Once all of their belongings had been unloaded, Jasper gave Nathan one last reminder not to forget about him if they need anything before saying his goodbyes and setting off back towards Freedom Falls. Left stranded in the middle of nowhere, hours back to Freedom Falls on foot, they relocated their gear to the outside of the large warehouse building. Without power, the old facility's locks are, thankfully, a non-issue. Unfortunately it
#Kalus'Compound – January 20, 2019
also meant there was no automated systems in place to open them. Fortunately for the group, they have a Mendez. It didn't take much for the krogan-of-a-man to force open the rolling garage door. Once the building was cleared, ensuring there were no other squatters, the group began to bring their things inside.
The building's interior is only slightly less rundown than the exterior. The only windows in the warehouse-like structure are closer to the ceiling than the floor and many have been broken. Regardless, all are boarded up, preventing much more than a few stray rays of sunlight from entering the building. Unfortunately, it doesn't do much to hold back the frigid temperature outside at bay. At least it keeps them out of the wind.
Through the garage door they entered from is a large, spaceous room. A number of empty crates are strewn about and there's some old, metal shelving units opposite of the door. Otherwise, it's completely empty. Old tire tracks in places imply that wheeled vehicles once inhabited the room. The rest of the building's rooms seem to be built within the framework of the warehouse, like rooms within a larger room.
A small security room is in the south-east corner of the main room and, even from the main room, a large ladder can be seen extending from the security room's roof and up towards the warehouse roof. Inside, it's equally devoid of belongings as the main room. Just a single chair and a desk where a security terminal was once housed. There's two entrances from the main room, one along the northern wall of the security room, and one along the
A door on the southern wall of the main room serves as a second entrance to the corridor. On the east end of that corridor is a door leading outside- the only other entrance into the building aside from the rolling garage door. Along the southern side of the corridor are four doors, three on the western side of the building and one on the eastern side, along with a T-intersection in the center where the corridor splits off, running north
to south. The southern corridor has a single door on each side of it and, at the end, splits off into a smaller, third corridor that runs east to west. This final corridor has five doors.
Two of the western corridor doors are bathrooms (And are marked as such from the outside) while the third is a shower room. The eastern door leads to a locker room of sorts that has been stripped of whatever belongings may have been stashed away. A few old shelving units, a pair of benches, and lockers lining the walls is all that remains.
The western door of the north-south portion of the corridor opens into what was once a rec room. It seems they either didn't have the means to take the furniture inside, or simply didn't care, because a number of couches line the wall paired with a few low coffee tables. It seems that at one point there was a large screen mounted on the northern wall of the room, but all that remains of it is the mounting bracket. The eastern door leads
to a kitchen/dining area. Three fridges and two stoves stand against the eastern wall opposite of the door and a sink is built into the counter beside them. Three tables with benches stand perpendicular from the northern wall. Cabinets empty. Fridge is empty. As with the other rooms, anything of value was taken when the compound was abandoned.
The doors along the small corridor all lead to sleeping quarters. The eastern and western rooms are large, barracks-style rooms containing four bunks each and accompanying (Empty) footlockers. A number of the mattresses have been taken, but a few are still tucked into the frames, if a little worse for wear. The three remaining doors all lead to personal quarters with a single bed, dresser, and nightstand in each. Two of the mattresses
The walls of the building are of a bland, dark-brown color and the floors only slightly brighter. Cracks and dents imply that the building wasn't maintained too well even before the inhabitants abandoned it. The lack of power makes anywhere outside of the main warehouse room a chore to navigate and omni-tool lights are a must.
Nathan once within the building, immediately begins to set himself up. Without asking for help, the demolitions expert hoists all his gear and makes a beeline for the security room. Inside, he’s greeted with the pleasant sight of a single chair and desk. Perfect. Nate sets his bags down and begins to empty the contents onto the table. And by contents, he means enough explosives to level this entire area. Twice.
With a little left over. About a dozen mines, the same in frags, a little over a dozen flashbangs, nearly twenty ‘shockers’, a small box containing his three pride and joys, and a copious amount of heavy weapons ammo that would put an Alliance Grenadier to shame. He wasn’t kidding when he said he’s bringing his entire stash. There’s also a small assortment of specialist grenades, including
anti-vehicle, incendiary, smokes and one labelled ‘Lemon Drop’. He organised all of these across the table, leaving the small box to the side and began work on the assortment of shockers and flashbangs, his own tools now taken out of the second duffel bag.
