Fandom Fight for Control [closed]

[Lucyfer]

As Thenn tried to see more than just a cracked ball in the orb, Kylo’s observations would allow him to see a green liquid beginning to pool in the cauldron that had not been there before – the life, the Force, of the planet seeming to manifest within it. Steam rose and would warm his face, the scent much like the ichor.

Of course, it was the ichor, and the incense would taint the air with its power, amassing as it pooled in the cauldron.

As someone sighed, who wasn’t there.

Thenn heard it, and whipped right around, seeing a figure made of the green steam who looked old. Tired, and worn, even though he wasn’t physical, but ghostly. He did seem to perk a bit as he realized that, well, he was visible. “Oh.”

“Ghost!” Thenn sounded more excited than any child should for seeing a ghost.

The man with the long hair laughed a bit at that, “Yes, I suppose I am, young Thenn.” And he’d tried to watch her, just as he’d watched her mother, and her grandmother, when he had to take one of the first priestesses of the wood from their planet to protect them from the hardships of the Metal Clan.

Qui-Gon Jinn could only worry about her, now, and the path she was on.

~***~

Speaking to Lavinia was as unnecessary, in some ways, as speaking to Kos’tel’lanni. From this point on, they’d have to assume that Lavinia had told the Resistance everything that she could since she became Armitage’s aide. That was the only way to be safe.

She didn’t need information from her. Perhaps that was a blessing to Lavinia, as Reveille learned her brother was no longer with her, and stepped into the room.

Evidence of her tears remained on Lavinia’s face; the streaks on her cheeks, the puffiness of her face, and her red eyes. If she wanted to start acting haughty and bitchy again, it would fall flat in the face of her obvious distress.

Not that Reveille imagined she would fare much better. She felt hollow. Going through the motions.

“What were you telling Kos’tel’lanni?”

In the end, not much mattered to her, except why she was losing her friend. Kos’tel’lanni’s curiosity spared the spy, but the spy had maintained the relationship, too. Given Kos’tel’lanni more reason to doubt the Order, even if she would have died for it.

And she would have.

Doubts or not, it was what she had chosen, and why she didn’t fight now.

 

[cleopat]

His brow furrowed as Kylo attempted to get a closer look. A strange, green liquid pooled in the bottom, which strongly contained the Force. Steam rose and assaulted his senses with a familiar smell he recognized from the ichor.

What is…?

Kylo backed up, which was then he saw the figure made of the green steam. The man was unfamiliar, but he looked older, tired, as if they disturbed him from his eternal slumber. He instinctively moved over to Thenn, as if he could protect her from this ghost.

A ghost who knew her name.

“Who are you?” One arm moved in front of the girl to push her slightly behind him. Protecting her from whoever and whatever he was.

~~

Lavinia didn’t have to wait long for Reveille to arrive. There wouldn’t be any tearful declarations or last-minute apologies, she was certain.

Reveille hated her from the first moment they met, and now she had her vindication.

But, she wondered, what would happen to Kos’tel’lanni? Did she suffer the same fate? Would Reveille sentence one of the few people she considered a friend?

Lavinia didn’t want to know that answer.

“Anything she wanted to know about the Resistance. In return, she would tell me about the First Order. Nothing classified, but she wanted me to open my mind to her reasons for supporting the Order.” And because of Kos’tel’lanni, and because of Armitage, she know longer fully believed in the Resistance. Her thoughts were all over the galaxy.

 

[Lucyfer]

Ben Solo.

Kylo Ren.

Qui-Gon Jinn knew him as he looked at him, for how could he not? He had found Anakin Skywalker. He had taught Anakin Skywalker, in the end, how to converse with the ghosts, too – when no one else would. He had never given up on him, and he’d argue with anyone that Anakin did bring balance to the Force.

Balance it desperately needed, and balance that Luke nearly ruined.

Oh, Jedis.

He managed a tired smile for the man, “Qui-Gon Jinn. You’ve never heard of me, Ben,” Ben. Named for Ben Kenobi. A false name, but nonetheless, what Leia had known his padawan as. “I knew Th’er, Thenn,” he addressed.

Thenn perked a bit, “My grandma?”

He nodded, “I was watching you. I wanted to make sure you grew to become much like her, but, well, let’s say Nyx and I don’t get along too well,” he chuckled, some humor to it, and Thenn pressed forward a bit. Not around Kylo’s hand, but still an obvious lean forward, obvious curiosity.

“Why not?”

“Philosophy, really. She has an interesting view of things, but it isn’t mine. Of course, since I was killed by Darth Maul, that’s not terribly surprising.”

“I’ve heard of him!”

“I’m sure you have. He’s considered a hero by many of the Nightsisters and Nightbrothers.”

“Why did he kill you?”

“I was trying to save Naboo with my padawans.” Plural, of course, “Anakin Skywalker and Obi-wan Kenobi.”

~***~

Anything except for Resistance secrets, but Reveille didn’t need that clarification. She imagined it went both ways. Kos’tel’lanni didn’t need to offer anything, of course. Lavinia was already aide to Armitage Hux, who had been Supreme Leader during most of her stay on the job. Kos’tel’lanni could hardly offer her more access to anything.

But of course – the Chiss wanted to open her mind.

Of course, Kos’tel’lanni was looking to turn a spy, and learn the same things they all needed to know – why the Resistance even had supporters.

Reveille’s expression didn’t so much as shift. It was too much energy to be mad. Too much energy to feel, after meeting with Kos’tel’lanni. The thought of walking into a blazing inferno was more tempting than feeling anything. She wasn’t even sure she’d feel the flames. “I see,” the words were too distant to be a true acknowledgment. “That is all, then.”

Perhaps she might have had more to say, in other circumstances. Perhaps she should have, but she thought she might need to go speak with her brother.

 

[cleopat]

Of course the ghost knew his name.

Kylo found it in him to stop questioning things he didn’t know.

And he knew Thenn too. A history with her grandmother, it seemed.

He didn’t know what to make of this ghost yet. Qui-Gon didn’t seem to be a malevolent spirit, but simply a tired one. One who dealt with much in life.

He knew Nyx as well. Was this the reason the ghost was there? The shared connection between the three of them? Kylo need more information.

And he opened his mouth to demand more information, but Qui-Gon delivered two names he knew quite well. Anakin and Obi-Wan. His eyes widened.

Padawans...a Jedi knight? “Why are you here?” he demanded, yet he hoped to seek further information on Anakin Skywalker, if he was his grandfather’s Master.

~~

Reveille had fewer words to give Lavinia than Armitage had. She supposed it made sense. Armitage had already gotten information from her, while Reveille with Kos’tel’lanni.

Had Reveille had actually exchanged a kind word to Lavinia, she may have added in something else to say.

She merely nodded and rested her head back against the chair. Lavinia accepted that the next person to walk through that door would be coming for her execution.

~~

Sergeant Crev Ulluto shifted the laundry bag over his shoulder. To most, they would assume he was headed to the laundry room that was only a corridor down from the interrogation cells.

But Crev, known as Adrian Pax to the Resistance, had another destination in mind.

Kos’tel’lanni’s cell wasn’t in direct line of sight for the door to Lavinia’s, so Adrian didn’t have to worry about constantly checking over his shoulder for the Grand Marshall, and he saw the Supreme Leader leave the area earlier.

He still wasn’t completely sure what was going on, and why he was rescuing the Admiral, but Valo told him to, and everything will be explained later. So Adrian didn’t question, he followed the direction.

And he couldn’t linger in Kos’tel’lanni’s cell for too long. Once he went in, they had to follow through the exact plan in a matter of minutes. People will notice when two high-profile spies and prisoners are gone.

The cell door opened for him, and in he walked, the laundry bag, with two stormtrooper uniforms inside and two accompanying blasters. “I suppose you don’t have an allergy to lothal cats, do you?” The code Valo told Adrian to repeat to Kos’tel’lanni, to let her know he was the Resistance.

Without an answer, he walked forward and opened the cuffs.

 

[Lucyfer]

Qui-Gon gave a shrug, “I have been watching Thenn,” that should be obvious, he thought, from how he addressed things before, “And I have talked with Nyx, on occasion. But mostly, I am watching Thenn.”

“So you’re a good ghost?” Thenn sounded confused. If he and Nyx didn’t get along, why did they talk? And why was he watching over her? “Did my grandma ask you to look after me?”

He smiled and shook his head, “No, I just felt that I should. I did not mean to appear like this, that tends to draw us out even when we don’t want to. Nyx doesn’t like spies of any sort,” he chuckled a bit, though he understood.
Ghosts could speak and communicate what they knew, after all. Not that many were able to hear.

Kylo certainly wasn’t. He knew Anakin had spent a good amount of time yelling at his thick-headed grandson, all for naught. Snoke had trained such reception out of him.

~***~

All that Reveille and Armitage knew of connecting to others, they had learned with the Cadets. Though they had striven to have a connection, it was not always easy for them, and certainly not when they were both strung-out on emotions they had difficulty processing.

