muchmorethanmuses
New Member
“My apprentice… I have need of you…”
Light strobed through the viewport of the small craft as it hurtled towards to the mega class dreadnought, flicking the young woman sat in its hold between light and dark, strobing her movements as she moved to stand. The craft shuddered under the speed its pilot kept it at, seeming desperate to close up the distance at a break neck pace.
“Find Supreme Leader Snoke, of the first order.”
No sooner had the transport landed in the impressive hangar and the gangplank of the ship started its decent - bare feet were already upon on it, darting forth. A gentle hand tucked neatly into the crook of the elbow of the first person who passed. “You will escort me to the Supreme Leader.” Her tone was quiet, subtle, almost breathy - and held a weight of suggestion behind it.
“I will… escort you to the Supreme Leader.” The officer she'd ensnared had been about to tell the stranger he would do no such thing-- but found himself agreeing as if she had simply spoken out loud his deepest desire and told him to act on it. Turning on his heel, he marched away, and she followed in his wake.
There, apparently in his custody, no one challenged her - although a few heads followed their movement curiously - her attire entirely unlike the stormtroopers or first order officers milling around the bay. From the very crown of her head to her ankle she wore black - save for her arms and her feet, both of which remained bare. Wide legged trousers created movement when she walked and the cloak she wore, hood up and veiled, concealed much of her face and mid section from proper inspection.
“Kylo Ren is crumbling. The light calls to him. Blot. It. Out. However you can. Guide his steps. You will be my thorn in his side, the pebble in his boot and a whetstone for his dullest edges. You will pull his focus back to where it belongs.”
“There is something within me, trying to claw its way out. I can’t fight it. I'm tired of trying to fight it.”
“And you seek the means to control it?”
“I do.”
“And it scares you..?”
No, what scared her was the feeling of exposure. The lightsaber that she usually wore strapped to her hip had stashed away, replaced by an entirely inferior blade, to aid the ruse that she was green, untrained without a Master to guide her in her supposedly burgeoning power. She leaned onto the feeling. “Yes, Supreme Leader…”
Pale blue eyes narrowed, sweeping over her, and a colossal hand waved to an attendant - a silent instruction to call his apprentice to him, despite having only recently dismissing him.
“Tell me more, of what you seek, child.”
“Offer yourself to Snoke’s cause. I will ensure he is open to your suggestion. He will test you and it will not be gentle, be careful of what you reveal of your true nature…”
There is pain. But pain is not new. Pain is not unfamiliar. But still-- the truth of that must be concealed so... She screams until she tastes blood. Lets him strip layers from her psyche and discard them after giving the shreds his scrutiny. Searching, probing into her mind, looking for her past, her present, her future. It is a difficult balance but... Eventually the pain stops and the instruction comes...
“Rise.”
“Do this, my apprentice. Through victory my chains are broken…”
By the time the door to Snoke’s throne room opened, Galatea had found her feet once more and the violent tremor in her left arm had receded to a slight tremble, concealed mostly by the stance she adopted, standing at ease. Not turning her head, not even by the smallest increment, she kept her eyes on Snoke, waiting.
‘The Force shall free me.’
~*~
The loss of Star Killer Base had been very keenly felt by the young General. Everything— well no. Not everything he had worked for had been obliterated. But it had certainly felt that way at the time - ground trembling beneath his feet - as he’d searched the woods for Ren. Trying not to give way to the desperation and hysteria he’d felt breathing down his neck, as the planet ripped itself apart.
The dichotomy of knowing he had to evacuate, now - and what displeasure awaited him should he do so without Ren gnawed at his psyche. The rock and the hard place.
In the end, the tracker he’d had concealed on Ren had proved invaluable - and he had been right. So great was the Supreme Leaders ire with his apprentice that it meant there was little to spare for Hux. Oh he still had to swallow his medicine, but the dose had, at least been non-lethal.
Still - the humiliation and the anger had soured him, like milk. It had made eating and sleeping more difficult and the strain was starting to show. He still took great care to present himself as he always had - clean, tidy, neat… Every crease pressed out. But his cheeks were hollowing out, just slightly, and it was more common now that it wasn’t to see him with dark circles under his eyes, his temper and his ego were both sharper than ever, easily stirred from below the surface. There were parts of him that were unravelling from the bottom, and the signs were there for those who cared to notice.
He liked to tell himself that no one was noticing, because no one was brave or stupid enough to say it to his face. Then again, people talking behind his back was not a new feature in his life.
And now - there was the siege dreadnaught and the escape of the rebel alliance - and the humiliating display of displeasure he’d been made to endure. All of it poured acid into wounds that had barely begun to heal.
Now was not a time to show weakness. The taste of blood still fresh and filling his mouth with a metallic tang. Acting entirely as if the destruction of an evacuated rebel base - and said rebels escape in hyperspace - was not another strike against him. He set to work on pressing forward with the orders other goals. The rebels couldn’t hide forever, he told himself, they would flush them out of the bushes once more and then crush what was left of them.
They were insignificant specks and the Order was expanding aggressively. There would be no where for them to hide.
