Built on Hope (Cassian Andor FF)

30. Tragedies

One week passed by. Talia hadn't heard from Cassian, and she never reached out to him. What was she supposed to say to him? What was she supposed to do? Pretend nothing happened and just keep going on with their lives? No. What Draven sent him to do was disgusting. Not the mission itself. But the extra added onto it. There was no need to kill the rest of the family. It had left her bitter.

Especially when she was called upon to meet with Draven.

When she walked into the small meeting room, Cassian was already standing there, hands behind his back. He looked at her, his stoney expression melted and his mouth moved to say something. Nothing came out. His eyes turned downcast and he clenched his jaw. The claw marks on his face had nearly healed all the way. Only a few scabs remained. His grip tightened, the muscles under his brown captain's jacket moving.

Talia glanced around, not wanting to meet eyes with Draven. The walls were bare. Cold. Made of gray steel that made it feel as if she were in an Imperial holding cell. There was a round holotable in the center of the room, blank and awaiting for something to be requested. No chairs. No files. If anything, Talia would think this would be Draven's private office so he could pace and dive through holographic files all day. It matched his personality, or what she knows of it.

Draven spoke up from behind the holotable. His voice seemed to boom against the walls, even though he was speaking at a normal, reprimanding volume, "This is what happens when you don't follow orders."

Talia didn't know what happened, but that was such a horrible thing to say. As if these orders were supposed to be easy, especially on the mind of the soldier. A knot formed in the pit of her stomach at how brash and careless he seemed for their wellbeing. "I'd like to see you pull off any of these orders. You wouldn't be able to."

"I'd pull the trigger on any Imperial that stood in the Rebellion's way, Ms. Revik. The difference is I don't obtain guilt from it."

Talia was about to retort until Cassian spoke up, "Why did you call us here?"

There was a period of silence where all Draven did was sigh. His fingers tapped against the holotable to bring up exactly what he wanted. A display of some type of ruins showed up, circling around slowly so they could take a better look at it. "This used to be a market. Thirty civilians dead. A dozen or so stormtroopers perished or went home with injuries." Talia and Cassian glanced at one another. Draven kept the silent suspense a little longer, a smug expression on his face. He was relishing the moment. "We have reports coming in that this bombing is being blamed on us." Another hologram popped up. This time, it was a boy. "This is the culprit."

Talia gasped. Cassian tore his eyes away from the projection. It was the same boy that they tried to spare. Now, he was a murderer, and he died anyway. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, and the horrid words came out of his mouth. "A false flag operation."

"Precisely. One that would not have happened had you followed through."

False flag? He posed as a rebel and the people believe it? Believe that the cause wants to hurt them rather than free them? The blood in Talia's veins boiled the more she thought about it. The more she could see Draven's smug face. He simply adored the fact that he was right, not the fact that killing a child would have messed Cassian up entirely. "You didn't tell Cassian there was a child in the house because you knew he would reject the mission like Essja had."

"All Captain Andor needed to know was what I informed him. This Imperial had scandocs on so many of you. You're failing to see the importance of this mission," Draven held steady, his expression not waning.

Perhaps he absolutely loved the superiority. Maybe he loved to rub the fact that he's right in people's faces. Or maybe it's the fact that they disliked each other that made this all the much sweeter for him. Talia shot back, "He completed the mission as far as the important part goes. It was the extra tacked onto it that bothers me, and it should bother you. An innocent child? Come on, Draven."