Leah dragged her and Tara's things off to the eastern barracks before returning to the main room. She's currently seated at the edge of one of the many abandoned crates, waiting for everyone to finish getting settled and return to the main room.
Mendez returns from the corridor, having systematically went through the building forcing each interior door open so they can move about unimpeded. Some were more stubborn than others after months without use stacked upon the cold weather freezing things up, but they now have access to the entirety of the building.
Jattic spent his time assisting Mendez in prying open jammed doors and clearing the building. He hasn't yet had a chance to move his things from the main room of the warehouse as he returns with Mendez.
Tara is sitting on a crate near Leah, arms crossed and mitten-clad hands in her armpits as she waits silently. The crate is large enough that feet don't reach the floor, legs dangling idly off the edge.
Emma still has her things in the main room, having taken a moment to make sure the ladder is steady, and, if so, climb to the roof and have a quick look around up there before returning to the others.
Emma's view to the north is a strip of forest that's densely packed with trees and circles around the building to the east as well as the west of the compound. They're essentially tucked away against a forest with the only real clearing to the south and southwest. Visibility through the trees is near zero, but the view of the rest of the compound is pretty wide open from the roof. A few buildings block sightlines here and there, but given
their dilapidated nature, they're not much of a hinderance. They'd provide cover in a combat scenario, but it would be chancey to move from cover-to-cover with a sniper overwatching. The shuttle hangar to the south-west is the only building that blocks a large swathe of area from Emma's view, and it's mostly forest that it conceals.
Leah draws in a breath, propping up a smile that only seems to get heavier as time passes. She glances over to Tara, considering the fact that in roughly another day, this whole place is likely to be filled with the sound of gunfire and explosions. How is Tara going to deal with that?
Mendez dusts his hands off and gives a roll of his stiff shoulders. "Doors are all open. Place isn't much, but it'll keep us out of the wind." he says.
Jattic hazards a glance through the open door to the security office. It takes him a moment to realize what he's looking at as his four eyes scan over the desk. "That.... is a lot of explosives." he grumbles, the usually unexcitable batarian looking a bit taken aback by Nathan's arsenal.
Nathan has already dismantled two of the grenades in his improvised workshop and is working on a third. He doesn’t immediately respond to Jattic, his focus completely on the grenade in his hands. He carefully pulls the explosive apart and, once safely disarmed and dismantled, sets it down to look at the Batarian. “Yeah. It’s... most of what I own.” He shrugs a little, motioning to the array of various
grenades. “I was told to prepare a trap for the slavers. With so much ground to cover and so many variables, I just thought ‘Why not bring it all?’” He chuckles softly and leans a little into the chair. It may have been missed, but his chuckle was... less than genuine. In fact, it was more akin to a nervous, forced one.
Emma descends the ladder again after getting a good look at the area. She freezes when she notices the plethora of explosives that have been spread across the room while she was surveying their future battleground. It seems to give her brief pause. She almost speaks up, but upon noticing Jattic's presence she decides to remain silent, stepping to the side of the room as she listens to the conversation.
Leah's smile widens a bit as Tara meets her gaze, an attempt at offering some comforting kindness. Mendez' words cause her to glance his way with a nod. "It'll do." she says. She kicks the heel of her boot against the crate she's seated atop a few times before looking to the four datapds stacked beside her with a sigh. "Alright, everyone!" she calls out, raising her voice in an attempt at being heard by everyone. "Today is all
we have to make sure everything is taken care of. We won't be able to get much done once the sun goes down, so let's make every second count." she announces to try and gather everyone up.
Jattic folds his arms across his chest, gaze scanning about the various bits and pieces. Doodads and whatsits. Sensitive explosives and intricate parts. 'Most of what I own.' A haphazard snort escapes him as he considers the implication of the statement. "Perhaps you should seek out a hobby." Casting a brief glance Emma's way, he steps back out the door he entered through to join Leah.
Nathan passes a glance to Emma as she enters the room, gaze narrowing faintly at her. He gives a dismissive grunt to Jattic as he stands up, heading out into the large room to listen to Leah. However, he pauses in the door to look back at Emma, unable to keep the frown off of his face. There’s something off about her, something that’s leaving an uneasy feeling in his chest. It looks as if he’s about to speak,
Emma looks a bit quizzical as she returns Nathan's look, but she has no time to speak before Leah calls everyone over. Instead, she follows Nathan into the main storage area, walking into comfortable speaking range and stopping, hands behind her back and attention on Leah as she waits.
