Fandom Star Wars: Cold Wars [Closed]

[insensitive]

As he reached up to remove the helmet from his head, her brow twitched, eyes focusing entirely on where she thought his face would be. She hadn’t expected for anything she’d said to prompt him to remove the mask, and it was likely nothing had. Perhaps, regardless of what she’d said or done, he was planning to speak with her about Skywalker anyway.

She watched with some amount of curiosity, wondering whether or not her assumptions of what lie behind the mask had been true. Scars, or utter disfigurement. A missing eye, maybe?

But there was nothing but a face. Even as he moved off to the side to place the infamous helmet atop the table, she could see that.

When he turned back to her, she made a half-attempt at disguising her surprise, though that was hardly where her focus was directed. He was much younger than she’d been expecting - late twenties, early thirties, maybe - and there was absolutely nothing about his face which may have warranted a mask. It was normal, for the most part, other than the eyes. Something about his dark gaze was piercing, perhaps just as much as the mask had been.

And his hair - how was that even possible?

She guessed the use of the mask was simply to disguise his face from those on the outside, or for the intimidation factor. Both, probably.

When he said he knew Luke, Lee was hardly surprised. It wasn’t as if he’d been hiding his contempt for the man before. But how he’d known him was something different. It didn’t quite shock her, but the realization of what had happened hit her suddenly.

She’d been right, all that time ago. He was connected to Luke, and whatever happened to the Jedi and his padawans, it was all she could assume that it was at Ren’s hands.

How he concluded his statement, however, was something she hadn’t expected at all.

She stared at him, uncertainty crossing her expression. She didn’t trust him, that much was obvious. She trusted General Organa, and the General would never send her out to chase a lead on someone who was as evil as that statement would make him sound. Yet, Leia had never told her the truth. Or anything about it, for that matter. Ren had done nothing thus far that would have her believe he was a liar. A bad person, yes, but a liar…

What would Luke Skywalker have to murder a child?

“Why would he do that?” she asked, utterly confused.

~***~

Poe raised a brow at her comment about it “not being standard”, his intrigue showing as clearly as his other emotions thus far.

He chuckled some, bringing his eyes back to the doors. “All right, Tarkin - we’ll see.”

Once she concluded their meeting, he made his way through the hangar for his ship. Thankfully, it wasn’t far from where he assumed hers would be, though he did not come across it on his way. That sort of ship would’ve caught his eye immediately if it had been, so he guessed it was in the private space somewhere adjacent to Leia’s - which he’d landed inside.

Not authorized by the General herself, but it was easier on him and for the purpose of the mission.

That, and it wasn’t like he planned on including that in the report.

Poe marveled at some of the starships he passed before finding himself in a less public section of the hangar. He smiled when his gaze rested upon his X-wing, the Black One, and he approached it with a hand extended to smooth along the rust-orange metal. Once, Lee, a friend whom he viewed as a younger sister of sorts, had accused him of having an intimate relationship with the ship. More recently, the extend ot the joke was her shouting at him to “Get a room!” from across an open lot or hangar. The thought widened his smile, and he remembered the operation she’d been tasked to carry out around the same time he’d left. He would ask Leia about her progress.

Once comfortably inside the ship, its top secured safely overhead and preventing any noise from entering (or escaping), he grabbed the small intercom device situated amongst the controls and punched in a long code of numbers and letters.

The response was almost immediate, somewhat scratchy through the device.

“Copy.”

“Poe Dameron,” he stated in response.

The voice that followed was familiar, professional but warm in greeting. “Welcome back, Dameron. How was your trip?” The General’s voice.

Usually, she was all business, but he sensed she’d warmed up to him over the years. “Smoothly, for the most part. I landed about an hour and a half ago. Nice place,” mostly sarcasm from the last part, though it didn’t necessarily suggest any negative feelings toward the world, either.

She gave a low hum in agreement. “What have you got?”

“Progress - a lot of progress. Senator Tarkin has agreed to help us with Terex. Bringing that up first was a smart move. I think she means to bring down the Ranc Gang, as well.” He wasn’t all that concerned with filtering his report, as lines for communication were ensured to be completely secure at all times.

“You ‘think’?” she said. He could hear her confusion clearly, but past it, she sounded just as surprised with the progress as he.

“Based on what she said, yes, that seems to be part of her plan. She wants to locate Terex and figure out through him directly who was behind the assassination.” He too was aware that it couldn’t have been Terex’s own choice; yes, he despised the Resistance. But Leia was certain there was someone else behind it, and he agreed. If wiping out Resistance supporters was his only goal, he would’ve started on a spree a lot longer ago.

“That’s...progress,” she agreed, though she took several seconds more of silent consideration afterward. Poe waited, his patience giving way to the awareness that she might disapprove of the stretch of their ambitions.

Eventually, she asked, “Does she know the real reason you’re there, besides what happened to Lovetta?” She said it firmly, but he could hear through her voice alone that the death of the Tagge woman still hurt her.

“Yes. She knows we’re seeking an alliance.”

“Good. So you remember then, too.”

Poe paused, his eyes lifting away from the comm system. He knew she meant nothing negative by it but, rather, she was wary of his feelings toward the ex-First Order agent. Briefly, he considered bringing that up, as well, but dismissed it as being unimportant.

“I know my mission, General. The alliance is what’s most important. But the man and his gang have been functioning without consequence for too long, and we have a chance to take them down.”

“I agree. It’s a good opportunity. But if it puts you or what you’re there for in danger, you’ll have to find a way to drop it. Agreed?”

He breathed a small exhale of relief, nodding his head some despite her inability to see him. “Yeah. Of course, I got it.”

“Good,” she concluded, “Is there anything else?”

“Yeah, actually,” he adjusted himself in the seat, leaning forward a little, “What’s the word on Lee? Last I heard she was going out to chase a lead - with Nev, I think.” He hadn’t been informed on what exactly this lead was supposed to bring them to, but he knew there would be a reason for the secrecy.

Leia paused, but for what reason he couldn’t discern through the silence. Eventually, “I haven’t gotten a report back from her yet. I should hear from her within the day.”

He nodded again. Without the knowledge on what she was supposed to be going after, he had no reason not to trust the General’s word on it.

“Then that’s all. I’ll report back to you what happens, probably in the next day or so. Stay safe, General.”

“And you, Commander.” With that, the line cut off, and he reattached the comm to its proper place.

 

[Lucyfer]

Lee’s curiosity was lain bare when he took off the helmet. That was expected. Everyone was curious about what he looked like under the mask. He had felt similar reactions to Stormtroopers removing theirs in front of outsiders – generally speaking, not something allowed. People tended to expect monsters beneath the masks, not sentients. Normal-looking sentients.

He wouldn’t address that.

He knew what the answers would be, anyways. He’d been stupid enough to ask people before what they expected. He had gotten his fill of those kinds of answers.

What interested him more was her response to his words. It wasn’t anger that flared strongly, but confusion, curiosity. The denial was there, the hesitation to believe, but for all of that, she didn’t deny it in words. Instead, she sought answers, a reason to believe him – or confirmation that he should not be believed.

He felt a twinge of respect for that.

“I know what I saw. I know what I felt. There was little time to ask why,” he said slowly, some bitterness remaining to his tone that spoke of his own lack of closure on the matter. His own lingering anger at the situation, that would likely not find its resolution.

He didn’t plan to ask Luke ‘why’ when they met again.

Still, he continued, “I suspect that he sensed my power, and that he feared it. Even as a child, I was powerful in the Force, and I progressed rapidly. But as a child, I sought answers to things that Luke wished I did not.”

He had met Snoke while training with Luke, and that had opened his world to more. He had wondered why some aspects of the Force were considered ‘dark’. Luke wouldn’t say why. He just told Kylo not to do them, not to consider them at all. They were dark for a reason, because they did nothing good.

In the end, wasn’t a blast from Force lightning, used to protect, just like a Force push?

It had always seemed to Kylo Ren that the intent should be considered more heavily than the act. A fire was good and bad, depending on the context, after all. “If I had the answer to why, I would tell you, but I do not. I know that I woke to the sound of his lightsaber, and I saw him standing over me with it. I had to react.” He paused, to let her take that in, before adding, “I wouldn’t expect you to know that about Luke. I do not believe the Resistance knows of his actions. He went into hiding shortly after.”

Perhaps he felt some shame. Some guilt, or some remorse. Kylo certainly hoped he did.

~***~

Little else needed to be said before the pair went their own ways. Neria made a stop at her apartment to set aside a few weapons and her own attire for later, as well as to change. The senator’s attire would hardly do – so it was into a green dress before she would make her way to the memorial for Lovetta.

Her body wouldn’t be there – but plenty of pictures and memories would be. Neria could hardly say she was looking forward to it, but missing it was not something she intended to do, either.

The memorial was a gathering of friends, families, and allies. It was too open to be truly intimate. Pictures of Lovetta decorated the area, and the family themselves were naturally near the front of the temple. Finger food was present, and Lovetta’s favorite taffy seemed one of the gathering points.

Neria did not pause for any, but moved to where the family was – where Cassandra was, in particular. The woman in black met her halfway, wrapping Neria in an embrace, not at all bothered by the lack of black.

Green was still the color for Neria, as it was the color the Mottis adorned, coming from the same sector of the galaxy. Trayjan was, indeed, there, along with his brother who seemed to be pouting more than mourning. “Thank you,” Cassandra said as she parted from the embrace a bit, a hand lingering on Neria’s upper back as she moved her into the circle that had formed.

“I was told you wanted to see me by your aide?” Trayjan said as she joined the others.

“Indeed,” she gave a glance to Cassandra, to Brutus, before continuing, “I have information on who did this. I’ll be pursuing it after…I need you to put an embargo around Kaddak, and take down the Ranc gang this evening, Admiral.”

His blonde brows shot up, intrigued. “Really now? I thought they were one of our main sources of stygium.”

“They’re a middle-man, in the end. They’ve run out their welcome. I presume you can set this up?”

“Easily,” he answered, “the New Republic doesn’t enjoy missions to the Outer Rim, but now and then a pithy attempt at peace and order there makes them look good. I suppose this will have to be it for the year.” His disgust with the politics was apparent, being a native of the Outer Rim, but he worked with it rather than against it.

“Thank you.”

“Who did it?” Brutus interrupted. “Who had her killed?”

Neria lifted a hand, “I have a lead. When I have the information, you’ll know. For now,” she glanced back out at the room, ignoring those who didn’t belong – the politicians who wanted to take advantage in a time of grief – and focused on the faces she knew from the Academy, and others who had been dear to Lovetta, or her family, “you still need to grieve.”

Neria did her own, personal, job of making sure none of those who sought to take advantage of the family got anywhere close to them. Trina and her husband assisted without needing to be told, and at the end of the event, Neria did pull Trina aside to let her know she was leaving with Poe Dameron.

“I thought you weren’t—”

“It was better that no one knew he was already there. It does leave me rather ill-informed. See what you can find while I’m gone.”

“Got it!” Trina gave a salute, bit mock, bit sincere, and with that, Neria was able to make her exit, return to her apartment, and change into something a bit more appropriate. Poe Dameron might be willing to eschew armor, but she wasn’t.

Though, few would be able to tell it was armor. The mesh “armorweave” fabric was worn underneath the black uniform she donned. The uniform itself had plastoid armor woven into it at joints, well-concealed to cover critical parts she wouldn’t trust the mesh entirely with.