Reveille had not been certain what to expect when she stepped into her brother’s room. The ice blue couch was still there, and she nearly paced towards it, nearly sat, to give some cue that his attention away from business was desired, but she didn’t.

His snapped, “What do you need?” broke her from that thought.

He was pristine. Hair slicked back, attire pressed. No fault could be found even in the bags under his eyes. “About the prisoners.”

“I’ve spoken with Lavinia,” he said, as she already knew, “she questions her place now. She’s no martyr,” she wondered if he might suggest mercy, for a half-second hoped for it, but he said, “I think it should be quick. To Kos’tel’lanni, I’ll leave—”

“Quick,” she interrupted, and his glare showed how fried his nerves were, at being interrupted, “Public, for both.” She added. This wasn’t what she meant to discuss when she brought up the prisoners.

“Did you learn something in particular?” He arched a brow, and again she fought against the scream that this wasn’t what she wanted to talk about.

“No, but a message must be sent,” again, that distance pulled at her vocal chords, as she realized there would be no talking with Hux. Not while his datapad was on the desk in the other room, and she could tell he was going over details for their next movements, their next plans. Doonium. He wanted to cut ties with Kasabian and find an alternative, then.

Though he hesitated, he still agreed, “We cannot let people think they can spy on us and get away with it.” Even if it would be quick. Death was still final. And there was no need to break Kos’tel’lanni or Lavinia in labor, as prisoners. If anything, that wouldn’t end well with their skills, and their knowledge, of the Order. “This evening, then. I’ll see to the arrangements. Was that all?”

‘No!’

“Yes,” she inclined her head, “I am going to take a look into a matter on Chandrila of another rebel cell,” there wasn’t one, it was a lie, but they were close enough to Chandrila and with its history, and his distraction, he wasn’t going to question her.

He just gave a curt nod, already halfway back to his work in his own head, and Reveille left him to it. ‘You’re the distraction.’ Her ship was easy to find in the hangar, and she went through the motions of starting it up, before a message was sent to Terex.

Coordinates.
And a request for hair dye.

~***~

Kos’tel’lanni also anticipated that her next visitor would be the executioner, or the one to take her to it. Though she knew she was losing track of time, she had not considered she had lost that much time – that it was so late already – when the door opened again. She couldn’t look over her shoulder to see who it was, but eventually, they came into sight.

She didn’t recognize him, though that was no surprise – this was the Finalizer, she couldn’t be expected to keep track of everyone.

His statement, however, nearly had her laugh.

Nearly had her cry.

Apparently, one good turn deserved another. Perhaps some part of her would linger in her guilt and consider she should stay, should die, but she wasn’t enthusiastic about that. She couldn’t redeem herself to anyone if she was dead, and so she didn’t protest at all as the cuffs were taken off, and she began to be released.

“I am…but I think I’m going to just start taking a shot for it,” she chuckled her own answer, moving from the chair and noting the armor there. No need to question that, either. She would immediately move to start putting it on.

 

[cleopat]

Kylo continued to remain baffled by this ghost. Who apparently has been watching Thenn.

He almost wanted to pick-up Thenn and take her away from this Qui-Gonn.

“Why did you felt like you should watch her?” Was she in some sort of danger? Did he fear for her? Or maybe he felt it was some sort of favor to her grandmother?

But then he was curious to know, “How...common is it for ghosts to watch others?” Which only led him down the line of thinking if one did the same for him.

Impossible. Kylo was certain he would know if something watched him.

~~

Adrian offered his own slight smile at Kos’tel’lanni’s response, watching her as she took the trooper uniform and put it on with no hesitation.

Yes, he figured, Valo knew what he was doing in asking her to be released with Lavinia.

“We have a very narrow window to make our escape before anyone notices what’s going on,” he whispered as she put on the last of her trooper uniform. The Huxes were gone for now, either likely making arrangements or overseeing how to get past this stain on the Order.

And now Adrian would be joining them in escape, as security cameras would recognize that Sergeant Ulluto aided the women.

Adjusting the laundry bag back over his shoulder, Adrian made his way back to the entrance of the cell. He peeked out to ensure no one was headed their way.

Empty. Quiet. Good. “Come on, we’ve got one more stop to make,” he whispered. Once Kos’tel’lanni was fully dressed and ready to leave, he would make his way down the hall towards Lavinia’s cell.

 

[Lucyfer]

Qui-Gon Jinn couldn’t help the chuckle at Kylo’s query, “She may be. She is a powerful girl with a strong connection to the Force. That remains a desirable thing in this galaxy for those who crave power,” it was precisely why Nyx killed her mother, when her mother refused to give over her child. She made it seem like the Metal Clan had done so.

A glorious battle.

No one was any wiser, given the Metal Clan had shown up.

Nyx intended to meld that girl into another loyal weapon, another Nightsister who would have an army of others prepared to fight and die for Nyx’s causes, heedless of what was best. “She is an heir to a spiritual tradition and people as well. She has allies by default with her name. She is always in danger.”

To tell Kylo it was Nyx, however, was stupid. Qui-Gon already understood enough from Anakin, and from the general history of Skywalkers, to know that. The seed would have to be planted, and take root, and those roots took a while to produce a blooming flower. He hoped these thoughts would root – that she was a child. That others wanted to meld her. He hoped he would start to see that in Nyx.

“But it is not common for us, I admit, I’m still rather more sentimental than most. Still going against the norm, even in death.”

“What were you in life?” Thenn asked.

“Well, they called me a Jedi to my face,” he sounded all the more amused by that, “They even offered to make me a Master, once, but…no. The more I consider it, I was not truly a Jedi. Obi-Wan Kenobi was, and I’ll never know how I got things right with him.”

~***~

Chandrila was a quick jump from where she was, and the coordinates took her to a hangar, where she knew she’d have to erase the video later, if only to hide her survival. That would be easy, for her, and Terex was already there, waiting. She wondered how much closer he’d been, or if his ship really was just that fast.

She wouldn’t put it by him, either way.

She pulled a knife from within one of the sleeves of her uniform and lanced it up her arm, drawing a deep slash that she let bleed on the floor for a few moments. It might mean nothing. It might mean nothing. But if there was evidence of her blood there, even without a body, they might accept she had died.

She staunched it before stepping out, not needing any blood to offer a trail, “Self-destruct in one minute,” she told the ship, and it whirred the affirmative, as Reveille took nothing but what she wore, on to Terex’s ship, and said simply to him, “Erase the hangar’s security footage. Destroy it.”

“Already figured you’d want that.”

“We have a minute to clear the hangar.”

“Heh….” Terex shut the door behind them, not asking questions right then, as he set the ship to move swiftly off the hangar.

From the sky, they both watched the hangar as a portion of it blew up, possibly killing some, but certainly destroying ships. Reveille just looked listlessly out of the viewport at it. That ship had been her pride and joy, and now it was gone. Terex had expected more of a reaction. The lack of one bothered him, although he supposed, given his directives…perhaps he should have expected it.


“So, where are we going?”

“You’re taking me to Hoth.” Reveille answered, “And you’re leaving me there.”

“What?”

“I’m going where you can’t follow.” Where no one, ideally, would follow. It was the one secret she’d kept for Kos’tel’lanni, and would take to her own grave – the location of Csilla would never be known, not even to Terex.

Terex considered, “I didn’t pack you clothes for Hoth.”

“A few credits and I can get a coat.” She shrugged, and pushed off from the wall then.

“You’re gonna need a new name.”

“Think of something,” she gestured, “The dye…?”

“Yeah, in the back,” he said, and watched as she walked off, the clothe she was holding to her wound dropping.

‘Well, I wouldn’t have given you a shit name like Reveille.’ He almost laughed as he considered what the hell he would have called her, knowing why she couldn’t pick that herself. Someone might recognize her habits. He’d figure something out.

“TEREX WHAT THE FUCK?!” Ah, there was a reaction to something.

“You never said what color!” He replied easily.

~***~

Kos’tel’lanni nodded mutely as she was warned of the narrow window. Of that, she knew. She had worked enough with First Order security. If Reveille was still active or paranoid, they might not have any window, in truth. However, she didn’t think that was likely from their meeting. Reveille hadn’t seemed concerned, and Garmuth likely wasn’t wasting his resources watching prisoners, even if the Order had a terrible problem of prisoner escapes.

She couldn’t say she felt right in the Stormtrooper uniform, though. It fit, somehow, but she felt lanky and awkward in it, like she hadn’t since she was a teenager.

Still, she followed the stranger out, knowing who he meant as he indicated they had one more stop. ‘Lavinia….’ They would both make it out of here, and figure out what to do.

Kos’tel’lanni hoped they wouldn’t expect her to drop everything and join the Resistance. She didn’t think that she could do that. That was betrayal on another level, to start fighting her friends.

