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Astraea returned to her quarters after the nurse came back to finish her stitches. She took a shower to clean off the dirt and blood from her hair and body. After she had finished, she flopped down on her bed to rest. She was completely exhausted. The mission and time spent with Kylo had been a shred of excitement in her viciously boring cycle of days. Guilt played at the back of her mind, the Republic planets being destroyed in her mind over and over again. The fear that the First Order would turn on her was very real now. Her eyes fluttered closed, sleep enveloping her before she could fight it.
An irritating ringing filled her ears, Astraea familiarising it as her transmission device attached to her home. She looked up groggily at the clock, five hours had passed. A smile instinctively tugged her lips upward, she missed home. She stood from the bed and rushed to the device, accepting the transmission. Her sister Hestia beamed onto the device in blue hues, Astraea feeling instantly comforted. Hestia looked calm and smiled at her gleefully, a gentle hello leaving her lips.
"I've missed you! How is everything away from home?" Hestia asked, brushing a piece of her hair away from her face. She wanted to tell her everything. How bored she was, how lonely she was- her worries for the safety of their planet after the war but she didn't. She couldn't know for sure that her comms weren't monitored and speaking that way would cause unnecessary tension with the First Order.
"It's great! The First Order keep me busy." That reply alone was enough for Hestia to know she wasn't happy. After all, Astraea had been surrounded by her sisters for as long as she could remember. They knew each other better than they knew themselves at times. "I'm glad to hear. We miss you! When can you return? We need you for a royal address tomorrow, our people are growing uneasy knowing their queen is gone, fighting a foreign threat." Hestia spoke, clasping her hands.
A royal address? Astraea's eyes widened, that was a code phrase- meaning urgent matters needed to be addressed. Hestia would have just told her what the issue was if she also didn't trust the comms line wasn't monitored. Astraea's heart rate sped up, worry filling her senses- but she couldn't let it show. She and all her sisters knew how to converse in code phrases so she would probe for more information.
"I'll speak to the general once we end this transmission and ask if I can return for the address. What is the extent of the unease? Has there been a protest?" Astraea asked calmly, her asking of protest really asking if they were under threat. Hestia nodded, continuing: "Yes. Peaceful protest- but they are no longer satisfied with our statements, they need to hear it from their Queen."
They were under threat- not an imminent threat, but she needed to return urgently. Under threat by who? She was already worried about the First Order but she couldn't see them attacking now. She had to figure out who threatened her kind. It had to have been a galactic threat, her world was peaceful. There had been unrest before but never anything to warrant this kind of urgency.
"I understand. How is the weather?" She realised this may sound odd if there was indeed someone monitoring her transmission but it would be hard to take it out of context. "Still hot, the skies are clear and the stars are bright as ever. Persephone is working on the autumn in time for the new harvest." Hestia answered, a smile on her face. She was good at pretending.
