Armitage Hux jolted straight in his seat as he heard the soft click of a mug besides his arm. He glanced over to see that a new cup of bitter tea had been placed on his desk, and he followed the trail of white clothe up to see another red-head had placed it there – Cadence Hux, half-sister to him. He furrowed his brows a moment in contemplation as to how she was even in his quarters.
The look acquired the answer he hadn’t yet formed, “I am head of the Security Bureau,” she reminded, “I know all the passwords,” a subtle smirk touched her lips as she moved around to the other side of his desk, caf clasped in her own gloved hands.
He rolled his eyes a bit, and grabbed the new mug. He didn’t lean back or relax his posture, “That is a gross abuse of your power,” he pointed out.
“So fire me,” she said as she sunk into her seat, more than aware he wouldn’t – and couldn’t, really. Only the so-called Supreme Leader, Kylo Ren, could…and that was still a bad joke neither of them could understand. Cadence Hux had only been called into the fray a week ago, to examine the remains of the Crait base after the First Order, yet again, lost the Resistance.
She wasn’t sure if it was Kylo’s ability to make everything personal, or her brother’s overconfidence, that was more to blame. It didn’t matter now. “But speaking of gross abuses of power,” the wry smirk remained, “any more prank calls from our favorite pilot?”
Armitage narrowed his eyes. He didn’t ask how she was aware of that, but said, calmly, evenly, “No, I have not heard anything from Poe Dameron.”
“Do let me know,” she said, “It would be a good way to track the location of the Resistance.” Trace the call, though she doubted Poe Dameron capable of actually reaching out to the ship from so far out of hailing distance. “I actually came here to pose a serious inquiry. I’ve uncovered multiple bases the old Rebel Alliance used from the Crait files,” all useless in her opinion, as the Resistance was proving to be competent.
General Organa would not run to any of those bases, now that she’d escaped.
“I suspect that Kylo Ren will want to investigate each of them,” unless she had misjudged his character, “a pointless waste of our assets. How would you convince him otherwise?”
Armitage stared at her a few moments, a long, baffled silence, hanging between them, before the General set aside his mug and leaned forward, arms crossing over the desk, “You don’t.” He stated it so bluntly, that the other woman’s blue eyes widened in surprise. Armitage usually had much under control, “You have not been around him so long, so the only piece of advice I have is to let him go off on his tangents and wasteful excursions, and do not reveal what you’re actually doing. If you want to put our soldiers to more gainful use, do it out of his sight, or….” Armitage leaned back, one of his hands reaching up to his neck, covered by his shirt.
Cadence had already seen the cause of that gesture.
The ‘or’ didn’t need to be elaborated on, for just that reason. ‘Or kill him’ And make it look like an accident. Easier said than done for someone with the Force, though she was fairly certain Armitage was already working on mapping out Kylo’s sleeping patterns, while she was quietly pursuing technology from Serenno that had been used and advanced since the Clone Wars. She’d been doing that since Snoke, though.
It was what both would prefer.
“I cannot very well send dreadnaughts and star destroyers to the Core without Kylo Ren noticing,” she noted, sipped back her caf. “Now is the opportune time. None are rising up to help General Organa. The New Republic fleet was all but destroyed—”
“I’m not the one arguing with you,” Armitage pointed out, “Kylo Ren is simply impossible. He’s focused on some stupid girl like a lovesick puppy,” Hux rolled his eyes.
“The one he lied about killing Snoke?”
There was a silent beat. Hux looked startled. “You—what do you mean?” Hux almost sounded angry as he asked.
Cadence remained calm, but her own confusion showed, “Colonel Garmuth showed me the holovideo from the Throne Room. I cannot say who, precisely, killed Snoke, but Kylo Ren and that scavenger seemed in alliance, as they both slaughtered the praetorian.”
“Why didn’t Colonel—” Hux started to rise, the fury painting his face as red as his hair, before he realized the pointlessness of it. What did it matter if he accused Kylo Ren of treason? He didn’t slump back down, tempting as it was, “Of course. I should have known,” he pushed his fingers back through hair already slicked back with product, irked, “The girl beat him once, but she isn’t that powerful – but yes, that one. Rey.” He paced back to his chair, “Perhaps if you convince Kylo Ren you know where she is, or the Security Bureau has found her, it will take his attention away from any other movements we make that actually progress our agenda.”
“I’ll take that into consideration,” she rose then, taking her caf up with her. “Thank you – I’ll see you in the morning,” she offered, before departing her brother’s quarters to figure out where Kylo Ren himself was, and see just how approaching the topic would go, before she decided if some manner of trickery might be better.