 

[cleopat]

Kylo glanced down at the girl in question as Qui-Gon mentioned her strength. He knew this. He felt her potential. Thenn had much to learn, much to grow into, and as a child, she did need to learn how to grow.

Which Kylo felt Nyx was doing for her. He felt she was the child’s best bet at a great future, so that she may flourish and be able to help her planet.

He looked back up at Qui-Gon. A Jedi. So he was right. But, he didn’t feel like one? Kylo didn’t know such a thing was possible. Surely those who became Jedi knew that’s what they wanted.

But you didn’t want that.

No, he didn’t. He wanted to be like his grandfather.

“If you didn’t accept your Jedi title, then what did you call yourself?”

~~

Adrian hurried out of the cell, down the corridor, and turned the corner to where Lavinia was being held. The door slid open before them, and Lavinia’s face wasn’t immediately visible to them.

Which meant, she couldn’t see them either. Naturally, her heart sped up as she thought this was the moment she would be taken away, but she couldn’t find it in herself to cry anymore. It was useless.

“Don’t you like Lothal cats?” Adrian asked.

Lavinia almost cried. She almost laughed. A disbelieving smile did cross her face. “One once bit me, so now.” Adrian walked around to face her. She didn’t recognize him, but she knew exactly what he was.

The cuffs unlocked. Lavinia noticed the bag as she stood from the chair, which was when she also noticed the stormtrooper. One eyebrow raised, she glanced at Adrian, a questioning look on her face. He simply nodded, and she hurried to take out the trooper uniform and put it on.

It was awkward. It felt weird. But she didn’t dare complain about it. “We need to hurry,” Adrian whispered once more, leading them out of the room. Lavinia held the blaster to her body in Stormtrooper fashion.

He had already secured them a ship in a nearby hangar for departure, citing his reason to check up on the supply shipping of a nearby planet. There was a miscalculation, and he personally wanted to go see what was going on.

Very few passed them in the corridors, which he considered odd. So did Lavinia. But neither questioned it. They did pass two stormtroopers right outside the hangar, who were walking in the opposite direction. “I think she finally lost her mind, and that’s why she blew up her own ship.”

“Do you think what her Admiral did had anything to do with it?”

They trailed off before Lavinia could hear any more, but her eyes widened. What happened…?

Adrian didn’t say anything as the doors to the hangar opened, and he led them towards a shuttle.

 

[Lucyfer]

“Mostly, I called myself Qui-Gon,” Qui-Gon couldn’t help a little humor, although he imagined Kylo would take it about as well as most he spoke with. Not well. It didn’t answer his question, and he knew that only too well as he considered how to answer.

Of course, he had called himself Jedi.

Yet he had found himself ever at odds with the council, and his Master had left them entirely. Sith had been wrong for Dooku, and Qui-Gon still felt that to this day, no matter how deep Dooku went. He never went full dark side – he never lost his physical capabilities. He had control, in everything.

“There have always been extremes. The Sith, the Jedi, the Knights of Ren,” extreme dark side, that, he knew only too well. “The middle never gets talked about much. Most of us got swallowed up in one title or the other. My Master, Count Dooku, or Darth Tyrannus, I never thought he was much of a Sith. The Nightsisters were never meant to be Sith, either.”

Their practices were dark, but still closer to the center, still more middle and balanced. Nyx would corrupt that. “I suppose I always considered myself more in line with the Gray Jedi,” he answered at last. It was a term he had become aware of late in his life, after encountering the Force Priestesses, and he had not gotten to consider it long in his life.

The Jedi was still there – the implication of leaning to the light, or trying to do good, but he thought it was…better.

~***~

Reveille came back to the cockpit later, as they were nearly out of lightspeed. Her hair was no longer its infamous ginger, but pink, and Terex couldn’t mask the smirk on his lips as she sat down, grumpy, in the co-pilot’s seat. She was also no longer in white, but he’d found a blue top for her, and a pink skirt that billowed around her. There were other things in the bug-out bag, all colorful.

All something she’d never in her life wear.

“I hate you.”

He managed not to laugh, but he couldn’t get rid of his grin, “Come on, no one is going to recognize you. And if you grow out your hair, even better,” he stated, and she just huffed, though it was a consideration. It wouldn’t stay pink. Once she got to Csilla, some normalcy could be resumed, “So what do you think of Cordé Sloane?” He knew the last name would at least appeal, even if she wouldn’t know Cordé or where it came from, or why it occurred to him.

Sloane, she knew, and it was not a name she would have given herself, even if it was a name she would have preferred to Hux.

She was silent a few moments, thinking it over, “It will work,” she answered, as they came out of lightspeed above Hoth. It was more of a stop-over planet, although some archeologists had taken to looking the planet over. Most just used it as a stop to other places, and it boasted a few nice resorts now.

Terex took them into the hangar of one of those ports, “You sure you don’t want to come to Kaddak? The Ranc gang is going to need someone when I’m gone.”

“Heh…thanks, but no thanks,” she said, as she rose from her seat, Terex not long after her. She picked up the bag and slung it over one shoulder. “You never saw me.”

“Not at all. You died on Chandrila.” He agreed. A secret they’d keep.

There was a pause, a moment where Reveille considered embracing him, but in the end, she didn’t move closer, and he didn’t reach out, either, recalling Takodana. “Goodbye, Terex.”

“Take care, Reveille.”

He let her off with that, and she went to go purchase passage to another planet, knowing she’d have to get closer to Batuu, in order to call Eli Vanto, and get the fuck out of the galaxy. She took a seat in the lobby to wait for her ship, and the first stop, and started digging through the other things Terex had grabbed for her.

Her hand found a bag of lemon drops, and she laughed to herself, before she popped one in her mouth. ‘I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Armitage.’

~***~

Lavinia recognized the cue easily, and Kos’tel’lanni smiled behind her mask as she observed the woman’s relief, but she didn’t say anything. Saying anything was a risk they didn’t need, and so she was silent as they walked out of the area, silent as the stranger helped them get by security with a reason. They were just going to check on a shipment.

Simple enough.

None of them would be returning.

She was alert, though. She didn’t imagine that was terribly abnormal amongst Stormtroopers, given they should be alert for anything that might happen, but it allowed her to hear a comment about someone blowing up their ship. A her. A her who was impacted by the Admiral.

‘Reveille?’ Kos’tel’lanni managed not to stop or draw up short, but she turned her head to watch as the Stormtroopers continued on, straining to hear any additional details – to verify if it was her.
Couldn’t it also be Rani?

‘Her Admiral.’

No, no it couldn’t be Rani, and Kos’tel’lanni knew that. Reveille blew up her ship? Was Reveille…?

She didn’t follow after them, much as she wanted to, but snapped back to attention and continued to follow the stranger, though she desperately needed to ask about what was happening.

The answer came in a shout.

“WHY ISN’T MY SHUTTLE PREPARED?!”

Armitage Hux was in the hangar, his cat at his heels, yowling at him – and Kos’tel’lanni couldn’t help but think the creature was trying to tell him to settle down, to calm down. “I need to get to Chandrila, now.” His eyes looked wild, even from this distance.

“I-I’m sorry, sir, the refueling—”

He cut them off.

He saw the other ship that was about to be loaded and he made his way towards them, “Sergeant,” he recognized, “I’m commandeering your ship to Chandrila, immediately.”

 

[cleopat]

No, Kylo didn’t appreciate the little joke Qui-Gon decided to tell, but fortunately he didn’t think to just stop on that joke. If he did? Well, too bad ghosts can’t be killed again.

Qui-Gon talked about the extremes, which he knew well already, but he then went into a discussion of the middle ground. A side he couldn’t recall anyone ever mentioning to him. Kylo didn’t even know there could be anything other than light or dark.

Could he be lying?

No, what did he gain from lying?

“The Grey Jedi?” Kylo reiterated out loud. No, he hadn’t heard of them. “I haven’t heard of them before. If you are speaking the truth, why is that name unknown to me?”

~~

Lavinia tensed at the shout. She hadn’t seen Armitage react in such a way in a while, and for a second, she wondered what had him manic.

Her thoughts drifted back to the stormtroopers in the corridor, and what they were talking about. So was this Reveille…?

She didn’t care, but Kos’tel’lanni would. Armitage would. And her heart would ache for their pain.

Armitage stormed over to them, and Adrian did not show any hint at nervousness. He didn’t even sweat. “Of course, Supreme Leader.” How could he refuse the man who looked crazed and ready to attack anyone who dared to refuse him?

The cat ran after his owner, yowling and weaving between his legs. Once she neared the disguised troopers, she took a pause, and sniffed the air, recognizing a familiar scent. Meow. Lavinia scowled as she silently urged the cat to go the other way.

No such luck. Millicent followed the scent until she came up on Lavinia’s legs, where she then gave a loud hiss.

Adrian led them into the shuttle, and Lavinia followed as she ignored the cat who had started scratching on the armor of her legs.

Are we just going to casually ignore how Armitage will be in this shuttle with us?

