Estrellas: Book 2

CHAPTER FIVE: BACK TO BASE

(told in perspective of Commander Zana)

I tapped a pen on my desk nervously, it had been two weeks since I had sent my nephew on a mission, and two weeks I hadn't heard back from him. What am I gonna do with this boy Marge? I looked up at the ceiling, thinking about his mother. I mean, it would be just wonderful to see you two again, but I'm just worried that Matthew isn't safe, the same goes for all his teammates. Suddenly my office door swung open and a man was standing in the doorframe, out of breath. "Next time knock?" I told him sternly.

"I'm sorry ma'am but your nephew just got back, and he has a teammate that's been shot. We're taking her to the med room now." And with that he left, leaving me completely frozen. I knew this was a bad idea from the start! I should've listened to my gut. Oh I hope his teammate is ok. And most importantly, I hope Matthew doesn't blame himself. I pushed out my chair from my desk and speed-walked to the med bay, finding Matthew, staring through the window. Oh he totally blames himself. I slowly looked inside and saw Andrometa, and she was in agony. I put my hand on his shoulder and he pulled me in for a hug.

"I couldn't save her, Zana, I am so sorry." He started crying.

"Matthew it's not your fault."

"But it is! The guy was about to shoot me! Me! And-and she just jumped out infront of me, and before I could stop her, she was on the floor writhing in pain!" He started getting emotional.

"Look, I know this is hard, just the uncertainty if she'll be ok or not, but that's no reason to go around throwing out what-ifs and blaming yourself." I looked down at Matthew. He was still crying, but the hug seemed like it was working. I patted him on the back and pulled away. "Why don't we go back to your room and get some tissues." He sniffled and nodded. I took him in his room and he sat on his bed, staring at the floor.

But for a brief second, he looked up and smiled, "Thanks Zana." I smiled and started shutting the door.

"Anything for my nephew." I whispered as I closed the door and headed to the med-bay again. The doctor walked out with a clip-board and a pen. He looked at me and nodded his head towards Andrometa.

"Visitations are open." I thanked him and peeked in to see a restful Andrometa with a bandage rapped around her leg. The doctor closed the door and sat me down on the bench outside of the room. "The bullet didn't do much damage other than some muscle and tissue damage, it should heal in a few weeks or so, she's lucky that she wasn't shot anywhere else." I nodded and thanked the doctor again. At least the injury wasn't too bad. I better go tell Matthew. I walked through the hallways of Media base, taking the familiar twists and turns I had memorized. I stopped at Matthews door and quietly cracked the door open. He had fallen asleep. I smiled and gently closed the door, that was probably the best night sleep he had gotten in weeks, so it was best to just let him sleep. I went down to the briefing room to get the entire story of what had happened. Turns out, I had missed the breifing, so I decided to get the notes instead:

Interviewer: Was the mission a success?

Cassandra: No, we couldn't find his parents.

Unknown: But that's because we were a little preoccupied by being captured!

Interviewer: Are you, sir working for the Luna's? And aren't you, Pandal, working for them as well?

Pandal: Yeah, it was an awesome double betrayal! You can't really understand it unless you were there.

Interviewer: And what is your name so I can get it on record.

Unknown: Barnabus Brutowski but please just call me Brutus.

Interviewer: Alright Brutus, did you have any hand in assisting the shooter of Miss Turner?

Brutus: Who?

Interviewer: Andrometa.

Brutus: You could've just led with that, and no, Matthew was the only one with her at the time.

Interviewer: Did Mr. Crustello have any hand in the shooting of Miss Turner?

Danny: What kind of question is that? Of course not he rescued her!

Interviewer: But you didn't see this happen.

Danny: ...no.

Draco: It was this crazy secret Agent Tony guy, Matthew said that he was the one who was about to be shot and Andrometa took the bullet for him. He didn't say much more.

Interviewer: What led you to this camp in the first place?

Cassandra: They were rescuing me.

Interviewer: And how did you get captured?

Brutus: With all due respect ma'am, that's none of your concern.

Interviewer: Fine, if you won't tell me how she got captured, tell me how all the rest of you were captured.

Danny: We we're rescuing her.

Interviewer: And how did you come across Mrs. Yebbe here?

Danny: Who?

Interviewer: The shop-keeper.

Danny: We rescued her, she sold us supplies on our earlier mission and the Estrellas captured her to try to use her to get information about the Medias from us.

Interviewer: Who are the Estrellas and what is their motive?

Draco: They are a bunch of psychopaths bent on world domination to fix the world.

Interviewer: How do you know this?

Draco: I overheard a few guards talking about it, the rest I pieced together.

Interviewer: Alright one last question before I let you guys go, did Andrometa Turner betray you and the Medias?

Danny: No comment.

Interviewer: I think we can end with that for now, we'll conduct further investigations into Mr. Crustello and will call you back if we need more information. Thank you for your cooperation. You may be excused.
(End of interview)

I was shocked, this was the craziest mission report I had ever seen, no wonder they were all exhausted. I'll have to conduct a bit of my own investigation later...
TO BE CONTINUED