Leah scoops up the small stack of datapad as everyone rejoins her in the main room. "I wasn't exactly expecting stowaways-..." she explains, shooting a glance at both Jattic and Emma before looking back to the datapads and removing the first one from the stack, extending it outwards, "...so some of you are going to need to share."
Mendez steps forward to collect the first datapad before falling back and holding it between himself and Jattic.
Leah takes the second datapad and extends it towards Nathan. "Our target will be arriving some time tomorrow, so the last thing we want is to be out there planting mines in the middle of a field when their ship touches down."
Emma takes a step towards Nathan so that the datapad can be shared more easily, looking over his shoulder.
Nathan takes the datapad with a nod towards Leah. As Emma steps closer, he bites down on the urge to step away and instead tilts the datapad toward her so she can see the details more easily.
Leah leans over to the side, reaching waaaay out towards Tara to pass the final datapad, sure to turn it on for the young girl first. A sense of guilt settles in at having her involved in this at all. But how could she deny Tara the opportunity to stand up to the people who took her life from her? A small, if somewhat sad, smile spreads across her face.
Jattic's arms remain folded across his chest as he glances down at the datapad in Mendez' hands. The nerves haven't begun to settle in for him yet. Maybe they won't. Truth be told, he needed this. After that Collector ship, this is a welcome distraction.
Leah watches Tara for a moment before lifting the final datapad into her own lap. She takes the time to make sure they're synced up and, after a swipe upwards, a map of the compound appears on the datapads she passed out. Little notes are scrawled across the map. Sites are labeled. A few icons drawn overtop. Unbeknownst to the rest of them, it's but one of many plans drawn up. "Alright." she hums to herself. "Let's start off
with what we know." she begins, lifting her gaze from the datapad to look over the others. "What we know is that Fasha's people should be arriving some time tomorrow. They believe they're here to-..." she swallows, shooting an almost apologetic brief glance Tara's way, "...to collect Tara. As far as they know, I simply came across her at some point. Discovered there's a reward for her return and contacted them. I'm out
here in the middle of nowhere on a job and am only going to be planetside for a short while. As far as they're concerned, we could be out here to fix this compound up for some corp or-..." she shakes her head a few times, "...or something. The details don't matter because, the bottom line? They're gonna be on edge no matter what. They're slavers traveling out to the middle of nowhere on a backwater planet. It doesn't get
much more suspicious than that." Drawing in a breath, she tries to get to her point. "We don't know how many will be with them. Rest assured they'll be armed, but we have no real insight into how well they'll be armed." she pauses, looking about in case anyone has any questions before continuing.
Emma shifts a little in place, expression hardening at the mention of Tara's former status, gaze briefly travelling over her and Leah before going back to the pad. She doesn't voice any questions.
Nathan just listens intently, reviewing the details on screen. He’ll save his questions until the end. And then once he’s finished with his modifications, he’s going to start demonstrating to everyone the proper usage of his ‘shockers’ and the layout of his explosives. Everyone needs to be ready.
Leah presses her tongue against the inside of her lower lip, gaze scanning across the group. When it seems like nobody has any questions, she continues. "Basically, we don't know shit." she says with a humorless snort. It's not a strange scenario. Plenty of times during her time with the Alliance she found herselves on ops with limited intel. And when you don't know anything, all you can do is... "So, what can we assume?"
she asks, easily slipping back into her Alliance days. That usual upbeat, cheerfulness is replaced with a sharp focus. "Thanks to Tara-..." she passes her another glance, "...we can assume that Fasha- the head of House Bar'adon- will be with them. We can assume that they're not just going to fly their entire ship out into the middle of nowhere, that's just asking to get hijacked by bandits. So, where will they be
coming from? My guess would be Freedom Falls. It's nearby. It has a spaceport. If I was them? That's where I'd dock and take shuttles from there. As you can see-..." she glances down to her datapad, highlighting the two outlined landing sites causing them to light up on everyone else's datapad, "...we're surrounded by forests. So unless they're planning on taking a nice long walk to get here, they'll more than likely land
Emma stretches her neck a little to study the potential landing sites over Nathan's shoulder, seeing no cause to interrupt.
Nathan hums softly and zooms in on the landing sites. He may have enough ordnance to cripple any shuttles if he concentrates on one of the two. Spreading his explosives out won’t be a viable option if they wish to sever any means of escape for the slavers.
