Rebel Star - The Scarlet Insurgent

Chapter 2 - Bomb

Erin lurked around the exterior of the Nexus, taking note of each entrance as she planned her attack. Her orders were specific, Wolf's strategies were absolute, but she hesitated. She was afraid.

The massive power station sat newly constructed in the very center of the Scarlet Colony, it's sharp geometric edges pointing up to the sky like a crystal beating heart, a new life force for the ever expanding population of the planet. The light of the red sun reflected off hundreds of glass panes in a way that made even Scarlet's own citizens stop and stand in awe.

The  monument was intended as a beacon of hope to the citizens of the cluster, a token representing the human ingenuity and sacrifices made by the people of Earth.  It represented the Corporation's generosity and the fourteen colonies they had established within the cluster as sanctuary to the last surviving members of the human race.  The new power station was a symbol of the past, the present, and the future of the Polaris Cluster Alliance.

It was a future that Erin wanted no part of.

After the long, nerve-wracking minutes scouting the doorways, Erin picked an entrance and slipped through the door. She found herself inside a massive lobby area, it's pyramid ceiling rising far overhead, providing a clear view of the crimson sky above Scarlet Colony. The huge room was filled with people from every corner of the city, dressed in their multi-colored rags and robes as they went about their business. It had very quickly become a popular meeting place for traders and the like. 

Erin looked hardly out of place among the chaos with her charcoal grey backpack and loose wool cloak that draped around her torso. The cloak, which once must had once been a bright  shade of yellow, was now dark and stained with the same black grime that covered just about every street in the colony. Below that, she wore a set of brown pants and an olive green tunic that draped just low enough to conceal her weapon. Wolf's goal was to have her blend in with the colonists, and his disguises were renowned for their authenticity. For the plan to work, she needed to get through the colony without raising suspicion, but getting inside the reactor room would require a bit more creativity.

She observed from a distance as the plant workers marched towards a large metal door towards the back of the room. A single peace officer was posted at the door, where he occasionally looked up at the workers passing through. Something in his lap seemed to occupy his attention. The workers continued passed and scanned some sort of ID badges to a sensor near the doorway.

Erin noted her observations and fell back towards the restrooms at the corner of the facility. She locked the door from the inside and opened the grey pack to see what Wolf had prepared for her. Inside were two things. A blue and white jumpsuit identical to the ones she had seen the technicians wearing, complete with the words "Instrument Mech," printed on the back. Upon closer inspection, she could see the grid of tiny silver cyno sphere generators embedded into the garment. The outfit would not only be her way into the reactor room, but her way out as well.

The other object that Wolf had prepared for her was a small metal cylinder she had seen demonstrated, but never used herself. The cynosural transport was supposedly the way of the future. Erin wasn't so sure she wanted to find out. The device had only one switch, a single flick and a ten second wait. That's all she would have to do.

She reentered the lobby, satisfied enough that her disguise would be sufficient. She took a sheet of paper from a table in a corner of the room, observing its glossy surface. She folded it in half, then twice more, and stowed it in her pocket. 

"Don't Improvise!" She remembered Wolf saying.

If you had given me an ID I wouldn't have to improvise!