Cas stalked around the partition towards us, his chest still heaving from the emotional end of his interview.

“What’s happening with the Irisians?” he almost demanded.

“Do we have a plan to save them?” I did demand. “Do we have a plan to save them? We can’t just leave them in prison, right?”

Aquila pursed her lips and leant back away from the table a little.

“We do have a plan and we plan on getting them out,” she said after a pause.

“Okay?” I asked.

Aquila’s gaze darted around the room, pausing on both Peggy and Orion’s faces before she spoke.

“Orion, do you mind stepping outside?” she said in a measured tone.

His eyes had been bouncing between us excitedly but at Aquila’s words, he looked surprised.

“Oh, yeah, of course, Director! I need to start editing this,” he said, gathering an armful of screens and hurrying towards the door.

“Thank you for everything today,” Andy said with a kind smile.

Orion looked back, his expression shocked.

“Oh, erm, anytime!” he blurted before rushing out the door.

I waited for it to close before him before looking back at Aquila. She was looking at Peggy again with an almost troubled expression on her face.

Understanding slowly came over Peggy.

Oh, she thought to us. I’m the problem, right?

“You don’t trust me, do you?” she asked, sounding weary.

Surprise rushed through me.

Normally, she wouldn’t have said anything or she would have waited for Aquila to bring the issue up.

“That’s right,” was all Aquila said.

A sigh slipped out of Peggy’s lips.

“It’s fine, I get it. I was with the Council for a long time, right? You’re worried about telling me any of the plans in case I’ve secretly defected and tell them something, right?” she said tiredly.

“It’s just a precaution,” Andy said softly.

“Peggy hasn’t defected. Chal checked her over, there are no hidden mods or anything and she won’t willingly tell them shit,” Cas said passionately.

“I know,” Andy said quickly. “But, here, we all need to agree on all decisions and information sharing.”

“And one of you doesn’t believe that Peg is on our side?” Cas asked, his eyes darting towards Aquila.

“I do,” Aquila started.

“It’s fine,” Peggy said heavily. “I don’t mind leaving.”

“You can stay,” Andy said quickly.

My gaze darted to Aquila unconsciously, waiting to see her reaction.

Her face didn’t change at all, she continued examining Peggy who shuffled uncomfortably in her seat.

“I’d rather leave if you’re worried about me telling the Council anything,” Peggy said, her tone perfectly pleasant but I could see how tight her shoulders were.

She was clearly worried. I knew she wanted to stay but that she’d leave if she were told to.

“It’s fine. You’re a good strategist and it would be good to have your thoughts on the plan,” Andy said with a genuine smile.

Peggy glanced at Aquila, who didn’t say anything, before sitting back in her chair, her shoulders relaxing slightly.

“So, what’s the plan?” I asked before Aquila could change her mind.

Aquila looked at Elliot who was watching her expectantly.

“Well, you might as well tell them,” she said with a slight smile. “It was your plan after all.”

Elliot smiled roguishly.

“Well, if you insist,” he said before turning to look at us. “We’re going destroy the trust that the people of Nova have placed in the Council and then strike when they’re at their lowest.”

He lifted an eyebrow cockily as he waited for us to react.

“How?” Peggy asked before we could.

“Originally, we were going to realise Cas’ interview first. Make it the initial bombshell to get people interested and bring the Council to their knees but I don’t think that’s the best call now.”

Elliot paused, building suspense.

I wanted to stand up and shout at him to keep talking. Nervous anticipation buzzed within me, filling me to the point where I could barely take it. My leg started bouncing and, from the way Elliot’s gaze flicked towards it, I could tell he knew.

“We’re going to release some of the others, maybe some of the people who have been here longer, the ones who worked for the Council before defecting and some of the tutors, then tease at Cas’, build the hype and excitement. Maybe we’ll release a few clips and teasers before finally dropping it. And, at the same time it goes live, when people are most distracted and distrust in the Council is nice and high, we’re going to strike.”

Elliot looked around the room expectantly, waiting for our response.

It was a good plan. If the tutors and the other people had good stories and reasons for defecting, it would start to make people doubt the Council. They’ll start to turn away from them and, if we got enough Guardians to start to abandon their posts, they would be understaffed.

They wouldn’t see us coming and they wouldn’t have enough Guardians to properly defend the prison. We’d be able to get them out.

Peggy leant forwards, her expression far away as she thought.

She cocked her head slightly, a familiar sight meaning that she had a better plan.

“What if we go after the base at the same time?” she asked slowly. “Then we can get Sammy and the others who want to come with us out and it means that the Council will be even more divided. I mean, they’ll have to slip their remaining force between the prison and the base so both missions will have a higher chance of success. Also, it’ll look bad to the public, right? If they send a bunch of Guardians to attack the kids?”

Elliot’s face slowly grew into a smile but guilt rushed through me.

Peggy had remembered the kids on the base, after everything she’d been through. She’d been on Freo for barely any time and she’d already come up with a plan to rescue everyone.

I was so glad, of course, but I still felt guilty. I wished that I was the one who’d been taken by the Council instead of her. I knew that she would have found a way to get everyone back sooner. She wouldn’t have forgotten about anyone.

“Okay,” Elliot said slowly whilst looking at Andy who was beaming. “You really weren’t exaggerating, were you?”

“I most certainly was not,” Andy chuckled. “I told you this crew was one of the best I’ve ever worked with.”

I flushed and had to look away as embarrassment and pride flared within me.

“Aki, what do you think?” Elliot asked.

I looked up in confusion, not quite sure who he was talking to for a moment, before, very slowly, realising he was talking to Aquila.

“It’s not a bad plan,” she said carefully. “If we have enough fighters to make it work but we’ll need to wait and see the response that the interviews get as well as the Council’s reaction to them. It’s possible that once the Guardians start leaving their posts, things will change.”

The words hung in the air ominously.

“What do you mean?” I asked finally. “Being a Guardian is an optional job, right? Just like the Space Corps, once you’re of age you can leave at any time.”

Aquila hesitated.

“Yes,” she said. “For now.”