With the armor donned, Neria shoved a few of her weapons into a bag. It was one thing to carry a blaster openly. It was, apparently, quite another to have blades or other sorts of weapons visible, and so she kept only a single blaster visible.

Her preferences were packed away. She would don them once in her own ship, and able to make sure she wasn’t harassed by the Hosnian security for having knives up her sleeves – quite literally.

They also didn’t take kindly to that in the Senate.

A few gave her a strange look for the bag and the attire, but no one stopped on her on her way to Mothma hangar, where she soon located her ship near one of the upper levels. Another droid, this one resembling an old Imperial security droid, stood outside. “Aye-one, why are you outside?” The silvery ship was pristine, catching the lights of the hangar and tossing them in every direction.

“The stupid one tried to put fuel in your ship, ma’am,” the droid greeted. Technically speaking, A1D-3 was meant to be a support droid. That meant protocol. It had all the tact of a low-rung Imperial Officer, which was to say, very little. “You told me not to allow the stupid one to fuel your ship.”

“Yes, I did,” she agreed, “did you do it, then?”

“Yes. And I stayed out here because I thought I saw someone snooping.”

“We’re going to have a guest. It might be him.”

“Then he shouldn’t snoop.”

Neria just rolled her eyes, “Keep lookout. His name is Poe Dameron. He speaks Basic.” Neria would shrug her bag up a bit higher on her shoulder before heading up onto the ramp and into her ship. She could at least begin equipping herself while waiting for Poe and pull her hair up into a bun. She’d had it grabbed enough times to understand the hindrances of long hair – but her vanity refused shorter.

 

[insensitive]

The bitter way in which he spoke of Skywalker was easier to detect, to her, now that the mask had been removed. Without it, his voice was deep on its own, but human. And it was odd, to see the true face of the infamous Kylo Ren directly before her. To hear some amount of emotion within the voice of a Commander she’d come to learn had none.

Frankly, she wasn’t sure that was any better. Now, there was a face to the man who she’d been told was nothing more than the disfigured ghost of a person. Now, there was the history, and it was directly linked with Skywalker.

Still, it went without saying that this did not excuse any of his actions. But as he continued, she felt something within her drop. Back when she’d first been taken under the care of the Resistance and Leia, she’d been little older than a child, and the General took some responsibility for her life and her progress. Lee suspected that had both to do with her father’s position in the Resistance, once he left the New Republic to join the General, and her mother’s position on the Senate. And maybe that was the reason why, when she asked about the things she would do - unexplainable, sometimes bad things, although they were always accidental - she never got any answers. Just knowing silences that never betrayed any insight into what she needed to know.

She closed her eyes. No, that couldn’t be true. Leia wouldn’t hide something so important from her - not if she knew how badly it had been hurting her. Even if she never verbally let her know, Leia figured out everything. She wouldn’t have let her suffer without trying to help. She’d been more a mother to Lee than her own.

She watched his eyes as he went on, wondering whether or not she truly believed him. Some part of her, if it was true, may have even felt a tinge of...empathy for him, perhaps. But that was the very last thing she wanted.

She breathed slowly through her nose, averting her gaze for several long, silent moments. Processing it all. She didn’t know whether or not this was something to believe, or whether or not she should believe it, considering her side. But that was never how she judged things - it was always the truth she searched for. That was what was important. So why was she so heavily against believing this?

It wasn’t as though he’d done anything to warrant her believing he was a liar. Then again, she still didn’t know what he wanted from her. There could be any number of reasons for him wanting to twist the truth around, even if only just a little, that way he might sway her from the Resistance.

It suddenly occurred to her that, going along with his side to the story (which she had not yet heard the other side to, for that matter), it would mean that he had to have once been good. At least, not inherently the opposite. She didn’t know what to make of that.

Eventually, she met his eyes with her own. “So what did you do?” she asked quietly, feeling something close to shame - guilt, or perhaps even a bit of anger toward herself - for wanting him to continue. “How did it end?”

~***~

Poe didn’t take very long to ready himself for what the two had planned. He already wore a ‘Resistance uniform’, of sorts, though it wasn’t one of the flashy, obvious ones. This one was plain in color, and fit him well enough to allow his jacket to still be worn overtop. It sported some padding, but nothing too serious that might affect mobility. It was what he usually preferred when out on the field - he was more than confident on his ability to avoid a situation in which he might need much more.

He’d given her as much time as he thought would be appropriate for a memorial, going by the ones he’d attended in prior years. During said time, he busied himself with whatever he thought he might be needed for, which included further reports on things he hadn’t yet gotten around to. Once, he called in again through his comm to ask for a report on Lee. When the answer had been the same as Leia’s, he asked for confirmation that Nev had been the one to accompany her. Fortunately, that information wasn’t being kept secretly, as the lead they were after was.

This was around the time he usually began to worry. It would be a lie to say he wasn’t right now. But, once again, he had no idea whether or not the anxiety was warranted. He trusted Lee, and he trusted Nev - they would make it back. They would be fine. He would hear about it as soon as it was reported back to base.

He hoped.

He didn’t bring the device with him when he eventually left to find Neria’s ship. He didn’t want to chance any calls while they were out, and on the off-chance things went south, there was no way any possible information on the Resistance could be found through the thing.

It took only another few minutes of walking before he finally stumbled upon the correct hangar. And, incidentally, her ship.

Instantly, it brought the biggest, stupidest grin to his face. His arms raised into the air as he stared up at the beauty, examining with big, gleaming eyes the way it reflected against the light, tossing little beams of it from its silvery surface against the floor, ceiling, and walls.

“This thing is beautiful!” he said, his voice carrying through the largely empty space. He wasn’t sure whether or not she would be able to hear him - assuming she was inside, that was.

 

[Lucyfer]

Lee was in thought as he spoke, digesting his words, connecting it back. The desire to retreat into denial was there. He could sense it. Yet, something kept her from that. He did wonder what – when so many others would do that, and be comfortable there. Perhaps she had experiences in the Resistance already that showed her how disjointed things were. How disconnected.

Leia may hold them together – but rebels were rebels. They never all acted in unity, even if they were now under the moniker of the ‘Resistance’. That always meant there was room for lies and miscommunications, as well as plenty of secrets.

Not that secrets didn’t exist in the First Order, but Kylo couldn’t help but think that in an organization such as the Resistance, that they didn’t do things right. The lack of structure and so many parties planning so many different things, would always mean the wrong secrets and information were being kept. There was no cohesion.

Perhaps Lee had experienced that.

Or perhaps there was just enough mystery about Luke and what had happened for her to have her doubts, for she continued to question. There was no accusation in her tone.

If Kylo could have taken a seat, he might have, but there was no place for that. Instead, he remained standing where he was, but his posture did relax some. Without the anger being thrown in his face, it was easier to do just that and respond, almost as if he was having a conversation and not an interrogation. Which, at this point, was true. He needed her to see things from this perspective. He needed her to understand.

“I had to defend myself,” he answered. “I was able to get my lightsaber into my hand to protect against his strike, and then I brought my small hovel down on us both.” They hadn’t lived well. They were meant to live almost like ascetics, to truly understand the Jedi and how to detach from things. “I ran. I ran to the other padawans and I told them what happened. Some thought to side with Luke…to defend him.”

He had been a child then, too. To him, it did not seem such an egregious crime, “We killed them. Luke’s teachings had to be purged. It was my error that left Luke himself alive.” He had hoped he would die from being crushed, from the fire. He hadn’t had the strength then to go back and finish the job.

“The Jedi are wrong. They misunderstand the Force. You…have the potential not to make those same errors. That must be why Leia is sending you to find Luke. She must want you to apprentice under him.”

~***~

Neria was able to hear Poe. The door was left open, and the ramp was down, after all. She also heard the nearly-human groan of A1D-3, “You must be Poe.” A1D-3 noted with no joy whatsoever in its deadened voice. “How do you find people like this? Why do you make me suffer people like this?”

Neria stepped down the ramp to see Poe staring at her ship, like a child in a candy store. “It seems you have a full grasp of why I will murder you if you wreck this ship,” Neria couldn’t help but think his interest in the ship was adorable – and though her comment was meant as a joke, there was a decent chance it might not be taken that way, given the electro-staff on her back and the vibro-blade at one hip.

There were many flyboys out there, but not so many who knew how to appreciate something like this. They thought it was all flare, little power – and it was true, the original design had no offensive power, and the hyperdrive classed at only 1.8. She’d definitely fixed up those errors, and spent long nights in the hangar on this ship, sometimes with Trayjan or Anthony’s help, and she couldn’t have made it half as intuitive as it was without Mercutio and Fillin’s help. “Poe Dameron, this is A1D-3, Aide, or Aye-one.”

“You may not call me Aye-one.” The black droid stated. It stood taller than Neria.

“Toc’s gathered the information on Terex’s ship. He fled Takodana after our conversation, but we’re still out that way. Admiral Motti is going to deal with Kaddak for us.” She moved towards the ramp then, to get back up into the ship. “So, let’s see if you can even get this ship out of the hangar.”

A1D-3 did not seem pleased with this, looking Poe over as if analyzing a particularly unsavory piece of food. It didn’t say anything this time, but headed back to the ramp as well to see to it that everything that could be in order, was in order. “I will keep in touch with Toc; he has let me know of Terex’s movements, as well,” through Toc, A1D-3 was already in the loop of what was going on. “Though why we’re wasting our time going to that wretched pirate hub is beyond me….” Clearly, not a fan of Takodana.

 

[insensitive]

He did continue, which didn’t so much surprise her as it did have her wonder why now, in a First Order ship, no less, she was gaining information on the subject. It was somewhat relieving, she thought, to not be met with so much resistance at a question. Perhaps the answers may not have been as simple as some others would’ve liked, but she never understood why anyone would think to hide others from the truth.

In the end, it never served as a “shield”, or safety net. In the end, the truth was the truth, and it hurt just as much - if not more - once revealed.

Perhaps that perspective was something she and this man shared. But as far as perspectives went, she doubted they would hold much else in common.

Still, she listened as he continued. It was much less an interrogation, now. While it lasted, that was a good thing, considering the questions were no longer directed toward her. She would have to answer no questions about the Resistance for the time. Though, then again, it could’ve just as easily been exactly what he wanted. A way of manipulating her, to turn her to his side.

Her expression went almost completely blank, for a moment. Killed them? All of them? How many others had there been - how many had sided with Luke?

Suddenly, and just as easily, she was as dumbfounded as she’d been before. But not because of what he’d done, because all the ways she would’ve attempted to reason, all the things she would’ve started to say as a means of figuring out his ability to remain so indifferent toward the horrors he’d caused, stopped when he mentioned Leia. Her own potential.

At that, her brow furrowed, and she did a double-take. “Leia...General Organa sent me to find him so that she could…” Her sentence trailed, her eyes darting on occasion to different parts of the room whilst she searched her memory for the reason. She didn’t find one - she hadn’t been given any.

“Leia doesn’t know about...it. She doesn’t know I have it.” It was as simple as that. “Not even I knew until one of your goons tried to shoot me - I don’t even know how I'm supposed to use it.”

Lee looked up at him then, finding herself focused back on why. As far as she was concerned, he’d given her the answer. He wanted to use her. He wanted her to be like him. She was never going to be like him.

“What do you want from me, exactly? If you only wanted information, you wouldn’t have bothered to explain any of what you just did. So tell me.”

