As soon as the fighter landed on the surface of Tamaran, Starfire took each of her friends by the hand and flew down the streets of Tamaran.
"You know where you're going?" asked Jennifer over the sound of rushing wind. She glared at Nightwing. "Did you even stop to think about what we would do when we landed on the surface?"
"Well no offense," Nightwing said as they flew further down the Tamaranian streets, "but I was still expecting a welcome party when we got to the ground. I was going to plan after we took them out."
"There is no need for that," said Starfire. "I already know where we can take shelter. The people we are about to meet are most loyal to my father. I know we can count on them to hide us from the Citadel."
Before they had sent the Citadel ship into the Tamaranian moon, Starfire had pointed out it would be wise for them to wear cloaks to hide their faces. If anyone saw them, they wouldn't know who they were.
Now they stopped before a small house very close to the palace gate. Starfire motioned for the other two to stand back and she knocked on the front door. A few seconds later, it opened to reveal a middle aged Tamaranian couple.
"Who are you?" the husband demanded. "Why have you come here? Show me your faces." Starfire lowered her hood, and the man's wife gasped in surprise. "Koriand'r?" said the man in equal surprise. "They told us you were dead."
Starfire shook her head. "Never believe any of the lies the Citadel whisper through their forked tongues. I have come to finally free our people from their subjugation." She smiled. "It is good to see you again, Krissand'r, Galfore."
The Tamaranian woman, whose name must've been Krissand'r, motioned for Starfire to move inside. "Hurry, before the guards come. Curfew is almost in effect. Galfore, let her friends in too."
"Hurry," ordered Galfore.
Nightwing and Jennifer nodded, following Starfire inside the house. As soon as Galfore closed the door, he ordered them to remove their cloaks. "My little bumgorf, you must to tell us what you have been all this time."
"It is quite a tale," agreed Starfire, "but there is a more pressing matter to attend to. What has been happening to our people?"
There was silence, then Krissand'r looked through the window to see a Citadel patrol pass by the streets. Covering the window, she finally made her way to the stove. "We have much to discuss. Much has transpired in the years since you were taken from your father. There is so much we will have to fill you in on." She turned to her husband. "Why don't you start? I will make us something for all of us to drink."
As Krissand'r set to work on the stove, Jennifer tapped Starfire on the shoulder. "Hey Star, I can't understand a word your friends are saying."
Nightwing looked surprised. "That's strange. I can understand them perfectly."
Starfire blushed. "Oh, well. . .that would because of the. . .um, lip contact I performed when I first met you."
Jennifer didn't need her to continue. "Let me guess, when you receive knowledge through your lips, you also transfer it as well." Starfire nodded and Jennifer held back a laugh. "That's okay. If it's all the same to you, I'll just interpret what they're saying."
Their attention was brought back to Galfore, who grunted as he took his seat by the table. "The day after, you were taken as your sister's slave, Lord Trogaar came before us and announced a new set of rules. The first was to put a curfew into effect. No one is to leave their homes anymore after dark."
Starfire nodded. "That means meetings or gatherings in the evenings are prohibited?" she asked.
Galfore nodded. "As you can imagine, we were ordered to turn over all of our weapons in the name of the Citadel. Our military forces were forced to either surrender or be slaughtered before our eyes. I wanted to strike down Trogaar right then, but I knew I would not be able to protect my wife and my people if I was slain."
"What about my father?" asked Starfire timidly. "What became of him?"
"Alas," replied Galfore sadly, "we have no idea. When one of us asked of his fate, Lord Trogaar only laughed and adjourned the summons. Since then, we have been forced to perform jobs of labor for the Citadel. There have been attempts at resistance, but all have failed. We feared this occupation would not end in our lifetimes."
Starfire shook her head. "I have come across entire lightyears to turn back now. I will no longer allow the Citadel to murder and rob our people anymore. The time has come for action to be taken once more."
Silence. The only sound was that of Krissand'r setting down glasses for them to drink. "Koriand'r, you are your father's daughter. This, there is no denying. But are you sure of what you are saying."
"I am," replied Starfire. "I have sworn to free my people, and I that is what I am going to do." She peered at the covered window. "But there is something I must do now."
