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KyloGlenn · May 8, 2016

“Actually, there’s metal in just about all foods. Metal is naturally occurring in soil that food is grown in, what animals eat. Not enough to be toxic,” she began to ramble as she followed after Kylo Ren. “In fact, some are actually essential. But with that being said, metals can still kill you.” 

She kept her pace quick to keep up with Gnaeus and Kylo, something she was growing accustomed to already. ‘I’m gonna have some great legs in no time.’ She continued to ramble on as they walked, unknowing of the conversation the two were having previously. “Plastic isn’t as common, but it’s still there. I can go on and on about the harmful effects but I don’t think anyone wants to hear them.” 

She finally cut herself off as they reached the cafeteria. “Sorry.” She liked spouting off random health facts, but no one liked to hear them. They’d grow annoying after all, she could admit. 

She was quiet as she grabbed a tray and went down the line, gathering whatever foods that didn’t look incredibly processed. She could inspect them when she sat down. The next thing she looked for was coffee. Surely they couldn’t screw up coffee. 

“So, are we getting these crystals to make…lots of lightsabers?” She asked. She didn’t know much about kyber crystals or what they could be used for, not many people did. She wasn’t even sure how they worked to make lightsabers. She’d learn eventually. 

- 

“Well, it worked, didn’t it? No one’s dead!” Jessika defended herself. She had no regret in reaching out to the Order. Even if they did shoot at them at first, Mira somehow knew what to do and now they weren’t dead. And it didn’t seem like anyone would be unless the worms decided so. 

Or if Poe decided to screw things up. 

BB-8 let out a squeal of appreciation, to try and be the peacekeeper between them. BB-8 was almost too innocent of a droid, it was adorable. 

Then a Stormtrooper could be seen exiting the large black ship, a man in some officer’s uniform following out. Lieutenant Mitaka. He didn’t look exactly scary to either Poe or Jessika, but Poe still didn’t trust him. As the two neared, Jessika observed them. “Does he have four pens on his uniform?” That’s what it looked like. “This guy seems as harmless as harmless gets, Poe.” 

“He’s a Lieutenant, isn’t he? He had to get there somehow.” You didn’t get to the rank of Lieutenant by being harmless. 

The two quieted as the men neared. “Excuse me?” Mitaka called out before entering through the open door of the ship. “I am Lieutenant Dopheld Mitaka, I’m here on behalf of General Hux.” He formally introduced himself, although they already knew that information. He held his gloved hand out for someone to shake. 

Poe just simply glared at it, saying, “Poe Dameron,” before turning to set up the radio. 

Jessika took his hand, though. She would put effort into making this work, if it meant that no one died for that day, at least. “Jessika Pava.”

Lucyfer · May 8, 2016

Paquin rambled, and Kylo and Gnaeus both listened. It was a reprieve from their earlier conversation. “That’s right, I think I remember Ariel saying something about iron deficiencies,” Gnaeus said, “It didn’t click that it was actually metal.” He wasn’t sure why. 

Kylo just shook his head. “What would we need iron for?” 

“Something about blood,” Gnaeus noted. 

Paquin continued to school them in this until they got to the cafeteria, and split up to gather food. As per the norm, Gnaeus found the greasiest things possible and set them on his plate, while Kylo Ren unknowingly mimicked Mira and indulged in sweets—pancakes with copious syrup. 

They joined Paquin, and exchanged another look as she asked about the crystals. 

“They’re not only good for lightsabers,” Gnaeus said. 

“Ariel and Gnaeus gathered plenty of blueprints for weapons that use the kyber crystals,” Kylo answered, “weapons that would be far superior to Starkiller base.” 

“And you’ll still shape it like a Death Star.” 

Kylo shot him a glare, and Gnaeus stuffed his mouth with a shredded, cheesy food. 

~***~ 

Mira tried not to roll her eyes again at Poe’s agitation, and didn’t comment on how General Hux also didn’t look like a menace. Looks were very deceiving in the First Order. The only one who really looked dangerous was Phasma, and she was just a captain. ‘She really deserves a promotion.’ Mira wondered if the woman would end up lieutenant-general. She’d do better than the previous one. 

Mitaka arrived, and after Jessika shook, Mira also did, “Mira Vallens,” she had seen Mitaka around, but had never truly interacted with him. 

The lieutenant gave a nod of brief familiarity, and Mira then looked to the Stormtrooper and offered her hand. 

For a moment, it seemed flabbergasted—or as flabbergasted as a trooper could look with a helmet on. Then, it reached out, “RN-0003.” It answered, and Mira gave a nod and an appreciative smile. 

After meeting Finn, she was going to make a point to acknowledge them. 

“Come on, let’s get this over with!” Poe called, and Mira turned to walk to the radio as the static started to clear, “General, I’ve got Mira here, and Jessika,” he said, “And also some punk lieutenant of the First Order named Dopheld Mitaka who’s going to be speaking for Hux, here with a trooper.” 

“RN-0003,” Mira introduced, and felt a bit of the happiness from the trooper as she introduced him as well. “General Leia, I apologize for overstepping my bounds, however the news of General Hux splitting with Supreme Leader Snoke changes the situation immensely.”

KyloGlenn · May 8, 2016

Paquin knew about the Death Star, both of them. She wasn’t that out of the loop. And she knew how similar Starkiller had been shaped, but thought it was purely coincidence. The planet sucked up sunlight, there had to be some science to that. Nope, it sounded like, “You really have a Darth Vader fetish?” 

Paquin wasn’t going to judge, but it seemed like Gnaeus was. Unless it was some kind of joke, from the brief moments Paquin talked to Kylo about him, he seemed to rather look up to the Sith lord. But she honestly wouldn’t discount anything. She realized then that she didn’t really know anything about her fellow Knights. 

But they all must have changed their names for a reason. 

Paquin nibbled on her food, taking a sip of her coffee. Black and bitter, just how she liked it. “Anyway, Starkiller was pretty impressive. It threw literal suns at other planets.” She wasn’t sure how it all worked, but it flung suns and exploded planets. It was pretty epic. She wasn’t going to question what the weapons they were speaking of would do, but she was curious how they could be superior to her old base. 

“You don’t get kyber crystals or Sith technology,” Ariel pointed out as she arrived, joining them with a plate of various breakfast meats and toast. And a rather large cup of coffee. 

- 

Mitaka was surprised that Mira even acknowledged the trooper. Few people did that unless it were necessary. But his shock was short lived as they moved on, himself being called a ‘punk lieutenant’. He didn’t take any offense to it. 

“I understand, Mira. I said I’d consider meeting with General Hux if he split from Snoke,” which he did. He just had to, didn’t he? The only reason Leia agreed was because she didn’t think it would ever happen. She could always just say ‘no’, though. But Mira would figure out some way to make it happen, surely. 

Especially if she believed so strongly that this would be a game changer. 

“We can discuss time and location, but first, I want to know what you want to achieve with this meeting?” Temporary alliance? Peace between the organizations? That would only last until Snoke was defeated if it all worked out. They were at war with each other because they wanted different things. 

The Resistance wanted freedom. Peace and unity through a democracy. 

The Order wanted to one leader to decide everything for the galaxy. To control everyone. They claimed to despise chaos, but their plan would be chaos. 

“You’re not really considering this are you, General Organa? We’re at war with these people for a reason.” Poe questioned incredulously. Leia Organa was brilliant, but he was questioning what was going through her mind. 

