assassins would be difficult.

It felt like hours before anything happened. Leanne had been craning her neck, looking for some sign of Resek and his partner returning, hopefully after having successfully completed the mission.

Suddenly, all hell broke loose.

Leanne swore and broke into a run. She had her route planned out so that she would only be in plain view for a few seconds. She reached the door to the main compound, panting. Using the end of her stolen gun, she bashed the outer door open. Inside, everything was in chaos.

Leanne pressed herself against the door, waiting for her eyes to adjust, hiding in shadows. Resek had shown her the projected plans for the building. They hadn’t been able to get anyone in to spy, but all Greli command stations were similar. If he was right, Leanne was in the east wing. She needed to get to the center, where Snu and Resek would be.

Someone yelled at her, asking who she was. Leanne didn’t hesitate. She already had her gun out. She aimed and pulled the trigger. The Greli soldier fell without a sound.

There was so much uproar that no one noticed, but Leanne knew that wouldn’t last for long. She grabbed him under the arms and pulled him into the darkest corner, hiding him as best she could. Her hands were shaking. She’d never killed anyone before. The things the Greli had done left her convinced that the invaders deserved to die, but her hands didn’t seem to agree. She clenched them into fists.

Feeling sick with herself, Leanne pulled off the uniform of the man she killed, washing out as much of the blood as she could with what water she had left. It was dim with the emergency lights flashing, so hopefully, no one would notice. Once she got closer to Resek, there would be no shortage of Greli soldiers with blood on them, and she’d fit right in.

Her overwhelming instinct was to cringe away from the other Greli. But she knew from Resek’s training that this would be the wrong move. If she acted like an outsider, they would be more likely to recognize her as an outsider.

Leanne attached herself to a big group heading in the same direction she was. When they stopped at a weapons point, Leanne helped herself. Her one disadvantage was that she was a woman in a war with few female soldiers, which made her stick out. At the first opportunity, she grabbed a hazard helmet and shoved her hair into it.

She got further than she expected before someone stopped her.

“Hey, you! Which unit are you with?”

“Sir, a message from Commander Snu.” She leaned in to whisper in his ear. The knife wasn’t as effective as the gun, but it didn’t make a noise. Despite all Resek’s training, Leanne had never done this before. It didn’t go exactly as she’d hoped.

If she did it perfectly, the knife would go through the soldier’s ribs and into his heart, killing him instantly. Of course, she’d never killed a man before, so she couldn’t exactly count on doing it perfectly. Hopefully, he’d at least pass out or something. She felt warm blood wash over her hand, and the soldier sank to his knees. But he was still very much alive, yelling so loudly she thought the whole base could probably hear him.

“Help, he’s wounded!” Leanne yelled to maintain her cover.

Around her, people rushed to the fallen soldier. Two of them turned to Leanne with looks of suspicion. She promptly shot them and dashed off. Four. She’d killed four people now, assuming the man she stabbed would die. How long had she been inside? Probably less than ten minutes. Four people in ten minutes. Her traitorous hands kept shaking.

Leanne knew when she was getting close. Greli bodies were strewn everywhere, and she felt a flash of pride for Resek. If he was going down, he was going to take this whole base down with him.

The hallways were mostly empty now, except for the dead and dying. Leanne headed resolutely towards where she knew Resek should be.

She ducked behind a pillar and peeked out into the large room beyond. She didn’t know what to expect and was braced for anything.

She saw Resek on his knees, alive. For a second, she let relief surge through her, then forced herself to focus. A man who she assumed by his uniform was Commander Snu was holding a gun pointing directly at Resek’s head. The other Wescra soldier lay in a pool of blood on the floor.

Most of the other soldiers in the room were injured or dead. Resek had left just three standing.

Leanne didn’t know if Snu would keep Resek as a hostage or kill him at once, and she didn’t have time to find out. She may only have seconds. Snu was angled behind Resek so she couldn’t get a clear shot at him. She pulled out the small device in her pocket, the one she’d gotten from the Greli weapons station.

Praying it was what she thought it was, she pulled out a small pin and threw.

The floor shuddered at the explosion. Leanne threw her hands over her head and ran as fast as she could. She didn’t know what her plan was, only that she had to get to Resek. The dust was choking her, and she could barely see. Chunks of the ceiling were falling everywhere. It was pure luck that none of them hit her.

Someone ran into Leanne, sending her sprawling. Her gun flew out of her hand. She rolled over just in time to see a gun pointed at her face.

With a cry of terror, she rolled again and scrambled away. Her instincts told her to go backward, away from the threat, but Resek’s training told her otherwise. When her opponent had a gun, distance was to their advantage. Close quarters was to her advantage. She screamed a battle cry as she leaped for the gun.

The soldier clearly hadn’t been expecting that, but he recovered quickly. Leanne clung to his gun hand, preventing him from aiming it at her. He was a lot stronger than her, and she knew she had only moments before he shook her off.

He wasn’t her concern. Resek was. Leanne looked desperately around, trying to catch a glimpse of him. She finally did. He was wrestling with Commander Snu and one other soldier. By the sharp sound of boots on the hard floor, Leanne knew that reinforcements were coming. They had to get out of here fast if they wanted to survive.

The soldier growled and finally threw her off. Powered by fear, Leanne kicked wildly, managing to trip him up. She knew that would gain her only seconds, and she scrambled for Resek. All she needed to do was cause a distraction. Resek could do the rest.

She flew at Commander Snu, grabbing his hair and pulling him down with her. Her reckless move caught everyone by surprise, and for a split second, they all froze. All of them except Resek that is. He was already moving, lunging for Snu who was writhing. Leanne knew she had to get out of the way so that Resek could get a clean shot.

Snu had her ankle in an iron grip as she scrabbled at the floor, desperately trying to pull herself away.

She’d lost track of how many soldiers were still fighting, something Resek had always warned her never to do. If she didn’t know how many there were coming for her, she would likely be surprised. And surprises in war were seldom anything good.

She kicked and screamed, trying to pull herself free. There were noise, blood and dust everywhere. Her grenade may have caused some structural damage, because the building seemed to be caving in. Or maybe that was just her panicked thoughts.

Leanne finally managed to pull free, only to find herself in the iron grip of another Greli soldier. The one she had tripped, she realized. He’d lost his weapon, but his hands fastened around her neck, squeezing the life out of her.

Leanne struggled, but he was too strong, and the world was quickly fading.

The last thing she heard was a gunshot.