'At the end of the last war,' Face began, 'I retired from the military, became an actor again. Married my husband, adopted a war orphan. Life was good. Moved to a little colony in the Anaxis sector, way out in the Outer Rim. We were so happy,' Face paused to wipe his eyes clear. blow his nose in his handkerchief. 'I was away working on a war epic, Wings of the Phoenix, when our colony was attacked.'
'So that's why you were recast,' exclaimed Vix. Everyone turned to face him. 'Uh, sorry,' he blushed.
'I rushed back home to find my husband in intensive care, barely alive,' Face continued. 'He survived, but our little boy was missing. All the kids were missing. We didn't know about the First Order then, but it was clear something was up. I rejoined the military, looking for answers, hoping to use their resources to get my son back, but no one, not even New Republic Intelligence, knew what was happening. My husband, he - I didn't blame him,' Face said hastily. 'But at the same time, I didn't completely not blame him either, if that makes sense. It put a strain on our relationship, and as I spent more and more time in my work, we just drifted apart until we just ceased to be an us,' he sighed. 'Not that it did much good. My superiors cared, of course they did. They were friends, mostly, and even the ones that weren't were not heartless monsters. But it was a young government, struggling to put fires out all over the galaxy. This got buried, resources re-allocated. People moved on to other problems. But I never forgot, never stopped searching, because I knew one thing: it wasn't an isolated incident,' he gestured towards Ka'iulani by his side, then Fenn, sitting beside her.
'I told you about the attack on Ka Pōhaku, the planet I govern,' said Ka'iulani, then looked to Fenn, who gave a strange sideways nod as a sign of their assent. 'Mine was attacked a few years later. I knew Face from the days of the Rebellion, when my mother ruled and need- and, uh, called upon the strength of her allies and the Wraiths assisted in undermining the Empire in her sector. After the attack, I asked for his help.'
'But there was little I could do,' Face concluded.
'You did try to help me rebuild, though,' she interjected. 'Even if I failed.'
'You did the best you could.'
'It wasn't enough,' she shook her head vehemently, then looked at Fenn, who frowned. They leant over and rested their head in Ka'iulani's shoulder.
'In the years after,' said Face, 'I kept a look out for other incidents, and if I hadn't been specifically looking, I don't think I would have found anything. Small settlements, ones on the fringes of the New Republic, ones less likely to report these attacks to any government, all suffered. Dozens a year, every year - and those were the ones I could find information about. Who knows how many have gone missing. For years we looked and found nothing, but then we got lucky,' Face looked to Fenn, but it was Ka'iulani who spoke for them.
'We were searching a border planet of my family's empire when we came across Fenn.'
'More accurately, when Fenn found us,' Face gently corrected, giving them a gentle bump on their arm. 'You saved us, kiddo.'
'That they did,' Ka'iulani said warmly. 'I expect nothing less from one of my people,' she said proudly, laying an arm over their shoulders and squeazed them warmly. 'We got into some trouble, got captured by a gang of slavers and this little gutter rat walks in and sees us, recognises my family crest and helps us escape. It turns out that Fenn had been kidnapped from my planet, too, but,' she paused, thinking over her next few words, 'the First Order cast them out after performing some kind of experiments on them, which...didn't go well. Fenn survived, somehow, on their own for a few years on a deserted planet before being picked up by some passing slavers, the same ones that captured us, and was put to work for them ever since - well, at least until they freed us. They've been by my side ever since.'
'For us,' said Face, 'this is personal. For me, it's personal. I should have been honest with you all from the beginning. I just...I've been carrying this pain for so long, it's hard to tell anyone else.'
'You're not alone,' Ro'vena spoke up earnestly, 'you've got a whole lot of Nexus to back you up now.'
Face smiled sadly. 'Thank you,' he whispered.
Vix blew his nose loudly, ruining the solemn moment. 'Sorry,' said the large Devaronian. 'Allergies. Also that's just so sad.'
'But that's so evil though,' Ro'vena mused.
'I said I'm sorry!' Vix said, affronted.
'Not that, you big oaf,' she smiled to take the sting out of her words. 'I was just thinking. It's a big galaxy. What are the odds that we'd run into the one squadron that has Face's son?'
'You mean someone sent them?' asked Face, frowning. 'Someone sent him?'
'You said it yourself,' said Ro'vena, 'you can't fight them,' she paused, 'and I won't either.'
'Me neither,' said Vix. Nods of agreement from around the table.
'I can't either,' said Garan, looking at Face. 'You should have told us. We should have been prepared. You should have done, I don't know, something that meant my sister had to die. That was too high a price,' he paused, softening his words. 'But I can understand not wanting to fight your own family,' Garan's voice faltered at that. Face knew why - memories of Rana and Garan doing nothing but fight flashed through his mind.
'I wasted so much time,' Garan said softly.
'She knew,' Face said immediately. 'She knew you loved her. And she loved you. It was obvious. Sometimes love isn't expressed in those words, it's how you act, how you say other things. It was obvious how you two talked that you were expressing your love for each other. Don't ever doubt that.
Garan nodded slowly. Face felt that Garan didn't quite believe that, but he fervently hoped that he would, in time.
'So we can't fight,' Garan said instead. 'But we're not going to sit around doing nothing. We've got another Nexu missing.
'You're right,' Face nodded vehemently. 'I don't intend on losing anyone else. Our next priority has to be to find Luna,' as the others voiced their agreement he leaned back in his chair, frowning at the turned off holo display in the centre, imagining the map in his mind's eye. 'The trouble is, if she's alive: where is she?'