Mitaka remained silent during the exchanged, stunned that Poe spoke to his General in such a manner. If he spoke to Hux that way, he’d be harshly reprimanded. 

“There’s more to it than that, Poe.” Her tone was warning. Leia was certainly thinking as much as she could on the situation. She wasn’t going to simply agree to Mira just to amuse her. This was war.

Lucyfer · May 9, 2016

“I don’t have a Darth Vader fetish!” Kylo protested, “I just admire my grandfather. He was going to set this universe right by removing the dogmatic Jedi. I am going to finish that task and put an end to the Jedi, once and for all.” Mira and Luke would die. Rey would die only if she refused to join him, to see things his way. 

“He also failed with the Death Star design, twice. And then Starkiller failed. We’re not doing anymore round weapons of destruction, Kylo. Give it up.” 

Kylo might have argued more, but that was when Paquin indicated her clear ignorance about what kyber crystals could do. “Suns are a ginger’s child’s play compared to what a hoarde of kyber crystals could do.” 

Ariel pointed that out in her own odd way when she joined them. Gnaeus made room and gave her a nod of acknowledgement. “Ariel knows better, she found most of those blueprints, but in sum: it could probably make sure life never occurred in a galaxy for several generations.” 

Some of the blueprints he’d seen were actually rather terrifying. “Fortunately, they’re useless in Hux’s hands. At least, for things like that. Still good weapons, but without the Force, Hux won’t be able to charge the crystals to act as he would like them to.” 

Unless Mira joined him, of course. Either way, it was not something the Resistance would do, so the First Order needed to be put out of commission first. They would be the ones who would willfully cause mass destruction to get at Supreme Leader Snoke and the rest. The Resistance was against genocide—they’d never do something like that, even if they had the Force users for it. 

~***~ 

Leia was speaking to her and not to Mitaka, Mira understood, and she crossed her arms when Poe interrupted, but she waited. If nothing else, she had learned patience. “Peace, General Organa,” Mira answered her. “Peace, unity, and stability.” The last was added for a reason. “Neither of us need to educate the other on history. You know as well as I that the original Senate failed, and it was not simply because of Darth Sidious. It was on its way. So was the Jedi Order.” 

“The Galactic Empire’s dictatorship also failed, Mira.” 

“I’m not denying it,” Mira answered Leia, “You see the problem, don’t you? You and General Hux are working from failed platforms.” 

Mira allowed a moment of silence, in case Leia wanted to protest. She did not, but Mira was certain she didn’t fully agree with the statement. “You and General Hux are two brilliant minds, shaped by your environments and told the other side is unnegotiably evil—but you know that’s not true. Even Darth Vader was redeemed in the end. I’ve returned.” 

“That is different, Darth Vader was not running the organization." Though Leia had little love for Darth Vader, she did understand his role in all of it, and knew that Luke loved him. Luke had saved him, at the end. Why couldn't Kylo see that? "He was a pawn in Darth Sidious’s plans.” 

“And Hux was in Snoke’s plans. He is not any longer,” she wouldn’t say Hux a pawn, for he was able to leave of his own accord and keep his army. He was more than a pawn, and he was very aware of what he was doing, and why. The Force wasn’t influencing him, which made him a rather interesting figure in this game. So far as leaders went, he was the only one who could speak for those without that close tie to the Force. He could speak for many—those without the Force, those needlessly punished by the New Republic, the many disenfranchised planets of the Outer Rim—and it was time Leia listened. “The idea that both of you have, that the First Order and the New Republic are evil, needs to end. You must understand why people flock to that, and he must understand why people fight against it.” It was said firmly. It was said without doubt. “This meeting can bring you and General Hux together, and you can both bicker as much as you like—and I hope that will make you both see the issues with the Universe on a grand scale, the things you are overlooking, and the things that General Hux is overlooking. 

Mira felt far more comfortable speaking plainly to Leia, perhaps because the woman had trusted her immediately. To be dishonest now would just ruin that. “Trust my judgment of Hux. He has trusted my judgment of you. I am not claiming this will be easy, but I am claiming that the two of you can find compromises that will benefit the universe, if you both look sanely at each other’s long term plans.” 

If nothing else, they’d both be educated on the other and they’d both walk away more familiar with the issues of the universe, even if they could not work together. That would end up being beneficial for the victor who needed to rule. If nothing else, Mira believed that the two of them did, sincerely, want what was best. “One meeting, General. It is not uncommon in war,” she glanced to Poe, “for enemies to meet for peace. Almost every war ends that way.” Usually when one side was clearly beaten, but there were occasions when victory was ambiguous. 

“Yeah,” and Poe knew that, “When one side is trying to save itself from complete destruction,” Poe made sure to point it out. “We sure as hell aren’t worried about that, and I don’t think the First Order is—yet.” He still couldn’t believe this was being handled seriously.

KyloGlenn · May 9, 2016

Paquin felt a little stupid with her ignorance with kyber crystals. She tried not to feel too bad, it’s not like there’s that much information about them anyway. ‘Maybe if you searched hard enough…’ She never bothered searching for anything on them, though. They weren’t relevant to her. 

Now they were, it seemed. 

What they could do seemed terrifying, by the way the crystal was described. “A couple of rocks could destroy all life in the galaxy for generations?” Seemed like a bad idea to her. 

Paquin could practically feel Ariel roll her eyes. “They’re not just rocks, Paquin. They’re Force-attuned. Which is why they would only be able to destroy the galaxy with the Force.” Ariel was as gentle as she could be while explaining, taking into consideration that Paquin was new to all of this. 

And then Gnaeus spoke of them being useless to Hux without the Force. “Well, there’s still Mira.” Paquin had pretty much convinced herself that her former General and Mira were not just friends. If they weren’t, she didn’t think both of them would still be alive. Mira had to run back to her boyfriend eventually. 

At that, Ariel almost clamped her hand over Paquin’s mouth. Was she trying to start something this morning? First questioning Kylo’s Vader fetish, calling crystals plain old rocks, and then bringing up Mira’s existence. 

- 

Mira had a point. If anything, Leia would at least be able to see things she’d overlook. The reason they were at war, other than to fight a dictatorship, was to better the universe. It would be silly of her to claim she was fighting for better things if she didn’t even consider what was wrong. That bested her stubbornness. 

“One meeting.” She agreed to one meeting. And she’d walk right on out if she felt the desire to. 

“Oh, c’mon.” Poe groaned with a roll of his eyes. “You can’t be serious.” 

“I am, Poe. Don’t allow yourself to be ignorant.” It was obvious in her tone that she was finished listening to Poe’s disapproval. She took it into consideration when she made her decision. And now that she’d agreed, that would be final. Poe didn’t protest any longer—verbally, at least. 

He still silently fumed. 

“Lieutenant Mitaka, was it?” Leia addressed the man that had been sent for Hux. 

“Yes, ma’am?” They may have been on opposing sides at the moment, but he wasn’t going to be disrespectful. 

“I assume General Hux relayed some specifications to you, as far as date and time, location?” 

“Yes! As far as time, he’d prefer as soon as it was convenient for you,” Hux had complained about wasting time being benign. “Location, Miss Vallens had spoken of a Mid-Rim planet. He wants her to pick the planet herself instead of allowing you to do so. To be fair for everyone.” 

That would be fair, Leia could see that. Mid-Rim was not dominated by either side and Mira clearly wanted no destruction of either side. “He also asks that the audience is limited. One person to accompany each of you, excluding Miss Vallens.” Again, fair for everyone. Hux was either putting effort into this or just trying to give himself an advantage. Leia wouldn’t rule out either. 

