[b][center][h2][color=magenta]Reya Wyatt[/color][/h2][/center][/b]


Reya had to turn her head away from the holovid. Even before the most gruesome clips aired, she knew where it was leading. Instantly she was reminded of when she’d gone with the raiding party to the supply depot and seen firsthand what the ‘Boys had done to the NPDRE defenders. That was at least a fight among soldiers, no matter how outmatched the sides might have been, however she could vividly remember the blood splatter and twisted forms of those who had tried to oppose them. It didn’t take a lot for her mind to build a ghastly mental picture of what happened to the townspeople. Like them, she’d had to run for her life before and visualizing herself as one of them was enough to make her stomach lurch to the point where she thought she was going to be sick. Women and children mowed down and trod over like insects no different than when she had grabbed up Sunny and ran for it. They hadn’t even been able to save Diego and the thought of his innocent face still cut her heart to the core the same way every single time.   

Never had she seen the Colonel so visibly upset and it reminded her of his actual nature as a fighting man and not so much the fatherly-type he’d sort of become in the last few weeks of their desperation. She was a little bit afraid to look at him for fear of perhaps doing something to make the situation worse by not being able to stomach what was propagated against the Knights. Ironically it reminded her of being a child when her father was particularly upset, so she mostly stood behind Tarak and hid herself from his gaze. The Mechwarrior’s stance was firm with no sign of apprehension without even a question. It was what she liked about him most. It gave her some strength and she took a breath and stood a little straighter holding on to his arm at the elbow. Save for maybe Raven, there was something about the rest of them she could never understand about their ability, for the most part, to remove the [i]humanity[/i] from a situation. She knew they probably felt it, [i]hopefully[/i], even Ziska, but the only emotions she could observe and sense were directed at [i]being framed[/i] whereas she could only see the people in the video. 

Then came the news of her role in the plan. A part of her wished so badly [i]not[/i] to hear her name. Just when she was getting back into doing what she was best at, she would be pulled away again and the assignment gave her an uneasy and foreboding feeling that she hadn’t expected. She was comfortable representing the Knights to just about anyone and understood the supreme level of trust the Colonel was placing on her shoulders; however, [i]Comstar[/i] was never an audience she had envisioned. Images of cloaked figures, ritual incantations and a feigned technological theocracy flashed through her mind along with how universally just about everyone she’d ever met couldn’t stand them. At least like the, “[i]holy Blake[/i]”, she was an engineer and maybe that would count for something in their eyes, but she doubted it. She let out a small sigh and looked down at her dirty ensemble realizing she’d have to get cleaned up again in a hurry. Sensing Tarak’s gaze she glanced up at him, not really feeling anything from Ingrid’s pontifications and knowing he didn’t really either. The Colonel’s words ran through her mind. It was going to be an [i]ugly fight[/i]. A brawl against murderers.    

She touched his face and looked at him, eye to eye. “[color=magenta]Come back with your shield, or on it.[/color]”  

[@Th3King0fChaos]