Light strobed through the viewport of the small craft as it hurtled towards to the mega class dreadnought, flicking the young woman sat in its hold between light and dark, strobing her movements as she moved to stand. The craft shuddered under the speed its pilot kept it at, seeming desperate to close up the distance at a break neck pace.
“Find Supreme Leader Snoke, of the first order.”
No sooner had the transport landed in the impressive hangar and the gangplank of the ship started its decent - bare feet were already upon on it, darting forth. A gentle hand tucked neatly into the crook of the elbow of the first person who passed. “You will escort me to the Supreme Leader.” Her tone was quiet, subtle, almost breathy - and held a weight of suggestion behind it.
“I will… escort you to the Supreme Leader.” The officer she'd ensnared had been about to tell the stranger he would do no such thing-- but found himself agreeing as if she had simply spoken out loud his deepest desire and told him to act on it. Turning on his heel, he marched away, and she followed in his wake.
There, apparently in his custody, no one challenged her - although a few heads followed their movement curiously - her attire entirely unlike the stormtroopers or first order officers milling around the bay. From the very crown of her head to her ankle she wore black - save for her arms and her feet, both of which remained bare. Wide legged trousers created movement when she walked and the cloak she wore, hood up and veiled, concealed much of her face and mid section from proper inspection.
“Kylo Ren is crumbling. The light calls to him. Blot. It. Out. However you can. Guide his steps. You will be my thorn in his side, the pebble in his boot and a whetstone for his dullest edges. You will pull his focus back to where it belongs.”
“There is something within me, trying to claw its way out. I can’t fight it. I'm tired of trying to fight it.”
“And you seek the means to control it?”
“I do.”
“And it scares you..?”
No, what scared her was the feeling of exposure. The lightsaber that she usually wore strapped to her hip had stashed away, replaced by an entirely inferior blade, to aid the ruse that she was green, untrained without a Master to guide her in her supposedly burgeoning power. She leaned onto the feeling. “Yes, Supreme Leader…”
Pale blue eyes narrowed, sweeping over her, and a colossal hand waved to an attendant - a silent instruction to call his apprentice to him, despite having only recently dismissing him.
“Tell me more, of what you seek, child.”
“Offer yourself to Snoke’s cause. I will ensure he is open to your suggestion. He will test you and it will not be gentle, be careful of what you reveal of your true nature…”
There is pain. But pain is not new. Pain is not unfamiliar. But still-- the truth of that must be concealed so... She screams until she tastes blood. Lets him strip layers from her psyche and discard them after giving the shreds his scrutiny. Searching, probing into her mind, looking for her past, her present, her future. It is a difficult balance but... Eventually the pain stops and the instruction comes...
“Rise.”
“Do this, my apprentice. Through victory my chains are broken…”
By the time the door to Snoke’s throne room opened, Galatea had found her feet once more and the violent tremor in her left arm had receded to a slight tremble, concealed mostly by the stance she adopted, standing at ease. Not turning her head, not even by the smallest increment, she kept her eyes on Snoke, waiting.
‘The Force shall free me.’
~*~
The loss of Star Killer Base had been very keenly felt by the young General. Everything— well no. Not everything he had worked for had been obliterated. But it had certainly felt that way at the time - ground trembling beneath his feet - as he’d searched the woods for Ren. Trying not to give way to the desperation and hysteria he’d felt breathing down his neck, as the planet ripped itself apart.
The dichotomy of knowing he had to evacuate, now - and what displeasure awaited him should he do so without Ren gnawed at his psyche. The rock and the hard place.
In the end, the tracker he’d had concealed on Ren had proved invaluable - and he had been right. So great was the Supreme Leaders ire with his apprentice that it meant there was little to spare for Hux. Oh he still had to swallow his medicine, but the dose had, at least been non-lethal.
Still - the humiliation and the anger had soured him, like milk. It had made eating and sleeping more difficult and the strain was starting to show. He still took great care to present himself as he always had - clean, tidy, neat… Every crease pressed out. But his cheeks were hollowing out, just slightly, and it was more common now that it wasn’t to see him with dark circles under his eyes, his temper and his ego were both sharper than ever, easily stirred from below the surface. There were parts of him that were unravelling from the bottom, and the signs were there for those who cared to notice.
He liked to tell himself that no one was noticing, because no one was brave or stupid enough to say it to his face. Then again, people talking behind his back was not a new feature in his life.
And now - there was the siege dreadnaught and the escape of the rebel alliance - and the humiliating display of displeasure he’d been made to endure. All of it poured acid into wounds that had barely begun to heal.
Now was not a time to show weakness. The taste of blood still fresh and filling his mouth with a metallic tang. Acting entirely as if the destruction of an evacuated rebel base - and said rebels escape in hyperspace - was not another strike against him. He set to work on pressing forward with the orders other goals. The rebels couldn’t hide forever, he told himself, they would flush them out of the bushes once more and then crush what was left of them.
They were insignificant specks and the Order was expanding aggressively. There would be no where for them to hide.
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