Back as promised with a chapter, and I'm sure you can't wait to read it. So, as the great showman said: Give the people what they want! Enjoy, my loyal readers!
With the building cleared and a dozen rebels taken prisoner, Delta-7 gathered in the large interior area near the front hatch of the tower, corralled their captives into a corner, and waited on Lieutenant Thorne and their ISB liaison to appear. Soon, the two officers emerged from a stairwell, Veruna letting the taller woman lean on her for support as they entered the room. Freya let go of Zala and used a long-barreled slugthrower she had found as a crutch to make her way over to her team. She eyed the twelve rebels and looked at Felian, as Daraay took hold of her shoulder to help shore her up.
"Good work sergeants." She said, sounding a little out of breath. "Rest o ye too. Not too bad a haul. Wish I couldae actually doon somethin' useful."
"No ma'am…" Felian countered. "Most officers wouldn't even join in on a mission like this." He leaned in closer. "Besides you and the commander, I've never seen an injured officer do anything but complain, ma'am."
"Oh damn it!" Zala exclaimed from the other side of the room. They looked to see her holding her right hand in front of her face, palm out. "I broke…a nail!" She added, then growled angrily. She glanced over to see most of the unit staring at her, and Veruna made an embarrassed face. "Uh…eheh…Sorry." Freya rolled her eyes.
"Did ye…find any civilians by chance, Felian?" She asked. The scout sergeant nodded.
"Yes ma'am. Half a dozen in one room. Two of them were children. I had them wait there until things quieted down." Thorne nodded.
"Aye. Good. Had that meself." She looked around. "A'right, let's get these rats tae a transport an' call this thing done, an but." She wiggled out of Daraay's grasp and pat the tall woman on the shoulder. Felian and Daraay pointed their blasters at the rebels and motioned toward the hatch. Ekks and Lago opened the door and posted themselves outside as Mets and Coleth led the procession out into the street. Thorne watched them exit until it was only her and Zala left in the building. The diminutive Veruna sashayed up and put an arm over her shoulder.
"See girl…like I said, easy." The ISB Major commented. Thorne sighed and shook her head. "Was I wrong? Was I wroooonnnng?" Zala grinned.
"Nae…t'was pretty cut an' dry." Freya admitted, walking toward the door. "Thanks fer the help, by th' way." Zala, walking beside her, shrugged.
"Hey hey girl…looks like we saved each others' asses back there." She said. "Just like when me and Drakken did our thing." She winced. "Oof…I uh…I didn't mean to like...insinuate that we…uh…"
"Aw shut it, Zala." Thorne snickered. "I know wot happened, and I ain't scunnered at ye. Cannae say I blame ye fer havin' ees fer Drakken." She cast a small smile at the Major. "And I ought t' thank ye."
"Like, what for?" Zala asked, then noticed the officer approaching and nodded to Thorne. They both assumed more professional demeanors. Thorne came to attention.
"Commander sir." She stated. "Lieutenant Thorne of Delta-7. Enemy buildin' is secure." The man gave her a salute.
"Much thanks, lieutenant." He returned. "Would've been a headache taking that place from the outside. They said you were the best." He looked at the prisoners, then back to Thorne. "I can see why." She limped a little closer and the commander frowned. "You injured, Thorne?"
"Aye, but I had it before I came on this mission, sir." She stated. He blew out a breath and shook his head in disbelief.
"You SpecFor people are tough as they come." He stated, then cast a glance at Zala and stood up straight and saluted. "Major! My apologies, I didn't see you standing there." She threw him a quick salute and nodded tersely.
"Waiting on when you'd get to me." She said. "Take these prisoners to The Executor. I want my people to get to work on them as soon as possible." Freya cringed a little, finally being reminded at that aspect of Zala's job. "Leave a garrison here too, commander. You never know if some of these rebels could've hidden somewhere."
"Yes ma'am." The commander nodded. He touched the earpiece of his helmet, listening to some information or order being communicated. He gave another nod. "I will get on that momentarily. Now, if you ma'ams would come with me…out of the danger zone, we're preparing to level this building."
"What?!" Freya gasped. "Commander, there's civilians in that building."
"More's the pity, this used to be the civic hall for this city." He said off-handedly. "Cost the Empire a good deal to rebuild it. I've been ordered to shell this structure and the surrounding edifices. Now please, step this way…" Thorne watched as the prisoners were taken away by a squad of waiting stormtroopers, and more of the white-armored soldiers backed away, setting up a cordon. A trio of AT-STs lumbered up the street.
