A woman in a well-tailored navy blue suit appeared on the screen. She was standing behind a podium that proudly displayed the Interplanetary Defence insignia, interlocking swords placed over a galaxy. Her smile was tight and a screen was held in her hands.

I don’t know what I expected, but I definitely thought it would be different. Maybe more high tech or even just more fanfare. They didn’t even play the ID theme tune as the briefing started up.

Actually, I don’t know if they even have one. In all of the briefings I’ve now watched, they’ve never played one.

My heart felt like it almost stalled as the woman opened her mouth and my hand gripped Cas’ so tightly it hurt.

“Hello everyone and thank you for watching. I am Stel, a member of the Interplanetary Defence board and I have been monitoring the situation on Nova for quite some time. For those of you who are not aware, the Council recently conducted what they called a training exercise on the planet of and in the skies surrounding Romikhi-Eight.”

She paused, her eyes darting down to her screen briefly.

She seemed nervous but I understood. This was unprecedented. The whole universe would be watching and waiting to find out more. People were invested, even those who weren’t on Nova. They either wanted to see my crew brought to justice or to see the Council brought down and the ID had never given a briefing like this before so everyone knew this was going to be big.

“From our intelligence, we have been able to deduce that this was not just a training exercise. The Council entered into negotiation with the group calling themselves the ‘Fighters’, who are currently housing crew Seven Six One, in order to trade one member, Pegasus, for another, Captain Aries. However, according to the Fighters, who have been extremely forthcoming with information surrounding this investigation, this was a necessary rescue mission due to the dwindling physical health of Pegasus at the hands of the Council and they were never planning to allow Captain Aries to be captured.”

My heart faltered when I heard her speak my name and I heard an audible gasp from Peggy. Her hand began to tremble within mine and I completely understood her anxiety. Having the ID know who we are and what happened with us was… terrifying.

It was almost as scary as hearing them call me ‘Captain Aries’. I’m not sure why that threw me so much but it did.

“When the handover was completed, Captain Aries was able to successfully escape the Guardians and her ship evacuated Romikhi-Eight, pursued by the Guardians. However, shortly after, we began to receive troubling reports that the Council disregarded interplanetary laws by tampering with the programming of our warp gates.”

Stel fell quiet again, clearly giving people a chance to process what she had just said.

I’m glad she did because I knew that if I was hearing that for the first time, I would be in shock. Despite the fear I was feeling and the growing worry that the Council had found a way to smooth everything over already, a spark of wild happiness slowly grew in my heart.

Even though I was very aware that this could all be over too soon, I was so happy to know that people were finally finding out the truth about what happened on Romikhi-Eight. I hadn’t read any of their briefings but even without doing so, I knew that they’d lied to people about what had happened. But now, with the ID’s detached explanation, they couldn’t ignore the truth. That had to make more people wake up to what was happening, right?

“An initial investigation was conducted by our engineers who confirmed the reports and a formal investigation was launched. Unfortunately, the Council were found to be belligerent and uncooperative at every stage and we were unable to receive formal statements from the Council members. Therefore, we have decided to suspend the Council’s authority, active immediately. We will be sending transport vessels to Nova this afternoon to collect the Council members in order to obtain official statements. The Interplanetary Board of Governance will oversee Nova in the interim until we can reach a verdict. Thank you for watching today, if you have any questions, please call your local Interplanetary Defence helpline and they will be able to assist,” Stel finished with a smile.

My mouth dropped open as my brain struggled to comprehend what Stel had just said.

The room was silent. Only the quiet hiss of the air conditioner sounded.

Wait… what? Cas asked finally.

Peggy, what does this mean? I asked, needing her to explain it to me.

It was too good. It felt too good to be real. It felt… it was. No, even now I still don’t know how to react. I wanted to cry, to scream, to cheer or celebrate but, even as that desire gripped me, my fear did not subside.

It still wasn’t over. It was good but it wasn’t over. It was far from over. They still needed to question them and then find them guilty. It was far too possible that nothing would come from this. The ID could find them innocent and send them back to Nova and they’d jump straight back into trying to hunt us down and murder us.

Or, they might find them guilty. The thought was so sweet that I couldn’t even bear consider it.

But they might. And if they did, Nova would be free. We would be free.

Gods, I want to be free.

They’re doing it. They’re actually doing it. I didn’t think they would but they’re doing it. They’ve never pulled the Council in for questioning before but they’re doing it! Peggy thought, her voice getting louder and more animated as she did.

Tears started to gather in her eyes and I had to let out a shaking breath.

They were doing it.

“Yes!” Fornax shouted, her voice breaking the silence of the room.

An uninhibited cheer erupted in the room as people celebrated the announcement and, despite the smile that came to my face, I couldn’t bring myself to join in. The rest of my crew didn’t either. Peggy wept silent, hopeful tears, Cas stared at the screen blankly and Cory looked down at his hands vacantly.

We weren’t the only people who weren’t cheering. Andy, Elliot and Aquila were silent too. Andy was smiling softly, Elliot was openly grinning, but Aquila hadn’t reacted at all. Her eyes were moving back and forth ever so slightly. Her shoulders rose and fell as she took a deep, steadying breath.

I waited for her to speak but she didn’t. She blinked quickly, her eyes focusing on the screen she still hadn’t switched off.

I looked back at it uncertainly, unsure what else we were waiting for.

It still showed the local ID help numbers, even if ours simply said ‘your current local cannot be found. Please call our central hub for more information’. My skin prickled with anticipation.

Crew, I thought cautiously, there’s something more coming.

I didn’t look away from the screen, worried that I’d miss something, but I felt them turn to look at me. I nodded towards the screen.

What now? Cas thought worriedly.

The numbers disappeared but still, the screen didn’t turn off.

Silence fell over the room again, I assumes someone must have gestured or said something, but I wasn’t sure.

I honestly don’t know what I expected. I thought something bad was happening but, for once, I was wrong.

Chal appeared on the screen. Seated in the surprisingly comfy chair, still dressed in his doctor’s uniform and seemingly at ease.

“Hello,” he said in a slightly more clipped tone than usual. “My name is Chal but I’ve been known by many names; Captain Sammers, Doctor Raydit, Scutum, Virgo, William, Corvus and some more that even I have forgotten but I have been working against the Council for over fifty years.”