“Alright, fair enough. I can agree to those terms. As long as Hux stays true to them.” The last bit was directed towards Mira, who would likely enforce it better than Mitaka would.

Lucyfer · May 10, 2016

It should have remained unspoken, even if they were all thinking it. Gnaeus bit down on his meal harder than he met to, jarring himself, when Paquin said it. ‘Oh girl.’ 

Kylo paused in lifting his own food to his lips. “Mira can only betray people so many times.” Kylo said before shoving the pancake into his mouth and chewing, noisily. 

“She went to the Resistance. If she tries to jump ship back to Hux, they’ll kill her.” Gnaeus offered. ‘Or try.’ 

She was rather good at this traitor thing, wasn’t she? Luke, Kylo, Snoke, Hux, Gnaeus supposed he shouldn’t put it by Mira to betray the Resistance. What was her end goal, though? That would better determine it—but of course, none of them knew. Closure was not granted them 

“I hope she does,” Kylo said bitterly. “I hope she goes running back and I hope Hux puts a bullet between her eyes.” It would be a sweeter revenge than Kylo could ever have, for the turncloak to be betrayed by someone she thought she could trust. 

The anger seethed. 

“Maybe it will,” Gnaeus said to humor Kylo. “Hux is good at hiding his own emotions.” They had a few things in common, didn’t they? Gnaeus didn’t really want to think about it—but such an alliance would be a terrible thing for them. “Anyway, we need to get going, don’t we?” 

And Kylo’s anger was better used on worms. 

“Yes.” Kylo agreed, rising from his seat. 

~***~ 

Mira was almost giddy as it all fell into place. Not even Poe’s constant disagreement could kill her growing good mood. The General was setting terms that Mira anticipated of him. One companion, each, and her. ‘It will be Phasma and Poe.’ Mira was still certain of that. Poe had been trusted with finding Luke Skywalker’s location. 

It couldn’t very well be Finn, and Mira doubted Rey and Luke were an option. 

Chewie would likely not maintain his temper half as well. 

And for Hux…well, too many of his officer’s were yes men. Not to mention Phasma was imposing. “I’ll see to it that the rules are followed,” Mira answered Leia. “The meeting will consist of five individuals, total.” 

It seemed fair. Mira knew she was going to have a hell of a time playing referee and peacekeeper, but she felt confident enough. 

So far as location was concerned, though, “Cimarosa,” Mira spoke without hesitation, “will serve as the meeting grounds.” It was no exceptional planet. In many ways, it was plain, and quite habitable for humans. Yet, it had faced issues with the Galactic Empire and Republic both because of its position. The Republic ignored its cries for help, and the Galactic Empire abused its closeness to the Outer Rim without ever truly taking it over. 

It would work. 

It was also still, technically, neutral grounds. They would harm neither Hux nor Leia, and their presence was likely not to even be noticed. “Does that seem fair, General Organa, Lieutenant Mitaka?” 

Mitaka answered, “Cimarosa seems like an agreeable location,” it was Mid-Rim, and Hux hadn’t given many specifics, except that it be ‘hospitable’. Cimarosa was hospitable, moreso than Hoth, certainly. The climate was fair. Humans lived there easily enough.

KyloGlenn · May 10, 2016

"I just sat down!" Ariel groaned. She'd barely touched her food. That's what she gets for wanting clean hair. "I'm bringing my food." She stood, bringing the plate with her. She'd fill up on the way to the planet. She had enough time. 

Paquin took one last sip of her coffee before standing from her seat, returning the dishes to a designated are. Just like the First Order. "I'm sorry?" She offered to her three companions. She wasn't really all that sorry, but she hadn't actually meant to upset anyone. She should have remembered that Kylo was a sensitive boy, though. 

"You'll figure out what and what not to keep to yourself eventually." Ariel offered through a mouthful of food. They all had at some point. Ariel learned that jokes about Anakin triggered Kylo, so she kept those between the rest of them. 

Paquin could admit that she had a problem with saying all the wrong things, and keeping all the right things to herself. She'd either have to fix that, or everyone else would have to learn how to deal with it. Most likely the first option, since Paquin was just so used to readjusting the things she said around her superiors. 

That was hard to learn when she first joined the Order, considering no filter or social skills had been instilled during the crucial parts of her childhood. Paquin certainly blamed her parents, as much as she loved them. They just weren't good at being parents. 

Paquin had a lot to learn. If Ariel were drunk, she'd have found it cute. 

- 

"Cimarosa will work." Leia agreed, "For time, I'd like it to be soon. Tomorrow morning soon, if possible." Like Hux, she didn't want to waste time. But tomorrow would give the Resistance a chance to secure the crystals and neither side would have time to prepare some extravagant battle plan. 

Even if the Order somehow merged with the Resistance, there was still the Knights and the clone army who knew about the crystals. 

"I'm sure tomorrow will work for General Hux," he had said as soon as possible. "I'll confirm it, but plan on it. I'll have someone reach out to you with confirmation as well as an exact meet location. Is there anything else you'd like me to relay to General Hux?" 

"Yeah, tell him to bring the finger sandwiches." It was clear to Poe that he couldn't change the General's mind, so he'd result to making irritated remarks. It helped him, at least, as Mitaka shifted uncomfortably. 

"No, Lieutenant. Thank you. I'll be expecting confirmation in a few hours." She didn't bother telling him how to reach her, as she figured they already knew. They knew where the base was, from there they were easy to contact. Leia would work on further securing the base eventually. 

"Yes, ma'am." Hux would be pleased by how well this went, Mitaka already knew. 

Poe mocked Mitaka's 'yes, ma'am' by mouthing it to Jessika, a clearly displeased look on his face. BB-8 and Jessika were staying out of this. "Mira, is there anything else you'd like to bring to the table or can we secure the crystals?" The General questioned, unaware of Poe's mocking.

Lucyfer · May 10, 2016

Sensitive comments also annoyed Kylo. He wouldn’t deny them—in truth he needed to remain this way to keep up his powers with the Force. Snoke had told he had to feel, everything, and as much as possible. Kylo had taken it to heart, and so he tried to allow his emotions to be felt. 

“There’s nothing to apologize for,” Kylo stated, “We do just need to leave for that planet,” they really needed to name it or something. Coordinates were a terrible way to keep to referring to something. 

Gnaeus seemed to follow Kylo’s pause, since he’d meant to say more about time and duty. So Gnaeus interrupted, “We could call it Hoth 2.” 

“We’re not calling it Hoth 2.” 

“Tatooine 2?” 

“It’s nothing like Tatooine!" 

“Exactly.” 

Kylo just sighed and shook his head. “I would weep for your children, but you’re not going to have any. What would they be, Gnaeus 2 and 3?” 

“I could,” Gnaeus said, “Vader did. Gnaeus 2 and 3 would be amazing kids, by the way.” 

The sea outside was stormy, as they came upon the doors out to the ships, but there was no storm in the sky. Just heavy, dark clouds—and somewhere, the song of the devil birds continued, without a devil bird in sight. 

~***~ 

Mira knew she shouldn’t feel this happy—not only because of the worms, but because despite the meetings being planned, nothing had been agreed. No alliance was forged. No peace was made. ‘You’ll see, Poe.’ Poe would never like the First Order nor its rigidity, but he didn’t need to like it. 