"Ye off yer heid, sir?" Thorne cried. "Ye can't bring doon a buildin' full a' people!"
"Watch your tone, Lieutenant." The commander warned. "Orders are to erase that building and any rebel sympathizers left inside. You did your job, now let me do mine." Thorne finally got it. Her task had been deceptively simple. The team had been sent in to capture some of the rebels for interrogation, and to secure valuable data before the Empire purged the whole structure from the face of the planet. Veruna was taken aback. She stepped forward.
"As the commanding ISB officer on-world, I must protest, commander." She said. "At least allow us to clear the women and children from the…" He held up a hand.
"I'm sorry, ma'am. I mean no disrespect…" He said, looking at the Major like he'd been caught between a rock and a hard place. "The orders came from Admiral Ozzel. I can only assume this is a high-level order, and I intend to follow it." He touched his mic. "Prepare to fire!"
"Dunnae ye fire!" Thorne commanded. Zala grabbed her by the sleeve and spun her around.
"Stand down, lieutenant!" She screamed. Veruna looked to the commander. "My apologies, commander. I'll handle the lieutenant. You carry out your orders." Freya stared at her with a look of betrayal, tears in her eyes. Zala huffed and dragged her back to the cordon zone, and into a shady alleyway.
"Don't you dare gimme that look, angel eyes." Zala stated. "I just like, saved your life right there, you understand that?" Freya sniffed. "If you did what I think you were about to, you could've ended up in the brig…or worse."
"But they're gonnae…"
"I know. I know what they're gonna do, Freya." Zala interjected. "And it's not right, but you can't stop it. I couldn't stop it. I totally promised I'd get you back to Drakken, not let you get shot for treason. You think you getting in trouble would make like, any diff in those people dying or not?" She sighed and pinched the bride of her nose. "Ohmygosh, this is just like talking to him." Freya slumped against the duracrete wall and slid down to a sitting position.
"It's not fair…" She squeaked, and buried her face in her hands. "They're monsters, Zala. Monsters!" The black-haired woman sat down next to her.
"Yeah…" She whispered. "We all are." The sound of three pair of heavy blaster cannons firing split the silence, and the ground began to shake. Freya began to sob, and Zala wrapped her arms around her, only to have the young woman grab her in a tight hug. As the roar of falling debris and collapsing girders began to crescendo, Thorne let out an anguished scream into Zala's shoulder. Veruna looked back toward the building with tears in her eyes as the entire structure imploded, falling in slow-motion as if it were being sucked into the ground itself. "We all are…"
Thorne sat silently on the shuttle as it made its way back to The Executor. She was in no mood to take part in the celebratory boasting some of the other troopers were engaging in. It seemed so petty, so stupid. They had won. So what? Eliminating a couple dozen rebels in the building had been a walk in the flowers for the highly-trained unit. All they had managed to do in her eyes was become complicit in the deaths of a score of innocent people. She glanced over as Mets and Coleth took a break from their reveling to bump fists. She sighed and closed her eyes.
"How's your leg, ma'am?" Gallen asked. She opened her eyes and looked tiredly at the man.
"It'll be fine, Gallen." She returned in a sigh. The sniper cocked his head.
"What's wrong, LT?" He asked. "I thought everything went good on this job…"
"Good?!" She repeated sourly. Felian frowned. "You lot do know that th' Empire killed all them women and children when they brought that buildin' down, right?" Everyone fell silent. "We donnae kill innocent people."
"We did what we were ordered to do." Sergeant Felian advised. "What happened was not on you, ma'am. You did not pull the trigger."
"I may as well have." She shot back. "Nothin' ye can say can justify killin' those kids, can it? We're soldiers, Felian. Soldiers. We're not assassins." He nodded soberly. Zala for once had nothing to say, and sat with her back to the bulkhead next to Thorne. Her eyes moved from person to person as they spoke.
"That line is sometimes blurred, ma'am." Daraay stated. Freya slowly looked at the Death Trooper.
"Aye…" She growled. "It's blurred far to feckin' much for this tae be a profes'nal standin' army, Meeka." Veruna glanced at the angry young woman from the corner of her eye. Freya's cheeks were turning pink, and she had tears in her green eyes. Zala slid her hand over to Thorne's and grasped it tightly. Freya sighed, and seemed to lose some of her steam. "I'm…sorry, fellas. It's been a Hell of a week…" She nodded and lay back against the wall of the shuttle. "…jes a Hell of a week."