Leah studies the datapad in silence for a moment before continuing. "Our primary objective is to subdue and capture Fasha." she says, looking up from the map. "The op isn't a success until he's under our control. His well-being isn't particularly our concern, but he does need to be well enough to sign over the slavery documents. Our secondary objective is to neutralize anyone who may be accompanying him." She passes a glance
Nathan's way briefly before drawing in a breath. "We have no way of knowing whether or not he'll be accompanied by slaves, but for the sake of covering our bases, we're going to assume that he will. If that's the case? We'll need to subdue them with minimal casualties. So, to be absolutely clear, whether they take up arms against us or not, they're innocents and- unless absolutely necessary? Are not to come to harm, is
that understood?" she asks, specifically searching Nathan's face for any sort of reaction as if hoping he finds her orders satisfactory.
Nathan glances up from the datapad to Leah. He offers a small nod and a thin smile on acknowledgment to her order, a small measure of weight lifting from his shoulders.
Emma 's expression shifts a bit, something that Leah said giving her pause, but she doesn't voice any concerns, nodding in confirmation instead, studying Leah rather than the datapad now.
Tara 's eyes widen slightly, her gaze lifting from her datapad to Leah, but she says nothing, and she's quick to lower her gaze before she's noticed.
Jattic finds his gaze settling on Tara, though his expression remains inscrutable. "...Of course." he growls softly.
Leah allows the smallest hint of a smile to tug at the corner of her mouth as Nathan meets her gaze. "So, capture Fasha. Subdue any slaves accompanying him. Neutralize his guard. These are our objectives." she explains, running down the list. "How do we accomplish this? Step one is to disable whatever method for escape they might have. Unless Nathan has some way to deal with this at a distance, I believe our highest chance at
success is for me to lie in wait here-..." she swipes at the datapad, highlighting a light blue marker in a southern patch of trees between the landing sites, "...and attempt to sneak in behind their transportation once they've disembarked. Plant whatever Nate can set me up with. And get out." she offers, gaze returning to Nathan to get his input. She doesn't seem to take much issue with the possibility of being right up
against the enemy line, cut off from her allies. Strangely enough, she seems entirely comfortable with the idea.
Nathan nods and stands up a little straighter. “Leah’s correct. Unfortunately, my grenade launcher doesn’t quite reach the calibre needed to punch through a shuttle. And if they’re bringing their own shuttles, we can expect some level of armour and onboard weaponry.” He taps the datapad idly. “However, I have brought four anti-vehicle charges designed to cripple LAVs. One placed in the right spot will
Emma shifts her weight more to one side, speaking up after a moment's thought. "Depending on how heavy the shuttles are, I may be able to offer a fallback option, should the need arise." she says. "I have an anti-materiel rifle. A well-placed shot to a thruster or the pilot's viewport may be enough to ground them."
Leah levels her gaze on Nathan when he speaks before chiming in, "Not to mention a grenade launcher at range could potentially cause collateral damage if he does have innocents with him whiiiiich~" she sighs, "...as discussed, we have to assume to be the case." She gives a small nod of her head as she considers Emma's suggestion, hand reaching up to adjust her blue tuque and swipe at some of the blonde hair escaping from
the back of it. "Perfect. Should my approach fail or things go sideways a little early? It never hurts to have a plan B. So~" she hums, getting things back on track, "I'll move in to set the charges when they disembark from their transportation. Mendez?" she continues, glancing to the large man, "You'll meet Fasha's people. If anyone's presence is likely to force a surrender, it's yours."
Mendez gives a little roll of his shoulders in response, seeming to take Leah's statement as a compliment.
Leah continues, "Let them know they're surrounded and that we're not out for blood. Just the release of the slaves and legal documentation. Nathan and Emma will be standing by on the rooftop." she hazards a brief glance upwards, "A couple of warning shots and a distant, safely detonated explosion should show them we're not fucking around. Best case scenario? They don't call our bluff and we take Fasha without a fight." She
gives a humorless snort, one eyebrow lifting unenthusiastically, "That's not gonna happen." she clarifies, "The more likely outcome is they'll try to pull back to a defensive position. At which point I'll detonate the charges and Emma and Nate will provide overwatch for you to pull back." She looks towards the two assigned with ensuring Mendez' safety, "Sound good? We've got the Mantis and I figured keeping you on the
Jattic shifts his gaze away from Tara uncomfortably when she notices him looking her way, pointedly turning all four eyes to the map as he listens to Leah.
