Rebel's End (2020)

Alarms blared as Colonel Dmitri Zaytsev rushed through the compound toward his emergency command center. Following hallways barely lit by flashing red lights, Dmitri and his two bodyguards pushed down the hall. In front of all of them, Kate Guillou strode into the room first, positioning herself at the door console. "Get in, quick."
Dmitri didn't have to be told twice, picking up his pace for the last few feet. Yet, as his other bodyguards entered the room behind him and the door started sealing itself, the whirring of heavy locks was drowned out by a rapid slew of shots ringing out from Kate's M6. By the time Dmitri spun around, she had already pressed the weapon to his face.
"Kate! What the hell are you doing?"
"Ending this little rebellion." Scattered around the room, Zaytsev saw the bodies of his command staff lining the floor, a single bullet hole in each of their heads.
• • •
Kate stood there, finger on the trigger, magnum steady at Dmitri's face. Yet there was still some lingering part of her that found some of that love for him. She wavered, giving him a bit too long to process what she had said. He had her hooked.
"What is this, Kate? What about Yvan?"
"Yvan will be plenty fine without a scum of a father like you."
"What about us? Did this mean nothing to you?"
Kate's lip trembled. "It meant something, for a time, Colonel. But this invasion... it reminded me of who I'm really loyal to. Reminded me of my mission!"
Every word she spoke was true.
"Then why is it so hard to finish this?" Kate took a deep breath, steeling herself. "I'm sorry, Dmitri. I really am."
As her finger closed on the trigger, Kate shut her eyes. A fist collided with her face. sending her stumbling backward. The last of her Magnum rounds fired harmlessly into the floor. 
"FUCK!"
Kate steadied herself, eyes flying open to stare at Dmitri. Drawing a knife from her belt, she watched him, scowling and circling. It was Dmitri who broke the silence first.
"Do you really think my 'little rebellion' is worth the effort to stop, Kate, with aliens knocking at our door?"
"The aliens aren't my orders, Colonel," she spat the word at him, wiping blood from her nose, "You are. You... You have to die."
"I thought you were with me, Kate. But... you're not. You're still a slave to the damn UNSC! ONI too, I'm betting, huh?" his voice softened. "I'm truly sorry..."
• • •
Dmitri lunged forward, launching a strike at Kate's gut. He had trusted her, confided in her as a lover and as a friend, had a child with her, but she had just been using the opportunity to betray him.
"What did I do wrong?" His building rage quickly consumed any thoughts of self-blame. "Gave a liar too much trust. She thinks she's so high and mighty."
His fist connected with her arm, deflected to the side. Kate was fast, he had to give her that. She always had been.
"FUCK!" Kate responded in turn, and Dmitri was doubly reminded of her prowess as a searing pain lanced from his shoulder. Reminded that she was armed, too. The knife sunk into his torso as he flailed towards her face, connecting once more. The pressure from the blade in his shoulder suddenly released as Kate stumbled backward.
Ripping the knife out, Dmitri kicked Kate, twice. A strike to her chest to send her tumbling to the floor, and another to her skull to buy him time to scramble away. Grabbing a biofoam container from a medkit on the wall, he stuck the nozzle into his wound, sealing the blood with a grimace. He saw a flash of movement just in time to get his arm up, hearing the crack of his wrist. Kate's brass knuckles had found their target. Dmitri once again found his other arm flailing towards Kate, shoving her off. "Damn she's resilient."
"God DAMMIT Kate!" Kate didn't buckle under the curse, the strikes landing on Dmitri's chest this time. She pressed him back against the wall. The return of a solid surface behind him gave Dmitri purchase to push forward, ignoring the pain of shattered ribs to bring Kate to the floor.
• • •
Kate reeled as her skull struck the concrete, the brass knuckles sliding from her hand. She blinked her eyes clear just in time for another fist to slam into her face, driving another impact with the floor. 
Kate's vision returned again and she was still on the floor. "Wha..? Where..." The Colonel's leg pressed into her neck, his fist pulling back to punch once more. "Shit!" 
Reaching around for something, anything she could use as a weapon, Kate began to fade again... Then, across her fingers, she felt a sharp pain lance out. The blade of a knife? Finding the handle, she grasped the weapon and, as one more punch connected, swung her arm up. Her head slammed back into the floor once more, a spray of blood coated her face, and her vision went dark.
• • •
Kate could still hear the alarms blaring, but the rest of the room was strangely quiet. That same question filled her mind. "What am I doing here? Where am I?" 
Stumbling to her feet, she saw that her last effort hand landed true, starting to remember. The fight, the knife... Her head throbbed as she looked down at the man she had called a lover, now little more than a cooling corpse with a knife sticking from its neck. The next thought that struck her broke her spell. "Yvan."
Her son. Dmitri may have been scum, but she still had her son. Closing her eyes to the scorching alarm lights, Kate turned for the command center's exit.
Category:The Weekly