~***~

Poe turned to the droid, his brows twitching together some at the monotonous acknowledgment of his name. When it went on, his smile turned to somewhat of a cross between that and a frown, but overall, his expression was one of both amusement and joy.

“I’m choosing not to take offense to that,” he replied to Neria, mostly because he would be inclined to do just the same, if he even owned a starship like this. Then again, he would probably murder anyone who even touched the Black One without permission. So, really, he understood. “But duly noted.”

He looked over at her, also noting the weapons she had strapped to herself with an appreciative raise of the brow. He hadn’t expected for her to pack lightly, per se, when it came to the weapons. But he also hadn’t expected this. Needless to say, he wasn’t complaining.

He took a few more moments to marvel at the ship, before turning his gaze to the droid. “Yeah, I don’t think he likes me much,” he remarked, though it was clear he didn’t plan to hold it against the poor thing.

When she spoke of Takodana, he couldn’t help the flash of memories that crossed his dark gaze. Good memories, thankfully, despite having everything to do with First Order.

“Good, good,” about Kaddak. One less thing for them to worry about, which would make the General happy. He chuckled at her next comment, “I can do a lot more than that, trust me.”

The interior of the ship was as pristine as the exterior, which he figured was something she’d made sure of. It was roomy, not only the area they first entered through, but the cockpit as well, which he more than appreciated. As he settled into the pilot’s chair, Poe examined the controls laid out before him, mentally referring back to what he’d studied about this specific kind of ship. It wasn’t a new design, having been available decades ago exclusively to Naboo royalty. He knew it relied more on protecting its passengers with shields than guns, but he’d noticed the modifications from the outside that added in laser cannons and some others. Again, something he more than appreciated.

He felt a sensation of utter excitement wash over him. This sort of ship, though not typically as fast as an X-wing, had a style none of the others did. A style he adored.

“I’ve always wanted to fly one of these,” the pilot remarked, lifting his eyes to punch instrumentation. A steady whine began to rise from the ship’s stern, at which point he turned to look at her. “Are we all ready out there?” he asked, feeling it was better to ask her than the droid. The last thing he wanted was to lift off and still be somehow connected to the hangar.

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo Ren visibly scoffed at how Lee assumed Leia didn’t know. His arms fell to his side as he paced a few steps, “Leia knows,” he stated. “Leia has the Force as well, and she is not an idiot, nor ignorant. She knows. She knew Luke would recognize it, as well.” Perhaps Leia doubted her own judgment, her own assessment.

She never trained her skills. To her, it was more of an intuitive thing. He’d met others on that level. Leia had potential to be greater – as great as Vader, as great as Luke, but she willfully refused. “She’s good at hiding information.”

He hadn’t known he was related to Vader. Not until it was everywhere, and everyone knew. Even then…Leia hadn’t tried to reach out to him. To tell him personally, or to explain. That still hurt, in its way, that she wouldn’t tell him the truth of his heritage, that Luke wouldn’t tell him the truth of his heritage. Snoke had told him before, but he hadn’t believed it. “I would know.”

He paused in his pacing as Lee asked what he wanted from her, and he met her gaze once more. “This war is multifaceted.” He cared about the ends of the First Order, of course, but more than that, “The Force is unbalanced, and the future of the Force is before us. Others are awakening,” he didn’t know who, he didn’t know where, but Snoke had told him, and he had sensed it.

Perhaps, Lee’s own awakening was new, but he would not ask her that. He knew her training and understanding of it, was new. “You have a role in this war. The Force has chosen you.” Whether she wanted it or not. It was there. “By looking for, and finding Luke, you would be on a path to bringing the Jedi back.” Obviously, he didn’t want that. “But the Jedi are evil. The Sith, as well. There needs to be a change. We cannot just keep going back to old, failed, systems.”

Like the New Republic. It all needed to change.

“We are going to start something new here. Something better. I want you to give it a chance.” He knew she wasn’t about to go for it right off the bat. He knew it might not even be that day, or that week, but he didn’t want her to dismiss it outright. If she did that much, at least, he felt as if he could talk Snoke into allowing the prisoner to live long enough to see their way.

There was plenty to be said for killing enemies, but if they couldn’t start convincing people, they would have an endless war.

~***~

Poe hadn’t started out stiff or stoic when they met, and that didn’t change now. Neria couldn’t help but appreciate the easy way he took the comments so far, and his clear adoration of her ship. It was rare to see anything like that in those associated with the Rebel Alliance, or the Resistance. They were usually quite stiff or irritated in dealings with her.

She’d give Leia credit – she had chosen well in sending Poe along. His presence at least suggested that not every interaction would have to be done with her fists clenched and her jaw tight.

The starship’s interior was, indeed, just as pristine as the outside. It was somewhat of a mobile home, after all, but a bit less personal in the open spaces. Neria didn’t prefer to have others in her ship when it could be avoided, but that was no excuse for letting its appearance decay. And A1D-3 needed something to do. Cleaning at least kept it active, and making sure all systems were in order.

She followed Poe into the cockpit and situated herself in the co-pilot’s seat. A1D-3 didn’t bother to follow them.

“Mm,” she agreed, “nothing is going to hold us back to the hangar,” she agreed. Not that she had anchored it in the first place, but some people liked that extra security. Generally speaking, if A1D-3 didn’t kill them, and they managed to get onto the ship and take off, they deserved it. And they deserved the chase to follow, but nonetheless, a joyride was deserved for that sort of effort before their demise.

“Your guns are in the bag in the entrance area, so you know. I do not imagine we’ll need them on Takodana, but you may want to take them anyway,” she was taking her weapons. She didn’t like Maz Kanata, but she didn’t like any pirates. The fact that Maz had taken something from her family centuries ago only added to that dislike.

There were no open warrants that she could find, but if she ever did…well, she’d have to consider if it was worth pursuing. Individuals with the Force were still tricky to work against, and all her research on the matter hadn’t revealed too much. There was some progress from the team she hired on Serenno and the Clone Wars tech they were examining, but not much. “How much do you know about Takodana, Dameron?” She inquired. He didn’t seem to be asking for directions, after all, though the navigation of the ship would certainly be able to assist without him needing to. She tried to keep the navigational systems as updated as possible. Too many hyperspace lanes changed and shifted out near the unknown regions and wild space.

 

[insensitive]

The way he referred to the General - by her first name, oddly informal - stuck out to her, but it was no more than a passing thought to her, given the context of which he was talking about Leia.

Lee didn’t attempt to verbally deny his conclusion again. Partially because she knew he wasn’t planning to set aside what he believed to be true about that specific subject - or any of the others, really - majorly, because she could not. The only reason had insisted otherwise to begin with, in fact, was because she didn’t want to believe him. She didn’t want to believe Leia had been hiding information that would’ve saved her from years of confusion and angst. Nothing more.

But as she wracked her brain to make sense of it all, she saw it. All those times the Force had unleashed itself from her, even in minor ways, how quick the General had been to dismiss it. Her comments, the events themselves, all of it. But Lee wasn’t blind, and she was well aware of what Leia looked like when she was intentionally dodging a subject. Recalling a past event. Hiding something.

She closed her eyes, pressed her head against the chair. She was hardly making sense of this. It wasn’t processing easily. Not something she could be blamed for, of course; this was more than she thought she would find, more information than she thought she would gain. It was all at once. It was one-sided. It was both unbelievable, and perfectly sensible at the same time.

She felt like she was being torn in half.

His comment about being one to know about the General’s tendency to hide things didn’t pass her by, but he continued on much too quickly for her to dwell on it. She stared up at him, brow furrowing.

Was he at all aware of how ridiculous he sounded?

“The Jedi are evil?” She blinked, hoping the few seconds of silence she let pass would get her point across. She didn’t need clarification that the Sith were evil - that much was obvious. But the Jedi? This from him, no less. “And what about what you’re doing? How is any of this even remotely okay, let alone better for the galaxy? You talk about how the Jedi are wrong, and yet you’re incapable of seeing just how wrong the First Order is.” Genuinely, she wanted to understand why he thought this way. Obviously, he had some backwards way of viewing it that let him believe it was right. But it was also more than apparent that she felt the opposite - given everything she’d seen, how could she not be?

~***~

He refocused his attention on getting the ship going.

“I don’t know much about the world itself,” he started, taking note of all the controls and indicators that winked up at him from their respective panels. The model of the ship itself seemed to be a bit newer than the original, which was fortunate for him. He didn’t plan to rely entirely on it, but starships with more modern designs were, naturally, more forgiving. On the off-chance he might misjudge something, the computational components typically engineered in would help to correct any miscues or oversights.

Minor mistakes, should he make them, could be corrected by the ship. But he still had to fly the thing.

Luckily, he had that covered.

"I've been a couple times, but not for anything important like this that would've given me much insight into how things work." He knew enough about it, he figured, through doing his research. He would know how to get to the planet, and with the ship’s own directional system, he wasn’t worried about that.

Eventually, and working with only semi-familiar controls based off of what he’d studied, he persuaded the ship up from its position in the hangar, hovering steadily above the ground. He looked forward and through the window, eyes fixing on the large, open space before the ship. It provided an utterly breathtaking view of the world below, what with the hangar itself being elevated high enough from it all to ensure nobody would accidentally crash against a skyscraper.

Hopefully.

However, he was more concerned with what the ship was doing to notice. Soon as he got it to move it practically jumped forward, at which point he paused and reconsidered. Okay, so, acceleration wasn’t going to be a problem.

More slowly, he brought it forward, farther out into the open of the hangar. He was getting more and more accustomed to the ship’s instrumentation. Finally, he pressed further and it burst forward, out into the open air, zipping straight from the hangar and into the sky.

“Wo-hoa, this thing really moves!” He shook his head in admiration, the ship’s push pulling him further against the seat. His chest compressed with a few short, excited exhales, at which point he began to bring the ship upward, toward the clouds.

 

[Lucyfer]

Pain.

Confusion.

These were all obvious to Kylo and he found he had patience for it as the woman tried to understand and make sense of her situation and the revelations being laid down before her. He wouldn’t have expected it to be easy for anyone in the Resistance. Especially not someone who Leia was, clearly, keeping information from.

People loved Leia.

So much, they overlooked all of her negative qualities.

Just as no one believed the Jedi were evil.

He wasn’t blind to it. “The First Order has its flaws.” Using brainwashed Stormtroopers for one. Clones would have been better. “They mimic the tactics of the Jedi by taking children before they can even make decisions, and brainwashing them to believe in the First Order, but what they are taught isn’t wrong,” he would defend that much, “unlike what the Jedi taught and believed in. The New Republic and the Jedi protected a system that only benefited themselves – the Core. The Outer Rim, even the Mid-Rim, are expected to be nothing more but subservient planets that give up everything for scraps from the Core worlds.”

He’d seen enough of that alongside Leia to make himself sick. There had been nothing Leia could do about it. “Pirates, slavers, spice-traders, scum of all sorts continue to take advantage of the Outer Rim and other planets without stepping in, because it would be a waste of resources – even though they tax these peoples and these places. The Outer Rim governors and senators don’t care, either – they keep quiet and just enjoy the larger scraps they’re given.”

That wasn’t all true. Some cared, but he didn’t pay much attention to that. It was Carise Sindian’s role to find those who could be turned to their side. The name Tarkin constantly came up as one of the holdouts, an odd decision, given how important Wilhuff had been to the Empire.

