The smile dropped from Kira's face as she clicked on a series of video stills taken from the miners' last calls.
"See something?" Raider asked, leaning forward.
Kira didn't answer as she ignored the bearded man in the foreground and zoomed in on the familiar looking side profile.
"Pallas," she snarled, recognizing the half shaved head and the slant of his nose.
Kira exited out of the photo, stabbing her finger at the next one as she looked for a better angle.
"Show me your face," she hissed, moving on to the next when the previous proved disappointing.
Over and over until she stopped on the last photo. The only one where her brother was staring directly at the camera. The look on his face menacing.
Under his image, someone had typed The Enforcer.
"What is it?" Raider asked when Kira froze in disbelief.
This wasn't possible.
Pallas couldn't have been there. And Himoto had known nothing about the forty three’s organizational composition or the role Pallas played in their ranks.
Then how did he know what Pallas was to the forty three? Their enforcer.
Kira's blood ran icy as she remembered all the times Pallas had targeted the Curs. Always managing to stay just on this side of the line of what would infuriate Kira enough to go for his throat.
Making a decision, Kira twisted the tablet so Raider could see.
His expression turned murderous.
"What is it? Why do you two look like that?" Jace asked with a frown, snagging the tablet and pulling it in front of him. "Did you notice something I didn't?"
Neither Kira nor Raider answered, staring at each other in grim realization.
"The enforcer," Jace read. "There are a few other notes about him and a group called the forty three, but I wasn't sure what they meant."
Himoto had known about the forty three. Not just that there had been other survivors from the camp, but much more than that.
What else had he known but failed to mention to Kira?
The door opened.
"I don't remember giving permission for anyone to enter," Jace called, his scowl fading when Finn was the one to step inside.
The oshota focused on Kira. "They're ready."
Finally.
Kira pushed off the couch, Raider joining her.
Jace looked between them in confusion. "Where are you going?"
"You said you wanted a location and a plan before making a decision." Kira nodded at the oshota. "Well, I just achieved the first."
Time to go figure out the second.
"Sir!" A soldier sprung to attention at Jace's approach, snapping a salute as his colleague rushed to open the door to the conference room.
"At ease," Jace instructed, marching past without sparing them a look.
Kira and Raider followed, the latter jerking his head at Finn. "He's with me."
Despite his obvious uncertainty, the soldier didn't try to stop them as they entered the room.
"It would be more accurate to say you're with us," Finn said as the door closed behind them.
"We're standing in a human base. It's pretty obvious who's with who," Raider shot back.
Kira barely heard their argument, taking in the crowded briefing room.
Graydon and Wren, their oshota arrayed behind them like lethal looking bookends, stared down the three officers across from them with identical impassive expressions.
Two of the humans Kira didn't recognize. Captains, the both of them.
The third was an old friend of hers.
"Commander Hollis, may I offer late congratulations on your promotion," Kira said.
The Commander laced her hands over her stomach and leaned back to look up at Kira. "Hearing that from you feels good. Just think—if you hadn't pulled your disappearing act, you might still outrank me."
The commander was a middle aged woman of African descent with an unflappable personality and a mean right hook, Kira knew from experience.
"Coli, your friends were just informing me of their inclusion in this briefing," Graydon said, his tone dangerous as he gave the humans across from him an amused look. "Which is strange because I don't remember agreeing to their attendance."
One of the captains, a blond man by the last name of Shepperd, according to the tag on his uniform, slammed a hand down on the conference table. "Watch yourself. You're a guest in our home."
The atmosphere in the room changed. Hostility and aggression filling it on both sides.
"They're here because I invited them," Jace interjected, stopping at the head of the table "This is my base, after all. Got a problem with that?"