'Sir,' sail Luna nervously.
'Sir?' repeated Face in surprise, the word bringing his head up from its slouched position over the holographic map. He looked around, seemingly realising for the first time that, apart from Luna, he was alone in the salon. 'What have I done wrong this time?'
It was a cavalier question and Luna didn't appreciate it, a sentiment she conveyed with a steely look.
'I'm sorry,' said Face, at once contrite. 'What do you need?'
'Sir,' Luna said again. She took a deep breath, readying herself. 'I want to talk about our mission.'
Face sighed in resignation, his body seeming to get smaller with the act. 'Okay.'
Luna settled beside him, the act tentative, like she feared any sudden movements would startle him. She looked behind her, out into the adjoining corridor, where she knew Cora to be. She couldn't see her, but she appreciated her being there, all the same.
'It's this planet,' she said. 'Something isn't adding up for me.'
'How so?' Face said, his tone flat, his face impassive. He was giving her nothing. It felt so wrong, so alien. So unlike the Face she knew.
Luna keyed the display and the hologram changed from a map of the sector to a single planet, zooming into a station in orbit of it - their target for the upcoming mission. She paused. 'You've said that we're here to disrupt enemy supply lines.'
'Yes?'
'Sir,' said Luna, already exasperated. 'There are no supply lines here. This isn't a depot. No arms or munitions. There's no supplies to disrupt. It's not even that heavily armed.'
'That sounds like a great reason, to be fair,' Face said, attempting one of his easy smiles, but even so he seemed uncomfortable. When the deflection didn't work, he shrugged. 'It's not exactly the best target, sure, but it's hopefully going to give us more information.'
'What information?' Luna asked shortly. 'Zatt found plenty of supply depots in this area. Better targets. What is it about this one station that we need to hit?'
'Have you been talking to the others about this?' Face demanded suddenly.
'I - what?' said Luna, confused. 'Of course we have.'
'Saying what, exactly?'
'Just talking.'
They sat in silence. Luna felt her own frustrations mirrored in her superior officer, saw him tense, even as she felt her own body tense. She took a deep breath, repeated the words that had often calmed her before, centred her. 'What is it?' she asked softly. 'Face, you can talk to me.'
Face turned away from her, but not before she caught sight of his pained expression, grimacing as if he'd just been stabbed. When he spoke, his voice was low and rough. 'Gather the others. I guess it's time.'
She placed a hand gently on his shoulder, squeazing it softly, before standing and leaving.
Minutes later, after having gathered the others, she found him once again hunched over the holographic map, his features calm and collected. Silently, they all filed in and sat down. At the sight of the Duros twins, Face frowned, and Luna knew why: one of them should have been over on the starfighter carrier at all times. But it was barely used, having, for the time being, no use, and requiring little maintainance after Zatt and Fenn had set up a joint computer network so the ship could almost completely be controlled from the Nexu's Nest. Besides, the cruiser felt more like home to everyone, and despite the carrier having much more room - as well as comfier beds and better showers - everyone preferred to spend their off time on the Nest.
As everyone settled in, Face stood tall, taking a steadying breath. 'Before I begin, I wish to take a moment to warn you, in particular Ka'iulani and Fenn, that this may be difficult to hear.' he paused, looking at the two, who were, as usual, seated together. Luna and the others looked too, and saw the woman nod, her face grim. Fenn, for once, looked up at Face. Eventually they nodded too.
'Our mission,' said Face, 'has always been to disrupt supply lines and gather intel. That is what the New Republic Navy has directed me. That has never been a lie. It's not entirely the truth, though. Because of my previous experiences, they knew that I could operate indepentantly and come up with creative means to attain these goals. Because of that, they gave me intentionally broad instructions, so that I could decide for myself what exactly I needed to do, and how to do it.' he shifted his weight from one foot to another, taking a moment to weight his next words.
'For years,' he continued, 'we-' he paused. For once, he seemed lost for words. 'I don't know how long this has been happening. The New Republic has guesses, but nothing more than that. But for at least two decades, a powerful force has been raiding planets, stealing raw materials, machines,' he paused, 'and children.'
Gasps and murmurs, curses and disbelief came from the voices of the Nexus - except Ka'iulani and Venn. Luna looked at them, her eyes widening in understanding, and then despair.
'We can't be certain,' said Face, 'but we believe that the First Order has been raiding worlds outside of their borders in order to strengthen themselves. Thousands of children. Maybe millions.'
'They attacked my planet,' said Ka'iulani softly, her voice was barely above a whisper, but everyone heard her clearly. 'My people were a great power in the unknown regions. Maybe not so powerful as the Republic, but things are diffierent there. We controlled several systems. We were a force to be reckoned with. And they completely destroyed us. As a ruler, it was my responsibility to look after my people, and I failed. Even after, I failed them. I failed to help them all,' she was looking at Venn now, laying a hand on their arm. 'And for that I will always be sorry, and give my everything in repaying that debt.'
Venn nodded, smiling. Luna knew that wasn't the end of Venn's experience and her heart ached for them, knowing all she did, but Venn seemed to be offering forgiveness, in their nonverbal way.
Ka'iulani turned to the others, who all looked at her. The anger that burned in her eyes was her own nonverbal communication, and everyone understood, and felt it too. She wanted revenge. And everyone else was ready to help her.
'So about this mission,' said Vix. Gone was the jolly, down for a good time, easy-going manner. Instead there was a grim determination. 'This will help.'
Face nodded. 'I hope so.' he keyed the console again, and it zoomed into a set of incomplete floorplans. They hadn't managed to get close enough to perform extensive reconnaisance of the station and surrounding area, but they had managed to gain some information, enough to give them a solid idea. 'This station is connected to the restricted network. If we can access that, we should be able to get a much clearer picture of what exactly is happening to those kids.
'And then we can get them back.'