Thorne stepped off the shuttle, and took a deep breath. She knew what her next responsibility would be, and did not look forward to it. The idea of facing Lord Vader was never a happy one, but in her current temperament, Freya was fearful that she would slip up, let her emotions get the best of her, and say something she would regret. Not that she would regret if for more than a few seconds, she supposed. A shiver went down her spine. The prospect of angering the being whom she was certain was a dark sorcerer terrified her.
Freya made her way up to the bridge, standing in the turbolifts trying to calm herself before the debriefing. She paused just outside of the hatch leading to the bridge and took another deep breath before inserting her code cylinder into the port on the access panel. The doors opened and she stepped inside. Vader stood at the front of the command center, staring out the viewport into the blackness of space as if deep in thought. Thorne nodded to Piett and marched up to the dark lord.
"Laird Vader." She said, coming to attention. He turned and stared at her expectantly. "Beg to report, milarid."
"Yes, lieutenant?" The black-clad being returned in a tone that was either tired, impatient or a mixture of both.
"We captured a dozen rebel prisoners, sir." She stated. "An' along with 'em, we seized a good amount of data. Major Veruna of ISB has taken control o' them fer analysis an' questioning, milaird." He nodded.
"Very well." He said. "I trust your commander is still alive."
"Yessir. He's expected t' recover, milaird." She answered stoically. Vader cocked his head.
"You lack your normal zeal, lieutenant." Vader commented. Thorne sighed deeply.
"Me leg hurts, sir." She admitted. "An' I'm a bit tired. No disrespect." He nodded.
"Then you may go." He said with indifference. Thorne saluted, but the dark warrior simply turned and strode away. She walked across the bridge, flashing a small and weary smile to Firmus before exiting the room. She rode the turbolifts back down to the docking bay level, and wandered down the corridor, arriving at the medical bay Drakken was being treated in. She entered, and stood in the room a moment, staring at the bank of bacta tanks on the far wall.
"Lieutenant." The medical officer greeted. "Can I help you?"
"I'm here t' visit someone." She replied. "I'm uh…checking on me c'mander." He nodded.
"Ah yes, Commander Tharcourt, correct?"
"Aye sir."
"Right. This way, ma'am." He led her across the large infirmary to a tank in a private area in the back. Drakken was suspended in the blue liquid, and the wound on his head looked vaguely better than it had early that morning when Freya last checked on him. "He is recovering well, ma'am. It will likely be another two days until he can be restored to consciousness, and from there perhaps a week until he's healed enough to fully return to duty." She nodded sadly.
"Can I have a minute, doc?" She asked.
"Of course." The surgeon spoke, and left her alone in the small ward. Thorne stared at the unconscious form of Drakken for a moment, then placed a hand against the glass.
"Oh Drakken…" She whispered. "Forgive me, love." Freya moved closer and planted her forehead against the tank. "I went an' broke the rules…I tried, love. Dunnae be too mad at me, huh?" She scoffed. "Or do. What would ye 'ave done, me love?" She sniffed and backed away from the bacta tank. "Get better soon, Drakken darlin'…I miss ye so bad it hurts." She flicked a little smile. "Dunnae ye worry. I'll come check on ye again soon, dear." Thorne brushed the front of the tall cylinder with her fingertips. She turned and limped out of the room.
On the bridge, Vader stared out into the depths of space. Somewhere out there in the vast emptiness was the young man he sought. On some world or some ship, the rebel pilot who had destroyed the Death Star, the one Vader had felt the force so strongly in, was hiding. It was only a matter of time, a matter of his own unconquerable will. The Empire would find the boy. Then, the dark side would reveal all. He would have the answers to the questions that plagued him. Until then, he had many other concerns. Vader turned.
"Admiral Ozzel." He said. The portly officer came before him and saluted.
"My lord."
"Has ISB reported anything useful about Commander Tharcourt and his subordinate Thorne?"
"No sir." Ozzel stated. "It seems like they are, despite their peculiarities and…" He cleared his throat "indiscretions, both loyal officers, my lord." Vader breathed a few times. "You have your doubts, my lord."
"Do not assume, Admiral." Vader stated cryptically. "Set a course for the Karadeph system. I want more probes deployed." Ozzel saluted.
