Isabel's eyes remained hard and serious as William finally seemed to snap, all the stress finally getting the better of her superior officer considering everything that had happened. "How am I going to trust in the federation going forward? Even our colonel is left in the dark about the truth about our operations, and that's unacceptable. Every single time I deploy now, how can I rest assured that I'm the one that's doing the right thing? Nobody on this base knows what the federation top brass send us out to do, but<em>somebody</em>up the chain knew what was happening and did it deliberately in order to further their own ends." She took a few more steps forward. "I'm not a puppet anymore, I won't let people use me like some sort of weapon, only good for destroying the things around me. The top brass of the federation are no better then that man who was laughing on that battlefield, if this is the sort of thing that they're going to send us out to do."<br/><br/>Isabel kept going, her emotions coming out in full force. For what it was worth, William had finally succeeded in breaking apart her emotionless shell. "My entire life has been nothing but conflict and warfare from the moment I was born! All I want is for it to end, and now the federation is just making things worse! I refuse to fight for that!"<br/><br/>....................................................................<br/><br/>Jillian was completely oblivious about what happened outside, about the fact that Julia had been killed in cold blood by the colonel that she had grown to despise for reasons all her own. All that mattered right now was that her comrade was in a dark place, and she needed somebody in her life to be there for her. Jillian would be there for Catrina, she would pick up the pieces and help to hold her companion together for as long as she could. For now, she'd softly stand up, picking Catrina up into her arms before she transported her to her room on the other side of the base. Upon arrival, Jillian would softly lay Catrina down in the bed, and lean in to kiss her forehead gently. "Catrina..."<br/><br/>Jillian needed to be strong now, stronger then she had ever been before in her life. In these dark times, people often looked for somebody to lead the way to a better tomorrow, people often looked for a leader to rally behind in the hopes that the darkness would pass. If nobody was willing to step up and be that leader, Jillian had no choice but to pave the way herself.