 

[Lucyfer]

Qui-Gon’s smile was amicable, “If Darth Sidious had his way, you wouldn’t even know of the Jedi,” Qui-Gon noted, “Do you believe he is the only one who has tried to erase certain histories? Even the Jedi did. Talk of Gray Jedis was forbidden, the names and histories of anyone who tried to make it a thing, soon erased with time. It was a greater threat to the Jedi than the Sith, in truth.”

Thenn was curious, “What were the Gray Jedi?” She asked.

“Force-sensitive people who fought for the light, but understood balance,” he expressed, “Those who know the Force is neither light, nor dark.”

“But you just said they fought for the light.”

Again, that small little smile, “So I did. You’ll have to forgive me, little Thenn, I was raised a Jedi. By light, I mean what is good. Fighting for hope, fighting to better lives, fighting for understanding – using their powers for these things, without discrimination when it came to what powers they used,” he answered. “The Jedi and the Sith both fought for control, in their ways, both blind to it, though, maybe not the Sith. They seemed a little more honest on that point.”

The Jedi, not so much. They obfuscated it, not realizing their traditions and voice in the Senate were their methods of control, and how they silenced so many other things.

~***~

Days slipped by on ships and in ports.

Reveille did not know if Terex had a tail, but it was not something she could risk, so she hopped from port to port, until all the faces seemed to blur together and the exhaustion of so much travel started to eat away at her. No one seemed to recognize her as she moved, the name Cordé Sloane never inspiring so much as a second glance. Not that anyone was asking for identification.

She had a credit chip and enough credits.

She had a new datapad, by the third day, to make sure she could try to transmit the message to Eli Vanto. ‘If he’s still alive.’ It would still be at least five days on Batuu. That’s what Kos’tel’lanni had told her to expect, once upon a time.

Batuu was soon in sight, her transport mostly containing supplies and a few travelers who couldn’t afford a better way to it. She had worked a bit on the ship, as well, but once they landed, she grabbed her bag and left to find a hotel to put herself up in at the Blackspire Outpost.
She’d seen it before, the petrified trees reaching towards the sky, the town looking as if it should be condemned. How it got by remained a mystery to Reveille. It didn’t even have a good network to send messages out – thus the delay. They didn’t usually ping them ahead until they reached about 100 or so messages. Frustrating, but it was what she had to deal with.

She moved through the town, green dress covered by an overlarge brown shawl as she walked towards Oga’s Cantina, knowing that in order to get anywhere she’d need to, more or less, get Oga’s approval.

Otherwise the price might exceed what credits she had left.

The cantina was busy; it was about the only place both those who lived in the Outpost and visitors went to, after all. The droid DJ was playing music, and Reveille recognized one bounty hunter among the crowd before she forced her gaze forward and towards the counter.

Now was not the time to show recognition for anyone, and she quickly took a seat at the counter. She considered throwing her shawl over her head to hide her ridiculous hair, but opted not to when Oga came forward. “Blurrgfire,” Reveille said, tacking on, “Please,” as an afterthought.

Drink first, negotiations later. First she had to pay a bit.

Oga didn’t seem to recognize her, as she went to fetch the drink Reveille requested without question. Good.

~***~

Kos’tel’lanni followed Adrian, passing a bemused look to Millicent, but more concerned about what was going on with Armitage. Millicent would follow, as Lavinia moved up with them.

Armitage had gone to the cockpit, apparently heedless of the fact he was being followed until he reached it. He hadn’t time to sit down before he realized he was followed in, and he turned around, a scowl on his face as he looked at the man, “I do not need your presence, Sergeant,” he stated, “Go tend to your business on another shuttle – you can use my command vessel.”

Armitage didn’t care about it in the least, not when haste was what he desired, and no interruptions.

Kos’tel’lanni bit her own tongue so she wouldn’t speak. He’d recognize her voice, even through the helmet. Could they just leave and go to his shuttle? It seemed the easy answer, as Millicent jumped into the co-pilot’s seat.

Then again, no one heard Hux give that order. They might not be believed, or there might be a delay, and a delay meant problems. Risks that they couldn’t afford, if they hoped to get out of there alive.

 

[cleopat]

Kylo raised an eyebrow. He still didn’t know what to make of the ghost’s words, but he supposed he had a point. He knew of the erasure of the Jedi. Hell, he tried to finish it.

But their legacy continued in Rey.

The Gray Jedi? That was new for him. Kylo couldn’t recall a time he ever learned about their legacy, and so he listened with as much curiosity as Thenn did. Fighting for understanding.

Understanding is what he desired.

And understanding how it could be possible for someone to embrace both the light and the dark intrigued him.

“These Gray Jedi, did they felt torn between both the Dark and the Light?” Could it be possible for him to fully embrace both sides?

~~

“They must have done something to her. Why else would she chose to go down this path?” Valo walked alongside his friend, Oola, as they made their way into Oga’s Cantina.

“You learn enough about an enemy, and you become sympathetic to their cause,” the togruta responded. One hand moved to adjust the sleeve of her jacket a bit. “But remember, she still hasn’t betrayed us. She’s still a friend.”

Valo scoffed. “For now. Who’s to say what she will do in the future?” He moved them over to the bar, sitting near a woman with an oversized shawl. Neither one paid attention to her.

“You know she won’t. You can’t honestly think that after all that has happened.”

He sighed. Oola was right. “I know.” A wave of his hand had Oga moving in their direction. “Two Batuu brew.” Oga moved to fetch the drinks. Valo figured it would take him a few minutes, as the bar was buzzing this time of day.

Oola changed the subject. “Did this negotiator friend of yours said where he will meet us?”

He shook his head, hair bouncing in his face. “Not a friend. And all he mentioned was that it will be in the cantina, nothing much.”

She sighed. “Of course not. We could be waiting here for hours. You’re paying for the drinks and food.”

~~

Lavinia wanted to kick the cat, but she couldn’t bring herself to harm the beast. Even if they despised each other.

Adrian frowned at Armitage’s instruction. No, they very much could not wait on Hux’s shuttle. Their lives depended on this one. “I’m sorry, Supreme Leader, but we can’t do that.”

His blaster raise, and Lavinia, thinking he had intention to kill, knocked Adrian out of the way. “No!” They had created a commotion on the shuttle, one that Armitage would immediately question. Her blaster was set to stun, and Lavinia fired on Armitage.

Millicent meowed in protest. She jumped down from her co-pilot seat and climbed in Armitage’s lap, who had been rendered unconscious from Lavinia’s shot.

Adrian moved to close the ramp, and once it latched shut, he turned to face Lavinia. “What the hell? We had a chance to kill the Supreme Leader of the First Order! The architect of the Hosnian Cataclysm!”

“No, we can’t!” She removed her helmet and threw it on the floor.

“And why not?” he challenged, to which Lavinia didn’t know how to answer. At least, an answer that Adrian would accept.

Instead, she changed the subject. “Come on, we need to get out of here before we lose our opportunity.”

 

[Lucyfer]

Qui-Gon Jinn shook his head, “You can’t feel torn by something that isn’t real,” Qui-Gon stated, managing not to smirk at Qui-Gon’s question.

“But Nyx says that too much dark side leads to physical harm.” Thenn stated. “She says she’s seen it, that eyes get weird and skin ages quickly.”

Qui-Gon nodded, “And that is true, but that is not because of the dark side. That is because one drains themselves too quickly. Tell me, Thenn, if you ran a mile, would you be tired?”

“Uh huh.”

“And if you ran five, you might collapse, wouldn’t you?”

“Yeah….”

“Then it is possible that if you use your own Force, your own energy, for too long without replenishing yourself or resting, that you would harm yourself, isn’t it?”

“Uh…hm. Yeah.” She agreed.

Qui-Gon smiled, “That is all it is. The Force has no divisions. What you imagine as division is within you…a moral conflict. And I am certain the Gray had these. We all have them. I had them. I was told not to take young Skywalker as my padawan, and I did it anyways. I did not feel good to take the young boy away from his mother, and I did not feel good to defy the will of the council, but I felt right in doing what I had to by him.”

~***~

Others came into the bar after Reveille had been given her drink, which she was nursing, waiting for Oga to get a spare moment. It looked like that might take a while, as more entered the bar, coming to sit by her. She spared them a glance, and barely managed not to do a double-take.

‘Scruffy rebel and friend.’ Their names came a moment later. ‘Valo and Oola.’

The likelihood of either recognizing her seemed slim, but she didn’t want to risk it. Their orders were placed, and Reveille decided as soon as Oga returned with their drinks, she’d figure things out with Oga.

It didn’t take too long, and all the while she got to listen to Oola and Valo talk about meeting a negotiator here. Something she needed to avoid. More rebels.

Oga came back around with the Batuu Brews, “Excuse me,” Reveille spoke in Sy Bisti this time, rather than basic, thinking it might do some good in disguising her voice.