He just needed to see that it was more than that. 

“There’s nothing else, General,” Mira said, “Though, it would be good to wrap this up quickly,” the planet wasn’t secure, and Mira knew from the smile on her lips that she couldn’t suppress that the emotions were leaking out. The worms would eventually pick up on it, even if she was trying to suppress as much as she could. “We’re sitting ducks here on the land and lucky nothing has showed up.” 

“Then I will immediately report to General Hux. General Organa, thank you for speaking with us,” despite all his discomfort with Poe, it didn’t show in his voice. 

Leia returned, “Thank you, Lieutenant Mitaka. Take care on your way back.” 

“Thank you, Lieutenant, RN-0003,” Mira said to both, a nod of dismissal.

KyloGlenn · May 10, 2016

Both Paquin and Ariel shared a chuckle at Gnaeus’s names for the planet, as well as Gnaeus two and three. But a little bit of Paquin wondered if any of them wanted kids, or if they could have any. None of them really seemed like they’d be good parents. Gnaeus would be the most capable and he was Gnaeus. 

And in some cases, she hoped they wouldn’t reproduce. She looked at Kylo as that was thought. If he had a kid, it would be a disaster. He was barely a grown man himself. 

When the demon birds paused their squawking for a moment, Paquin spoke. “We could call it Gnathion.” 

“Why? What does it mean?” Ariel asked. It did sound like something a planet would be called, though. 

“It’s the lowest point in the middle of your jaw. So, your chin, basically. But the word starts the same way Gnaeus does.” And that’s why it came to her. 

The clones were there with the ships when they walked out of the doors. They were greeted by harsh winds and the smell of the sea, and the stupid birds were even louder now that they were outside. Paquin took a second to look around and try and spot them, but they were nowhere to be found. 

“Commander Ren, the ships are prepared and ready when you are.” An armored clone informed. Paquin found the clones weird, unnatural and she wasn’t sure how to think of them. As people like the Stormtroopers or just things? 

- 

Mitaka and the trooper left with a nod, all parties relieved by how well that went. In fact, BB-8 let out a whistle acknowledging it once the men of the First Order left. The General didn’t acknowledge it, instead remembering back to what Mira had said previously. “I’ll let you guys go. The clock is ticking and I’d like as much to be secured as possible.” 

Leia didn’t honestly expect them to secure all the caves on the planet in one day, but if they got enough the others could easily be guarded until secured and mined. Poe knew this. 

“Oh, and Poe?” 

“Yes?” 

“Be nice, will you?” 

“Yes, ma’am.” Poe found himself saying what he’d just mocked Mitaka for. Jessika caught it, but Poe shot her an annoyed look before she could say anything. 

General Organa disconnected and they were left with static. Jessika finally let herself be useful and turned it off. “Come on. We’ve got worms to take care of. Crystals to gather.” And Poe was tempted to throw Mira into the depths of the caves to hopefully be eaten by the worms. 

At least Mira hadn’t tried to kill them. Yet. “I’ll have the others meet us here and we’ll go from there.” As Poe moved to leave, he spotted a little movement in a cave. The worm wasn’t making any move to rush, but Poe would still move quick. He blamed Mira.

Lucyfer · May 10, 2016

Kylo groaned at Paquin’s name idea, while Gnaeus practically cackled, throwing his head back before giving her a thumb’s up. ‘Definitely Kevan’s replacement.’ 

It was a sudden and sad thought. 

Kevan had always been the antagonistic one. Gnaeus did, in fact, miss him a bit. A bit more than he’d admit. 

Kylo marched forward at the sight of the clones to get away from his band of punning misfits. Before he could even demand the status of the ships, it was given to him, and he visibly relaxed. “Good. Paquin, you’re with me. Gnaeus, you and Ariel.” They still only had two ships between them, Gnaeus’s and his own. 

Ariel’s was probably still on Tatooine, unless the First Order had gone to retrieve it. 

Perhaps he shouldn’t have destroyed Mira’s ship…no, Snoke would eventually get one made for Paquin. It wasn’t necessary now. They had to stick together. “We are prepared for when the planet is secure.” 

Four knights should be more than enough. Three had taken Endor. “We’ll call you as soon as we are prepared.” Kylo stated, and then walked on to his ship, “If you all are quite done.” 

“Yeah, I guess. I have to work on stuff for Gnathion.” 

Kylo Ren hated him. The ramp to his ship slammed down, and yet, he was smiling. Just a bit. 

Perhaps he didn’t hate Gnaeus. He certainly found him to be annoying, though. Yet, this was the atmosphere he had always liked. It was too long since they were all together. 

~***~ 

Mira walked a step behind Poe to get outside the ship. Her eyes moved when his did. “Once they’re gone,” she said, “I’ll go draw it out. They’ll be easier to fight from the air.” 

Poe didn’t like the thought of agreeing. He wanted to be contrary, but Mira had a point. The more they could kill from the air, the safer his own men would be. “Fine. I’ll get back to my ship and give the orders. C’mon, buddy.” 

BB-8 beeped out cautious words to both Jessika and Mira. “I’ll be fine, you keep him safe,” she gestured towards Poe, who raised a hand. He might have flipped her off, but it became just an irked wave. 

BB-8 rolled off after him, as the First Order started to retreat. “I don’t know what you plan to do, Jessika, but it is probably safer if you remain above, too.” This ship wasn’t exactly a fighter, was it? 

Again, she could see the flash of white as it seemed the worm was cautiously coming forward, and Mira walked off the ramp. She’d play bait, as promised—but she wouldn’t be unprotected in case Poe’s fighters were ‘late’ or ‘bad shots’. 

She wasn’t sure how bitter he was, but she was still cheerful as she lit the purple blade and twirled it, pleased with the color even if she knew the stories of these blades. Powerful, of course—but concerning. Red and Blue. Jedi and Sith. 

As the fighters started to lift up, Mira was close enough to the cave for the worm to finally come out, raising itself up high—it was taller than the cave, of course, but it was a creature that lived on its stomach. Raising up to its full height was a rarity. “Hello there,” Mira spoke with arrogance, that almost immediately changed to surprise as the worm looked down to her, and then lowered itself. 

Mira jumped back, surprised in hindsight when she realized it wasn’t an attack. 

The worm inched forward, and this time, Mira held her ground.

KyloGlenn · May 10, 2016

Gnaeus's reaction to Gnathion was probably the best one she'd received for anything she'd said. She was proud of herself, even if Gnaeus laughed at anything. It showed on her face, a grin breaking out. Even Kylo's whining didn't falter it. 

Though, she did inwardly groan when he picked her to accompany him. It was childish but she would have preferred going with Gnaeus or even Ariel. They were safe to be around. Maybe Kylo picking her had something to do with wanting to keep an eye on her. She didn't know if he was still bothered by her choice of the Order. 

"I'll see you on Gnathion." Paquin offered a wave to Gnaeus and Ariel before following after Kylo. Gnathion would be the official name for the planet and no one would be able to tell her otherwise. Even if it was eventually given a different name. 

Ariel rolled her eyes, but she was still smiling. She took one last bite of her breakfast before handing the clean plate off to a clone. The clone looked a little confused for a second, but then simply threw the plate into the sea. Ariel felt a little offended, worried for what might happen to the beings that would get ahold of the plate. 

But then she shrugged it off and moved to Gnaeus's ship. It's one plate on a planet made of water. 

Paquin took her usual spot in the co-pilot's seat upon joining Kylo Ren. 'I should get my name sewn in.' 

