Pulling her jacket around her, Rúna huddled for warmth against the crisp autumn breeze. She wasn’t looking forward to spending a long winter in these barracks, from what she’d seen, the insulation was substandard. Well, it wouldn’t be the first time she’d frozen her ass off in the cold, she rationalized, though she’d hoped those days were behind her.

She could have gone inside, of course, and avoided the problem entirely, but at the moment this seemed the better choice. Inside sat the ambassador, and while he wasn’t the type to throw her mistakes in her face, she could feel his disappointment, like some unearthly presence. Genvass was unfailingly polite to her, proper in every way whenever they spoke, and yet that sense of unease about him refused to disappear.

She was pretty sure she knew why that was, and it was an uncomfortable realization on her part.

Rúna had no illusions that she was perfect. Far from it. She was all too aware of her flaws, and she did her best to overcome them, with mixed success. And if someone forced her to list those flaws, in order from most damaging to least, high on that list would have to be her temper. She had always struggled with it, and the incident with the Quisling wasn’t the first time it had got her into trouble. Somehow, she doubted it would be the last.

She’d fucked up. Badly.

There were other ways she could have gotten the truth out of him, smarter ways, ways that didn’t involve beating him within a centimeter of his life, yet at the time, none had occurred to her. Well… that wasn’t exactly true. They had, for a moment, but when she learned what he’d done, that he’d betrayed them, all she could think about was another time when someone had double-crossed her people. A moment in the heat of battle when their so-called “allies” had swiveled their guns and turned them on the Valkyries instead, inflicting horrendous losses. And even though they hadn’t been directly responsible, she would forever associate that act of treachery with the death of Sergeant Agilmar Kai.

Not a day went by that she didn’t think of him, mourning his loss once more. She’d tried taking the Paygan’s advice to heart, to remember that his sacrifice had not been in vain, but there were times it was all she could do to face another day without him by her side.

Oh God, it hurt.

She wrapped her arms around her midriff, hugging herself tightly. Looking up into the cloudy sky, and then the wire barricade surrounding her, Rúna couldn’t remember a time when she’d felt as lost and alone as she did now. She wasn’t sure who she was anymore, and she had no idea how to find her way back.

Movement to her left yanked her from her ruminations, her eyes narrowing before she recognized Diggs approaching her. Despite the fact they suddenly had a great deal of free time on their hands, they’d spent surprisingly little of it together. Granted, her unofficial duties, i.e., trying to escape, had kept her busy, but not that busy. She suspected he had his own reasons for not crowding her, and she hadn’t wanted to pry. He had enough on his plate as it was.

She gave him a polite nod as he sat down beside her. “Hey, Diggs.”

“Hey, Rúna,” he mumbled, awkwardly staring at his feet.

Something was off with him, that much was obvious. “Everything okay?” she asked.

The young Tinker barked out a bitter laugh, lifting his head to stare at the wire. “Oh, yeah… everything’s great,” he snorted, the dark sarcasm of his tone impossible to ignore.

“We’re gonna get through this,” she promised. “Trust me.“

He turned to look at her, his eyes searching for some small sense of hope. “I want to believe that, Rúna, I really do. But… it’s hard, you know?”

“Yeah, it is,” she sighed. “But I’ll tell you something. When things got really bad, I still had to believe it would get better. Because otherwise, what’s the point? Sometimes it wasn’t easy, I’m not gonna lie, but we have to keep trying. People are counting on us, Diggs… people like your mom.”

“I worry about her,” he said quietly. “I hope she’s okay.”

“I wouldn’t worry about Maggie,” she chuckled. “Your mom’s a survivor, and besides, she’s way too smart to get herself mixed up in this nonsense.” She smiled at him and silently rejoiced as he grinned back at her.

“You’re right,” he agreed, “mom’s a tough cookie.” The pair chuckled once more, as he regarded her once more. “What about you? Are you okay?” There was concern in his expression.

“I’m fine,” she said automatically.

