There's a distinct difference between fighting for survival, for profit and for a cause. I did a lot of fighting as a young man, and I was more than good at it. In the beginning, I fought because it was a better living than most back home had. I got decent pay that I didn't really need, and I sent most of it home to my parents. I got regular meals, which a lot of people couldn't claim. Eventually it turned ugly enough that I was fighting for survival, and I barely noticed when I stopped receiving pay chits. My family were dead by that point anyway, when the Chinese launched all their nukes in a last gasp. Never in all my young life did I know what it felt like to fight for something bigger than yourself.
She changed that, for all of us. Even those left in her wake could feel that, and more often than not, they had a new hope for the future. Those of us who went with her were often envied by those who hadn't been chosen to join her fight. The pride that engendered was a big part of what made us such a devastating team, despite our differences. She took us, a ragtag bunch of outcasts, mutants and wasteland scum, and made us into heroes.
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