Dear to her. That was a simple way of putting it.
To take a life, the emotion behind it, wasn't something easily explained. Pulling the trigger or using the knife. Regardless of whichever was used, it was a tool. It cared not which life it took. Leaders to common citizens. It was the user that bared the burden. It never got easier. Not to Fareeha. Not for the child she sent to the lands across the Nile. Angela looking down at her hands, distanced, was common. For her, Fareeha's demons came in the night. Her dreams didn't bring respite. It was yet another battlefield she had to conquer. It wore her out.
Fareeha smiled. Even if Angela offered expected words, they brought comfort to her tired soul. "I don't know if I believe you, but thanks." Feeling the tension easing ever so slightly, Fareeha leaned back against her chair. When was the last time she had the chance to truly relax? "Gave them quite the surprise, didn't we? They thought they could take Egypt without cost? Those delusional machines. No Angela. We'll keep fighting. Command has given a no retreat order. Kill order for deserters." Fareeha's expression darkened. She looked to the entrance of her tent. "My company was lucky. I as well. It's bad for morale, but we lose more people that way. A kill order? No retreat? Barbarism!"
As the omnics began their invasion several months ago, the military was a mess. Defense forces were erected while cities were turned into massive strongholds. Economy shifted from commerce to military as munitions were pumped out. There was mass desertions. By the dozens, soldiers fled their posts from the imminent of defeat and doom. So far, the omnics hadn't taken any prisoners. Countering this problem, officers were ordered to shoot those who would flee from their duty. Fareeha, luckily, kept her executions to single digits. It wasn't even for her own company. Jumpers were steel hardened warriors chosen from the average conscript pool. Still, it left its mark on her. Human blood stained her hands more than she cared for.
Looking up at Angela as she stood, Fareeha blinked in surprise as she stood up. Angela took a little step closer, which she didn't mind. There was something about that smile that alleviated the invisible burden Fareeha felt on her shoulders. How someone so beautiful would volunteer to come here was beyond her.
Fareeha's eyes widened even more so when Angela embraced her. Her body stiffened before it relaxed. Wrapping her arms around Angela, she looked down on the Swiss woman. She closed her eyes and immersed herself into the simple contact. She felt wonderful, as if a small piece of humanity finally found its way back to her from the Hell whole she'd been fighting in non-stop.
She chuckled ever so slightly. Angela's scent was welcomed. It beat the smell of death, blood, and ordinance any day.