- 

Jessika took Mira's advice and lifted from the ground. She wouldn't fly as far or high as Poe, in case she needed to swoop down and pick up Mira. But from what Jessika was seeing, that wouldn't be necessary. Hadn't Mira said that the worms tried to kill her? This was an odd way of trying to kill someone. 

Poe had lifted off, not bothering to look back to see what was going on. Instead, he reconnected with his other pilots, offering instructions and coordinates as to where he'd ended up. Now he just needed to wait. 

He circled around so he'd keep Mira in his sights. Not to watch out for her, but to capture the worms. He, like Jessika, was confused when he saw the worm wasn't attacking. Maybe it was trying to size her up? 

The worm continued to move towards Mira, it's body arching and lowering as it scooted around her, circling her. It wasn't in a predatory way, it was just curious. It couldn't see Mira, but it felt her. Apparently whatever it felt wasn't alarming to the worm. It came to a stop in front of her and just sat, unmoving. 

"Black Leader? The worm's a little close to Vallens, should we shoot?" A voice came over the radio. 

"I'm not sure." Poe really wasn't sure. The worm wasn't doing anything and it was quite close to Mira, she could get shot easily. And Leia had said to be nice, so that's what he'd do. "Mira's got her glow stick, she can take care of herself." If she needed to. 

- 

"Captain Phasma," Hux called as he marched down a hall. It was in the midst of repairs as Ren had damaged it quite a bit. Among with other areas of the ship. Nothing he couldn't handle, but it was a nuisance. That piled on top of this meeting that needed to be organized... 

He was growing stressed. 

The silver-clad trooper turned to Hux, but before she could say anything, Hux spoke, "Lieutenant Mitaka will be returning with details of a meeting shortly. I'd like to include you in the discussion." He was planning on bringing Phasma along if the terms he'd set were agreed with. 

Phasma was smart and open-minded. She had a voice of her own and wasn't afraid to share her opinions. It was something he'd need during this meeting. He didn't want a yes man like Lieutenant Mitaka. This was something rather big they would be discussing, he didn't want someone to say what they think Hux would want to hear. 

Not to mention Phasma was imposing. She'd be a good bodyguard as well.

Lucyfer · May 11, 2016

Kylo nodded as Paquin joined him and took her seat, acknowledgement, before he lifted the ship off the landing pad and then reached for the radio. “Go into hyperdrive out towards Korriban,” Kylo told Gnaues. “We’ll have to fly from there.” 

Wild Space wasn’t mapped. Kylo couldn’t be sure that hyperdriving to the coordinates would be safe. 

“Sounds good—just don’t get too far ahead,” Gnaeus said. Bad habit of Kylo’s when he was flying. The fact he was, truly, the best pilot didn’t help. 

Kylo just smirked, “Keep up,” he suggested, before sending his ship into hyperdrive. It didn’t take long for them to come out of it around Korriban. He looked down at the planet that had been a second base—the original home of the sith. Snoke didn’t have to say it. Kylo knew it would be abandoned and evacuated. He hoped that they’d found enough from there. 

When Gnaeus appeared, Kylo took the lead immediately, and followed the way that was mapped out to the coordinates. Not much was known between Korriban and Gnathion, as Kylo now kept thinking of it as that. Planets and stars had to be avoided, but no debris—fortunately. 

Unfortunately, it became painfully clear they were not the first there even before they made it. “Well. Mira’s here first.” And likely not alone. 

“Yup,” Gnaeus echoed back. “Still going, aren’t we?” 

Kylo’s only answer was to push his ship much faster. He didn’t hear Gnaeus’s groan, he only saw Gnaeus quickly do the same to keep up. 

~***~ 

Mira wasn’t sure what was going on, either. She looked at the creature as it circled her, and stared at it when it finally paused. “This is not how you reacted to me last time. Do you think I’m going to forgive you that easily?” 

Her confusion caused frustration and anxiety. Mira only realized it as the worm’s demeanor started to shift, the hostility showing itself on the round, fang-filled mouth opened itself and it started to arch up. 

With that, Mira realized what was going on. ‘Force!’ Her eyes widened. Force sensitive, but as it wasn’t one of the reasoning races, it went solely by how the Force felt—and fear, anxiety, and confusion were all terrible feelings. ‘Happy thoughts, happy thoughts.’ Mira thought back. The meeting. Peace. She’d see Hux tomorrow. The alliance. 

The creature calm, but now seemed to be the confused one. “Don’t threaten me,” Mira chastised it and stepped forward, moving the lightsaber behind her back and reached out with her empty hand. Another step, and she laid her hand down on it, and the freezing creature pressed its chilled body against the hand like a cat would. “See? We can get along.” 

This was not the plan. Mira now had no plan. And no radio to reach Poe or the others, as another worm inched its way out of the cave. Mira just looked up with a helpless expression on her face. ‘I literally have no idea what to do, you guys.’ If she wasn’t so sure it wouldn’t hurt him, she would have sent the message via telepathy to Poe. 

He definitely wouldn’t have appreciated that, though. 

A few hours later though, and it was pretty clear to everyone the worms liked Mira. There still wasn’t a plan, but the worms came out peacefully and seemed to be enjoying the snow as operations began to secure some of the mines and start actually mining more kyber crystals. Mira made sure to take a few for herself, though she wasn’t sure what she was going to do with them. 

Aside from play fetch with one rather energetic worm. “This was not how this day was supposed to go….” Mira said, shaking her head as the worm returned and dropped the crystal to the ground. With a little spark of the Force in it from Mira, the worm always went to fetch it—and then returned it for a recharge. “I should probably name you.” It and its friends. ‘What the hell?’ 

Just as Mira was thinking the day couldn’t get better—it got worse. 

Mira sensed it in the shift of the Force and the demeanor of the worms as two ships suddenly burst into the sky. 

~***~ 

Captain Phasma was overseeing some of the repairs when the General arrived, listening to the red-shouldered trooper as he listed off the troops lost and damages elsewhere. Phasma was keeping a tally of it all, her memory impeccable. Even so, she let her attention be taken by Hux and she listened to his command. There was a meeting to be planned, but it seemed odd that Mitaka was bringing the details. 

At least, at first. Mitaka had gone to the planet of kyber crystals—a planet Mira had located. It clicked in Phasma’s head, and she seamlessly answered him, “Of course, Sir.” This was not the place to voice any questions, it was far above the paygrade of any the troopers around. 

She would know soon enough what this was about without making any gross assumptions. ‘It will be of Mira. The Resistance.’ The General did not seem to think straight when it came to that. Of course, Phasma was still a touch miffed that Paquin was sent away. 

She looked to one of the troopers with the red armor over its shoulder, “Oversee this area, TR-2231.” She knew them all, or she liked to pride herself on that. Despite the numbers, she knew them. 

Phasma did not ask if now was the time to join Hux. It went without saying—Hux didn’t waste time, and with the agreement of 2231, Phasma stepped away from her post to indicate her readiness to follow where he led.

KyloGlenn · May 11, 2016

"I'm not sure how good of an idea this is, Kylo." Paquin didn't feel right about this. Mira was on the planet with who knows who else. There was only four of them. Not to mention there was the Force-sensitive worms. 

But Paquin suspected she'd be answered with something along the lines of 'we need those crystals' or maybe laughter. Or Kylo Ren would say something about killing Mira. Either way, Paquin didn't bother objecting any further as they entered Gnathion's atmosphere, snow falling but not enough to be blinding. 