She started to rise, and everyone else stood up too. "What do you think you're doing?" asked Nightwing.
"I must learn of my father's fate."
"But you can't go now," insisted Nightwing. "I know you want to know what happened to him, but it's too soon to think of doing that. What we need to do now is wait for daybreak and spread word of your return. You can't leave now."
"This is important," insisted Starfire throwing her cloak over her shoulders. "This is more than finding out if someone I love is still alive. My father has information concerning my sister. If he is alive, I have to get that information from him. I must know what caused her to change into a monster. It is of the utmost importance."
Starfire knew Nightwing meant well, but Starfire knew she had to do this. He looked like he wanted to protest more, but Jennifer grabbed his arm gently. "This is her choice. If she thinks this information will help liberate Tamaran, it would be a good idea for her to find out what she can."
To Starfire's surprise, Galfore nodded in agreement. "The girl is correct." To Starfire, he said, "If you believe this is right, if it is what your heart is telling you, then you must follow it. But you must promise to return here before sunrise."
Starfire nodded. "I will," then looking in every possible direction, she flew into the sky, making her way to the palace. She knew where she was headed: the dungeons.
She flew so fast, no guards sighted her. She entered through a tower window she knew would take her where she wanted to go. The moment she entered the stairwell, a guard spotted her.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" he called to Starfire. "It is past curfew. I'm afraid I'll have to take you into custody." He started to move in on her, but she launched herself at him. Like she had done recently to others in the last few hours, she held him pinned to the wall, forcing him to drop his weapon.
Lowering her hood, the guard stared at her face in astonishment. "I have a question for you," Starfire told him fiercely, "and you are going to answer it truthfully. Where are you holding my father?"
***
For nearly seven years, he had been held a prisoner in the darkest cell of his own palace. All this time, agents of Lord Trogaar would bring him news of what would be happening to his subjects. Knowing how deceptive the Citadel was, the Emperor of Tamaran never knew what to believe. However, he feared they had not been lying when they told him that Koriand'r, his pride and joy, had finally been executed.
When his cell door suddenly opened and a guard stepped in, he assumed Lord Trogaar had brought him another tormenting message. "Why have you come? What more can your master say to me that can demoralize me any further?"
Before the sweating guard could answer, there was a flash of green light and the guard collapsed unconscious. Standing over his body was a gray cloaked figure. As the figure stepped forward, the Emperor of Tamaran took a few steps back. His heart racing fast, he asked, "Who are you? What is the meaning of this?"
"To deliver a message of my own," replied a very familiar female voice. Another second later, the Emperor of Tamaran realized why. The figure removed her hood to reveal the beautiful face of Koriand'r.
"Koriand'r," gasped the Emperor of Tamaran. "You are alive. They told me you were dead."
Koriand'r smiled and hugged him. He returned the hug, but he felt troubled. Forget the fact that she had come to see him. She was not supposed to be on Tamaran at all. When his daughter finally broke the hug, she saw the steely look he was giving her.
"What are you doing here? Why have you come back?"
Koriand'r recoiled slightly, but recovered just as fast. "I have escaped slavery from the Citadel to finally break our people free from the grip of its tyranny. They can no longer be allowed to control us any longer."
"You foolish girl," said the Emperor of Tamaran in anger. "What were you thinking? You must leave now! If you are discovered, our people will be massacred! Go, while there is still time!"
Starfire shook her head. Mirroring his steely gaze, she replied defiantly, "No, my days of hiding are over. You may not be aware of it, but your people are already suffering. It must come to an end."
The Emperor of Tamaran continued to glare at her. "I have prayed you would have the sense never to return. I hoped you be smart enough to stay hidden! What possessed you to decide otherwise?"
"How dare you speak to me like this," said Koriand'r in angry defense. "I have come to help our people while you have done nothing. I came here to stop the Citadel from subjugating my people. Has your imprisonment at their hands made you forget your ability to care for their lives?"
The Emperor rose to his full height, but Koriand'r didn't flinch. "Do not dare presume thus! I care about our people, but I am not foolish enough to think I can possibly fight Lord Trogaar. Not when he remains here personally, not to mention that he has Commander Gormileaux stationed here, as well as your sister Komand'r."