She also figured neither Valo or Oola would know it. Oga looked her way, “Need another?”

Reveille shook her head, “I need a place to stay for about five nights, and tips on getting a message out.”

“Well, for the right price, I can make sure the messages are sent tomorrow morning….”

“Of course,” it was always credits, wasn’t it? “I’m sure there’s a good bottle of whiskey I can buy that would accommodate that,” as in she’d pay a ridiculous amount for the bottle and she’d see that the messages would get out.

“I have just the thing – it should get you a discount on the room out at Alley, too. Just a tick.” And off Oga went, leaving Reveille to hope the damn whiskey was worth it. Stars knew she’d need it after sending a message to Eli, and then trying to figure out how to explain to him how everything had gone south with Kos’tel’lanni.

What if he didn’t help her get to Csilla?

~***~

Kos’tel’lanni had little interest in getting involved with the argument, but she was grateful for the action that Lavinia took. She let Lavinia and their savior argue, as she knelt to straighten Hux up into one of the chairs. Millicent hissed at her, but returned to his lap once he was in a chair.

It was only after he was situated that Kos’tel’lanni took off her helmet. “I’ll fly,” she said, “We need binders on Armitage, now.” She moved to the pilot’s seat swiftly, figuring no one would argue with the Admiral piloting the ship. “It’s better to keep him alive,” she added, “We have a negotiation piece if we need it, with Reveille.” And she was willing to negotiate.

Perhaps she shouldn’t have said it.

But she wanted to hold on to that hope while she had it, to the thought that Reveille was fine, that Hux was reacting for other reasons, and the Stormtroopers meant someone else.

At least, long enough to get them out of the hangar, and into lightspeed, which wouldn’t take long at all.

They could get the binders on Hux in that time.

 

[cleopat]

By something that isn’t real.

But it was real, wasn’t it? The pain he felt. The pain that tore at his mind.

But...was it nothing more than a moral conflict? Early, Nyx had shown him what the Force was trying to say. Were these the moral conflicts he needed to overcome to put his mind at ease? It would be a long struggle until he could do just that.

Kylo glanced back at Qui-Gon. “Can you tell me more about the Gray Jedi?” He tried not to sound too much like a curious child seeking tales of legends.

He just wanted more information on these Jedis he never heard of before. That was all.

“How did they come about being Gray Jedis?” Kylo wouldn’t be able to explain why he wanted to know more. He just knew he was curious to seek more information. To learn more. Although he felt that Thenn was just as curious about them as he was.

~~

Valo paid no attention to the woman beside him speaking in Sy Bisti. But Oola picked up on Reveille’s voice from the sensitivity in her lekkus, and thought how familiar the voice sounded.

Familiar enough to look up at the stranger from how she was speaking.

Oola nudged Valo, who shot her a confused look at he sipped on his Battu Brew. She silently gestured to the woman sitting beside him, to which he glanced over curiously.

With the colorful outfit and pink hair, he didn’t recognize her at first. Valo looked back at Oola, a questioning glance, but something then clicked in his mind.

And he gave the woman another glance.

Oh.

“You’re looking rather colorful, aren’t you? Didn’t think you knew anything other than white or black.” Valo didn’t glance at Reveille as she spoke, but it was clear his words were directed to the woman beside him.

~~

Lavinia agreed with Kos’tel’anni. She moved to place the binders that attached to her trooper uniform on Armitage, ignoring the way Millicent attempted to scratch her arm, and she removed the blaster he had away from him.

As she did this, Adrian sighed. His hat was thrown onto the floor, his fingers running through strands of hair. “About that,” he would begin after they were safely off the hangar. Lavinia finished securing Armitage, after which she turned to look at Adrian. “Reveille died on Chandrila. Self-destructed her own ship.”

The news froze Lavinia. So her suspicions were correct. She felt no sorrow for the woman in question, but she turned to look at Kos’tel’lanni, wondered how the news would effect her. Effect Armitage.

The cat chirped, pawing at Armitage to wake him up.

Lavinia moved to sit in the co-pilot’s seat. “I’m so sorry.”

 

[Lucyfer]

Qui-Gonn was not surprised by the curiosity of either Thenn, or Kylo. Though Kylo was stubborn, he had shown as much curiosity as Anakin, and so Qui-Gon nodded. “I can hardly speak for all – I have never met one,” he indicated, “but in my own case, it was the slow realization that the Jedi were wrong, in so many things. I think their hearts were in the right places, but…,” he sighed, he shook his head, “they were afraid. As afraid as the Sith are.”

Of course, they expressed it differently. Two sides of the same coin. “In my time, the Jedi held much power in Coruscant, and throughout the galaxy. We brought children into our ranks, and though I was one of them, I always questioned it. These were not people given a free choice in matters. We also claimed to stand for peace, and we were against things like slavery, and all the other wretched things…but we allowed it. We were not standing on Tatooine, using the Force to end slavery and criminal activity there. We were resting in Coruscant, contented on our power and influence, that we did not use.”

He had struggled with it for years, he had argued with the Council hundreds of time, wasted his breath and come back exhausted.

A dreamer.

An idealist.

He had been labeled these things and more, and he had stood alone. He wondered, if he and Dooku had talked more, if they would have found a way to work together. If his political influence, and Qui-Gon’s own passion, could have led them down another path, together.

“I could not call myself a Jedi with all the ways I disagreed with them, and all the ways I went against them, but they kept me. To let me go, to let me call myself anything else, would have risked their entire structure.” Dooku had simply left for more personal reasons. He did not take a stand, until he was a Sith. “And I knew no better. I knew the Jedi. I knew what it stood for. I liked the idea of it,” a wane smile, “but that was all it was.” The traditions kept the Jedi from ever reaching that.

“There were others, similar, who fell off because of disagreements in their life. Perhaps you’ve heard of Cora Vessora?”

~***~

Valo pitched his voice differently, and Reveille understood the words he spoke to her. ‘No, you don’t. Cordé doesn’t.’ Her mind emphasized. She supposed she could pretend, for the sake of the disguise, not to understand Basic.

Still, she had to look due to the way Valo pitched his voice. She thought she might have to speak to explain she didn’t understand – even if he, also, wouldn’t understand. Sy Bisti wasn’t spoken much outside of Wild Space and the Unknown Regions, and most protocol droids didn’t even know it anymore. Reveille was betting he wouldn’t understand it.

And yet – he wasn’t looking at her. He was looking straight ahead.

Her confusion remained on her face, but she just looked away and shook her head, dismissing it. She could assume he was still talking to his friend without addressing him.

She briefly considered opening up her datapad to look busy, ‘It’s all in basic.’ Right. Damn it. So she had to just nurse her drink instead, which really was too fruity even if it had that kick of spice she enjoyed. An actual fire with the burn of the alcohol.

It helped.

~***~

Kos’tel’lanni kept her gaze straight ahead a few moments, working to set the lightspeed coordinates, as the news struck. ‘Why?’ Reveille might have self-destructed her ship for a few reasons. Suicide, she supposed, was among those reasons. Rebels was another – she would indeed sooner die than let anyone take her ship.

There was a third option, of course. Reveille could merely want to look dead.

She took a deep breath and rose from the pilot’s seat. The possibility of death was higher than that of life, and Kos’tel’lanni knew it. Particularly on Chandrila. “Was a body recovered?” She asked, her voice remaining even.

She appreciated Lavinia’s words and the sentiment behind them, but she didn’t spare her a glance. She also knew that in spite of how Reveille had considered herself and Lavinia ‘even’ on Takodana, they had never become friends, and Lavinia’s opinion had never skewed favorably. She would not be someone she could speak with, or grieve with.

Armitage was starting to stir. No surprises, of course – the Huxes never stayed down for long, and with Millicent’s constant batting, that was likely helping a bit. Her purr practically growled forward as he twisted a bit, and tried to adjust his position, slowly becoming aware of it as consciousness seeped back in.

His hands were behind his back as he straightened up in the chair, that wild look back in his eyes as they settled first on Lavinia, before moving to Kos’tel’lanni, and then the Sergeant. He glared at them all, “So who the hell are you, Sergeant?” Apparently, another damn rebel on his ship.

 

[cleopat]

Qui-Gon made sense, and Kylo knew that should have confused him. And it did. What was he to make of the differing opinions on the Jedis and Siths? It was obvious he didn’t care for the Jedis, despite once being a part of them, but there was an option other than the Sith as well.

And he acknolwedged the flaws of the Jedi. Flaws that many of the First Order were aware of, and exploited to get their own agendas across. The Republic and the Jedis worked for so long, and corruption and crime still occurred all across the galaxy while they did not care.

Kylo wanted to ask him more about what animosity he felt against the Siths. Against Nyx.

“I’ve heard of the same,” Kylo admitted. But as he shifted through his mind, nothing more came up for the name of Cora Vessora. “Who was she?”

~~

Reveille ignored him. Or, someone else ignored him. Valo guessed that she wasn’t on Batuu, with different hair and...different clothes.

