Ghalt stood just outside the door of the bridge and took a deep breath. The past 24 hours had been stressful to say the least, and he was beginning to wonder if the pressure of being the Captain of a motley crew tasked with saving the entire universe was finally starting to get to him. A member of said crew going AWOL certainly wasn't helping. Pendles wasn't exactly the most trusted of the Battleborn to begin with, and his disappearance had begun to cause some tension. Before any extreme arguments could break out, Ghalt had scheduled a meeting to discuss the issue; and anyone who thought they could suggest a constructive solution was invited to meet him on the bridge for a discussion. He had almost finished collecting his thoughts when he was startled by the sudden appearance of Nova's hologram in front of him.

"You are currently five minutes late for your own meeting, Captain" she said.

"I know, Nova. I'll be ready in a minute."

Nova flickered. "Benedict showed up. He's already started talking."

"Oh, damn it!"

Ghalt pushed a button and the door to the bridge slid open. All eyes in the room turned on him, except for Deande, who seemed to be lost in her own thoughts. Benedict was on his feet, holding a pamphlet in his hand. On its cover was a picture of Pendles, flashing his trademark toothy grin. Ghalt had already read the pamphlet himself, which claimed that Pendles had seen the error of his ways, turned his back on the "interplanetary terrorist organization known as the Battleborn," and offered his services in the name of Rendain. Whatever Benedict had said had made Reyna extremely angry. Ambra was there, sitting with her arms crossed. Alani was sitting as far away from Ambra as she could, and the meeting was rounded out by Mellka and Thorn, who appeared to have been in the middle of their own discussion.

"Captain!" Benedict said. "I warned you we had to be careful of that Roa. And I'm not saying I told you so, but-"

"What are you even doing here, Benedict?" Reyna interrupted. "This meeting is for those of us who have ideas for how to save Pendles-"

"Save him?" Benedict guffawed. "He don't need to be saved. He needs to be taken out!"

Now Reyna was on her feet. "Excuse me?"

"Have you seen these pamphlets? They're all over the slums and some are showing up in Echelon! And why haven't we been able to contact him over his coms?"

"So you're suggesting that one of my people would turn on us? Why don't you just come out and say it so I can kick your ass right now!"

"Your people?" Benedict scoffed, pointing a talon at her. "You mean one of your gang of punk kids, criminals and psychopaths? Now what reason could I possibly have-"

"Benedict!" Ghalt said. "If you have any accusations to make against the rest of the Rogues, you'd better be able to back them up!"

Benedict shut up for a moment, then looked back at Reyna.

"Look, I...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. But do you honestly think that Pendles is loyal to you? Or is it just whatever you've been paying him? For once I'm not just running my mouth here. I've seen for myself how he operates and I've never trusted him."

"You can't actually think that sending a hit squad against one of our own is a good idea." Reyna said. "Look, I'll take a few people in, we'll get Pendles out-"

"I'm afraid it's not that easy." Deande spoke up. "I'm sorry Reyna, but I have to insist on taking this out of your hands. If Pendles is a hostage, Kade's people will eliminate him the second they see any of the Rogues coming. Furthermore, this group is Jennerit in origin and affects the Jennerit first. And as Ambra has so kindly reminded me, if I had been here for the mission myself, as I should have been, we would not be in this situation."

"Are you sure?" Ghalt asked. "Sending in your forces to wipe out a small fringe group may send a bad message to the public. That's why we went in quietly last time."

"There are still many among the Jennerit who value power and force above all else, Captain." said Deande. "I'm afraid this may be my only option at the moment."

There was a brief lull in the conversation. Sending in a fully armed set of Jennerit troops was a heavy prospect.

"Send me in." Alani said suddenly.

"What?" said Deande. "I don't think you understand. I'm talking about using Jennerit soldiers, not any of us."

Alani sighed. "Just hear me out, please. Pendles and I are the last survivors from Akopos, I know him better than anyone. He can be a jerk and he might enjoy his work a bit too much, but I know he's no traitor. Let me go in alone-"

"Alone!" said Thorn. "You? You can't even wear a pair of pants properly. What happens if they have another Deadeye? The last one nearly put a hole through your head!"

"That...was a momentary lapse in concentration." Alani said with a bit of heat rising to her cheeks. "Besides, you saw what happened. Those people were cheering for Pendles! If he's really in control of them, he'll let me in and I can talk some sense into him. And if he's being held hostage or...something else...then I can report back to you and Deande can go ahead with her plan. Just give me a chance."

"I think it's a better idea than sending in a strike force straight away." Mellka said. "But I don't like sending you in without backup either. Are you sure you're up for this by yourself?"

"The girl is quite capable, I assure you," said Ambra. Alani ignored her and kept her attention on Ghalt instead.

"OK. I'm willing to let you try it," he said. "But Deande is right, this affects the Jennerit more than anyone else, so the final decision is hers."

Deande sat back in her chair, considering her options.

"Alright," she said finally. "I'll give you one chance. But as soon as I feel this going wrong, I'm sending in my soldiers."

Alani nodded. "You won't regret this, I promise."

There were a few final words, and soon after the participants in the meeting began leaving to attend to their own business. As she moved past, Thorn stopped and gave Alani a hard look.

"Uh, hey Thorn." Alani tried to think of something to say. "So...is it a good time to talk about book club?"

Thorn's eyes narrowed and Alani shrank back.

"Do not make the Eldrid look foolish, monk." With that warning, the ranger moved on.

Alani looked around the bridge. Only Ghalt and Reyna remained, and the latter didn't look like she planned on going anywhere soon.

"I'll, uh, I'll be ready to go. Let me know when we're close," Alani said, making her own exit.

As soon as Alani was out of the room, Reyna turned on Ghalt with a dangerous look in her eye.

"Trevor, give me the truth. Were you seriously considering just...eliminating Pendles along with this cult?"

"Of course not, but what I say can only go so far. My authority is limited to this ship and to the missions we handle as the Battleborn. I can't stop Deande from doing what she has to do on Tempest." Ghalt said.

Reyna shook her head and sighed. "So I guess we're back to the old Ghalt."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I brought some of the best the Rogues have to offer here," said Reyna. "And do you know why? It was because you finally saw that what the UPR and the LLC and everyone else was doing wasn't working. You had the guts to walk away from their crap and create something better."

"The Rogues are here because they followed you, Reyna. You're the one they believe in." Ghalt said.

"And I believe in you."

Reyna could tell Ghalt was surprised. He tensed up for a split second before easing back into his regular cool demeanor.

"Look, I...I promise that I'm doing everything I can to keep all of this together. And I promise that I'll do everything I can to get your guy out of there safely. I'll pull every string I have available. But there are a lot of things happening right now that I have no control over and lines that I don't have the right to cross."

Reyna sighed. "I guess that's the best I'm going to get then."

She got up and began walking towards the door. As she passed near Ghalt she stopped and turned to scrutinize him.

"You look tired," she said.

"I've, uh, just had a lot on my mind lately," he said.

"Huh. Well," she shrugged her shoulders, "if you ever need someone to talk to, someone who you know can keep their mouth shut, you know where to find me."

With that she playfully shoved him out of the way and left.