“We are beginning with what resources we have, and what capabilities we have, to improve a broken system. Our own system will improve with it.” He wanted to believe that, even if, at times, he did wonder if it truly would, or if they would continue the horrible process of brainwashing Stormtroopers. The idea of cloning somehow seemed different to him. The results were more…predictable, at least. “It will make everything equal.”

~***~

While Poe spoke, Neria was observing him. He was able to maintain the conversation and the gist of it while looking over the panel of buttons, levers, and other things before him. He did not appear overwhelmed as he considered how to get the ship started, and she wouldn’t point out anything to him.

She’d let him figure it out.

And try not to laugh when he launched the ship forward faster than he intended. “It is not quite so fast as your standard X-Wing when it comes to atmospheric speed given its size, but I assure you the Orrineswa is no slouch,” the smooth design of the ship should say enough for that.

She didn’t bother to fight against the press. It would ease off soon enough, as the ship itself adjusted. After all – they couldn’t be pressed into the seats during lightspeed. That wouldn’t be good for anyone. She crossed one leg over the other, relaxed enough with his control of the ship thus far.

That didn’t mean she was yet releasing him from her watch.

However, she did shift back to his earlier statement about how Takodana worked, “In regards to Takodana, Maz allows anyone there so long as they adhere to a long list of unwritten rules, all of which are absolutely ridiculous, but the main one is no fighting. Terex could have stayed there a night and we could not have touched him without invoking the wrath of the ex-pirate queen and her droid.”

But of course he wouldn’t stay there.

After all – he only got the one night free before Maz would see him out.

“Besides that rule, there are hundreds of others. The main two I expect you to follow are not to ask Maz about her eyes, because I do not have time to listen to her explain it, and not to step on the stage for any reason unless you want to embarrass us both.” Actually, Poe stepping on the stage might be hilarious, but now wasn’t the time for such ‘nice’ things. “The first one is usually the hardest to follow, and Maz doesn’t exactly allow for self-defense excuses.”

Neria had clarified the rule a few times. She’d had to take a hit or two there to avoid being kicked out without retaliation.

 

[insensitive]

‘The First Order has its flaws.’

That was an understatement. But then again, to those in higher power in the First Order, these “flaws” weren’t flaws at all. According to everything she’d come to know about their leader- Snoke - and other various generals, these were simply the ways things had to go to ensure their own absolute power over it all.

She wasn’t going to disagree with him over the state of the Mid and Outer Rims, in relation to the Core. That much, out of most things he’d said thus far, she knew was true. She’d seen plenty of the corruption on multiple occasions. Some on flies-out to other worlds, like Takodana, some through her research, some through things General Organa would say. No one had ever been able to do anything about it, of course; that was simply the way the world worked. Some cared, some did not, and unfortunately, those who didn’t care outweighed those who did.

But that didn’t mean this method of working toward some semblance of “equality” would benefit the galaxy in any way. Maybe, on the chance what he was saying would develop into a reality, things would be more balanced - but the way the First Order was going, their leader would only be another corrupt ruler over a poor, ruined system. A system of equally poor, equally helpless individuals.

That was the way she saw it. That was the way it always looked, from her side.

But, given the things he’d said about Leia - the things she was now realizing herself about how much had been kept from her - she couldn’t help the nagging thought that what she’d come to know may be wrong.

All the times she’d been told to simply turn a blind eye to corruption, to ignore her curiosities and not ask so many questions so she might find some peace of mind in dealing with what apparently had to be, was that all wrong? Was it simply that the General was so preoccupied with beating a rising system - one she’d grown to fear as a result of the Empire before it - that she failed to understand the importance of wiping out the ongoing corruption? How many things had she kept from Lee, and for what purpose? So that she might keep her focused on their cause? On something that, to anyone with morals, could not disagree with if they didn’t question it?

Was that why Leia had kept quiet about her sensitivity to the Force for so long? Why she meant, according to Kylo, to send her off to Luke so that he might teach her to use it for the benefit of the Resistance? After all, what better way to keep her believing in the cause than to send her to someone who, without a doubt, would believe the same?

The dots were connecting themselves, but in what seemed to be all the wrong places. Surely, this was just him using what he knew about her to manipulate her into believing his cause was the right one. To get her to agree so that she may be used as a weapon. She knew things, after all, about the Resistance. If he found a way to turn her against them, she would be capable of hurting them from the inside. How was she to know he already hadn’t read her mind? Used her doubts against her?

But those were just hopes. Hopes that she could still deny what was beginning to make more and more sense, the more he continued to speak.

She closed her eyes, realizing the tears which had welled within them, the one that was rolling down her cheek. She couldn’t just turn away from what she’d grown up on - from the direction her father had pointed her toward. Surely, she hadn’t built a life on lies.

Lee exhaled slowly, pressing the back of her head against the chair once more. Her chest felt weak, her limbs hollow. “Why do they have to die?” she asked quietly, biting down in an effort to steady her breathing. She looked over to his mask, then to him. “How many people see that mask before they die - your lightsaber?” ‘Like how you saw Luke Skywalker’s.’

She paused, unsure of whether or not she was going to get an answer. “How can that be good?”

~***~

Poe was more used to smaller vessels, much like his own. He was used to needing to execute risky maneuvers that the average pilot might very well not even be capable of. He was used to high-risk situations that got his blood racing, his attention darting from one thing to the next.

Usually, he was focused much less on the ship itself, and the events outside. That was part of the fun, for him; most times, it felt like he wasn’t in the ship, but that he was the ship. Right now, though in a foreign situation where one might feel like an outsider, he was beginning to feel that way again.

It was more than freeing.

The ship steadied, still moving upward but smoothly, and the press he’d felt of the seat against his back lessened until he had the ability to adjust himself again. He kept his attention both on the sky and Neria.

“Sounds like an exciting place…” Sarcasm. It sound tense, more than anything else. He noted the thing about Maz’s eyes with a raised brow and a nod, but the comment about a stage prompted his gaze to briefly glance toward her. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know more about what that meant, but he could make the connections himself. That, and he was sure he would see the stage in question soon enough.

“I can see why you’re not all that keen on stopping there,” he said. Her distaste for the place was as obvious as it could be, he would assume, given what he’d seen thus far of her ability to hide emotion. “What’s our plan, here?" He didn’t remember being informed much about her plan, which hadn’t bothered him up until now. But it wouldn’t be all that long before they reached the planet - as he spoke, they were approaching the outer atmosphere.

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo Ren hadn’t been expecting tears, despite all the emotions welling up in Lee. He canted his head as he noticed them, uncertain how to respond to that at first. The betrayal and the confusion she must have felt, must have been more than Kylo anticipated, though he could relate. He had been so frustrated with all of it in those early years. “I know. It hurts.”

She didn’t follow that line of thought. She asked about the deaths, instead. The necessity of them. He almost scoffed, but refrained this time. “Fear has its place.”

Fear was used by all governments. Fear kept people from breaking the law. No one wanted to end up in jail, or executed, for a misstep. People would need to fear the First Order, and most would have to fear it, before they could see the positives and come to respect it. As with the Empire, fear would reign first.

“Do you ever think much about the lives of the Stormtroopers you bring down? Do you consider killing them to be good?” Likely so, but it was just as foolish, “There is no time to bring every enemy over in a war, or else there would be no war.” Deaths were going to occur, and they would not always be soldiers.

Civilians would die.

That helped with the fear. Those in that village on Iridonia needed to die, of course, because of their connection to a lead to Luke. Even if it proved false, there was usually some truth to every lie. There was a reason that had come up – and so, a reason it had to be removed. The Resistance couldn’t follow that any further.

Whatever contact they’d had there, whatever information may have reached there , would now never provide anything useful.

~***~

Poe didn’t seem any more thrilled by what Neria had to say of the locale. While Neria understood there were some advantages of the locale, she hadn’t appreciated it much in her life. She had gone a few times for pleasure when she was much younger and wanted to get away from the fights outside Coruscant bars that seemed to follow her, but that had been its only real advantage.

When he mentioned a plan, she resisted arching a brow.

Most people assumed she had a plan. They weren’t wrong, persay. She worked in broad strokes, and then let details work themselves out from there. She could plan on several contingencies, but she would not know which plan to go with until she was within the situation. “The main intent is to throw Terex off. It is to make him believe we are not aware that he has moved, or know where he has moved to. The latter is correct, we do not yet know where he has gone, but that will be resolved soon.”

One of the droids would see him, if Toc hadn’t sent a mouse droid into Terex’s ship. If not a droid, his trail would become obvious soon enough.

“While on Takodana, I thought it would be a good idea to gather information on what he was doing there, who he met with, these sorts of things. It may offer insight into his plans going forward,” and that could prepare them for what they would have to deal with, as well. “Do you have any thoughts on the matter, or ways you would like to proceed on Takodana or following Terex?”

 

[insensitive]

At first, she considered asking how he could know how it felt, but quickly remembered. She’d viewed him as nothing more than a monster since she could remember, and it was the same for the First Order itself.

He was a person, and he must’ve gone through something similar with Luke. Still, his acknowledgement of the pain she felt did nothing.

Again, she averted her eyes. He was right, in some ways, but civilians weren’t always enemies. Purging the galaxy of everyone who felt the First Order was wrong and immoral would mean to wipe out most of its population. It was impossible. If they wanted to bring others to their side so badly, surely they could see it did them no good to murder anyone who disagreed.

Yes, fear did have its place, but too much fear meant revolts. That was what the Resistance was, after all.

His comment about the Stormtroopers didn’t quite sting, though it was something she’d considered many times before. They were brainwashed soldiers, that was what she’d been taught. So, in a way, they were innocent. They were fighting for their cause, just as the Resistance was. The only way she’d justified it before was by acknowledging that it was for the cause - for the good of the galaxy.

Just as he was trying to do now, with her. So she could see his point.

Lee didn’t speak, though she couldn’t bring herself to think about it anymore, either. It was all just confusing. Draining. And she was still bleeding, still tired. This was hardly how she’d expected her evening to go.

She swallowed, took a breath. With any luck, he would be a bit more generous, and at least some of her current issues could be fixed. “If you want a decision, I can’t give you one. Not now,” she stated, somewhat resigned. “I...I need time.” She guessed it was more than likely he would have to bring this situation to the attention of his higher-ups, which might then provide a possibility for exactly that. Time.

~***~

Poe carefully adjusted the direction the ship was pointed, keeping his eyes past the window. The sky’s pigment quickly faded from view, the world of Hosnian Prime now behind them. He kept the ship headed further into the stars, though the initial pull it’d had against them both had eased up completely now, and so he adjusted himself to take a better look at their current position.

He nodded along with her plan, only minimally distracted by the ship’s location system by his right hand. He punched in a few codes to their respective places, intent on finding the exact location of Takodana. He trusted his own ability to navigate from where they were now, but if they were making a jump through lightspeed, he wanted to get specifics.

He wasn’t one for pirate pubs - anything to do with pirates, really - but he figured that, if there was going to be a “no fighting” rule, they might not have to deal with so much physical hostility.

Inside the pub, that was. Outside, depending on who they pissed off, it would be free range. Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that, but then again, Terex had friends in all sorts of places. If they were going to be asking around for a man of his status and history, they would have to make damn sure they didn’t stumble upon the wrong people.