Her brother was, after all, terribly biased against Kylo. He took his desired position of Supreme Leader. The Jedi Killer might not be so irrational. If he was…well, patience would eventually see an end to that obstacle.
The look acquired the answer he hadn’t yet formed, “I am head of the Security Bureau,” she reminded, “I know all the passwords,” a subtle smirk touched her lips as she moved around to the other side of his desk, caf clasped in her own gloved hands.
He rolled his eyes a bit, and grabbed the new mug. He didn’t lean back or relax his posture, “That is a gross abuse of your power,” he pointed out.
“So fire me,” she said as she sunk into her seat, more than aware he wouldn’t – and couldn’t, really. Only the so-called Supreme Leader, Kylo Ren, could…and that was still a bad joke neither of them could understand. Cadence Hux had only been called into the fray a week ago, to examine the remains of the Crait base after the First Order, yet again, lost the Resistance.
She wasn’t sure if it was Kylo’s ability to make everything personal, or her brother’s overconfidence, that was more to blame. It didn’t matter now. “But speaking of gross abuses of power,” the wry smirk remained, “any more prank calls from our favorite pilot?”
Armitage narrowed his eyes. He didn’t ask how she was aware of that, but said, calmly, evenly, “No, I have not heard anything from Poe Dameron.”
“Do let me know,” she said, “It would be a good way to track the location of the Resistance.” Trace the call, though she doubted Poe Dameron capable of actually reaching out to the ship from so far out of hailing distance. “I actually came here to pose a serious inquiry. I’ve uncovered multiple bases the old Rebel Alliance used from the Crait files,” all useless in her opinion, as the Resistance was proving to be competent.
General Organa would not run to any of those bases, now that she’d escaped.
“I suspect that Kylo Ren will want to investigate each of them,” unless she had misjudged his character, “a pointless waste of our assets. How would you convince him otherwise?”
Armitage stared at her a few moments, a long, baffled silence, hanging between them, before the General set aside his mug and leaned forward, arms crossing over the desk, “You don’t.” He stated it so bluntly, that the other woman’s blue eyes widened in surprise. Armitage usually had much under control, “You have not been around him so long, so the only piece of advice I have is to let him go off on his tangents and wasteful excursions, and do not reveal what you’re actually doing. If you want to put our soldiers to more gainful use, do it out of his sight, or….” Armitage leaned back, one of his hands reaching up to his neck, covered by his shirt.
Cadence had already seen the cause of that gesture.
The ‘or’ didn’t need to be elaborated on, for just that reason. ‘Or kill him’ And make it look like an accident. Easier said than done for someone with the Force, though she was fairly certain Armitage was already working on mapping out Kylo’s sleeping patterns, while she was quietly pursuing technology from Serenno that had been used and advanced since the Clone Wars. She’d been doing that since Snoke, though.
It was what both would prefer.
“I cannot very well send dreadnaughts and star destroyers to the Core without Kylo Ren noticing,” she noted, sipped back her caf. “Now is the opportune time. None are rising up to help General Organa. The New Republic fleet was all but destroyed—”
“I’m not the one arguing with you,” Armitage pointed out, “Kylo Ren is simply impossible. He’s focused on some stupid girl like a lovesick puppy,” Hux rolled his eyes.
“The one he lied about killing Snoke?”
There was a silent beat. Hux looked startled. “You—what do you mean?” Hux almost sounded angry as he asked.
Cadence remained calm, but her own confusion showed, “Colonel Garmuth showed me the holovideo from the Throne Room. I cannot say who, precisely, killed Snoke, but Kylo Ren and that scavenger seemed in alliance, as they both slaughtered the praetorian.”
“Why didn’t Colonel—” Hux started to rise, the fury painting his face as red as his hair, before he realized the pointlessness of it. What did it matter if he accused Kylo Ren of treason? He didn’t slump back down, tempting as it was, “Of course. I should have known,” he pushed his fingers back through hair already slicked back with product, irked, “The girl beat him once, but she isn’t that powerful – but yes, that one. Rey.” He paced back to his chair, “Perhaps if you convince Kylo Ren you know where she is, or the Security Bureau has found her, it will take his attention away from any other movements we make that actually progress our agenda.”
“I’ll take that into consideration,” she rose then, taking her caf up with her. “Thank you – I’ll see you in the morning,” she offered, before departing her brother’s quarters to figure out where Kylo Ren himself was, and see just how approaching the topic would go, before she decided if some manner of trickery might be better.
Her brother was, after all, terribly biased against Kylo. He took his desired position of Supreme Leader. The Jedi Killer might not be so irrational. If he was…well, patience would eventually see an end to that obstacle.