Emma nods along with Leah's continued rundown of the plan. "Works for me." she says, although after a moment's thought she asks: "Is the roof of the other building accessible? If there's going to be two of us on overwatch it might pay to have an alternate angle."
Mendez doesn't seem particularly put to ease by Nathan's look. "Don't. Miss." he warns, his voice low and monotone as ever.
Leah returns Nathan's nod with one of her own. Emma's question is met with a shrug of her shoulders. "Our locational intel is entirely based on a previous op here in which nobody currently present was involved." she informs. "I can say that the opposition Redrock faced here, according to the report filed, mentions a sniper up in the hangar. Considering the state of the compound, I'm not sure how well it's held up, but that's
what today will be about. Once we're done here, we'll get to work on setting everything up. Examining our options. If it's viable for one of you to take a position elsewhere? Even better." she explains. That out of the way, she returns to her previous train of thought, scanning about the others. "Once their retreat options have been cut off and Mendez has pulled back to whatever safety he can find, things are going to get
a little chaotic. Amidst all of that we're going to need to get Fasha's slaves under control before we can really mount any sort of offensive if we're going to avoid collateral damage." She turns her gaze to Tara, tilting her head slightly as she studies her. "And for that, we're going to need you, Tara."
Tara blinks, straightening her back and looking over towards Leah when she's addressed, listening attentively despite her obvious discomfort.
Leah allows that professional soldier veneer to break as a small smile enters her features. "You remember how hard it was for us to talk before we got you a translator?" she asks. "It's going to be the same with them. You might be the only one who can talk them down. So, you'll be on the roof. With Nathan." Her gaze turns back to Nathan and the rest of that soldier veneer slips away entirely. "...That means it's your job to
take care of her." she says, the sudden emotion that tints her voice expressing just how important of a task this is to her. The most important.
Tara swallows, nodding faintly as she does her best to look determined. Her gaze turns to Nathan as Leah addresses him, watching him in silence.
Nathan looks at Leah and his eyes widen. “Me?” He looks to Tara and the colour in his skin pales a little. It’s his job to look after Tara. To protect her from the slavers. To keep her safe. To-... A sound of gunfire tears around him amongst the ruined and run down buildings of the shanty town, the small girl wrapped up tightly in his arms as he ducks through an alleyway. They’re gone. All of them, gone. His
team lay on the ground behind him, their bodies strewn out amongst the rubble and blood of the streets. Jasmine and him are the only ones left. He’s got to get her out of there. He has to. He has to save her! A gunshot. A breath. The taste of blood. A limp body. Then darkness. He snaps out of the flashback, finding himself back amongst the chilled air of the storage room. He has to look after her... he has
to protect her. Could he do it? Rationale said he could. This time, they’re the ones laying the ambush, they have the advantage, they have the time to prep. But the other part of his mind, the demon that tears away at his failure every time he hedges near that memory? He looks back to Leah and merely nods.
Leah bites at her lower lip as she studies Nathan from across the room, her gaze hardening. She's heard the story. For a reason that still escapes her, Nathan trusted her enough to let her in. To share that dark part of his mind. Of his heart. And, despite knowing exactly how that ended for the poor girl he tried so hard to protect, if there's even an ounce of doubt in her mind about Nathan being the right choice- the only
choice- to look after Tara, then she's certainly not showing it. There's nothing but absolute trust in her big green eyes. She swallows at the lump in her throat and tears her gaze from him. "We'll-..." she begins, having to clear her throat to find her voice and start again, "...We'll set you up with an omni-tool and you just-... just talk. Okay, sweetheart?" she asks, studying Tara. "Just tell them what you went through.
Tell them that Fasha doesn't own them. Let them know that there's a better life waiting for them and that we can help them. And we will." she says, finding herself looking back to Nathan as her mind wanders back to their conversation at the Respite. To his concerns. "We will help them." she assures. "With any luck, they'll listen to reason and surrender, allowing us to focus on Fasha's forces."
Tara 's face shows obvious hesitation, but she nods again in spite of that, her attention back on Leah immediately when she addresses her.
Nathan keeps quiet, meeting Leah’s gaze for a moment before turning it away to his datapad, less anyone else catches on to his unease.
Emma shifts a bit, crossing her arms over her chest as she continues to listen, gaze falling to the side for a moment before returning to Leah.