Of course, he didn’t know much about the place, and it seemed Neria was no stranger. He trusted her judgement on this matter more than his own.

“You mentioned something about his gang, earlier,” Poe started, leaning forward to flick a few switches to accommodate the adjustments he’d be making for the flight. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say the man had a slim chance in getting anyone else involved, if he mentioned your name.” His own name was hated among plenty of members in the Ranc Gang, but the Tarkins were infamous for a reason. Anyone with half a brain in most criminal gangs would be less than eager to jump on a chance at getting themselves on a Tarkin’s radar. Then again...most members of Terex’s gang were more arrogant than smart.

“But I know the guy and his gang enough to recognize their loyalty to him - he commands respect from criminals more so than anyone I’ve ever met,” which was true. If he could say anything about the man that wasn’t entirely negative, it would be that. “If we’re getting involved in the man’s business, and he suspects us, whether or not you already have someone going after the gang, I don’t think it would be entirely out of the question to suggest he’s already contacted a few of its members.”

He looked over at her, satisfied with his work of the ship enough to take his attention from it for now. He didn’t bother to ask a question just yet, but instead, awaited what she had to say in response. If she'd already considered the possibility of other threats coming into play much sooner than expected, he wouldn't let that worry him. If she hadn't, other precautions may be necessary.

 

[Lucyfer]

No decision, was better than some decisions, Kylo reflected as Lee finally offered an answer of sorts. No decision meant there was room for her to be swayed, one way or another. It meant his words had been more than heard – they’d been understood. That was rare. So many rebels were so stubborn that they refused to listen to sense at all. It was easier for them to cling to their pleasant lies.

“I understand,” and he did, truly. He may have made the jump to Snoke and the First Order quickly, but he had considered it a while under Luke’s tutelage. Luke’s act forced his quick decision, but it wasn’t without some thought and consideration.

He knew it wasn’t all good.

But he knew it was better than the alternatives. He knew, one day, he’d be Supreme Leader, and he could make the changes that needed to be made. He just had to wait until Snoke passed on.

“I’ll need more answers from you,” he said then, realizing in the moment he wanted to put his mask right back on. To return to the intimidating questioner. That statement didn’t sound right without the modulator. It didn’t have the same sort of authority behind it. His natural voice was still fairly deep and resonant, but not in the way the modulator made it. Just as he knew his own face didn’t exactly inspire fear or claim power.

Not the way Leia could.

He hadn’t mastered that skill naturally.

Still, he didn’t return to it and show that insecurity. It was off. He had to continue with it off. “Who provided you with the information that information on Luke was on Iridonia? What was your source?” He didn’t know if it was the same. He could assume, but that wasn’t good investigative work to just assume.

~***~

The suggestion of Terex working with others and the problems that could cause didn’t phase Neria. It rarely did. Poe seemed worried, and perhaps that was a good thing. She had grown jaded by now with all of her enemies. She expected someone would try to kill her wherever she went. After all, her father had been assassinated.

Most in her family didn’t make it to die of natural causes.

“Why do you think I’m armed, Dameron?” It was, she hoped, a rhetorical question. “Even if it is not anyone associated with Terex, I am not among the galaxy’s favorite people, and pirates in particular seem to despise my family. Can’t imagine why.” Entirely sarcastic.

Wilhuff had taken down the Pirate Queen known to many only by the moniker ‘Q’. Her family had continued to take down pirate groups associated with her, including one who went by ‘Q-Less’ of all the ridiculous things, and others. They made quite the reputation on dealing with criminals, and dealing with them harshly, even before the Empire rose.

It was just how life was in the Outer Rim – there were only ever three choices: fight, die, or be abused in surrender. Neria had little intent to ever surrender. “I doubt Terex will have left much behind on Takodana for us to deal with. It’s his next jumps we’ll have to be wary of,” though she wouldn’t drop her guard on Takodana. It was always possible he’d arranged for a surprise there on such short notice.

She gave Poe a once-over. He’d asked for blasters, “I suppose you aren’t terribly familiar with bar fights and the like, are you?” Given, even those used to such things could still prefer blasters and not getting punched in the face. Neria had come to favor close-range weapons for different reasons, but the fact they were easier to use non-lethally helped, somewhat.

 

[insensitive]

Thankfully, he didn’t press the issue any further. She wasn’t quite sure as to why, but if it truly was some amount of understanding, she was grateful for it. Given everything, she had no clue how much time she might need to process this, but suspected the amount he’d give her was limited.

It made her question how he’d turned to the First Order so quickly, even under the teachings of Skywalker. Perhaps his mind had been made up long before then, and Luke’s actions only acted as a catalyst for his turn. His stance on both the Resistance and the First Order were clearly firm; he had to have been questioning things beforehand, even if his bitterness toward the Jedi Master was strong.

She could empathize with that much. If not for the things Leia had kept from her, the matters she’d been left in the dark about, she might not have been so easily swayed out of certainty by his statements. Her questioning nature played some part in that, yes, but his words gave her all the more reason to re-evaluate what she’d so quickly written off and dismissed. Maybe, in reality, what she’d thought were only minor flaws in Leia’s way of handling things were reflections on something more. Something that couldn’t be ignored.

Right now, she didn’t want to think about that.

Though it was something she was dreading, a part of her felt grateful for when he continued on with his questions. She could dodge the matter awhile longer, and with little worry about revealing some important piece of the Resistance in the process; she couldn’t answer his questions in ways that would be helpful.

Yet another reason for uncertainty. So many things were kept hidden under wraps, even when it came to her own operations. Safety precautions more than likely, in the event one of them was captured for interrogation, but now even that justification was old and worn.

“I don’t know the source,” she said, “not the exact one. But I know it didn’t come from any of us in the Resistance—it came from an outsider.” Looking up at him, she realized she hoped that would be somewhat helpful. Enough that he might be satisfied and closer to leaving her alone.

She doubted it.

~***~

He cocked his head a little in agreement, glancing at the weapons affixed to her. At least she was self-aware. Though he suspected she hadn’t committed as many offenses as who he knew to be the most infamous of them, Wilfhuff, her family name wasn’t quite one that inspired much other than fear, hatred, or simply unease from many.

Given her family’s reputation, admittedly, Poe had expected her to be worse than the rest of the senators he’d come into contact with on previous occasions, only in a different sense. Her family had been productive, just not always in a way that benefited the Resistance.

Although she proved to be just as quick, he was learning that the reputation of her family name was hardly something to judge Neria herself by.

He agreed with her, about Takodana. Terex had relocated quickly from the world, which would likely have allowed him little time to plan on them going to Takodana so shortly afterward. If he suspected they were going to follow, which he certainly would, then he would be planning for them to do so after he figured out where he was headed. That would make the most sense, and it sounded like she agreed.

His head canted whilst he turned to the control panels, beginning the plans for the jump. The ship’s directional system worked as well as he anticipated, meaning he would have to worry much less about accidental missteps. “I’m not a stranger to them.” He definitely was not. “Before, when I worked under the New Republic, I got myself in quite a few,” none of which he necessarily planned on getting involved in, but given his lack of restraint, it was no surprise that they occurred. “Why? You think we’re going to start one?”

It wouldn’t surprise him. It was a pirate pub, after all. Rules or not, pirates were pirates, and she had a reputation. And he had a mouth.

 

[Lucyfer]

In truth, Kylo had not expected Lee to know anything. She was, after all, kept out of the loop of so much else, including her own talents. It was a sad state of affairs. Leia hadn’t even entrusted her with information regarding the source, except that it came from outside the Resistance.

That was little.

The hope in her eyes was in vain. Kylo was not at all satisfied with that answer. He decided to ask for more, and to be a bit more specific in what he thought she might be able to offer – even if she didn’t know the exact source. Certainly she knew more than she let on. At least, he did hope for that, even if she didn’t know as much as the General herself knew.

“Did she say anything to suggest the lead was reliable?” Kylo pressed, “Did she describe them in any way – an old friend, a locale they were from, or anything at all?” If he could get a small descriptor, he may be able to determine if it was the same lead he had, or someone else entirely. It’d be interesting if the information came from two sources.

And then, with a bit of disdain touching his tone, he added, “Or was it even Leia who gave you that command?” he still referred to her casually, though it was not as casually as he once had.

To think he’d once called her ‘mom’.

Leia was his own way of denying her the title of General, and admittedly, a middle ground even if he would never confess it to Snoke. A way between the pulls of his emotions for the woman who birthed him, and abandoned him. He’d only claim spite with the use of Leia, and it was there, of course. Along with that old desire to wish they had been familiar enough that ‘mom’ felt right, but the truth was, it didn’t.

It hadn’t since the day she sent him to Luke, so she could focus on her politics without him getting in the way with his unstable powers.

At least Han had disagreed. It was the one decent thing he could say for that man.

~***~

Neria was a bit surprised that Poe confessed to getting into a few fights himself. It didn’t displease her. Those who got into fights usually had something to defend, and defend passionately. They stood for something. While Poe had shown a certain lack of restraint and tact, a certain openness with his emotions, he thought he might have learned how to avoid fights.

He was, after all, working with Leia.

Leia didn’t exactly invite bar fights.

“Oh, I never start them,” Neria said, “no matter what some of my…friends…may say. If I can learn to hold a punch back over a few insulting words, you would think others would learn the same skills. It’s not something that is commonly taught any longer and some people are just so…sensitive. Apparently it isn’t polite to tell an Alderaanian to go home because they’re drunk.”

She’d probably thrown the first punch once or twice, but she could only recall once. He’d more than deserved it, though. “How was I supposed to know?” the answer was fairly obvious if she’d known they were Alderaanian.

The ship was indeed familiar with the course that Poe was trying to set, and it flashed the time it would take. “There’s a quicker way, rather than a direct jump,” she noted, “Take the hyperlane to Denon. There’s a junction there to the Hydian trade route, which will take us right to Malastare, and one of the pirate’s own hyperlanes – the Biox Detour. We can go straight to Takodana from there.”

It’d shave a few hours off their travel rather than letting the ship attempt to navigate straight through it. There were a lot of gaps in that trip where they wouldn’t quite be on a ‘lane’, which would make things a bit slower, not to mention, more dangerous. They might end up in the shadow of a larger mass that her calculations weren’t as up-to-date on. She didn’t doubt them – she tried to keep them frequently updated, but things happened.

Herds of purrgil happened.

 

[insensitive]

The exasperation in her eyes was evident, but Lee didn’t make any effort to dodge his questions through snide comments or the like. She was no fool, and she knew that wasn’t going to work.

Just as he was no fool, either, and suspected she was holding back.

In truth, she wasn’t doing so intentionally. Between her present injuries and the revelations which had occurred since the wreck on Iridonia, it was needless to say that her mental state had been jumbled in all sorts of ways. Mostly, she was tired. Still, that wasn’t to say she was useless. He was well aware of that.

She exhaled through her nose, eyes wandering right whilst she searched for answers. It wasn’t as though Leia had held all information from her, but enough had been kept for insurance purposes, as usual. She did know that the General had been confident in the lead. Its source was one she trusted, no doubt, given the way in which she spoke of them.

In fact, from what Lee had heard in previous conversations, she was almost inclined to say it had been Lor San Tekka who had pointed them to Iridonia. Regardless of whether or not she felt that was an answer she could be certain of, of course, she had no intent to give that information up. But the series of events Poe had struggled through in order to find the man had been shared with her, both through the General and himself. When they rescued him from some random offshoot of space; Terex’s fault, she recalled, which resulted in a nasty fight between the Black Squadron and the First Order. The last news of the old explorer told her he was now searching for the information they needed and, if she was to place her faith in anything, it would be that he was the source of the lead.