Through the white blurs, people could be seen. Moving in and out of caves. The Resistance. It looked to be mostly X-Wings that were stationary, which did not ease Paquin. They could easily be shot down. 

Paquin didn't notice it at first since the worms blended easily with the ground, but they were out and not bothering a soul. Until the Knights neared and the worms seem to rise from the ground to their full height. They were perturbed, unfortunately for them. 

- 

Poe had actually been pleasantly surprised with the way had turned out. The worms were just curious creatures. Mira hadn't led them to their deaths. 'Yet.' Poe still didn't trust her. Not fully at least. He wasn't sure if he ever would. If he did, he probably wouldn't like her. You didn't have to like someone to trust them. 

BB-8 was fascinated by the worms, one even joined the bot in loitering about. Whether the worm did it intentionally or not, it was still cute. 

But of course, things couldn't stay pleasant, as two black ships sped into sight right as Poe left a cave with a box full of crystals. The worms rose, rows of teeth being bared. They obviously felt threatened, but not by Mira. "Shit." Was this Mira's doing? As much as Poe hated to admit it, it didn't seem likely. Either way, Poe let the box in his arms drop to the ground. 

"Hey! We've got company!" The Knights would land before everyone could get in their ships and leave, but they could still get their guns out. And there was no doubt that the Knights would likely face the Resistance and the worms instead of retreating. 

BB-8 let out a couple of consecutive beeps resembling 'oh no' as the worm next to it hurried to join its fellow worms. BB-8 struggled to roll through the growing snow, trying to reach Poe with the intent of keeping its master safe. Kylo Ren was there and BB-8 was well aware of what the dark sider had done to Poe. 

- 

Hux wordlessly led Phasma through the base and to the hangar to wait for Mitaka. There were fewer troopers there this time around, most of them focused on assisting elsewhere around the base. With repairs, training, or probably moving bodies. Some were likely grieving as well. Quite a few lives had been lost. 

But the point was that the hangar would be a safe place to discuss, away from the prying ears of Stormtroopers. "I regained contact with Mira, briefly. She proposed a meeting with General Organa, for matters of peace. I agreed and tasked Lieutenant Mitaka with confirming the details." He quickly filled her in. 

Mitaka arrived at the perfect moment, the TIE fighters that had accompanied him following in after. Mitaka wasted no time in hurrying off of the ship, having promised to report to Hux promptly. "General Hux, Captain Phasma." He greeted them. Technically he was above Phasma in rank, but he didn't see it as such. He was sure that she would have to be promoted soon, with the opening of Lieutenant-General. 

"Well?" 

"General Organa agreed to your terms. One person to accompany each of you, excluding Mira. Miss Vallens picked the planet, Cimarosa. She'd like to meet tomorrow morning, if possible." 

For that, Hux turned to Phasma. "I'd like to ask you to join me on this meeting, if you aren't occupied?"

Lucyfer · May 11, 2016

Kylo Ren was all but boiling as he saw the activity here. This would make taking and holding the planet difficult, but he didn’t want to go back and ask for back-up quite yet. Mira was the only real threat. ‘And she’ll die just as easily to a ship’s shot as to a lightsaber.’ And this was safer, or so Kylo thought. “It’s not a good idea,” Kylo could admit that, “But it’s better than going to Snoke.” Better to try and fail, than run away like a coward. Better even, to try and succeed. 

Until his window was suddenly painted with snow. Kylo didn’t suddenly become erratic as he tried to have the ship shake off the snow, while lowering. He had an idea of where Mira had been, and a shot from a ship didn’t have to be exact to do damage. 

Except he then felt his own ship jarred on one side, and alerts started to go off of shield breach. “Fuck.” Kylo rose in his seat, flicking a few switches that were higher up. He could hear Gnaeus shooting and kicked the radio with his foot. “IGNORE THE WORMS!” 

“Negative sir, that one is—shit.” A moment of cut off. “Yeah. Okay. Mira may be controlling them.” Gnaeus sounded doubtful, but it was the only conclusion he could come to. Mind stuff. Apparently it worked on worms. “We should retreat.” 

“No.” Kylo said immediately. “It’s just some worms. If we can get at Mira, they’ll scatter.” Then the Resistance would have to deal with them, as well. 

Window cleared, Kylo could see the worms were far too close for his liking. He swung up higher, and looked to the X-Wings. They'd be rising soon, wouldn't they? 'Damn it.' This was not a good situation. 

~***~ ‘Oh Kylo, you idiot.’ 

Not that Kylo Ren knew; Mira hadn’t known until today about the worms. ‘Wait….’ She could use this. If she could keep her mood up, she could have the worms focus on Kylo Ren and the others. ‘We can hold the planet.’ 

Mira smiled, and that happiness at how easy victory could be did influence her and she focused her attention into the snow around her. Snow was trickier than sand, but it was the same concept—lots of tiny things to manipulate and use. 

As Kylo Ren’s ship came within firing range, Mira pulled the snow up and threw quite a bit of it at his window to blind him. It fell over the shields, of course, but it still effectively blinded him—Mira could tell by suddenly stiff way the ship moved, still on its path lower. 

And then a worm lunged at the ship that was now in its range, feeling the terrible anger that Kylo Ren was emitting from within that ship. 

The ship was jarred, and Kylo fired blindly, striking the ground as Gnaeus’s ship finally came closer. Mira wouldn’t try the same thing again, but she still had a kyber crystal in hand, one larger than she’d used for her lightsaber. It was a fetch toy, after all. As Gnaeus unloaded into the worm that assaulted Kylo’s ship, making it cry out, Mira threw the rock. 

Gnaeus was smart enough to swerve, and so Mira let the rock fall harmlessly to the ground. ‘Come on then!’ The worms had moved to align by their injured compatriot. 

~***~ 

Phasma’s suspicions had been correct. Mira and the Resistance. For the moment, she offered no comment. She was not sure what Hux was thinking here—didn’t they have completely different goals? 

Were they truly planning to work with them, or only until Snoke and the Knights were eliminated? That was the more interesting part—how long was this so-called peace meant to last? 

Mitaka arrived and reported, letting the General know that all had gone according to plan. As he spoke so plainly here, Phasma assumed that meant that, for once, the hangar was a safe location. “I will join you, Sir.” She was his to command in these matters, after all. Her schedule was mostly organization and calculating at the moment, anyway. She’d faced a huge loss in Stormtroopers and equipment, after all. “I must ask, what is your intent with this meeting, General? Is this a ruse, is this peace to be temporary, or are you hoping to have the Resistance as a long-term ally?” 

Phasma needed to know what to be looking at—to see if the Resistance could ever be what Hux wanted. If it was a trap, she also needed to know that to be prepared to catch the Resistance leaders off guard.

KyloGlenn · May 12, 2016

As the ship was rocked by worms, Paquin slid partway out of her seat. ‘Dumbass,’ was the first thing that came to her mind, directed at Kylo Ren. Paquin could see that this was not partial to them. They were outnumbered, by people and worms. Even Gnaeus suggested retreating. 

She remained silent until the window cleared and they could see out of it again. The worms had grouped together, one of them was injured, presumably by Gnaeus. The worms attempted to fling themselves at the ship, but at that point, they were too high for them to reach. It wasn’t until she spotted an X-Wing rising that she spoke again. 

