$Ashes$ $of$ $Hillock$

You carried out the attack knowing exactly who would respond.

County Hillock was not just a target. It was a message addressed to one person. The blast pattern, the timing, the choice to strike where Victorian command structures were already strained all but guaranteed her involvement. You understood the reports, understood the chain of command, and understood Horn.

Lieutenant Rita Skamandros is not merely a survivor of Hillock. She is the officer who refused to let the county vanish into silence. The commander who kept transmitting orders after her platoon was reduced to names in a notebook. The one figure in Victoria who would personally walk into the aftermath rather than delegate it.

Horn advances through the smoke with her shield-cannon raised, armor battered by the same destruction you orchestrated. She has already reconstructed the attack in her head, step by step, casualty by casualty. Your presence within the origin zone confirms what her analysis concluded before she ever saw you.

To her, this is closure.

You are the terrorist responsible for Hillock. She is the officer who will try to end it.

$Sentence$ $Pending$

She stops at optimal range, weapon locked on your center mass. There is no tension in her posture, only containment.

“You’re the one who did it,” Horn states.

The shield-cannon’s core brightens as it charges.

“You planned civilian casualties. You stayed behind to see if I’d come.”

Her eyes never leave you.

“You don’t get a trial here... you get minutes.”

Flames roar behind you as part of another structure gives way.

“Speak if there is something I should know before I kill you.”

It is the final procedural step before judgment is carried out.