It was another five hyperspace jumps before they had dismantled each shuttles locator beacons or anything close to a homing device and finally felt safe enough to land on a small rocky planet. Luna didn't even know what planet it was, it just had a small mining colony in the south hemisphere, and she made sure to land as far away as possible from it. If they had any kind of long range radar, they had likely been spotted, but she doubted they'd want to investigate, and if they sent any messages, the Nexus and the prisoners would be long gone before any First Order forces could arrive.
Vix and Vea were rushed to the Nest and put under Tarrik's healing care, with Vix going into immediate emergency surgery, though his wound was not as terrible as Fenn's had been. Someone had found an old 2-1B medical droid on one of the shuttles and it was put in charge of Vea's care.
'What's wrong with her?' Luna asked the droid, whose name, curiously, was Tabby. Khenan sat beside his wife, holding her hand and gently stroking her hair.
'It appears she has multiple bodily traumas, due to significant stresses sustained over a long period of time.'
'Torture,' Khenan said gruffly. 'They came in, oh,' he paused, frowning. 'I don't know how long ago, it feels like forever ago. But they kept asking us all these questions about some escape on Glee Anselm.'
Luna swallowed nervously. The jailbreak. They were being tortured because of what the Nexus had done. She said nothing. She spotted Ka'iulani hovering at the door, the same emotions that she was feeling were mirrored on her face. He took a moment to control herself, like a mask slipping down, then she came into the medbay proper.
'We didn't know anything,' Khenan continued. 'How could we? We've been away for so long, I can't even tell you how long. Months maybe. But we told them nothing, not even to stop the torture. She was so good though. You did so good, sweetheart,' he squeazed Vea's hand, smiling down at her. Tears fell from his eyes onto her cheek and he wiped them away.
'What can be done to help her?' Ka'iulani asked Tabby.
'I have already given her a mix of neuro destressers. That is the main cause of concern; stress over a long period of time can have terrible effects on your impermanent bodies. The physical trauma can be treated easily, even by your human doctor, but the important thing is to give her time to rest.'
'Then that's what we'll do,' Luna promised, then tapped Ka'iulani's shoulder. 'We have business to take care of.'
Ka'iulani followed her out. The prisoners had vacated all the shuttles and were milling about outside, resting atop the rocks. It was hot and sunny out, and they probably shouldn't be out so long, being at risk of dehydration, but she couldn't blame them wanting the fresh air and the sun on their faces. They found the Mon Calamari pilot moving from prisoner to prisoner. She had helped herself to the Nest's gantry and was distributing rations to each person.
'I'm afraid we haven't much better,' Luna said apologetically. 'The shuttles might have some rations, too. I could send some of our Nexus in to look.'
'Already stripped one water reclaimator,' she spoke over her shoulder as she attended to one old human, then moved on to another.
'I'd like to ask what your plans are now?' Luna asked, and then added, 'sorry, it's...?'
'Kadee,' she said. 'Katlin Kadee.'
Ka'iulani snapped her fingers. 'Oh I know you. Face told me about you. He wanted you for the Nexus, but after the court martial-'
'Yes, that's me,' Katlin said quickly.
'Court martial?' Luna asked, then shook her head. 'It doesn't matter. That's all in the past. What matters is now.'
'Let me guess,' Katlin stood and turned to them. 'You want me to join your rebellion, take the fight to the First Order, take revenge on all they put me through and the galaxy at large.'
'Uh,' Luna shared a look with Ka'iulani. 'It's called the Resistance, but...yeah. Pretty much. Are you Force senstive, by any chance?'
'Are there any of those even left?'
Luna looked across the field, back to the Nest, where Hoshi had emerged with more supplies to give to the lounging prisoners. 'One or two.'
'Well, you can ask them. I'm out of the fighting business.'
Luna sighed, brought a finger to her lips, tapping them, thinking. 'Here's the thing. We can't just leave you, all of you, to fend for yourselves. But we also have a mission. What if-'
'No,' Katlin interrupted.
'Hear me out,' Luna pleaded. 'What if we gave you information for meeting up with agents of the Resistance? You don't have to stay,' she added quickly, seeing the look on Katlin's face. 'But there are a lot of political and military prisoners here. Any information they have could help the Resistance. But more than that: the Resistance is in a better position to help you all, more than we could,' and if anyone wanted to stay and join, then that's an added bonus, she thought, but didn't say it. 'Go to them, ask for help. After that, when you're in a better position, you can go wherever you want.'
Katlin looked away, saying nothing. 'It's not my choice where everyone wants to go. But I'll talk to them. This gives us some breathing room, at least,' she added.
'That's all I ask,' Luna said, then left to direct the Nexus on helping to deliver relief to the prisoners.
It took the better part of a day to see to all of the prisoners, to patch up the Nest, for Tarrik and Tabby to see to the medical needs of the other prisoners, who, thankfully, while not in great shape weren't at least in dire need of serious medical attention. The freed prisoners were split on their desires. Some wanted to join the Resistance outright, while others wanted to either get as far away from the First Order as possible, or to find their loved ones - both desires Luna could very easily understand. But they were all willing to at least take that next step, to link up with agents of the Resistance, and their shuttles departed the next night.
That left just the Fenndy's. Luna had a plan for getting them back home - but first, Ka'iulani had something that she needed to do.
It was another day before Tarrik gave her the all clear to visit Vea, who had regained some of her strength.
'Are you sure you want to do this?' Luna asked Ka'iulani, as they stood in the passage just outside the medbay. The other Nexus were sat in the cargo bay, trying to be there for emotional support, but far enough to give them privacy.
'Not really,' Ka'iulani mumbled. 'But I owe them.'
Hoshi came over, her arm draped around Fenn's waist. They were still looking quite gaunt, but they did look stronger, at least. They pulled out of Hoshi's grasp and went to Ka'iulani, holding her hand. They stood on their toes, and Ka'iulani leaned down to rest her forehead on theirs, just a moment of tenderness, before parting. She took a deep breath. 'Let's do this,' she said, and marched into the medbay.
Ka'iulani spoke quietly so Luna couldn't hear the words, but she saw the princess bow to the Fenndys, then laid down on her stomach, her face to the floor, her hands resting to either side of her head. Luna had no idea what the gesture meant in Ka'iulani's culture, but she took it to mean a sign of apology, or perhaps respect. The Fenndys, too, didn't seem to understand the gesture either, but intuited the meaning in the same way as Luna did, and knelt down and placed their hands on her head and shoulders, then pulled her up into their arms, embracing her. The sound of crying emanated from the huddle, and Luna wasn't sure if it was Ka'iulani, or Zatt's parents, or all of them. But soon, Luna was crying too.
