My heart was pounding. I was terrified but also strangely calm. We had our plan, we knew what we were doing. We just needed to go.

Chal was worried about us, I knew he was. We’d briefed him and Cory on everything whilst Peggy was in the inner war rooms with Orion. We hadn’t even debated not telling him everything, we knew he would support us. I think he was glad we were going, even if he didn’t like that we’d had to betray Andy.

I didn’t either.

I still feel bad about that. I wanted to be able to trust him, to believe that he would be able to convince Aquila of everything and that she’d send the fighters out immediately but… I didn’t.

I barely knew Aquila. She was a good captain of Freo and the fighters and she’d never done anything wrong but… I just didn’t want it to be like Irision again. I didn’t want to make the wrong call over and over again and then be too late to help people. If we’d just left sooner, if we hadn’t bothered going to the Council, maybe we could have saved more people. Maybe we would have never returned to Nova.

My crew was silent as the lift moved steadily lower, going to a surplus parking garage on one of the bottom floors of the ship. Chal had said that he had a fighter ship stashed away there, just in case it was needed at some point, and that we could use it. Apparently no one would be there.

I was glad. I didn’t want to go through the garage and have everyone looking at us. Fornax would probably be there, she was always there, and I still had yet to think of a lie I could tell. There was nothing I could say, no excuse for us to be taking a ship out at that time and I didn’t know that Fornax would side with us if we told her the truth. I was pretty sure she would but there was also the concern that she’d tell Aquila and I didn’t want to risk that.

The lift pinged softly, the noise making me jump and ripping me from my thoughts. The corridor beyond it was barely lit and clearly not often used. It was silent, just the sounds of our footsteps echoing as we stepped out onto the bare metal floor.

Which way did he say it was? Cory asked.

Left, Peggy sent back, leading us down the corridor.

How are you all feeling about this? I asked.

It felt stupid, unnecessary, but still, I wanted to ask. I knew that none of us would be particularly happy about it. We didn’t want to do this. We didn’t want to be the ones who did it but we knew we had to.

I’m glad we’re going, Peggy said. I think once Andy realises we’re gone, as long as we’re far enough away, he’ll send more fighters to back us up.

Me too, Cory said.

I nodded. I hoped so too. Surely, Aquila wouldn’t stop him? They wouldn’t send people to bring us back, would they?

Cas didn’t say anything and I understood why he didn’t. We were going to the Council ship, we were going to confront his dad. It was scary but it needed to be done. The last few years had been building to this moment.

A soft beeping came from my earpiece before Orion’s hushed voice sounded.

“Crew Seven Six one?” he hissed. “Can you hear me?”

“Yeah,” I replied quietly. “Is everything alright?”

Peggy pointed at an unmarked metal door and we came to a stop as Cas pulled out his screen and began hacking into it.

“No, I’m hiding in the cupboard at the moment so they can’t overhear but Elliot and Andy just came back from their meeting early. They asked where Peggy is and I said she was in the bathroom. They said that they want to stick around until she gets back, what should I tell them?” he asked, panic in his voice.

I glanced at Peggy.

I wasn’t sure what to say and I could see her brain working furiously. If she didn’t go back, they’d know something was going on. I couldn’t think of any way that we could get them to leave without Peggy going back.

“We could tell them you’re sick?” I suggested, feeling a little desperate. “Say that you’ve gone to bed or something?”

Peggy shook her head silently.

“What if you go back and talk to them and we wait for you?” Cory proposed.

Still, she didn’t answer us.

“Tell them I’ll be back soon,” she said to Orion before looking at me. “We don’t have time to waste. I need to go back to Andy and Elliot and you need to go without me.”

Fear gripped my heart.

I didn’t want to. I didn’t want our crew to be split up even though I knew she’d be safer on Freo, away from the danger. I wanted her to be safe but we were a crew. We had to do it together.

But she was right. There was no other way.

“Okay,” I said softly. “But I wish you didn’t have to go.”

Tears shone in Peggy’s eyes.

“I wish I was coming with you,” she replied. “When Andy sends the fighters out to you, I’ll be on the first ship, I promise.”

She threw her arms around me, hugging me tightly.

“I know you will. Stay safe here, okay?” I told her.

The garage door opened and Peggy pulled back, letting go of me and hugging Cory.

“Be safe,” I heard her whisper. “Please come back and make sure the others do too.”

“I will,” Cory replied, his voice thick with emotion.

Peggy let go of him and turned to Cas, wrapping her arms around him too.

“Be careful. Don’t let your dad win but don’t do anything risky, okay? Protect the others too,” she told him.

“I will,” he promised.

She pulled back eventually, peering into the garage, tears spilling onto her cheeks.

“Please just… come back to me,” she requested sadly.

I almost didn’t want to answer her. I didn’t want to lie again, to make another promise that I couldn’t keep.

But I did.

“We will. Stay safe here.”

Peggy nodded.

“No retreat?” she said with a sniffle, sounding unsure.

“No surrender,” we chorused back.

“See you soon,” Cas added.

We turned, staring into the surplus garage.

I scanned the place quickly, searching for people, but found no one. It was bigger than I expected and Chal’s ship was by far the biggest one there. It almost made me happy to see it towering over us. I had been worried that he didn’t have it anymore but I should have known that he’d never get rid of it. That wasn’t like him.

Is that it? Cory asked, pointing towards a small but powerful-looking ship.

It looked modern, high tech and sleek, exactly Chal’s style.

I think so, I thought back, my hand finding the keys in my pocket.

The moment I touched them, the ship lit up. The lights were dim, I assumed so as not to blind us, but it was still too bright in the dark garage.

I’ll get on and do pre-departure checks, can you do the outside scan, Cas? I thought.

Normally, I would have done both, especially when flying a new ship, but we didn’t have time. We needed to hurry up and get far away from Freo before anyone got suspicious and came after us.

On it, he sent back.

Cory, get everything stored away in there and the flight suits out and ready for us to get changed and then have a look at the weapons systems. I want to know what we’re working with, I ordered.

Got it, Cory replied, starting up the ramp towards the door as I stared around the garage.

The ship was well placed. I wasn’t sure if it was intentional or not but we wouldn’t need to move any other ships to get to the doors. That was good. We’d be able to get out before anyone got suspicious.

Almost at the war rooms now. I’ll tell them that you’re researching in our room because my pacing was annoying you or something. I’ll keep an eye on the flights too and make sure that no one flags yours as suspicious, Peggy told us. Maybe I’ll get Orion to mark yours as safe straight away.

Okay, I told her. I’ll let you know when we’re ready to go.