It was deep into the evening before Nelaa decided to abandon her little tree in the field and go back to her quarters. Hel had left her almost immediately after De'Ville had, inquiring if she needed to be led back to the town, and leaving immediately when she wasn't. She spent the first hour just watching the stars go by, connecting them together in her mind and giving them little names. It was a meditative action that allowed her to completely clear her mind and entertain herself for a bit. Soon though, she was using the newfound organization in her mind to reconstruct and reflect on what she had seen and done that day.

"I've committed treason today." She thought to herself. There was a time when she could think of no worse action than the one she'd taken today. "But the events that De'Ville spoke of..." The nastier actions that the Empire took were rarely on an official record, but Nelaa knew they went on. There was nothing that couldn't be accomplished if the machine of government was allowed to function but the lure of power always drew out the psychopaths. Sadly, it was the psychopaths that the Empire would be judged by, and there was no good system in place to eliminate them. "But that may change soon..."

It occurred to her why she found her actions so unsettling. "All these years, I followed a simple formula: Receive mission, complete mission, repeat. My influence was based on how well I executed someone else's goals. I've just gained the ability to truly change the shape of this Empire." She looked down at the cut across her palm. "I don't really know what this means to De'Ville, but I know it's something her Mandalorians will take very seriously. She wouldn't have done such a gesture just to impress or intimidate me. She means this."

She stood up and pulled her glove over her right hand then dusted herself off. She felt that, after all this runabout, she was not just walking back to her quarters, but taking a step into a new galaxy.

"And this galaxy doesn't realize what is coming."