Although it hadn’t led to anything of note and perhaps made the man less reliable as a result, she couldn’t know for sure. The Resistance had only been out of touch with the man for a short period of time - if the lead came from him, it might’ve been no more than a suggestion, or something to aid their efforts in another way whilst he searched further.

Lee paused, considering. “The General spoke briefly of an old explorer,” true, but not the whole truth. Though she wasn’t always the best at hiding her true feelings from plain view, she was no stranger to hiding pieces of information from the wrong people. If she could give him a little, pass it off as all she knew - especially given the fact that she herself wasn’t completely sure - hopefully, that might be convincing enough.

Hopefully.

“I don’t know if they were old friends, or where the source was located at the time she spoke with them, but I know it was someone she trusted to find Skywalker.”

~***~

Poe smirked but stifled a chuckle at her recollection. He knew Alderaan for its role in forming the Rebel Alliance, back during the time of the Old Republic. According to what he’d heard, the planet had been beautiful before its destruction - a feat achieved by Wilfhuff. Leia had been one of the few to survive that, he knew; she’d been the heiress to its royal house, given that she was Bail Organa’s daughter.

Poe had thought to ask her, once, if she often thought about the planet. Given that it was her home-world, he suspected so, but he’d always been curious about her memories of the place. In truth, he had more respect for her than any of the men or women he’d ever served under, which was the sole reason for his quick decision to leave the New Republic all those years ago. Today it remained the reason that he followed her orders without so many questions.

Most of the time.

Apparently, Alderaan had been a hell of a place for parties. It was no wonder why an Alderaanian, of all types, wouldn’t act so nicely to someone who suggested they depart from one.

His brow furrowed a bit. “We won’t be asked to stop anywhere along the line, will we? Do I need to have anything prepared?” Of course, there wasn’t always a certain answer to such a question - it was more dependent on whom they were crossing, rather than where. But he wanted to be sure this went smoothly.

He backed up the system a few steps, punched in the locations as she directed him. He wasn’t the most familiar with the Core worlds, nor those of the Inner Rim, but with his years in the New Republic came some amount of experience whether it be through personal endeavours or word of mouth.

The last thing he wanted, especially now, was to end up in a mess he would be too ill-acquainted with to get himself out of. By the General’s orders, he wasn’t allowed to do anything too risky, but then again, he doubted Neria was too keen on taking so many risks so soon. Regardless of what happened on that route to Takodana, it would likely be better than making a jump through hyperspace led by a ship’s navigational system, as those didn’t quite factor in all the possible...species, or otherwise, they could come by.

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo listened as Lee told him what she knew. Or at least, what she was willing to admit before he dug it out of her head. An ‘old explorer’ could mean plenty of people, but one stood out in Kylo Ren’s mind – Lor San Tekka. After all, there had been an encounter with him not that long ago, which led to the end of Terex’s service with the First Order.

Though Kylo didn’t like Terex, it was a blow all the same.

No one had been better at finding things than Terex.

He still needed to see Terex executed, but it was a lesser issue. As far as he knew, Terex was basically retired and keeping his head down.

“Would this explorer be Lor San Tekka?” He spoke the name aloud to see if any reaction would cross her face, or if Lee would manage to cover any reaction effectively. His own gaze was too open, too obvious in watching her. “She has relied on information from him before, and it was wrong, before.”

In spite of that, Kylo did consider Lor San Tekka a good source. It wasn’t where the First Order got their source, of course. It had passed the lips of someone on Shili, who had claimed the source was good – someone close to Leia. Even if it had been bad, it had been their only bit of news in a while, and so they followed it.

Kylo now considered they might have to do a raid on Shili, to find out anything about where this ‘old explorer’ went after they passed through.

~***~

Poe’s query of whether or not he would need to be prepared to say anything caused a short laugh to escape Neria. Oh, he clearly didn’t know what all the buttons in front of him did. “Dameron, this craft is in my name. If you say so much as a word, I imagine we’ll be stopped immediately on the suspicion you’ve stolen it. If we are stopped,” which, they shouldn’t be, “I will handle talking.”

She did lean forward, however, and gestured to a system of levers and switches that were meant to redirect the energy of the ship, “If anything should happen, we can adjust the power of the ship and make it completely invisible, however.” She took a few notes from Wilhuff, after all.

A fast and powerful ship that could avoid being caught on any radars? Absolutely, “So far, I have yet to meet anything that can disable the cloaking or find my ship in cloaking. I’ve been trying to create such a thing, actually,” so far, no successes – but one day. Then she’d have to improve her ship.

“You must have never gotten a chance to fly the Carrion Spike – I would have half-expected you to take it from Terex at least once.” Time to pry, just a bit, while in lightspeed. “Why did your name cause such a reaction in Terex?” That hadn’t been a lie; his emotions had been lain bare too easily when Neria mentioned Poe and offered him to Terex.

 

[insensitive]

Lee managed to be somewhat surprised at how quickly he picked up on the identity of their source, but she suppressed it just as quickly. The hope was that whatever emotion she’d shown following his inquiry would look more like genuine confusion than a tell of her knowledge on the fact. It was obvious enough that he was searching her expression for a change; his own was so openly piercing, now, that it looked almost as if he wanted her to know.

But before she could reply, he continued, and she was distracted from the question by another curiosity.

‘Leia. He kept referring to her as “Leia”.’ That alone, was odd. No one she’d ever encountered who wasn’t at least a little personally-involved with the General used her first name. It was informal. Unusual.

That, and he appeared more than confident in his statements about her. Maybe a result of no more than his demeanor, considering his superior position in the First Order. There seemed more to it than that.

“You keep calling her ‘Leia’,” she repeated, this time aloud. Hopefully that would catch him enough off-guard that he might be inclined to provide a reason. “Why?”

~***~

Poe chuckled in response, still half-focused on the panels as he nodded. He'd been so preoccupied with it originally, as well as the ship itself, that he hadn't even given that in particular very much thought. He was used to the average Resistance ship being available to whomever needed it next. Other than the customized ships such as his own, of course.

That was not to say this was anything like a Resistance ship, however - this was far better.

His eyes went briefly to the system controlling the ship's cloaking system. He held back another grin. This ship really did have it all. Not limited to style in outward appearance, but there had been thought put into what it should be capable of. He admired that. Most people, when it came to their fancy, high-end ships, cared more about the status it brought them than the functions of the ship itself.

Needless to say, he was impressed, especially when she followed up with the extent of its capabilities as far as she was still aware.

Finally, they were ready to make the jump into lightspeed, which he wasted no time in doing. The ship jolted seamlessly forward, the stars surrounding them becoming elongated ribbons of white or silver. "Believe me, the thought crossed my mind once or twice," about stealing the Spike. It certainly wasn't out of his realm of possibilities, but considering the circumstances of the time (not to mention how completely pissed the General would’ve gotten if he’d decided to do something so...well, stupid), he’d not gone on to entertain the prospect.

He paused for a moment, looked down at the controls. Of course she would want to know more about his history with the man. He couldn’t blame her curiosity. And though those memories weren’t always ones he enjoyed revisiting, it would be more than unreasonable to deny her the information. It was better they were both on the same page, where Terex was concerned.

“When he still worked for the First Order, we went through a lot of trouble - my Squadron and I - to get past him. He found plenty of ways to throw us off,” he said, leaning back against the chair, arms crossed. There were so many things involving that man. The most prominent of which, recently, his involvement in the search for Lor San Tekka. Poe had no intention to speak of that, however; the information on the elderly man’s current whereabouts still held far too much value for him to just go handing it out.

“He tried to wipe us out on more than one occasion - he and his gang, at one point. I’d assume it was by orders, but then again, this went on for some time. Eventually, it seemed like he started doing things just in order to win. He did, just once.” Once, in Poe’s mind. To the Black Squadron, when they’d suffered a loss of a member, and the corruption of another, at Terex’s hand.

“We both hate each other.” He could say that with absolute certainty.

 

[Lucyfer]

Lee did not answer his question. He saw a flicker of expression, confusion, but what he felt from her contradicted that confusion. ‘It is.’ But she did not verbally answer. No, instead, she asked her own question. Kylo could feel the heat rise to his own face, anger and some embarrassment. Perhaps even guilt, that he still referred to her familiarly, even if it was half-insult.

He swallowed it down, “Her status as a General is not recognized by anyone. Not the New Republic, not the First Order, just by her group of reckless anarchistic thugs who think they know what is best for the galaxy,” Kylo spat, trying to hold the anger in his voice, not thinking of how that could make it seem even more personal.

He didn’t want to sound personal.

He wanted to sound…well, justified, in using Leia.

“Alderaan is gone, and she’s forsaken her duties as Senator as well.” The reason she set him aside, to pursue politics. He let his arms fall back to his side, taking to pacing again.

Well, that was a lie.

Alderaan was still there, of course. Not the planet, but the culture and the society remained in the space station that was built on the debris of the first Death Star. He had been there. “She isn’t princess of anything, she isn’t general of anything. She doesn’t deserve the title or the respect it would suggest.” He had no respect for her. “She is nothing but a soldier who never learned how to adapt to society. She doesn’t deserve rewards or accolades for her failures.”

Oh, but it burned. That couldn’t be hidden. His voice cracked at the end, and the heat was in his face.

And Lee had brought him to that distract. He abruptly stopped. “You didn’t answer my question.” He returned to that, lest she take the invitation of his anger to question him further on Leia.

He didn’t want to talk about Leia.

~***~

No surprise that the thought had crossed Poe’s mind once or twice. It had crossed Neria’s own mind frequently, and when it was destroyed, she was half-convinced to put a bolt through Commander Malarus for that alone. Thankfully, she never needed to intervene. The spice-addicted fool saw to her own end. As it was, she didn’t need the Spike – but she did like to keep Wilhuff’s legacy alive in what ways she could.

Fear was a powerful weapon.

It seemed that Poe’s path had crossed multiple times with the First Order agent. Neria listened. It was easy enough to presume they must have been chasing the same lead, but she didn’t know what that was. Terex was notorious for getting any bit of information he wanted. She knew his strategy. Take an enemy hostage, and use them.

Effective.

But repulsive.

Terex was little better than a slaver in that regard, but Neria couldn’t find it in herself to hate his ruthlessness or his ingenuity. She imagine he’d considered it once or twice with her own group, but he hadn’t. Another reason for her to believe he was, certainly, not the mastermind of the plot behind her friend.

He always knew what it would bring down on him. The Resistance and Leia were known for mercy.

“I doubt any involvement of the Ranc gang was approved of by the First Order, but it certainly confirms he hates you,” in fact, she knew it wasn’t. It had led to his downfall in their ranks, to the mind control chip. She hadn't known it was all over some pilot of the Resistance, “All the same, you clearly distracted him from his First Order commission. What brought the pair of you together?” What was Terex’s lead? What had Poe continued to get between? “I don’t suppose it was something as simple as a doonium mine or a kyber cave.” She kept her tone the same as before, mild curiosity, wondering if Poe might divulge, or if that would be classified.

 

[insensitive]

Lee had been hoping to distract him, and he did not disappoint.