"As you wish, my lord." He returned and hurried off.
"Captain Piett!" Vader called. Firmus approached, his mind now turning over all of the possibilities of what the Emperor's right hand would ask of him. He came to attention.
"My lord."
"You have known the Commander for many years, correct Captain?"
"I have, Lord Vader." He said honestly. "Two decades, I believe sir."
"Do you still believe that he is and will remain faithful to the Emperor?"
"I…I do, my lord." Firmus said. "As far as I can see, he is. He has never failed to carry out his duty, my lord."
"I trust your…friendship with Commander Tharcourt has not tainted your opinion of him…" Firmus straightened up even more at that accusation.
"I should hope not, Lord Vader!" He half-exclaimed. "I would never allow myself to associate with traitors or rebels, sir." Vader nodded softly.
"Very well, Captain. You may go." He said. With that, the dark lord walked from the bridge.
….
"Oh really…" Veruna said, packing back and forth in front of the rebel bound to the chair in the small room. She stared directly into his eyes. "I think you know exactly what I'm talking about, sweetcheeks." She approached the bound man and leaned in close. "I already know that everyone in the Rebel Alliance knows about Skywalker." She whispered. "A couple of your little friends have already filled me in. I just need you to complete the puzzle. Where…is he?"
"I told you…" The rebel growled, pulling against the restraints holding his arms to the chair. "I don't…know any…Skywalker!" Zala dropped onto his lap hard, eliciting a pained grunt from the prisoner. She put a hand on his cheek seductively.
"I only wanna know when you last saw him." She said sweetly. "That's it. No more interrogation. No more awful food and isolation and tiny widdle cell." She kicked her feet playfully. "I'll play real nice and won't get the mean old interrogation droid out. Pinkie promise. I'm just looking for one teensy-tiny widdle rebel pilot." The man let out an angry rumble.
"Well you can look somewhere else." He stated. "Because I don't know where he is!" Zala jumped off of him and gasped excitedly.
"Ha! But you know who he is!" She exclaimed. The man looked down defeatedly. "Made you tell, made you tell." Zala chanted in a sing-song tone.
"Kriffing Hell woman…" He sighed. "How old are you, six?" She bit her tongue.
"If I was, you'd be a creep for what you were just thinking about me." She returned. "Now spill. I seriously have an Eye-Tee-Zero in the hall, and it has a wicked saw blade on it. You're way to cute to have appendages forcefully removed. Tell me what you know."
"Ugh. I know who he is…kind of." The rebel began. "He's some young guy, flies an X-Wing. Hangs around with that Alderaanian Princess. They say he's the one that blew up the Death Star. People talk like he's the best damned pilot in the whole rebellion. Rumors…scuttlebutt. You know how that stuff goes…"
"And where is he now?" Veruna asked. "Hiding in the Outer Rim, right? With the rebel fleet? Where exactly?"
"I don't know." He said. Zala sighed dramatically.
"Okaaayyy…I'll get the killbot…" She droned. "Oh Eye-Teeeee…"
"I told you I don't know!"
"Here it comes…" Zala said, looking toward the door with a smile. "Man, he makes a mess…"
"Seriously! For kriff's sake!" He cried out. "I'm a sergeant over a damned infantry squad! Why in the void would they divulge classified, top level secrets to me, huh?!" Zala giggled.
"Oh. So his location is classified, huh?" She remarked.
"Shaz…" He groaned. "Yeah…I'm assuming so. It looks that way."
"But he's with the fleet."
"Probably." The man said softly. Zala walked over to him and made a circle with the thumb and index finger of her right hand. She held it just in front of the rebel prisoner's face, and then flicked him in the forehead.
"Thanks for the intel, sweetie." She said evilly. "I hate to run now, but I gotta let the droid in to clean up."
"But…but you said…" He protested fearfully. She shrugged.
"I always let the droid clean up my messes." She said innocently, and walked to the hatch. It opened. "Come on in and clean up this filth, little guy."
"No…no, please!" The rebel shouted. "I cooperated! I…" He clamped his mouth shut when a small mouse droid wheeled into the room and started vacuuming the glossy floor, making little beeping noises as it worked. He heard the ISB Officer giggle, and looked up to see her grinning childishly in the doorway.
"What?" She asked. "This room is a total mess. Ciao!"