It didn’t surprise him that she tried to ignore him. But he was too curious to learn why she was all the way in Batuu.

So Valo turned to look at Reveille, who almost seemed like a stranger with her pink hair and green dress. But it was unmistakably her at closer glance. He couldn’t forget the icy blue of her eyes.

“So my question is,” he started, not wavering his gaze from her, “is what is it you’re running from? Have things started falling apart?”

Valo wouldn’t further specify what he meant by that, but gauging what he did know of Lavinia and Kos’tel’lanni, or at least the last update he received from Lavinia, days ago, something big was going on in the First Order. And her appearance confirmed that suspicion.

~~

Adrian shook his head. “No, not that I’ve heard of.” No body, just blood. Even to him, that didn’t seem right, but he didn’t question it. The Grand Marshall was gone. The Supreme Leader was at his mercy. He was happy.

Lavinia had her own doubts of the situation as well, when it was revealed no body was recovered. But she didn’t dare say anything more on it. Not with the calm reaction Kos’tel’lanni held.

She was distracted with movement over from Armitage. She rose to her feet and faced him. The crazed look in his eye sent a shiver of fear down her spine. She was thankful for those binders on him. Until he calmed down.

“I’m sure you’re smart enough to figure it out.” Adrian loosely held his blaster at his side. Lavinia remained on guard for any stupid moves. “But I’m Adrian Pax, of the Resistance.”

“I’ve never heard of you before.” Lavinia wasn’t surprised she hadn’t. She imagined there were others in the First Order who remained unknown to her.

“And I didn’t know about her before I received a message from a mutual friend of ours.” Valo Rivas. “But what I don’t understand is why we’re keeping him alive.” At that, Adrian lifted his blaster to point it at Armitage once more.

To which Lavinia immediately moved in front of. “Because I said so.”

 

[Lucyfer]

Qui-Gon Jinn elaborated, “Cora Vessora was called a witch, which is a rather biased way of saying she was neither Jedi nor Sith. Personally, I would see her as a Gray Jedi. Her story was immortalized in an opera, with her at the center, as the heroine. The Sith killed her family, and the Jedi would not help her – yet they wanted her to join them, to forsake her attachments and join them.”

Qui-Gon shrugged, “She did not, of course. It’s a tragedy; Cora takes her revenge on the Sith who killed her family, and she tries to take down the Jedi, but there she fails. The ending is a trial, and it has one of the most beautiful soliloquies I’ve ever heard where Cora rages at the injustices of the galaxy, of attachment, compassion, and love.”

“But why did the Sith kill her family?” Thenn asked.

Qui-Gon’s smile only saddened, “They wanted Cora, as well. They wanted her to give in to her anger and to her hatred, to destroy the Jedi.” He shook his head. “And she did…but she destroyed the Sith instead. Not that the Sith are ever really gone. So long as there are those that crave power above all else and wield the Force, the Sith will live, in some form, or another.”

“Nyx isn’t that bad, though!” Thenn thought to defend.

Qui-Gon’s smile wavered. He knew, to tell her what Nyx had done, would not go over well. “Then why does she call herself Sith, and not Nightsister? Why does she choose that title over the other?”

Thenn pursed her lips together at that. She didn’t know. “What she chooses, suggests her thoughts.”

~***~

Okay, now he was looking at her, and Reveille had to look again as he actually turned himself and spoke to her. She understood his words, but she kept her expression confused. Her brows knit together, and she spoke in Sy Bisti, “I don’t understand. Do you speak Sy Bisti?”

Which, she knew, he wouldn’t. Or else he might have already tried the trick of switching over.

Unfortunately for her, Oga had been on her way back, and she dared to translate, “I think he knows you. Or he thinks he knows you,” Oga said in Sy Bisti, “He wants to know what you’re running from.”

Reveille started to shake her head, and offered Oga an answer in Sy Bisti, “Going to meet an old friend. Not running from anything. That’s why I have to get a message out,” she turned to Oga as the whiskey bottle was placed in front of her.

Oga translated, “She says she ain’t running from anything, just heading to see an old friend. How do you know her? She doesn’t seem to know you,” Oga said, before giving an amount to Reveille in Sy Bisti. Reveille took her credit chip out of the datapad and passed it forward to Oga to get it scanned and checked out.

Damn the luck.

~***~

No body. Kos’tel’lanni knew it was foolish to hold out hope. Explosions could certainly scatter body parts, and if the fire burned hot enough, there would be nothing left. And Kos’tel’lanni knew how that ship was programmed – Reveille wanted nothing left. But there was blood left. ‘So maybe she was attacked?’

Rebels then. Rebels would cause her to self-destruct it, and….

And she’d be dead.

Kos’tel’lanni’s heart sunk at that, not feeling much fear or concern as Hux woke. His reaction made too much sense, and when Adrian dared threaten him again, she moved her own hand to her blaster.

She was no longer First Order.

She wasn’t Resistance.

She was now the Ascendancy.

“We appreciate your assistance, Pax. We can drop you off somewhere,” Kos’tel’lanni said, “but Lavinia is correct, we are not killing Hux. The Grand Marshall was the one to choose mercy for our mutual friend and release them back to the Resistance. We won’t harm the Supreme Leader any further.”

“So kind of you to care about the Grand Marshall now, Stella,” Hux spat the core name, but Kos’tel’lanni did not flinch. He was angry. She would not let those words get to her.

 

[cleopat]

The story was an unfamiliar one, but one that won’t leave Kylo’s mind for some time. A Force user torn between the two sides, driven by desire and hate.

It was something Kylo could resonate with to an extent – torn between choosing, while others wanted him to somehow embrace both. Her story led him to believe that happiness would not be possible for him.

He was forever destined to struggle until it ended in his own personal trial.

“Darth Nyx was trained in their ways. It’s only natural for her to want that title that hints at her power and training background.” She was an apprentice of Darth Vader. Who wouldn’t want to be remembered for that?

Kylo knew what Nyx was capable of, but he concerned himself more with what she strived for today. “She cares about us,” he glanced down at Thenn as he spoke.

That he was certain of, right?

~~

She was a damned good actress, Valo had to give her credit for that. Reveille continued to feign ignorance, and Valo should just give up and continue on their way.

But he had time to kill, and he was too damn curious for his own good.

“She says that, does she?” He took a sip of his drink. Oola just watched in slight amusement. She didn’t care if Reveille continued to brush them off. She obviously had her own plans, although Oola would by lying if she said she wasn’t also curious.

“Maybe I’m thinking of another old acquaintance with a blue-skinned friend she would love to hear about.” He didn’t know completely what happened between Kos’tel’lanni and Reveille, but he knew the Chiss was sentenced to death. He knew that didn’t happen.

But did Reveille?

~~

Lavinia couldn’t imagine the pain Kos’tel’lanni felt. And Armitage’s harsh words? He didn’t help matters right then.

But he was bound. He was unarmed. He couldn’t actually hurt them right now.

So her back was turned to him as she faced Adrian. “As she said, you can be dropped off at whatever port you want, and we can all go our own separate ways.”

Adrian looked in slight disbelief. “So you’re just abandoning the Resistance like that? Abandoning saving the galaxy?”

She swallowed. “I don’t belong anywhere right now. Tell them I’m sorry, but I can’t go back.” General Organa, Poe, they all would be crushed with her. She couldn’t bare to imagine how they would react to the news. She didn’t want to.

“Then you’re a traitor,” he spat. Lavinia flinched, but she had nothing to say to that. Maybe she was. She was a traitor to everyone.

 

[Lucyfer]

“Is it?” Qui-Gon queried, “You were brought up to be a Jedi, but you do not cling to that, even though you were trained by the one who bested her master,” he noted. The strength of that connection, of his legacy, would be something most would want to retain, by his own theory about Nyx. “And you, Thenn, are no Nightsister by legacy. You are a Priestess of the Wood. Do you not intend to go back to that?”

“I do…,” she murmured, “but I can be a Nightsister, too, can’t I?”

He smiled, “Perhaps,” he couldn’t argue that, necessarily. “But you would have to pick a side. If it came to it. To be Nightsister, or Priestess of the Wood.”

“Wood! But I’d never – the Nightsisters would always support me.”

So innocent.

So naïve.

“I hope you are right,” Qui-Gon said, rather than correct her outright.

~***~

‘She’s dead. I know that already. She’s dead.’ Yet, Reveille couldn’t help the sidelong glance she gave Valo as he spoke. Was she not dead? Hope crept in, in spite of it all, but that hope was ripped away by Oga rounding on her and speaking in rapid, harsh, Sy Bisti.

“Are you with the Chiss?!”

Reveille looked taken aback immediately. ‘Oh. Shit.’ Oga wasn’t a fan.

“No, no, my friend is not Chiss,” she denied, but Oga continued their rage.