What he did do, was provide far more than just the explanation to the informality with which he referred to her.

This was personal. She could hear that clearly enough, not only in his words, but in his tone. The way his anger shone through the statements, his bitterness. The way his voice cracked. She could even see it; his expression was contorted to something resentful, defiant. None of the superiority which he seemed to regard himself and his views with drained whilst he spoke, but that only added to the lack of validity she saw within what he was saying.

She watched him pace, doing her best not to be insulted. It would be so easy to discredit his statements, write them off as nothing more than the typical First Order nonsense. But she felt both insulted and, even worse, curious as to why he felt this strongly about the General.

Even the way he said her name - her first name - made it sound as though he felt poisoned just by uttering it.

Lee would not find it so easy to just ignore it. Nor his first insult.

‘Reckless anarchistic thugs.’

“No, I didn’t,” she said, quite matter-of-factly, before leaning forward as best the bonds would allow, “Call me an ‘anarchistic thug’ again, and I won’t answer any of your other questions, either,” she spat.

It should’ve been no surprise to her that he felt so strongly about the Resistance; usually, insults coming from the mouths of First Order operatives did nothing to wound her stance, nor her pride. But him...he’d passed the threshold of “pushing it” awhile ago.

“What is she to you?” she continued, deciding that piece of information would be more than valuable, if she could somehow pry it from him. It was more than doubtful that would occur easily.

~***~

Poe knew plenty about the Ranc gang to be aware that the First Order wouldn’t have sought to approve their assistance, but he didn’t comment on the matter. Terex was resourceful - if he thought he needed his gang to be involved, they would be. Loyal as they were, especially.

And, as she stated, any involvement not approved by the man’s former higher-ups, especially at the time in which he’d first involved them, would certainly confirm the man’s unrelenting hatred. He was reckless, at times, but he hadn’t been quite stupid enough to defy someone like Captain Phasma, nor the Force-sensitive at Snoke’s side.

He watched the stars flood past the length of the window before them, disappearing beyond its glass whilst the starship travelled onward. He reflected on the first events which had brought them together, taking note of Neria’s evident curiosity but deciding not to read much into the push. It hadn’t all been a result of Terex’s stubbornness, his inability to lose, in the earlier days.

“He was more than likely ordered by an SO to keep tabs on my Squadron and I,” probably, considering by that point Poe had become a better-known pilot—for good reasons, he assumed. “It wasn’t so much a distraction, at first, but when we beat him he didn’t take it very well.” No surprise there. Terex was probably one of the proudest men Poe had ever met, in his eyes.

There were, of course, other little details he wasn’t so quick to jump to, such as the situation with Oddy. And Ruth. But those were more reasons for Poe to hate him.

“Eventually, we were chasing the same person,” choosing his words carefully, he added, “not someone the First Order was too keen on losing, I’d guess. He’s been a source of ours since Terex...well, disappeared, so to speak.” From the Resistance’s radar.

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo’s lips twitched slightly, threatening a smirk at the offense Lee took to his nickname for the Resistance. It’s what they were. He was tempted to press that. Did she not see it? They were lawless, ignoring the rules of the New Republic they wanted to defend so desperately, and pressing their will down on others without any governing bodies.

It was that kind of thing that Kylo sought so desperately to put an end to. It was that sort of behavior that kept the galaxy in chaos.

Still, he did want Lee to continue speaking. It was better for her future if she did, so he did not press it at the moment, and as Lee tried to change the subject back to Leia, he shook his head. There, the smile did spread, just a bit, that hint of malicious amusement. Now that he had snapped himself back, he wasn’t about to allow the topic to be changed so quickly.

“Answer my question, Lee,” he emphasized the use of her name this time, over ‘anarchistic thug’. Or any other insulting term he could come up with. “It was Lor San Tekka that provided this information, wasn’t it?” He asked again, wanting to hear it, wanting her to confirm it, so he’d have that. Another, agreeable, concession that he could use. If it was the truth in her mind, as well, all the better.

He didn’t doubt that it would be, in either case. There remained the fact he could still take any bit of information he wanted, and he would, at any time.

~***~

Neria made a note that she may want to question Terex about his relationship with Poe – how it began. It did not seem so simple as him being ordered to watch him. Terex was far more useful than that. He’d usually protest that sort of mission, unless Poe was truly that interesting. Which, given Leia trusted him, may indeed be true.

The question was going to be how to make Terex talk when his death was imminent.

An idea did begin to form in Neria’s mind, but she wouldn’t speak of it aloud. Poe masked the identity of one individual in his tale, and Neria nodded. She understood where the lie for information was, then. At least so far as this line of questioning went. “Then it is good he did not fall into the hands of the First Order.”

She would leave it at that. They were not allies beyond this, there was no need for sharing information of that sort. Poe did not yet know if she could be trusted, and she would hardly insist on it.

“Terex has never taken loss well. After the Battle of Jakku, he went so far as to become a criminal to spite the New Republic,” and that was how the First Order found him, and recruited him, long before she ever got her claws into him herself. It had been an…interesting working relationship. “But we’ll follow up with him soon. I would like to request you let me handle the matter of Terex. I understand it is personal for both of us, but given the…hatred between the pair of you, I believe he is less likely to listen to you, or talk to you, and this is all for nothing if I cannot find out who he worked with.”

 

[insensitive]

The change in his expression at her attempt to distract him further - to play on that obvious wound a little while longer, for her sake, and that of the Resistance - was somewhat...unsettling.

So quickly, he’d snapped back from that state of blind resentment, into a place of what appeared from the outside to be utter indifference. Given the way the conversation had begun to steer itself, the way she’d begun to shift it, she hadn’t been expecting that to occur with such ease.

And yet, it had. That, even over most else thus far, was annoying.

Lee’s jaw set, her fists tightening some against the bonds. She wouldn’t expect him to see her side of things, not even if she tried her hand at justifying her position in the Resistance. They weren’t entirely lawless, as he was inclined to believe. That was just another result of the First Order’s brainwashing techniques - its sick tendency to sway those operating beneath it from the prospects of freedom through whisperings of “order” that proved to be sweet only on surface-level.

The First Order was composed of fascist ideals. Of course she was going to protest against them.

She felt her lip twitch at his emphasis on her name, something flashing behind her eyes. Was he usually this infuriating? She wouldn’t doubt it, given what she identified as a superiority complex from him.

“If you want that information, you’ll have to look for it yourself.” She settled back against the chair, a smug look finding its way to her eyes through the exasperation. This was verging on tiring. At least, that was what she would tell herself, in an effort to avoid the anger she felt bubbling up within her veins. She couldn’t let his statements bother her. Wouldn’t that just prove it was something to be bothered about?

“You told me you would take whatever you wanted, anyway. So if you’re planning on doing it anytime soon, just get on with it. Before I bleed out all over your chair.”

~***~

Poe watched as she contemplated him, the answer given. He’d chosen to cover up Tekka’s identity for more than one reason, and he felt that would make sense, to her. She didn’t seem the type to pry once it was made apparent the information being sought out was classified. Important.

No...she would be the type to find her own way of uncovering it. If she found it at all important. He wasn’t quite sure she did, considering her current stance on matters concerning his side and the opposing. Then again, he wasn’t quite sure about where her opinions would lie on many things.

He did, however, take note of what she responded with. A good sign, maybe.

He turned back to the stars. “Believe me, I don’t want to talk to the guy any more than you want me to. That would lower our chances of figuring this mess out by...a lot.” His eyes narrowed faintly with curiosity then, at which point he realized he still knew nothing about her history with Terex.

“I’m going to guess the two of you were working with one another, at some point?” Maybe not “together”, per se, but he must’ve done something for her in the past which made this a little more personal than it would be if it only concerned the Tagge woman. “What’s the story with the two of you?”

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo could tell that his shift had rattled her from the way that Lee clenched her jaw. Of course, internally, he was still roiling with anger. He was also, quite tempted to grab his mask once more and throw it over his face to hide his expressions again, rather than keep them trained as they were now.

It certainly didn’t help him any in acquiring information. Lee went back to being defiant and told him nothing. “Pity.” This would be a mark against her, one the Supreme Leader would certainly not be inclined to forget. She had given some information, but not nearly enough.

However, Kylo Ren was done playing nice. He knew that if he played it any further, Lee might very well get information from him that he didn’t want her to have. She already had more than he wanted her to have from his reactions to Leia and being questioned on that. He wasn’t sure, really, if he should be offended that Leia wasn’t telling people that it was her son who was a part of the First Order.

Of course, she probably didn’t see him that way anymore, just as she had never seen Darth Vader as her father. She hid that shame and it was her undoing in the political sphere. Now this would be her undoing for everything else – the reign of rebels would end. Peace would follow.

He stepped forward, his hand stretching out with his strides, towards Lee in her chair. He imagined that look of smug satisfaction would soon vanish from her face as she felt the pull on her mind. It was a painful process, and she would know the information he took. It would pass before her mind before it left, to enter his own mind, “You will tell me everything, then.” His voice lowered, “About your mission. Where it came from. And anything you know about Luke Skywalker and the Resistance.”

The words were meant to help draw those memories up to the surface of her thoughts, where they’d be far easier to take hold of and pull out of her head, as the Force hooked into her mind, and started to pry open those doors in her mind.

Soon, he’d have everything. Despite her Force sensitivity, he wasn’t anticipating this would be difficult. She was, after all, untrained. Unfamiliar.

And then he would have to go to Snoke.

~***~

Neria had suspected the question might turn on her, at some point. It was fairly obvious her relationship with Terex, before that moment, was not quite so hostile. “Terex has always been something of a family friend, though his jokes of being intimate with Wilhuff do get tiresome,” a smile did briefly appear on her lips.

She’d never hear those stupid jokes again. She’d lose one of the last people who stood outside of her family and could make light of their insanity.

Still, she spoke on, leaning back in her chair, looking out the viewport as she reflected. “Before he was in the First Order, my grandfather and he had a brief meeting. Jova tried to convince Terex to join him in the New Republic, to become a citizen of Eriadu, but he refused.” Rather vehemently. He was enraged that Jova was surrendering to Mon Mothma. “They went their separate ways, and we didn’t pay much attention to him until I learned he has the Carrion Spike. I may or may not have stolen my father’s ship and hunted him down.”

She was there before the First Order. Not too long before, but before all the same – not yet Tarkin, but he saw that she would be. “I wanted the ship returned. I did not get that. I did get the blueprints.” She lightly patted the side of the ship, a small indication that Orrineswa existed because of those blueprints, “I suppose he found something particularly amusing about a teenager showing up in front of his gang with demands.” He had certainly laughed his ass off.

Her head tilted a bit towards the side, not towards Poe, the smile remaining in reflection but tinged now with the reality before her. This was no happy future she was looking at. “We kept in touch. We have similar interests in ships and stealth technology. There are not too many out there with this kind of knowledge.” Or the ability to improve it. Or the money to improve it. “We worked in deals – he wanted relics of the Empire, I wanted stygium and information on the First Order.”

Of course, he was also one of the few who understood her fucked up family without need of explanation. There was a quiet understanding between them that allowed for them not to just simply trade and depart. They lingered, and they talked, those times they met.

“He assisted me in learning who assassinated my father. It’s ironic that now he’s played the role of assassin for a friend of mine. He should have known better,” that was what would continue to bother her. What could make him so stupid? Or what gave him such arrogance to think he’d get away with it? “But he will be convinced to talk all the same, once we can get to him. There’s one…mercy I can offer that I doubt he’ll turn aside.”

