I must say, I do love blowing things up. Like that armoury over there. Or those external walls. Oh, and all those other walls leading to the detainment sector. You know, the one that all of those slaves are now escaping from. Did I mention that I made it to Calitrexia? It’s so nice of them to greet me with all of these guards that look elated to see me. They’re even shooting at me. How sweet. I’ll do them the favour and make their deaths quick. The cameras are watching after all. I can’t traumatise any little Calitrexian children who might be seeing this live.

I take out the final guard from the wall that I’m perched on, taking my new sniper out for a spin. The alarm gave out around five minutes ago so I’m thinking the enforcers are definitely on their way. So, I should probably get out of sight before they show up. I wonder what their holdup is. Maybe they realise that I’m freeing slaves and not just terrorising the planet for fun. One can do both after all. It’s too bad that I’m not getting paid for this ... yet. I haven’t had the chance to catch up with my old buddies here yet. It seems that targeting this place the second that I got here was a terrific idea.

Literally nobody expected that kind of insanity.

Because something clicked for me. It all makes perfect sense now, why I’m so determined to do a serious number on slavery that is. You see, slaves are for people who can’t be bothered with doing stuff they don’t want to do. That’s meant to be my job description. Slaves are my main competitor, except they don’t get paid. Who would pay me to do something when they can just get a slave to do it for free? The galaxy’s slave problem is suddenly my problem. It’s bad for my business model. Sadly I’ll have to spew out some sentimental bull so people will pay me to eliminate the competition.

And I know exactly where to find my paycheque.

*

“You have to be freaking kidding me!” Meg shouts. “Tina Mayes, help us? Why shouldn’t I just shoot you right now?”

Tal eyes me suspiciously. “She’s got a point. You might have done some good with Xalon, but your methods aren’t exactly ideal for working with us.”

“Look, I get it. I really do. Last time I was here, my motives were ... a little more self-indulgent. And yes, I am asking for enough payment to cover my costs in this operation, which, if you remember from last time, I didn’t actually receive.” Tal raises an eyebrow and glances at their desk. “Oh, alright, I took that model. But I never sold it so technically my costs weren’t covered. That’s not my point. I want to do this. I need to. And I don’t really know why. I just figured that with the galaxy’s enforcers trying to track me down that there’d be more public focus on what I do here. Who knows, maybe helping you lot will also get them off my case for killing Xalon.”

Meg scoffs. “See! She only wants the enforcers off her case. Her own words! We can’t trust some mercenary who leaves right when it’s time to face the consequences. That little entrance of hers was just for display. We don’t need that kind of attention messing up our underground operation.”

“You’re right,” Tal says, focusing on their news feed. “That entrance of hers was certainly a display. Maybe even one we could use.”

Meg turns on Tal. “What?”

“I’m with Meg. What are you on about?”

“Did you know that they’re calling Tina ‘Calitrexia’s Avenging Angel’?”

“She’s not even one of us!”

“That’s the point. She’s not one of us. Yet here she is volunteering to help our planet, our people, with our problem. And that, that might just be what we need to do this. People are already publically supporting her.” Tal flicks the holo-projected article to the wall where it grows large enough for us all to easily read. “Look here: ‘Glad to see someone finally protecting us from those damn slavers.’ And over here: ‘Who are we Calitrexians anyway? A bunch of cowards who let some human fix our problems for us? Are we going to keep turning a blind eye or are we actually going to do something?’ Tina is exactly who these people need: a symbol for change. If we work with her then the next generation won’t have to ever worry about slavery.”

“But they’re all anonymous!” Meg shouts. “Nobody’s willing to stick their neck out. Those are only words.”

“It’s a start. And that’s better than what we had before. Don’t get me wrong, things are going to be much, much harder now. They know we’re here. They all do, including those who’d rather slavery was here to stay. But now we know that there are Calitrexians who disagree. We know that we have supporters out there. All we’ve got to do is stick our necks out, use Tina as some mascot if we have to, and then maybe we’ll gain some people, then hopefully some more, and so on.”

I smile. “Does that mean I’m hired?”

Tal nods. “And I’m done paying you in cheap replicas.”

“Replica?” I repeat, drawing a chuckle from Tal. “Oh, so you’re a decent liar. That’s good. You’ll need the skill to be a leader.”

Terror, actual terror washes over their face. “What makes you think that I’m a leader?”

Now it’s my turn to laugh. “Trust me Tal. You’re what this planet needs. And you can trust me, because nobody paid me to say that.”