The tea was too watery and overheated, but Face wasn't about to pass it up, guzzling it down so quickly it burned his throat. He sighed in relief and stretched out his legs.
'There,' said Shayde. 'We're not all bad, now, are we?'
Face thought over his next few words. 'You still are. A little kindness doesn't negate all the bad you've done.'
'And all the good you've done,' Shayde countered, 'does that negate all the bad of the New Republic?'
Face frowned. He was certainly not blind to the New Republic's failings, but it was by all accounts a fledgling republic, it couldn't be expected to be completely perfect. 'Does that mean an entire system had to die?'
'A small price,' Shayde waved his hand airily, brushing the genocide aside. 'We needed to make a strong statement, an overwhelming display of force to cower our enemies into submission.'
'How'd that turn out for you?'
Shayde smiled at the insolence. 'You think you've made a dent in our war effort? You damaged a station - repairable. You damaged a listening outpost - one of hundreds, also repairable. You freed some prisoners - hundreds, in a galaxy of trillions. Your actions have been a drop of water in an ocean. You pretend to be Nexus, but you're little more than gnats, attacking the tail of the unstoppable oliphant. You, the Resistance, those who do not know they're already defeated, are a minor inconvenience. And now your time is over.'
Face bowed his head. He was right. Almost. 'You have me. You don't have my Nexus. I might be done, but they're not. They're going to continue the fight, they're-'
'Going to free all those sweet and innocent indoctrinated souls, yes, yes. That Nautolan girl told me of your mission. Would you like to see them?'
Face looked at him, puzzled. 'See what?'
'The children, of course,' Shayde huffed, finally showing some emotion. 'Where do you think you are? I thought I'd show you your prize, before your end,' the major tapped a button on his desk and a moment later the door opened. In came another officer, flanked by a squad of stormtroopers. Face stared at the newcomers until something in his brain clicked.
'Soo cooee-gar,' Face said, butchering the little Mandalorian he'd learned, 'captain Skirata.'
Skirata didn't flinch, didn't look at him. He had eyes only for Major Shayde. 'Your orders, sir?' he said stiffly.
'Prepare my shuttle. We're to take our guest planetside.'
Face felt stupid. He should have realised sooner, should have noticed the moment his feet hit the floor and felt the gentle thrum beneath him. He was aboard a starship. He wondered how his Nexus would find him now. He looked about himself, taking his surroundings in anew. Of course, the fact that Shayde had restraints built into the wall of his office, interrogation utensils at the ready, said so much about him as a person. As he was taken out of the office, he tried to take as much information in as possible, try to find a means of escape, but Skirata and the stormtroopers gave him no such chance. The Mandalorian wouldn't even answer his innocuous questions.
They travelled in silence to the surface, landing in an enclosed hangar so that Face couldn't even gain an understanding of the environment. As they alighted, they were met by an old Commander, his skin almost as pale as the hair on his head and upper lip. The most striking thing about him was his bright blue eyes.
'Commander Wynn,' Shayde shook his hand. 'A pleasure,' the strange thing is that Face felt that he truly meant it.
'Pleasure is all mine, Major,' Wynn said warmly, then turned to Face. 'And this must be the guest we're to show around?'
'It is, yes,' Shayde replied. 'Though I don't want to trouble you with the effort. I'm happy to do so myself.
'Oh, it would be my pleasure. No trouble at all!'
Face could have almost warmed up to the man, as exuberant and friendly as he was, if he forgot what his job was, and where they were.
'Please, gentlemen,' Wynn beamed at them, sweeping his arm out wide, 'if you'll all follow me. Lessons have just begun.'
Face steeled himself for what he was about to see. As he quickly found out, however, nothing could have prepared him enough.