“I will not have the Chiss back here – every time they show up, it causes ruin. Every time.” The whiskey was snatched away, before Reveille could reach for it. “You can leave. You can get off Batuu. Bring their destruction elsewhere."

“I’m not—my friend is human, Eli Vanto!”

Oga sneered, “Ivant?” Reveille had heard that before. It was what the Chiss who couldn’t understand human naming conventions called Eli. She paled. “So you are with the Chiss.”

“No—”

“Out!” Oga pointed to the door.

“My credits.”

“No.”

Reveille considered lunging across the counter and strangling Oga in that moment, but the bounty hunter she’d seen earlier had risen from their seat. Perhaps they were a part-time guard for the cantina now?

Reveille just glared daggers into Oga at the demand, but stepped back, “Fuck you, Valo!” She snapped at Valo in Basic, even if it wasn’t his fault. Neither of them could have known that Oga would react that way, and Reveille stormed out.

Great. No credits. No ship. Nothing but her datapad to pointlessly send messages and hope they were, eventually, sent from the planet’s network and out to Eli Vanto. ‘Well you could look for work at the shipyards, try to get to Mokivj….’

~***~

“Tell us what port you want to go to, Pax, or I will take you to Takodana,” Kos’tel’lanni offered, moving back to the pilot’s seat in order to set coordinates. She had been planning to jump to Mokivj, but that now seemed out of the question with this situation. Takodana was neutral.

“And what about me?” Armitage glowered. “Are you dropping me off there as well, Stella?”

“No, I am not,” one, Armitage would kill Adrian as soon as he got the chance. “If Reveille isn’t with the First Order any longer, that means Aksel Schaeffer has just usurped power, Supreme Leader,” she kept her tone even, “I believe you understand what that means for yourself?”

He stilled. It wasn’t terribly noticeable, given he had offered the appearance of trying to get comfortable and situated in his chair, but at that he stilled.

He did know what that meant if Aksel Schaeffer was in charge, and exactly how that story was being spun. Armitage wasn’t kidnapped. He had willingly helped the prisoners escape. He’d find some way to make it make sense, and make sure the Order would never trust him.

The Order had just been lost to him.

 

[cleopat]

Kylo had no immediate response to Qui-Gon’s observation. He was right. Raised as a Jedi, yet further trained by those on the Dark side. So what was he? He was neither Jedi nor Sith. He was a Knight of Ren, who still lived. But was he more than that?

Thenn also had hope that the Nightsisters would continue to support he. Kylo believed they would. How could they not? They practically were helping to raise Thenn. She was the youngest Nightsister, and if he had been so easy to want to protect her, the others had to feel the same way.

He frowned. “How long have we been in here?” Kylo had lost track of time. Did time even flow the same way in the cave? The cave seemed odd enough, and despite the time that had passed, Nyx may be wondering where they had went.

“We should probably head back soon.” He directed that at Thenn, looking down at her. She was curious, and he was curious too, but they could only remain for so long.

~~

Valo and Oola could only watch in silence at Oga shooed away Reveille. Neither had expected such a hostile reaction from the cantina owner. With everyone she dealt with, why such a reaction with the Chiss?

They normally stayed out of things enough to not cause any harm, right?

Valo downed the rest of his drink, to which Oola stared with an unamused expression. He finished, and they hurried out of the cantina and after the woman who left.

Neither one knew why they followed, but they had to. A life for a life, right?

Even if they were enemies, they still felt like they owed her a favor.

“Wait!” Oola called out. Valo repeated the word. Her hair wasn’t hard to spot, and they caught up to her. “We know something happened,” she continued, before Valo added in his own words.

“But we may be able to help you."

~~

Lavinia resisted her urge to shoot Armitage a sympathetic glance. He wouldn’t appreciate it. No doubt he would blame her for part of what’s going on.

Maybe some of it was her fault.

“Just take me to Takodana,” Adrian growled. He wasn’t pleased with the turn of events. He had saved Lavinia from execution, and she wasn’t even going to follow him back to the Resistance?

A part of him wished he had left her there. It had been a waste. He could’ve stayed back, collecting more information for the Resistance.

Lavinia sighed and began to peel off the white armor of the trooper uniform, revealing the black outfit underneath.

Maybe she would contact her old friends, Borran and Tanis. They would accept her back. She could stay with them for a while, until she figured out her own path from there.

 

[Lucyfer]

Thenn shook her head. She didn’t know. She looked to Qui-Gon, who just laughed, “Time does not mean much to me any longer,” he didn’t have a real sense of it, “but I cannot imagine you’ve delayed too long,” he added. Conversation didn’t really take all that long, and he didn’t think this had been an hours long conversation.

He wouldn’t keep them.

He wouldn’t advise further.

They had to find answers for themselves. He knew, with Kylo, being too blunt and critical would not work. But he hoped he had put seeds in his head. If nothing else, he would get to tell Anakin he had spoken with him.

“Will we talk again, Mister Qui-Gon?” Thenn asked.

“I hope so,” was how he answered, and that was enough for her to smile.

“Okay! We’ll go then. Take care!”

“Thank you. May the Force be with you, both,” he said, including Kylo with a glance.

~***~

Reveille contemplated turning around, and just decking whichever was closer. Oola, or Valo, it would get them to go away, wouldn’t it? She also considered walking faster, but in the end, she did pause, and she did turn right around, fury in her gaze. She’d been holding it together this long, and it had all been going so smoothly, until now.

Because of course it was all going to get fucked up at the last minute, wasn’t it?

She scoffed that mocking laugh as Valo suggested they could help her. She didn’t believe they’d even want to, even if what happened inside hadn’t been their intention. “Oh yeah? And what do I have to do, go with you to the Princess, start talking Order secrets?” Reveille shook her head. “All I want is to get away from here.”

So maybe she was running.

“Kos’tel’lanni is dead, I know that. And I know your friend Lavinia must be, as well, and I did that.” They had no reason to help her. She had seen the friend who helped them to her grave. She ousted Kylo from the Order, she killed Kos’tel’lanni, and she killed Lavinia, who in the end hadn’t done any harm…none at all.

Who Kos’tel’lanni may have turned if given enough time. “Can’t you just let me go? I’m not going to return to the galaxy.” She wouldn’t bother them again. Not the Resistance. Not the Order.

Her voice was more pleading than she’d like it to be, but there was no reversing that, no putting steel in it right then. She had a blaster, but it was tucked in her bag. She knew she’d hardly have time if they tried to stun her or something.

~***~

Kos’tel’lanni pulled them out of lightspeed, to readjust the coordinates. Thankfully, her original plan had taken them much closer to Takodana, so it would be a fairly quick jump.

She didn’t know where to go after that. What she’d said about Armitage was true, and it was sinking in for her, as well. Keeping Armitage with them was a death sentence, but sending him out like this would get him killed.

They all needed to take a minute.

And Kos’tel’lanni still needed to mourn, but first things first: getting the Resistance member off the ship.

Hux went back to adjusting himself, showing his obvious distaste for the bindings and his chair as he did so, while Millicent tried to placate him with purrs and kneading his lap. He ignored her. “Well at least one of is allowed to get comfortable,” Hux growled that at Lavinia as he recognized her stripping off the armor. “You should keep it on. It suits you. You look like a proper traitor.”

FN-2187 came back to mind.

The entirety of the Order under Schaeffer came to mind.

 

[cleopat]

Thenn’s childlike curiosity continued to warm him. She enthusiastically told a ghost to take care, and he had to stop himself from smiling at the innocence.

Kylo didn’t respond to Qui-Gon’s departing phrase, but he did acknowledge with a small nod. He had much to think about with his words. Thoughts he didn’t want to think about.

“Come on, let’s get back,” he urged Thenn, shifting her to the entrance they came through. Nyx may have noticed they were gone, to which Kylo didn’t know how she would react.

Or maybe no one noticed at all. Or simply didn’t care.

Snoke would have cared in the worst ways.

No, he’s not with Snoke now. Nyx wasn’t like him. She was kinder, and cared more about himself than Snoke ever did.

~~

“And that’s how we know something is going on.” Valo was the one who spoke up. He and Oola remained a few feet away from Reveille, the fury in her gaze suggesting she wasn’t opposed to striking one of them if they said the wrong thing.

But Valo sighed, and he did move forward one step. “Your friend and Lavinia are still alive. They escaped.” Beyond that, they didn’t know much else. It was all Lavinia offered them. She wouldn’t even tell them where she was headed.

‘Security reasons,’ they had thought.

And given the recent events, the recent upheaval, they felt like they had to help her somehow.

“We’re not asking you to go to General Organa and revealing top First Order secrets.” Oola stepped forward. “But you look like you could use some assistance.”

~~

Lavinia ignored Armitage’s harsh words to peel off the rest of the armor. She heard them though, and they echoed deep in her soul.

A traitor to the Resistance. A traitor to the First Order. Who wasn’t she a traitor for? Even to myself I’m a traitor.

Adrian followed behind her once the armor was completely removed. “I urge you to reconsider this,” he hissed. His blaster still loosely held in his grasp.