Diggs gave her a dubious look. “You don’t look fine, Rúna,” he said finally. “I mean, being honest? You kinda look terrible.”

“Oh, thank you very much,” she said caustically. “I thought you were supposed to be my biggest fan.”

The young Tinker bowed his head, blushing at the cheeks. “Not a kid anymore, you know,” he mumbled. “Besides… I heard about what happened. With the Dharmist.”

She winced and looked away, more ashamed than ever. “Look, I get it,” he continued. “You were just trying to protect us. Like you always do.”

“I could have found a better way,” she said quietly.

“Maybe,” he shrugged. “Maybe there wasn’t one, though.”

Rúna took a deep breath, and then slowly let it out. “That’s what I keep trying to tell myself.” She turned and looked at him. “Only problem is, it’s a lie.”

Diggs blinked in surprise. “Then… why?” he asked her.

The Valkyrie shook her head. “Because I was angry. Because I felt frustrated. Because it brought up painful memories. Lots of reasons.” Her expression was one of heartbreak. “None of them good ones, unfortunately.”

They sat in silence for a bit while he digested that. Finally, he spoke up, his voice just barely above a murmur. “Did my mom ever tell you how she found me?”

She cocked her head, regarding him. “Most of it,” Rúna said at last. “She said she found you in an alley, poisoned, and that she almost didn’t get you to Blye in time.”

The young Tinker nodded. “I don’t remember much about what happened. Hell, most of my childhood’s a blur. I just remember starving, being scared of the monsters… that’s how I saw aliens, back then… and so fucking desperate that I grabbed a metal scrap and tried scaring one into giving me some food.” He gave her a rueful look. “Didn’t work out so well.”

Rúna listened as he told his tale, not wanting to interrupt. She doubted there was any Terran that didn’t have one, or even several, much like it. Until they came to this world, the galaxy had been a cruel mistress to their kind, until Fate and no small amount of luck had intervened.

Not a moment too soon, in her opinion.

“Whatever that poison was, it really messed me up,” he continued. “When I finally came to, I thought I was dead. They’d shoved something down my throat, choking me, and there were people there… people like me.” Diggs winced at the memory, shutting his eyes hard. “I didn’t know what Hell was, then, but I was sure I was being punished for something. For attacking that monster… Azha-Xaak,” he immediately corrected himself, pronouncing each syllable with careful deliberation, “or stealing, or maybe for just being Terran. Didn’t matter. I knew I was guilty.”

Reaching out, she gently placed her hand on his knee, reassuring him. His head snapped up as she made physical contact before blushing furiously. Obviously, some of that crush he’d once had over her still lingered. “It’s okay,” she said softly.

It took him a moment to center himself before his gaze met hers. “What I’m saying is, I made a bad decision too. Lots of ‘em,” he sighed. “Took me a long time to understand that, but I know you’re a good person, Rúna. Maybe you could forgive yourself a little?” he said hopefully.

She sighed once more, shifting her hand from his knee to wrap it around his shoulders instead, pulling him in for a hug.

“I’ll try,” she promised.

It took longer than expected to bring Samara fully up to speed, as Blye, Maggie, and Inaba each related events from their own perspectives, with each new revelation sparking a suddenly recalled event from one of the others as they filled in the blanks. Finally, however, after much backing and filling, the Protean held up her hand for silence.

“Okay, I think I’ve got it,” she said. “You want to stage a prison break, and then a counter-coup to throw out the clan leaders and form a new government? That about sum it up?”

They all looked at one another. “Well… yes,” Blye nodded. “In the simplest terms, at least.”

“Great. Any ideas on how to actually do that?” she challenged them.

“Certainly,” Colonel Holme informed her, “though they all come with a certain amount of risk.”

“And by risk, you mean ‘an uncomfortably high body count, right?” she guessed.

“Higher than we’d like,” Inaba admitted. “The plan is still evolving.”

Samara snorted, then turned to the others. “I’m not surprised to see you mixed up in this, Maggie,” she said pointedly, before turning to the Knight, “but I thought you had more sense.”