Zala walked down the corridor, contented that she'd gotten at least a little information out of the three rebels she had interrogated. True, it wasn't much, but it was more than the Empire had the day before. That was the name of the game when it came to intelligence; every little piece of information, every clue and every picture and document was one step closer to something bigger. All she had to do now was watch the interrogation footage and take careful notes of everything the rebels had said, and everything they hadn't said. Now though, she had somewhere else to go for a little while.
Freya sat at her desk, typing out the guard rotations for the next week. She pulled up her electronic cigarra and took a long drag, exhaling the cloud of fragrant vapor slowly. She looked up from her desk as the hatch to the office slid open. Expecting one of the troopers, or perhaps news about Drakken, she perked up. The young woman sighed and slumped in her chair when she noticed that it was Veruna who had entered. The older woman saw her reaction and put her hands on her hips.
"Well, it's good to see you too, sweetie." She said in mock-anger.
"Sorry, Zala." Thorne replied. "How's it goin'?" Veruna dropped down into Drakken's chair, placed a scrambler on the desk, and wheeled herself over to Freya's desk.
"Oh, you know…" She answered, straightening her hair. "Questioning rebels, writing reports…" She watched Freya typing on her terminal, and noticed the red-haired woman's disheveled appearance and the dark rings under her eyes. "Wow hon…you look stressed to the max." Zala noted. Freya snapped her head toward her abrasive friend.
"An' why'd ye think that is, exactly?!" She shot. Veruna held up her hands.
"Hey hey hey…" She said defensively. "So-ryyy Freya. I was just kidding." Thorne exhaled. "I know, sweetie, I know. Must be hella rough without him right now." Freya nodded morosely. "He'll be getting out…when? Tomorrow night or something?"
"Aye. That's wot the doc said." Was the reply.
"And you know what?" Zala continued. "When he does, you get to take care of him." She giggled. "I bet you're gonna baby him to the end of the universe till he gets better." Thorne smiled a little. "Yep. Uh-huh. Feed him, massage his feet, maybe give him a widdle sponge baaaath?" The woman winked. Freya blushed.
"Och…yer the queen a' impropriety ye are, Zala." She said. She remembered their unfinished conversation during the last mission. "But I guess I owe it to ya fer getting' us together. Dunno wot ye said t' him, but he came back a lil' different." She smiled. "Thanks, Zala. Thank ye fer protectin' me Drakken…and thanks fer whate'er ye did." Veruna's lips turned up a little and she looked down bashfully.
"Aww…all I did was tell him what he needed to hear." She said. "Like, whether he wanted to hear it or not, you know?" Thorne scoffed.
"How'd that go?" She asked knowingly. Zala shrugged.
"Oh, you know, we beat the shaz outta each other for about five minutes. I think he finally got the point." She said, covering for what really happened in her Coruscanti apartment with an abridged version of the events of that night. Thorne laughed.
"Yeah…that soons aboot right." She remarked. Her smile faded. "Why?" Zala looked at her questioningly.
"Why what, girl?"
"Why'd ye try an hook us up?" Freya asked softly. "I…I know ye wanted 'im. We'd figured that t'was best we didnae act on our…irresponsible urges…" She said the last part sourly. Zala rolled closer and put an arm around her shoulders.
"I did." She admitted. "I loved that man. Still do. I uh…I did everything I could think of to get him to notice me…" She smiled sadly. "But he only has eyes for you. Even when he was acting like a total sleemo about it, he was truly, madly, deeply in love with you, honey. I'm not krinking around with that. You and him's too good together…and you're both too good of people for some witch like me to come in and…you know." She sat her head on Freya's shoulder. "You mad?" Thorne puffed a breath from her nostrils and gently stroked Veruna's raven and pink hair.
"Nae, ye silly lass…I am'na mad at ye." She muttered. Zala made a contented 'mmm' sound.
"I'm glad, Freya." She said softly.
"Oh?"
"Yeah…you two are like my only friends, you know that?" Zala admitted in a whisper.
"Wot? Dunnae ye 'ave mates in th' ISB?" Thorne asked. Zala popped up in her chair.
"What? As if! It's the ISB, sweetie…as in "Imperial…Security…Bureau? We don't exactly 'like' or 'trust' each other." She said, making finger quotations. She sighed. "It's a total eat or be eaten kinda thing. Like everything else in the system, only like ten-times worse."
"Crivens!" Freya remarked. Zala gave a small, wistful smile.
