The lights were dimmed to a deep red in the command bunker, far below the surface, safe from the rages of the war above. Wearing the uniform of my enemy, I was an infiltrator—I'd been posing as an officer in the Darveran Empire's military, working my way up as I spied for my own side and I was now Commandant Eliza's second-in-command. Eliza and I were the only two in the room, her hand hovering over the button that would launch several nukes in a final retaliation for the Darveran Empire. They were currently losing the war and had decided that if they can't win that they'd turn everything to ash!
I cursed my lack of a weapon, I needed to stop her somehow but I sucked at hand-to-hand combat and knew that she was an expert at it.
"Commandant...no, Eliza, listen to me. There is no point in us launching those nukes, the Empire has lost. It is all over." I said, trying to reason with her.
She smiled coldly and sneered at me. "I never thought to hear such cowardice from your mouth. We must defeat them at any cost, even to our own people. Glory or Death is our motto, after all." She replied, looking me death in her eyes.
Commandant Eliza must have noticed me readying myself for battle and sighed, dropping her hand and giving me the most dissapointed look I've ever seen on a person.
"Or perhaps you are a spy? Embedded here and kept in reserve for such a moment? To think that I had believed in you. How dare you betray me!" Eliza said, her voice snapping and raw.
I tried to answer her, to defend myself, but before I could do anything, Eliza reached to push the button and I threw myself at the uniformed Commandant in a flying tackle, grabbing her shoulders as she struggled against me. With my arm around her waist, I twisted and rolled until we ended up in a wrestling hold on the ground, her arm around my throat to crush the life out of me.
My boots scrabbled upon the floor as I fought to breathe, tears forming in my eyes.
"No!" I cried, straining to breathe as her grip tightened.
I couldn't let this happen! If I lost here, she'd launch the nukes... but I couldn't kill her. Even if our professional relationship was a lie, I'd come to respect her—maybe even love her.