She turned to the crowd, not needing an amplifier to make herself heard. “The Eye is right. We will feast and we will honor those who fell on the path to our victory. And then … then we shall avenge them.”

Again the Nihil cheered, Ro raising his arms once more and declaring that the revels should begin.

Pan would enjoy them soon enough, albeit back on his ship where he could celebrate in luxury, but for now they had matters to discuss.

“We should talk,” he told the Eye, who inclined his head.

“Of course. Shall we go inside?”

They gathered in a temporary hall Ro had established, a tactical slab stolen from a Mon Calamari cruiser set up at the far end. Ro walked around the table and glanced down at the star map on its surface.

“Aren’t you going to take that off?” Pan rumbled as he stalked over to join him.

Ro looked up. “What?”

Pan pointed at the helmet. “Take it off.”

“Why?”

“Because I say so.”

“And I have to do what you say?”

Pan slammed a fist down on the table, cracking the display.

“Damn right you do. That victory you described. That was us. Not you. Lourna and me.”

Ro cocked his head. “What about Zeetar?”

Pan growled beneath his breath. “He played his part.”

“But I didn’t?”

The other Tempest Runners were infuriatingly quiet. So be it. This was Pan’s moment after all.

“Very well, you can hide behind that mask as much as you want, but I want to know what happens now.”

Ro spread his hands. “You heard it yourself. Now we party.”

“Not good enough. We’ve done what we said we’d do. We’ve established our reputation now and for all time.”

“At great sacrifice,” Lourna added.

Pan stabbed at the star map with a finger, pointing at Coruscant. “Yeah, but they don’t know that, do they? They’re scared.”

Ro stared straight at him, that damn red light shining in Pan’s eyes, forcing him to squint. “And what would you have us do?”

Pan snorted. Wasn’t that obvious? “We strike now and we strike fast. We show them that there’s no respite, no time to lick their wounds. We hit them again, where it hurts, letting them know we mean business.”

Lourna was studying him intently. “Where do you suggest?”

Pan searched the map, indicating the first target on his list. “Here.”

Ro barely even looked down. “The Cyclor yards? We’ve talked about this before.”

“Yes. Before Valo. When they thought they had driven us back.”

“But we proved them wrong,” Lourna said coolly. “You proved them wrong.”