Leah draws in a breath, steeling her emotions once more as she tries to reign herself in. "If they won't give up, we'll have no choice but to subdue. The safest way to do so is to draw them in and use Nathan's non-lethal ordinance to put them down for the count." She circles a couple of areas on the map- the doors that lead into the warehouse that have each been marked with an 'X'- causing them to become highlighted on
everyone's datapad. "If we trap the entrances with flashbangs, stun devices-... whatever, then it's just a matter of Mendez-..." she looks to him, "...who has hopefully retreated back by now, getting them under control. I've brought plenty of restraints."
Leah glances to Jattic. "Your job will be to cover Emma's position. Wherever she decides to set up, whether here with Nathan or elsewhere. Make sure she nobody gets close enough to cause her trouble so that she can do her thing."
Leah draws a breath as she looks everyone over. "With Fasha's slaves under control it's just a matter of cleaning up Fasha's guards. Without any method of retreat, their only option will be to attack. They'll probably outnumber us, but we'll spend today securing the compound. With Nate's guidance, we'll set up the traps he's prepared. Bury mines. Do everything we can to give ourselves the edge. Everything and everyone will be
painted with IFF tags to make sure there's no mishaps. In order to make sure there's no collateral damage, we're going to need any explosive devices deployed to remain inactive until the slaves are dealt with. Can you make that happen, Nate? Activate them remotely or-... something?" she asks, explosives not exactly her area of expertise.
Nathan uses the talk of explosives to temporarily bury the thoughts, nodding. “I’ll have the master arming and detonation switch for all the explosives out there in the field. Until the order is given, I can keep all the explosives with their safeties armed.” He pauses and adds, “I’ll have a back up program on standby in case I’m put out of action. The master control will then be transferred to you.”
Emma 's gaze turns briefly to Jattic, looking none too happy at the prospect of being paired up with the batarian, but she doesn't voice her concern.
Leah gives a sharp nod. "Perfect." she says. "Once Fasha is under our control, we'll patch up any wounded, restrain any of his men that surrender, and do what we can to ensure any sort of tracking devices are dealt with, even if that means fully destroying their shuttles with whatever explosives we have left. I'll convince him to sign over the documents for Tara and any other slave present." she explains, glossing over the
gritty details of what 'convincing' might entail. It probably goes without saying it won't be pretty. "Once we have the documentation, we will execute Fasha and any of his men that may have surrendered." she says plainly. There's not even a hint of hesitation in her voice. Regardless of her personal feelings towards Fasha and his house of slave-owning scum, it's not even personal. It's just part of the mission. There's a
cold detatchment to her words as she outlines this step. With a glance down to the map, she encircles a small portion detailed to the north-east against the treeline, causing it to become highlighted. "We're going to remain here overnight once the firefight has ended to ensure nobody comes looking for them. The last thing we need is them following us back to Freedom Falls. During that time, we'll scrub the area. Make sure
there's nothing left behind that might lead back to us. Today we'll dig a burial plot in this area to dispose of the bodies." She has a laundry list of black ops missions under her belt from her time with the Alliance. Clean up was just a part of the job. Cold and clinical. Leave no trace behind, because the Alliance sure as hell isn't going to bail you out. Make sure there's no trail to be followed. "The effect is
twofold. First? It'll keep any wildlife from bothering us while we're here. But more importantly, if anyone does follow Fasha's trail here after we leave, they'll have to do some work to find out what happened to him."
Mendez glances up from his datapad at the mention of executions, but soon enough lowers his gaze once more. He knows they can't just let a bunch of slavers go. Not after robbing them of their 'merchandise'.
Jattic returns Emma's look with one of his own. But his attention is quickly pulled back to Leah when she begins detailing their handling of Fasha and his men post-battle. He shows little emotional reaction to her plan, merely widening his stance rigidly.
Nathan ‘s gut falls at the cold hardness of Leah’s tone and plan. Executions? Burial pits? They sound more like a backwater militia. But he bites down on his concerns for now and merely studies the plans.
Emma certainly doesn't protest. Far from it. There's a grim satisfaction in her eyes at the confirmation that they have no intention of letting any of the slavers walk away alive.
Tara 's gaze turns to Leah, shooting her an uneasy glance, but she's quick to look down at her datapad again, eyebrows furrowing slightly.
Leah studies the datapad for a few more moments, missing Tara's uneasy looks. When her attention leaves her datapad, she scans over the group one final time before asking, "Any questions?"
Nathan silently shakes his head. The questions he has are for no one except himself right now. Just a cacophony of self-doubt and painful memories stirring around in his head like a stew. He keeps his eyes firmly planted on the datapad. Work. Work will distract him.