The same option that had been given to Berch Teller, though he didn’t know it when he stepped into the trap.

 

[insensitive]

Good. He wasn’t going to continue on about all the reasons the Resistance and its General was wrong, unorganized, even cruel in its ways. He wasn’t going to give her more reasons to question what she’d always viewed as her life’s purpose, her mission, just yet.

But that brought with it a whole new set of things for her to worry about.

As quickly as the challenge had slipped from her lips, she felt any sense of confidence slip away as well. No mistake had been made, not as far as she could see; he would’ve scoured her brain for the answers he sought, anyway, regardless of any further compliance she may have provided. At least this way he was well-aware that she would not be so easily bent, or swayed into believing in something so immoral.

At least she knew where her loyalties lie.

But even then that seemed uncertain.

Still, she straightened herself, held her breath as he stepped forward. Her gaze focused on the gloved hand whilst it extended toward her, and she pressed herself back against the chair, forcing the thoughts floating within her mind and the ones which immediately jumped to the surface as best she could to disappear. She had little success, when it came to that. A byproduct of her tendency to overthink, to latch on to all the information as carefully and closely as possible.

Given the anxiety, it may as well have been a useless effort to try quieting her mind this time, but this was real. The consequences of her giving up the information he so desperately wanted were real.

That turned out to be motivating.

The discomfort was almost immediate, but she only tensed against the restraints. She had not intended for any of this to go the way it had. Her thoughts jumped to Nev, the form of her face and figure manifesting too quickly for her to shove them away before being identified. She could feel him pulling it from her, the image, which brought an unexpected level of pain directly behind both her eyes.

She exhaled slowly, a second attempt at steadying her thoughts, but her chest rattled. She winced, squinted against the pain, ultimately squeezing her eyes shut. She tried turning away from him but that only made it worse. It was spreading, and quickly, to the back of her head, an eventual implosion of pain from within her thoughts making her whimper.

“About your mission,” she heard his voice, “Where it came from.”

And in response, her mind lurched to the name: ‘Lor San Tekka.’

Another shaky exhale and she opened her eyes, pinning them once again on his own. That was nothing more than a confirmation of his own thoughts. It couldn’t be any more disastrous than what had already been revealed.

But the extent of his reach, and the pain it brought, didn’t stop there. ‘Looking for Skywalker. The last piece of the map. Leia just needs to awaken the droid…’

Lee’s pulse quickened and she forced herself to stop, “Get out!” she growled, the burning strip in her throat resurfacing.

~***~

Poe’s brow poked upward. He’d never imagined Terex as being much of a pleasant guy to hang around, or even one whose presence would be recalled as enjoyable. Then again, he’d managed to acquire a substantial amount of respect from criminals, of all types. His hold on the Ranc gang could be a testament to some level of likability.

That, and so was the faint smile which flickered across her features. It lasted only a moment, but it was noticeable.

He decided not to over-indulge himself with the prospect of an ex-FO agent joking about “intimacy” with Wilhuff Tarkin, and instead tried to imagine her, as a teenager, sauntering on up to Terex and his gang. He would’ve liked to have seen that. From a distance, of course. But he would settle for the image in his thoughts.

He felt a pang of sympathy for her. He’d never had to deal with a personal situation such as this, but he had plenty of experience to know how it must’ve felt to be told someone who shared a pleasant piece of her history had been the one to strike down another close friend.

He wondered if the history between them would cloud her judgement. It seemed it could be enough, if they found a way to confirm the Resistance’s lead was accurate, to stir up old memories, emotion. Anger probably, sadness maybe. Right now, he assumed she still had some doubts, reservations. And why wouldn’t she? If a Tarkin, or anyone outside the Resistance - hell, anyone at all - approached him with news that someone he’d come to know as a friend had betrayed him, he would be more than inclined to question it.

“Sounds like the two of you were good pals,” he stated, “I don’t have so many fond memories of the guy, obviously, but it’s a shame to be hurt by someone you liked. I’m sorry.” He wouldn’t go as far as to say that he wished it hadn’t been Terex, for her sake. This gave him the perfect excuse to pay the man back for what he did to Poe’s squad. But he was beginning to warm up to her.

“What’s this “mercy”, exactly?” His head canted sideways toward the window so that he could better face her.

 

[Lucyfer]

Bit by bit, the information came from Lee’s mind. He saw an image of a woman, the one who had been in the ship. Only one other person came to mind, and Kylo presumed there had only been one. He had her name now. Her appearance. It wasn’t what he needed, but it could end up being useful all the same. He would be able to recognize another member of the accursed Resistance.

Following that came confirmation – Lor San Tekka was indeed the old explorer in reference here, and then more.

Leia had more pieces of the map, while Kylo had nothing. It was in a droid, though the droid did not immediately make itself clear in her thoughts. Still, even having a map, with a section missing, would give Kylo an area to start searching. It would be in that place missing. Even if that were multiple sectors, Kylo would search through it. He had plenty of ships and soldiers are his disposal, after all – and he would feel Luke through the Force when he got close enough.

He was certain of that.

A comprehensible protest followed, not just a whimper or a whine, or even an attempt at a stare-down.

Kylo Ren ignored it entirely, his hand twisting a bit, fingers curling inwards towards his palm as if to help ‘pull’ more information out as he spoke more leading questions, “Which droid has the rest of the map? Where is this droid located?” He didn’t know where the Resistance was based. He knew it would be some barely-civilized Outer Rim world. That was how Leia worked. He’d combed over all the old Rebel Alliance bases that he knew, and hadn’t found her there.

Still, she had a ‘norm’.

She wasn’t hiding out in Chandrila or Coruscant. His spies would have recognized her activity and presence on such a world.

If he could find out where, and if he could locate the droid…he wouldn’t need to search for a map piece. He’d just start searching through the sector that was missing.

~***~

Poe Dameron had some sympathy for the situation, in spite of his hatred for Terex. It was more than Neria would have expected, but also a bit more than she was used to. It still earned an easy shrug, “I am fairly used to it by now. You do not get far in politics without being betrayed by everyone around you for gain,” usually they didn’t gain.

Usually, she made sure they faltered. Some people never learned.

It did not make it easier, but it made the path of dealing with it familiar. She had an understanding of it, an acceptance of it. She was, of course, still furious, but she knew how to let that simmer. Gratification would come, sooner or later. In this case, sooner.

“A chance at survival,” Neria answered. She knew Poe wouldn’t like that. She didn’t like it, however, “It is a fairly slim chance. On Eriadu, there is a place called the Carrion Plateau. The Spike took its name from a prominent feature there,” the place where Wilhuff was tested, and the place where he showed exactly the sort of person he was, even before the rest of the galaxy saw it.

There were no more veermok in the Carrion Plateau. They went extinct due to one man. Not that it was widely reported. The citizens of Eriadu didn’t know what was on the Plateau. “Even the best pathfinders do not often survive it on their own. If Terex is willing to give us more than what we’re seeking,” more than information about who set him up, “then I propose dropping him in there. I imagine his overconfidence will make him believe he can survive to get to civilization. He won’t. Even if the creatures didn’t destroy him, my cousin will.”

She wouldn’t tell Terex that part, of course, but she would let her cousin know what she was doing, and see to it that Terex was still shot dead even if he avoided all the creatures within the Plateau. “I understand if you’re uncomfortable with questionable odds, and I am not proposing we let him live even if he escapes. Only that he be allowed to think that he is being given a chance, and that his sins will be forgiven if he does accomplish it.” And if he survived, nothing was stopping her from hiring mercenaries. Or anything else, really.

She wouldn’t admit aloud to some discomfort with that idea. The galaxy did see Eriadu as an outer rim world, and despite their appearances as the Coruscant of the Outer Rim, their beliefs and stylizations were often mocked as ‘savage’ or ‘primitive’. She understood too well that these sorts of things were why, but she hardly thought that made them wrong.

So many in Coruscant and the Core had forgotten how to survive without their technology, in actual wilderness. They did pathfinding, sure – and Neria had found a lot of dead pathfinders in the Carrion, those who had been told it was off-limits after they conquered the Rivoche Ranges.

 

[insensitive]

She knew the answer to his question, but shook her head at it, doing what she could to ward off the overwhelming urge to visualize any further information.

“With the Resistance,” she said, as though it was an entirely obvious piece of information he had, somehow, not been privy to. She added, “Somewhere you’ll never find it.”

In truth, she did not know that. If anything, she doubted it, but he would not be able to tell from her voice alone - the tone she assumed betrayed a convincing enough sense of confidence.

The droid, as well as the Resistance base, was located on a planet she could assume neither he nor the other officers would’ve yet thought to check. An isolated world located in the Outer Rim, where intelligent life had long since vanished. It was the perfect candidate, as far as Leia’s standards were concerned.

Evidently, it was doing a fine job of keeping the Resistance just out of reach. Leia would’ve been proud about that.

With any luck, that pride would remain warranted. But with every effort he made to tighten his grip on her mind, she felt her own hold slipping, and the level of pain elevating.

Still, the only information surfaced from her thoughts worth knowing - the world’s lack of civilization - he would have already assumed.

She released a slow, shaky breath, pointing her attention to his question a response she could formulate. “The droid won’t help you - it hasn’t even helped us,” a minor piece of information to give him, compared to what she could’ve.

Then, ‘The droid is dead.’ Not entirely true, but true enough - "dead" meant more that it was simply out of operation, than it was irreparable. It hadn’t been in operation for years.

~***~

Poe was less than enthused once she answered, but as she continued, he remained silent. He hadn’t taken her for one to allow those who betrayed her trust, especially when that betrayal meant direct involvement with the death of a close friend. He had not expected her to show any sort of mercy on the man himself.

Thankfully, he would not need to make sense of it, because she was not planning on showing any mercy at all.

So she was one of them. At least, she was alike the people who gave some Outer Rim worlds their reputations for using deception and pretenses of gain against their enemies. He wondered if, before now, that would’ve been an issue for him. Considering she planned to use such tactics against Terex, he couldn’t find it in himself to disagree.

But there was still the question of whether or not he would have, had his motives not been clouded by personal reasons. There was still the question of whether or not Leia would agree, as well.

Ultimately, that didn’t matter. Leia wasn’t here. She had entrusted him with this mission, and he was going to carry it out the smartest visible way.

“Questionable odds, when we’re dealing with a man like Terex, don’t matter to me,” of course, that might be different in the future; on the chance they formed an alliance, questionable odds may not fly so well with the General. Then again, she could deal with that in the future if she saw fit. “What matters is that he doesn’t make it out of this alive.”

Admittedly, Poe would’ve liked to witness his death. For a time, he had wanted to go so far as to question him before his demise about his friends. But such an effort would be fruitless. He had been stupid to even think he could have gotten any amount of satisfaction from that. But still, seeing the man dead, in front of him, would have been enough.

Now, he would have to settle for simply knowing he would not be alive to make things worse for the Resistance or himself. He could live with that, so long as it was for certain. There could be no chance that he would live.

“You’re confident that your cousin will be enough?” he asked. Not an insult, that was the last thing he wanted to do, but Terex always seemed to find a way out. “And what if he’s not so predictable this time? I know the guy is arrogant, but if he’s known you for as long as you say he has, wouldn’t he suspect you’re trying to trick him?”