"Our spies on Zakuul informed us that-"
The first time Arcann stepped into the war room on the invitation of the Commander, a couple of days later, was a particularly awkward moment. Theron had started presenting the latest intelligence that they had received about the Eternal Empire and its new Empress when the man that had been their target for years had entered the underground area.
The new events were a major turn for the Alliance… Odessen used to be their hidden base, out of sight from the Eternal Emperor, the very same man who had now joined their fight. As per the Commander's request, he had been allocated quarters. Quarters, like any other member, not a cell or any place where his whereabouts would be limited. He was free to walk around, like anyone else, and the leader of the Alliance had decided, on top of it, to engage him immediately in their operations. If he was supposed to help defeating his sister, he had to be involved, she said.
His presence made Lana deeply uncomfortable. She had indeed sensed the change in him and had no reason to doubt his intentions so far. But there was still something, like a faint warning tickling the depths of her mind. She was determined to keep an eye on him and make sure that he would have no chance of disrupting their plans or hurting anyone. Especially the Commander. If he tried to hurt her, the woman who was risking their security as much as her own authority by accepting him among them, she would unleash every bit of wrath in herself to destroy him.
And she was apparently not the only one reacting to the former emperor's entry into the room. Theron had many reasons himself to mistrust the man, including strong personal ones. After all, that man had frozen the woman he loved in carbonite for five long years, and tried to kill her several times ever since. Lana knew that, while Theron, as an Alliance officer, respected the Commander's decision, he really had a hard time dealing with it personally. But he was a professional spy, trained at concealing emotions, and the only visible reaction she noticed when their new ally walked in was a slight tension in his jaw. And obviously the fact that he had suddenly stopped talking.
"Welcome, Arcann. Theron, please resume." The 'Outlander' - the name given to her by most of the people outside of the Alliance - on the other hand, was dealing with the situation as if the former emperor's presence was nothing new and not something to be worried about. Lana suspected that she was doing it totally on purpose, as an invitation for them to do the same as well as a way to make it easier for the newcomer. She would not reconsider her choice anyway, even though she knew that it was much disputed. They would all have to deal with it, even the most stubborn. In terms of stubbornness, she would always win anyway.
Her decision had indeed surprised many members of the Alliance. Nyx, the Commander, had received dozens of messages and holocalls from the very moment it had been known that the former tyrant was on his way to Odessen with her. She had taken note of them all but had remained unwavering. He would be a valuable asset and she was not intending to submitting to complains and criticism.
While Lana agreed that the man could be useful, she suspected that there was more to that choice than only taking the opportunity to seize more intelligence and more strike force. Nyx had mentioned a promise to Senya, but Lana knew her enough to wonder what else had finally convinced her. She had tried to prod her about it, but her long-term companion - and one of the very few people she considered as a friend- had not wished to say more.
Luckily, Koth had been on a mission with Vette and had not come back yet. She had heard him shout his disagreement over holocom, but at least they did not have to handle a fight when arriving at the base. Not that it would not happen later… Despite recent disagreements, she appreciated the man and had known him for quite a while now. He had gained her trust many times over, but she still had to acknowledge that following orders and exercising discipline and restraint were not his best qualities. Even though he had been in the zakuulan military forces, he had more of the temper of an anarchist than that of an obedient soldier.
Thinking of it, the whole Alliance that Lana had initially created was odd in a way, gathering people with so many different backgrounds and beliefs, all united in their will to save the galaxy from the oppression of the Eternal Throne. She was proud of this achievement, and convinced that she had done the right choice that day, a few months ago, when she had risked everything to free the one who would be their Commander from her carbonite prison. She was meant to lead the Alliance, Lana knew it in her core. And despite the fact that she did not agree with every single decision her friend made, Lana trusted her deeply. She would do the right choices, those that had to be done, whatever happened.
The two woman had known each other for a long time, now. Darth Nox's efficiency in field operations had been acknowledged years before and Lana had soon recognised in her a Sith that shared similarities with Darth Marr who she had always respected for his rationality. She was eager to act and had a fiery nature on the field, yet she was a subtly calculating individual in situations demanding it. Just what the Alliance needed… as long as Lana was there to handle the consequences of her friend's awful stubbornness and occasional sparks of anger.
Theron started talking again, drawing Lana away from her thoughts. Time to get back to work and focus on their objectives, first Vaylin, then Valkorion. None of these fights would be easy. The spies had discovered that Vaylin had left Zakuul with her personal shuttle and headed to an unknown destination. So far, none of them had been capable of discovering anything else of her whereabouts and it was pretty frustrating.
Losing trace of the Eternal Empress who had sworn to destroy them was worrying. Arcann was probably right when he had mentioned that she would strike them as soon as she could. The power that her father still had upon her through the Commander had infuriated her, and Vaylin was of the ill-tempered type. She would try to crush them, even if that meant killing millions in the process. Like brother, like sister, she thought. And like father too. A sweet little family. Even Senya who she thought to be trustworthy had somehow failed them when she had decided to escape with her son and try to save him. Hopefully that was for the best and the Commander's forgiveness would be rewarded. But I'll still keep an eye on him. Something… bothers me. And Lana trusted her feelings.
The meeting ended quickly and everyone left to go about other things on the base, while she lingered in the command room a bit longer, looking at intelligence briefs coming in. They had to stop Vaylin. Soon. Then it would have to be Valkorion's turn, before he got an even stronger hold on her friend. Lana was deeply concerned. She knew that the Commander's resistance to Valkorion's control was weakening, which meant that there would be a time when she might not be able to take her own decisions anymore and might even turn on them all. It had to stop. Vaylin, then Valkorion.