Koriand'r looked as though she had been hoping for her sister's name to enter the conversation. "There is a reason for why she joined the Citadel, is there not?"
She stepped forward, until she was face-to-face with her father. "You know what happened to her," Koriand'r insisted. "You know why she chose to sell us all to Trogaar, and you must tell me."
"No!" shouted the Emperor of Tamaran. "That is not knowledge I wish to divulge ever again."
"So you do know what happened to her," said Koriand'r. "You told her something that upset her, something that made her angry enough to try and kill me on Okaara. I must know what this reason is, and you must be the one to tell me."
Something told the Emperor of Tamaran there was no talking his daughter out of this. She would not stop pushing him until he told her what she wanted to hear. He sighed in defeat.
"Very well, Koriand'r, I will tell you, but do not think you will profit from this information. You already know it was decided that Komand'r was deemed unworthy to take the throne because she been born without the ability to fly like most of our people."
Koriand'r nodded and waited for her father to continue. "That was only part of the reason. You see, your sister's birth is associated with a terrible disaster. When she was born, the Citadel attacked and destroyed one of our cities, killing thousands of people."
The Emperor of Tamaran watched his daughter gasp in shock. She knew what he was talking about, but never had he told her the attack had occurred on the day of her sister's birth. He nodded grimly.
"Many of my subjects did not treat Komand'r kindly because of this. Perhaps they believed the Citadel would never have attacked if she had been born. It finally broke her, even after I had explained things to her. I am sad to say it did no good."
Koriand'r stepped away from him. The Emperor of Tamaran expected her to say anything in denial. He waited for her to say she believed there had to be other reason. He was not expecting her to glare at him more angrily than she had previously.
"I cannot believe you. You knew about this all this time what was going through your own daughter's head, and you did nothing. You did nothing to help her. No wonder she despises me. If she always had to deal with all that resentment while I was given all that attention. . .and it was all because you did absolutely nothing to help her."
The Emperor of Tamaran tried to think of what to say, but Koriand'r didn't relent. "I cannot believe you did not try and talk her through any of that. Instead, all you did was treat me like a Tamaranian prodigy while Komand'r remained shunned, treated like an outcast. I am ashamed to know you are my father. So you are responsible for all of this. You did nothing for your own daughter, and that is why she chose to join Trogaar, why my mother, your own wife, was killed."
Rage boiled inside the Emperor of Tamaran unlike anything he had felt in years. Before he was aware of his actions, he seized Koriand'r by her elbows and pushed her against the wall. This startled her, and she must have realized she had gone too far.
"Do not dare bring your mother into this! I had nothing to do with her demise! You have no idea how much grief I felt when I lost her and you on the same day! It destroyed me! I was locked away here, used by the Citadel to make my own people fear them out of fear of my uncertain fate! Nothing I could to stop it! Nothing!"
Koriand'r stepped on her father's foot, and he released her. Her eyes were also full of rage. "But what father allows one of her daughters to be shunned while the other is treated with respect. You could have done something for Komand'r. She did not deserve any of that."
There were tears in her eyes now as she said, "All this time, I wished my sister was never influenced by a family decision. But now that I see you, I believe I know. She takes after you; you are a disgrace to your own people. Sit here if your cell if you wish, but I am going to do what I can to free Tamaran. If you ever truly cared, you would have done something long before now."
Koriand'r made to leave, the Emperor of Tamaran wrapped his arm around her shoulders. He didn't resist when she slapped it off, but she did turn to face him.
"Whatever else you think of me," he said more softly, "you must promise me this. The truth helped taint Komand'r. I will not deny I bare blame for what happened to your sister.
"But do not let yourself be tainted by this information like she did. Do not allow yourself to change for the worst. My heart is already broken, but I do not wish for it to be shattered for good."
Koriand'r glared at him, but nodded like she understood. Then she raised her hood over her face and stormed out of the cell. She stopped suddenly at the door, then said without turning around, "Just so you are aware, I got here with the help of strangers, and after what I have just heard from you, I have come to trust them more than I shall ever trust you. They have the respect that you just lost."
After that, she only stayed long enough to move the guard she knocked out to the bottom step. Then she closed the door with a tremendous force. The small cell still echoed with sound of the slamming door long after his daughter was gone.