Paquin was no expert on ships or air battles. Or anything involving war, really. But she did know that Kylo’s ship wasn’t in very good shape, wasn’t to begin with, and figured it would be pretty easy to take down. Especially by how many X-Wings there were. She wasn’t sure about Gnaeus’s ship or his skills, but she didn’t really want to find out. 

“We tried. There’s no shame in leaving and returning with back up.” Paquin attempted to convince him. “This is a planet, they can’t take all of the crystals in a few hours.” Even if they could, Paquin didn’t much care about that. 

- 

The worms offered a good distraction, as did Mira’s throwing of snow. It gave Poe and the others a chance to pile into their X-Wings without having to worry about getting shot. “C’mon, BB-8,” Poe called to the droid who trailed behind him through the snow. BB-8 beeped, taking its position to be scooped up. 

A helmet was thrown on and Poe wasted no time in lifting off the ground. This could very well be a chance for the Knights to be exterminated. If not, he at least needed to run them off of the planet. 

Jessika remained on the ground as everyone else jumped into their X-Wings. She did not worry about them, this would be an easy victory. She was a little miffed that she wouldn’t be able to aid in the victory, though. Mira was on the ground as well, and out in the open. Jess had seen the shot that was obviously meant for Mira, she was a pretty big target. 

“Hey, Mira! You’re gonna get shot.” Either on purpose or accident. The worms were leaving her alone, but the guns wouldn’t. There wasn’t much she could do on the ground anyway. Other than throw some snow and that one kyber crystal. 

Meanwhile, Poe wasn’t even hesitating on zeroing in on the Knights. He was on the ship he recognized as Kylo Ren’s, along with a few others. Some were on the other ship’s tail. Poe was shooting. Some shots were missing, but some would hit. Surely the worm had effected the shields, he hoped at least. 

- 

“The goal is long-term peace.” That was Mira’s, at least. And he didn’t claim it to be his either, really. “Genuinely. But at the very least we may be able to take away some valuable information for bettering the galaxy.” That was his goal. Restoring the universe to what it needed to be. He’d need to know the best way to make that work. 

“And I’d appreciate your honest opinions.” Both then and when it came time for the meeting. He turned to Mitaka, “Phasma and I will discuss an exact time and find an exact place to meet. I’ll relay it to you once it’s been decided. You may return to the command center.” He dismissed the Lieutenant. 

Mitaka nodded and moved past the two. Once Mitaka was clear of the hangar, Hux spoke again. “I’d also like to set up a backup plan, in case something is being plotted against us.” He trusted Mira. The Resistance, not so much. “Something small, I know our numbers have fallen.” Hux’s arms moved behind his back, one hand gripping his wrist. He felt the urge to pace, something he did when he was stressed out. He found it a waste of energy, so he typically refrained from doing it. 

“Something similar to what I’d pieced together before my meeting with Snoke,” she hadn’t been apart of that so he briefly elaborated. “We have a way to contact them via com link. If we need to we press the button. However, they remain off of Cimarosa until the point that they’re needed. If that point comes to be.” He would be cautious without over stepping the bounds. He suspected Organa would do the same.

Lucyfer · May 12, 2016

Kylo had lost in facing down the Stormtroopers—outnumbered. 

He soon saw that he was going to lose this battle. Outnumbered, and a Force sensitive against him. He couldn’t reach her, not now as the X-Wings joined the match and the worms below were waiting for him to descend. 

“Kylo, come on!” Gnaeus shouted through the radio, “Snoke didn’t know they were already here! We need to leave, this is suicide!” 

Kylo grit his teeth, “They won’t kill us.” Not wholly true. They wouldn’t kill him, thanks to his ever-loving mother. 

He wasn’t so sure about the rest. It wasn’t like Leia had any attachment to Gnaeus, Ariel, or Paquin. 

The Force directed his shots. 

The Force pulled it off target. 

More and more hit his ship, with the already injured wing, and a side broken up by the worm. The alarm was growing louder in his ears, and he looked to Paquin. She wanted to leave as well, and in her position—she was helpless. Not even able to assist with the controls of his ship. Despite it being a co-pilot’s seat, Kylo Ren had taken over completely. 

He’d hate that position. 

That thought, that hate, sent one shot right into the core of one of the X-Wings. 'Finally!' They could pull this out. 

That thought was short lived, as the X-Wing spiraled down to crash onto the planet and Mira's focus broke. Kylo broke free of an X-Wing that was on his tail and came up behind it. Before he could shoot, though, he took a nasty blow that knocked his targeting off. 

The shot jarred him, sending spiderweb cracks over the window. “Okay!” He finally consented. He needed his window to survive in space. If the shields were down that badly, it was time to leave. He flew up quickly, and then launched his ship right into hyperdrive. He didn’t plan to go far—and if he had, those plans would have ended. 

The cracks in his window grew with the speed. 

Gnaeus appeared besides him. “That was fucking stupid, Kylo!” Gnaeus shouted. 

“Come here.” 

“We’re in space.” 

“Paquin and I need to board your ship.” 

“Eh?” 

“My window is going to break, and then Paquin and I will suffocate to death. Come here.” 

Needless to say, Gnaeus immediately moved his ship close to Kylo’s. 

~***~ 

Mira would have preferred the battle to be on the ground. Not because she felt she stood a chance, but because Kylo Ren was more likely to die in a ship battle—and there was no way she or Poe would ever get into Leia’s good graces again if her son died. 

Mira would never be able to kill Kylo Ren. She wasn’t sure about the other Knights, either. ‘Soft.’ That was what they’d say. 

As Kylo straightened himself out higher in the sky and Gnaeus also got straightened up, the X-Wings zipped by her, disturbing the air a bit. Mira moved her hands behind her back and watched as they engaged. She heard Jessika shout to her, and she looked back, “I’m all right,” she called back to Jessika. 

She’d barely shown what the Force could do; she wasn’t too terribly terrified of the ships right now. They were occupied, and she let her attention move back up to watch as Kylo and Gnaeus both played at dodging and trying to fire back. It was clear that, for all the skill Kylo had, and even though he was able to fight back—he wasn’t going to win. 

It didn’t help that Mira was focused not just to enjoy the show. She was doing her utmost to make sure that Kylo’s shots didn’t work out as well as he’d hoped they would. She tried to take hold of them as they were launched from his ship, to redirect them to non-vital parts of his enemy ships, or make them miss all together. At the speed they were moving, that wasn’t always possible. 

Kylo’s anger was only growing, and it was enough to cleanly direct a shot into an X-Wing. Mira tore her gaze away from the fight above and took off running towards the downed ship. 

Then, his ship broke free of the combat, and was gone in a second. 

Gnaeus was on his heels. 

~***~ 

Peace. That was the end goal of all, wasn’t it? Just in different ways. Phasma imagined the information route would end up being the only bit of use they’d get from this. It was good to know their enemy, and know why they had support. 

That information would flow both ways, though. “A back-up plan will be easy. We have enough Tie Fighters that can be on nearby moons, Sir,” Phasma stated. Tie Fighters would be the fastest ships they had, so they could arrive first. There was also room for two in them, so if some only had one pilot, that would allow them to pick up Phasma and Hux if need be. “If Mira is trustworthy, that should be sufficient.” Phasma would rather have some on the ground, but she knew that would be breaking the rules—otherwise Hux wouldn’t have mentioned keeping them off. 

Mira’s trustworthiness was questionable to Phasma. At least Hux was planning for treachery. 