“It needs to be done,” Blye said quietly, “and no one else is lining up to do it.”

Rolling her eyes skyward, Samara let out a heavy sigh. “I swear to Terra, your moral compass is going to be the death of me yet,” she said at last.

… It hasn’t so far, Guardian pointed out, though I admit this was a closer call than all the other attempts.

“Oh, shut up you,” she snapped, before shaking her head. “Sorry. Talking to Guardian.”

“I figured,” Maggie spat, frowning as something beeped inside her jacket. Reaching in, she pulled out a battered comm unit, blinking in surprise as a familiar face stared back at her.

“I see your mission was a success,” Ess Peon said, coming straight to the point.

“Who is that?” Inaba demanded, only to be waved aside by Samara.

“She’s a friend,” the Protean explained, then reconsidered. “Well… ally,” she amended. “We’re supposed to be off the grid here, Ess,” she told the Avatar. “If you can find us, so can they.”

“Which is why I’ve been risking my virtual ass keeping you shielded,” she fired back, “only I’m not sure how much longer I can keep it up without getting caught.”

“Damn it,” Holme swore, before turning to his subordinate. “Time to go, Captain.”

“Yes, Sir,” she agreed, moving off as she started barking orders.

“Wait!” the Avatar cried out. “I agree moving somewhere else is a good plan, but the whole reason I did this was to enlist Samara’s help. There’s a job I need you to do, one I suspect you’re uniquely qualified for.”

“... what job?” the Protean said suspiciously.

“Freeing Alphad Aemon from confinement,” Ess explained. “With Guardian whispering sweet nothings in your ear, you can do things no one else can.”

“So… two prison breaks,” she groaned.

“Been that kind of week,” Maggie shrugged.

“Samara, we could use your help to free Rúna and the others, but then we’re trained for that type of mission,“ Colonel Holme explained. “If you choose to help this… Alphad?... instead, I understand.”

She considered it for a moment, then kicked the question upstairs. “Guardian? What do you think?” she asked the Cognate.

… My virtual counterpart makes a valid point, he said after a moment. While the others could certainly benefit from our assistance in liberating the prison camp, I suspect no one outside of her clan could successfully infiltrate their domain more effectively than we could.

“I assume you have someone on tap for this type of mission?” Samara said wryly.

… Don’t I always? Guardian replied.

The Protean laughed, then spoke to the comm unit still resting on Maggie’s palm. “Okay Ess, we’ll bust out Alphad. After that, we’ll join back up with the rest of you,” she told the others. “Something tells me the party will be just getting started.”

“I fear you’re right,” Blye said quietly.

“... what do you mean, gone?” the Dàifu snarled at the other clan leaders. “How did they even get to her?”

“It seems one of my commanders switched sides,” Commandant Zakiyya growled. “Thought I had him safely sidelined.”

“Who?” Admiral Van Aalst demanded.

“Holme,” she admitted. “I knew I couldn’t trust him.”

“After what his unit went through on Sonoitii Prime, I’m not surprised,” Sibyl KriZ/AliZ said from the monitor.

“That’s why I sent him to the desert for weapon testing in the first place,” the Valkyrie agreed. “Too close to the action.”

“If they’ve gone to all this trouble, they must be planning something,” Diplom-Ingenieur Svéd pointed out. “We have to find them and stop them before they can interfere.”

“It’s too late,” the Dharmist chuckled. “The Grand Alliance is already en route, and once they arrive, the people will realize we were right all along. They’ll beg us to save them from the evil alien horde.” Her smile was positively sharklike as she grinned at the others.

“And your Colonel Holme?” the Sibyl inquired. “Not to mention Samara and the rest of them?”

“Obviously they’re collaborators, swayed by alien influence,” the Dàifu replied. “Once the people realize that, they’ll inform us the moment they spot them.”

“Maybe so, but I’m issuing Precursor weapons to my troops before they can get here,” the Commandant vowed.

“If they want a war… I’ll give them one they won’t believe.”