Ellis rushed to their side, falling to their knees before they had stumbled into a collapse. They opened their mouth in a soundless cry. Robin rested a hand on Ellis’s shoulder. There was no time to mourn. No time to accept the loss. No time to allow the hate and anger to settle in. They lowered their head, but reached up to hold her hand, if only for a moment, to reassure each other of their respective humanity remaining intact.

“Over here.” Epyc Ro rifled through the room.

“What you got?” Robin left Ellis with their chieftain to rush to her side. She scanned the reports. “Communication records. From all over.”

“What do you mean ‘all over’?” Epyc Ro glanced at Ellis, who watched both of them but remained utterly still.

“The entire Muungano federation. The Dreaming City. Titan. Bronzeville. Out to the Oyigiyigi mining operations.”

“They’re trying to map out our defensive capabilities.” Epyc Ro flipped through the holovids.

“Captain.” An unusual quaver filled Robin’s voice.

Epyc Ro froze. The tenor of her sergeant’s tone unsettled her. She turned slowly toward her. “What is it?”

“A recent report.” Robin’s face blanched. “Camara Xola is dead.”

Dead? Epyc Ro allowed the possibility of the word a moment to hit her and settle before shoving it aside so that she could be about the job of gathering intel. “Is it … verified?”

“These are our transmissions intercepted from Muungano.”

“Did the Interstellar Alliance have anything to do with it?”

“The reports don’t give any indication. Only that they are considering tactical options in light of … events.”

“That we might be vulnerable while reeling from grief.”

“Aren’t we?” Robin asked.

“How vulnerable are you feeling right now?” Epyc Ro raised her talon.

“More pissed than ever.” Robin turned to Ellis, who struggled to make it to their feet.

Epyc Ro glanced from them to their chieftain. “This all has the feel of a decapitation strike. Taking out our leaders across … worlds.”

Robin smacked the workbench. Spinning the holovid around, a large red dot pulsed. “I found Fela’s location.”

“Ellis, we have to go.”

“We…” Ellis guarded Natan’s body, not moving. “We can’t just leave them here.”

“We know how you feel.”

“How can you? Our chieftain, our leader, my parent was just killed.”

“As was ours.” Epyc Ro allowed her face to reveal her emi, in all of its broken shards. Enough for Ellis to witness before locking it back away. She couldn’t allow her awareness to feel too much. She pressed her hand into Ellis’s back. “You stay here with your chieftain. Do what you have to do, but we can’t do anything more for them. We have to go. Our captain may still be alive.”

“No … I’ll come, too.” Ellis glanced one more time at Natan. “There’s nothing more I can do for them now. Except avenge them.”

The same instinct threatened to overwhelm Epyc Ro.