"It's not at all like you guys." She said. "Why do you think I stick my neck out for you two?" She slumped a little in the chair, crossed her arms and looked away. "A girl's gotta look out for her besties…especially when she's hasn't got much else…" A sniff came from the ISB Major. "Love you guys." Freya frowned and took Zala by the chin, turning her head back toward her. The older woman had tears in her eyes. "Thorne, I swear to the Void you tell anybody about this, and I'll kill you." Freya chuckled.
"Hey, I won't. I promise." She said softly. Zala sniffled again.
"I…I mean it." She squeaked. "Like head, say good-bye to the neck…decapito!" Freya snorted and made a braying laugh.
"Aww ye big softie!" She cried out and hugged Veruna. Zala finally let herself laugh a little, and wrapped her arms around Thorne. They sat back in their chairs, and Veruna exhaled and took Freya by the hand.
"I…I totally hate to kill the mood but there's…something else, Freya." She said. Zala looked about the room apprehensively, then leaned in. "I know Drak's thinking about cutting out. So are you." She hesitated. "Lord Vader has it in for you two. I dunno why, but I really think he's planning on getting you KIA. Maybe, maybe not. It's…." She sighed. "It's impossible to tell what he's really got on the table."
"You…you really think 'e wants us dead?"
"I think he seriously knows more than you think he does." Veruna replied. "Hell…like, he knows everything. He probably knows what you're thinking." Thorne gulped, and nodded in nervous agreement. "If you have to run, do it on a mission. Just disappear, and make it look like you died. It's my job to have you two like, under my thumb, and I'll fix things to look like you ended up totally spaced on some battlefield." She drew back and stared into Freya's eyes. "For what it's worth…Drakken's not wrong." Freya nodded.
"I know." She whispered. "Thank you, Zala. For wot it's worth, ye got a friend in me, love." Veruna smiled and hugged Freya.
"Super-glad you stopped hating me." She giggled.
"Glad ye stopped tryin' t' take wot weren't yers." Thorne jested.
"Mmm. I was outclassed by a girl waaayyy prettier than me." Veruna commented. Freya pulled back slightly and looked into Zala's red-brown eyes, only inches away.
"Wait…ye think I'm prettier'n you?!" She breathed in surprise. Zala smirked.
"Oh, totally yes." She said softly. "I never had a chance, girl." Freya's cheeks turned bright red. Zala moved a little closer. "What's the matter, sweetie?" She cooed.
"N…nothin'…" Thorne stammered.
"Nothing?" Zala whispered. Her lips touched Freya's, and the younger woman didn't protest. Zala kissed her fully, then broke away, falling back into her chair.
"Ohmestars…" Freya gasped, and touched her fingertips to her lips, her face fully alight with embarrassment. Zala burst out laughing.
"Ohmygosh, I got you!" She said proudly. "Somebody's got a dirty little seeecret! Ha! Score one for Zala!" Thorne growled and swatted at Veruna's head.
"Och, shoot yer gob, ye clarty feckin' slag!" She cried out in a torrent of speech. "I'll skelp yer pretty heid bloody, ye wee lil' buftie!" Zala was laughing uncontrollably now, and Thorne couldn't help herself. She leaned back in the chair, wheezing with laughter and stamping a foot against the deck. They both finally calmed down.
"Shoot…I gotta get back to work." Veruna groaned. She stood up and gave Freya a short hug. "I'll catch you later, girl."
"Oh yeah…stoop by anytime an' drive me to'ally mental." The still red-faced young woman said in a snarky tone. She gave a small grin. "Catch ye later, girly."
"I'll come visit when Drakken gets out." Veruna nodded. "You know, like stop by and say 'hey'." She winked. "And tell him about our little kiss…" Freya threw a stylus at her, making the woman giggle.
"Oh get oot!" Thorne exclaimed.
This one started out on a dark note, and ended on...that. Leave it to Zala to add some levity to an otherwise morose situation...or at least be so confusing as to leave them unable to remember why they were morose in the first place. Am I right? It does look though like Freya is about done with the Empire after that last mission, doesn't it? I guess we can't blame her. Freya has no problem with killing in combat, but like most of us (hopefully), she draws a clear and distinct line at the death of kids and innocent civilians. What will happen now, when Drakken gets out of treatment? Tune in next time to find out. I'll have an update for you in the next day or two as always. And as always, leave me a review or comment in a PM what you thought about this chapter, and how you are liking the story as a whole. AND as always my loyal readers, until next time...Cheerio!