Allies and Enemies

Chapter Twenty-Four: Revealed

Six months later, we were still fighting for our homes. We had set up several relief efforts across the worlds that we had to defend daily. Every day, we lose more people. Every day, we lose friends. One time, we lost one of our Jedi, Leochai Nettchu, and I found Kyldia Clefenn crying nonstop in her room. Sometimes we lose refugees, who are kidnapped in the night. Sometimes we lose a couple of relief efforts, but we always do our best to set them and get them running again.

Although these were trying times, we all did our best to make the most of the happy moments, few as they were. Rowan made it snow during the winter season, and there was a small snowball fight at one point. Budding friendships were all over the place; Katlize Chasta, a Keshiri Padawan who had been dared to duel me one time(and lost in the most hilarious way), Legolas, who I had run into in the corridors a few times and stopped to talk, and Quenna Sable, who had enjoyed putting her Grisha ice powers against mine. Those small happy moments kept me going, along with the belief that I could turn my currently evil friends back to normal. Until one day, where I realized how vulnerable we'd been this entire time.

"Kianna!" Rowan exclaimed, running up to me.

"What is it?" I asked, looking at her. She looked awfully stressed.

"Us," Rowan replied. "See, I was curious about which way the war is actually going, considering the fact that we appear to be on the same ground as the villains." Six months and we hadn't bothered to dub them anything. They clearly hadn't, so we just called them the villains, because that was exactly what they were. "But when I compared the stats, we've been on a decline for the past couple months. We don't have long until it's past a point of no return, which is when we will lose, no question."

"When will that be?" I asked urgently.

"In another month," she replied. "We've got to double our efforts on fighting them, or else..." Rowan trailed off.

"Well," I interrupted, "let's try not to think of that. We've still got another month, and I'm sure we can be up again if we work a bit harder." I couldn't bear to think of the consequences if we lost. All our losses, all our sacrifices, all the fighting for nothing.

"Should we call another meeting?" Rowan asked. Meetings were becoming more frequent lately.

"Absolutely," I replied. Rowan headed for the loudspeaker, which was installed after we were tired of finding the leaders scattered around the complex, and I walked to the War Room for the umpteenth time, trying to sort my thoughts. It was a lot of pressure to lead an army, and I'd made it a habit of walking around the complex about five times a day to try and check up on every single person. There were also relief efforts to keep track of, and it was getting harder and harder considering the number of worlds and the number of planets in each world, though that was only a concern for my home galaxy. I stopped in front of the War Room, let the door whoosh open, and walked in. Many leaders were already there, and I sat down in my usual seat at the head of the table. Once everyone had arrived, I stood up, promptly started the meeting, and updated everyone on what I had learned. I walked around the room, circling the table and watching their reactions, just in case. Not a single person gave away a single sign of suspicion, which was to be expected. If the person giving away information, if that was what was happening, was in this room, they'd have the decency to have a good poker face, probably. After the group brainstormed strategies to keep up the fight and win, for that matter, I went to check up with Rowan.

"Good meeting," she said.

"Quite productive, I agree," I replied. "And not just because of the purpose of that meeting." I made sure no one was listening to us before whispering, "I put trackers on everyone in that room. Nearly invisible ones, the size of a pinhead. We'll learn if anyone from that meeting does anything suspicious."