Lavinia shook her head. “I can’t do that. I guess I’ll just be a traitor to everyone.” She gave neither man a further glance before walking over to Kos’tel’lanni.

“Do we have a plan for after Takodana?” The question was a whisper. What was there for them to do? And with Armitage with them, much was at stake.

 

[Lucyfer]

Thenn might have wanted to explore the ruins more, but she didn’t go about doing so. She did pause once out of the cave, and she lifted her hands up again, focusing hard to bring the illusion back into place, brows knitting together, before she just sighed in frustration as nothing appeared. “I’ll have to tell Nyx to fix it,” she, clearly, didn’t think she’d done anything wrong as she ran ahead.

She’d just tell Nyx they were in a cave, they met a ghost, and she didn’t have the ability to put the fake wall back up. Simple.

Unlike Kylo, she didn’t stress at all about Nyx’s reaction. Her history hadn’t given her a reason to fear, or to be paranoid. She would help to lead the way back to the camp, through the forest, so they could return to a more active camp of Nightsisters milling about.

And one of the heads of the Nightbrothers, which caused Thenn to pause on the outskirts of the forest. “Huh,” she canted her head as she saw him speaking lowly with Nyx, curious, but aware she probably shouldn’t interrupt business.

Thankfully, he moved on soon after, to a ship.

~***~

For a moment, Valo and Oola stayed back. Then Valo stepped forward, stating that Lavinia and Kos’tel’lanni were alive. Reveille struggled with being both relieved and furious. Obviously, she wanted Kos’tel’lanni alive – but that meant Armitage had failed to kill them, and his reputation in the Order would have taken a blow. ‘And you’re not there.’

She tried not to think too long about her brother being alone in the world. It was better for him. Better for her. Attachment had led them both down bad paths, becoming too trusting.

Her gaze shot over to Oola as she approached, saying that she wouldn’t have to go to the Princess. Should she believe that? No, absolutely not, but she knew she needed assistance. “Given my last credit was just taken, I’d say that’s obvious.” Though they likely hadn’t paid that much attention to the cantina situation, or understood any of the Sy Bisti argument.

Still, her posture relaxed a bit. She remained wary, but neither of them were acting as if they wanted to hurt her. Not yet, anyways. She knew she shouldn’t be trusting, but help was help. “How are you so certain Kos’tel’lanni is alive? Lavinia?”

Her brother wouldn’t have turned merciful.

~***~

Without the baggage of Armitage, Kos’tel’lanni would have more seriously considered heading to Batuu or another planet where she could more easily contact Csilla and inform them of the situation. Find out about new orders, or if she should return home, or deal with Zeme’lodi’csapla first.

With both Lavinia and Armitage, as it seemed Lavinia wasn’t going back to the Resistance, she didn’t know, and she shook her head silently as the whispered question came forward. She didn’t know where to go. She wasn’t sure what to do.

She wanted to make sure that Armitage was safe, somehow, even if that was an impossibility. At least, safer. She supposed she owed Reveille that.

‘Rani, Jinnah….’ She wondered how they would fare when Schaeffer took over. She couldn’t imagine it would be well. He wasn’t exactly friendly to non-humans. She could too easily imagine things twisting terribly.

They’d come out of lightspeed above Takodana, and Kos’tel’lanni would silently bring the ship down. “We should ditch the First Order ship soon,” she murmured to Lavinia.

 

[cleopat]

Kylo almost offered to try and bring the illusion back up, but after Thenn failed to do so herself, she ran off, and Kylo, not wanting her to get lost by herself, ran after her. They would have to tell Nyx what had happened, which he dreaded.

He couldn’t help but to think of how Snoke had punished him in the past for not doing exactly what was told. Punishments were severe. Would Nyx be the same way?

Thenn paused to watch a Nightbrother talk to Nyx before moving to a ship. He was curious like Thenn was. He hadn’t seen a Nightbrother before. “Do you know who he is?” he asked.

If not, he may risk asking Nyx if she wasn’t upset with them and their little adventure.

~~

Oola and Valo remained cautious around Reveille. Not because for fear of an ambush by other First Order officers, that they knew wasn’t likely, but because she still seemed volatile. She could act like a cornered animal, attack anyone who approached her.

“Because we received a message from Lavinia just three days ago. She’s traveling with Kos’tel’lanni, though she wouldn’t say where. In not exactly these words, she said shit went down, but she wouldn’t go into any further details than that.” Valo was the one to speak, taking another step forward, though hesitantly, in case Reveille wanted to bite back.

“I’m suspecting your reasons for being here, in that...disguise, has something to do what what happened with those two.” He nonchalantly motioned to her entire body.

There were still many questions they both wanted to asked.

~~

Lavinia agreed with Kos’tel’lanni. The ship should be ditched soon, but what were they to do with Armitage until they could secure their own ship?

After they get a new ship, then they could concern themselves with what their next step should be.

“What should we do with Hux while we’re getting a new ship?” she murmured her question. “Should one of us stay in this ship while the other secures a new one?” Lavinia didn’t trust him to be alone, even if it may be easy enough to knock him out again.

Adrian sighed as he walked up to them to look out the viewport. “Lavinia, this is your last chance to change your mind and come back with me.”

She shook her head. “Tell everyone I’m sorry, but I can’t. Not anymore.”

Takodana neared. There would be no convincing her in the next few minutes, this he understood.

 

[Lucyfer]

“Nuh uh,” Thenn shook her head as Kylo asked, and then, immediately, moved to Nyx as the Nightbrother left, “Nyx – I, uh, I went to the hallowed city with Kylo,” Nyx’s eyes widened in brief alarm, and she looked up to Kylo, as Thenn continued, “There was a ghost there – Jinn – but I couldn’t close the cave up. I’m sorry. I didn’t pay enough attention.”

Nyx sighed. She almost seemed exasperated, “That is all right. I shall have to teach you next time. Thank you for telling me,” she would have to go close it then.

Jinn, though.

Jinn was not the ghost she expected around Kylo. She had been more concerned someone else might have been drawn forward. Anakin was her Master – but after his death, they no longer saw eye to eye. She knew he was disappointing and frustrating him in some things, but she could only imagine how such an encounter would impact Kylo.

She had learned to accept that Anakin had gotten…sentimental. She had tried to explain to him, again and again, that what she was doing was right, but he wouldn’t see it.

He would, one day.

“Kylo, if you’ll excuse me, I do need to go close that up now,” just in case, “I will return shortly if you need to speak,” for, she suspected, he might after Jinn. Or he might dive right back into the fire.

~***~

The caution of Valo and Oola was warranted; even Reveille would have given them credit for it, in another mind. She wasn’t herself, and she did feel trapped. So she eyed Valo as he dared another step forward, posture shifting slightly to make sure her angle kept him more forward, instead of off to a side.

By her own calculations, Kos’tel’lanni and Lavinia should have been dead 5 days ago. 3 days ago, meant they’d escaped and been away a while. That shit had gone down due to it was not much of a surprise.

“This has worked for multiple days, I’ll have you know,” it was a good disguise, damn it. Valo just got lucky. That wasn’t an answer to his statement, though, which was searching for one even if it didn’t outright state it.

How did she even answer it?

Of course, Kos’tel’lanni and Lavinia had something to do with it. The Order had something to do with it. Sienar had something to do with it. Meeting Leia had something to do with it. A mass of things had something to do with it, where Reveille couldn’t say she knew what she was doing, but she knew what she wasn’t doing…and she wasn’t killing Kos’tel’lanni. She wasn’t supporting a system like the Order, any longer.

“I couldn’t kill her.” An attachment issue. “I couldn’t defy my brother.” She’d gone to speak with him but in the end…couldn’t. Another attachment issue. “I did what I could.” She left. She condemned Kos’tel’lanni, true, but she hadn’t defied Armitage.

Except Kos’tel’lanni lived.

~***~

Armitage might not be able to hear their whispers, but he’d paused to stare at them as they continued to talk. He could guess they were talking about them, and he struggled to read lips, or to make out sounds well enough to know what was being said.

Alas.

Kos’tel’lanni was aware they couldn’t leave Hux alone. She was wary of any of them being alone with him, but trying to take him out to get a ship wouldn’t go over well. She could already imagine the scene that would be caused.

She hesitated though, thinking about it as Adrian again tried to talk Lavinia into going with him, and again was denied. “One of us should stay with him,” and she added, “I can,” she suspected if something happened – if Hux got out of his seat, Lavinia might hesitate.

That hesitation would be her death. She had feelings for Hux.

If Hux had felt something, it was likely, currently, eclipsed by rage.

Kos’tel’lanni settled the ship down in the hangar, “You can go now, Adrian. And thank you,” she doubted he expected her to go along with him, so she didn’t think her words, or her gratitude, would be terribly offensive.

She wasn’t sure where to go for a ship, but they could discuss that when Adrian was gone.