The stress was written in his posture. Phasma did not question why he chose to trust Mira due to it, but said, “I see how this meeting can be advantageous, but it will be advantageous to them as well,” she was sure Hux saw that risk. They would have to make sure it was more advantageous to them; the Knights had enough information to be dangerous opponents. “To avoid them having too much of an advantage we must not give them time to prepare. We must meet early, and in some semi-public location. A conference room of a hotel or the like seems ideal, a place that the Resistance cannot exert control over.” A place not tied to any of the franchises from the Core. “A university may also be sufficient,” they had lecture halls that could be rented.

KyloGlenn · May 13, 2016

Paquin was happy when Kylo Ren finally agreed to retreat from the planet but felt no relief until they had joined Gnaeus’s ship. Ariel didn’t allow them a moment to relax before she bombarded Kylo with angry questions. “Are you trying to get us all killed? That was stupid!” She was pretty much repeating what Gnaeus had said and what Paquin was thinking. She left Paquin out of it, doubting she had any control in Kylo’s ship. 

Paquin didn’t make any comments to add or interfere. Kylo needed to listen. He did eventually when they were too close to being shot down. If he’d listened to them earlier his ship wouldn’t have been in such terrible condition. “You need to be more careful, one day you won’t be able to escape that.” Ariel continued but doubted he would attempt to be any less reckless. That’s just who Kylo was. 

“At least we’re all alive.” The redhead finished with a wave of her hand, returning to the co-pilot’s seat. Now it was time to face Snoke, who from this point on would likely live in a constant state of disappointment. All the seemed to be able to do was fail lately. 

“We all need to work on our communication, especially if we’re all going to be sticking together.” Paquin was serious in her statement. She wasn’t sure how often any of them worked in a group, but they didn’t do it very well. It was a lot of the Knights saying ‘no’ and Kylo saying ‘yes’. Next time Paquin would attempt more than just telling him to quit. She might lose a hand, though. It was more likely that she’d just crash the ship than for Kylo to cut off her hand. 

Paquin briefly wondered how Kylo became the Commander of the Knights. She didn’t think it had anything to do with his leadership skills. 

- 

Jessika didn’t fight with Mira too much. Mira could certainly take care of herself, but cautioning her wouldn’t hurt. Mira proved she could hold her own and Jess watched. She felt a little useless, but there wasn’t much she, a non-Force-sensitive, could do on the ground during an air battle. 

But she did find something she could do, once an X-Wing was shot down. Like Mira, Jessika ran to the wreckage. The ship was in bad shape, one wing was on fire. Jessika wasted no time in yanking it open and pulling the pilot out, trying her best not to harm them any further. She took a minute to check the unconscious pilot’s pulse. 

It was there, thankfully, but that didn’t change the fact that he was bleeding from various places. “Mira, help me get him back to the cruiser.” Jessika moved to wrap her arms under his and lift him up. He wasn’t exactly a small guy, hopefully Mira could use the Force to help carry him. 

Poe and the other pilots chased the ships only until they were well and good out of sight. Poe was tempted to go after them, one more shot and Kylo Ren was done for. But the downed pilot became first priority. 

Not to mention Leia would freak if he returned with news of her son being dead. Even if Kylo Ren did deserve—no, needed to be eliminated, Leia wouldn’t allow it. Poe would never be in her good books again after that, and he was bordering being removed from it already. 

He turned back around, with no intention of telling anyone that he’d flown with the intent to kill Kylo Ren and friends. 

He landed not far from Jessika, Mira, and the wreckage. He hoped out, not bothering to take off his helmet. “You getting Snap back to the base?” Unbeknown to them, the nearest medic had just flown off. Luckily it wasn’t too much of a flight back to D’Qar. 

“Trying to!” 

Poe moved to help, “I think we can call it a day.” He’ll leave some pilots on the planet to guard it, but they’d done enough for then. 

- 

“Mira’s trustworthy. It’s the Resistance that’s not.” He almost laughed as he thought about what he’d just said. ‘Yes, Mira’s the definition of trustworthy.’ Yet he still did it. He liked to think that at this point he knew when she was being genuine. And now had to be one of those times if she put so much effort into setting up a meeting. 

“A few TIE fighters will be fine. I think you’re right about a semi-public location,” and she was right with just about everything else. “A university would be sufficient. I’ll have Mitaka reach out and see if we can rent a lecture hall.” Leia wouldn’t dare to try anything in a building full of such young people. And he wouldn’t either, it was an agreeable location. If it wasn’t, Hux could suspect that something was being plotted. “Early morning, around dawn could work.” Classes started not too long after that and it was early enough that the Resistance wouldn’t have much time to prepare. 

There was some relief with the details being organized, but not much. It still had to be confirmed with the Resistance, then the meeting actually had to happen. He hoped this wouldn’t turn into a giant waste of time and energy or worse. He wasn’t going to go in with high hopes or expectations. 

“I’m bringing a weapon,” he thought to mention. He’d set no rules against that and he hadn’t heard of one from the Resistance. He figured they wouldn’t arrive unarmed, either. “They’ll be made conscious of it and yours,” he figured she’d bring one as well, “and we will be aware of theirs as well.” He’d inform Mitaka when sharing the details. He wondered what Mira would bring or if she’d have made a new lightsaber by then. Or if she would fully embrace her role as peacekeeper and bring nothing at all.

Lucyfer · May 13, 2016

Kylo Ren sulked as he walked the bridge made between his ship and Gnaeus’s. They were going to leave his behind to die in Wild Space, he knew it. They couldn’t take it with them through hyperdrive. 

Ariel and Paquin further laid into him and he set his jaw and clenched his fists. “Someone makes a good point. Yeah, our communication is shit,” Gnaeus agreed with Paquin, “Speaking of—Kylo, I need to destroy your ship. We can’t have the Resistance getting it.” 

“Go ahead.” 

He would miss his ship. Gnaeus rounded his own ship on it, and destroyed it with a few well-placed shots. “As for Snoke…he’ll have to understand. We didn’t expect anyone else to be there that soon.” 

“He won’t understand,” they’d failed so much lately. Kylo put his back to the wall. “He’s not an understanding sort.” Or at least Kylo Ren believed that, if only because he himself didn’t understand his recent failures. It didn’t make sense to him. He had the dark side of the Force on his side. He had power. He had a group of four with him. Worms and Resistance should have been nothing! 

So why was he faltering? 

“We’ll see, Kylo. We have to go back and tell him.” 

“I know.” 

And Gnaeus set the course back immediately, taking a deep breath himself. 

~***~ 

Jessika pulled the pilot out, and Mira immediately nodded and helped to stabilize the pilot once he was brought around Jessika. The Force was useful, and she also tried to keep the blood in with its pressure so that he wouldn’t bleed out. That ended up taking more of her focus than helping Jessika carry him. 

Fortunately, Poe came over to assist. 

“The Knights won’t be back, nor the First Order,” Mira consented to Poe’s idea that they could call it a day. She did risk a look at the worms, “They may behave.” They had time now to get accustomed to the strangers on their planet. They might get angry later, when they realized their homes were being destroyed, though. 

Mira helped to take Snap back to the cargo ship and she laid him down on one of the raised benches. “I’ll stay back here with him. Where’s the first aid kit?” She asked Jessika, hoping she could show her and then head to the pilot’s area and get them out of here. 

“It’s right here,” Poe said, hitting his fist near the wall where the kit was, all in white. “Blind?” 

Mira just moved to get the kit, hearing the other question in the obvious one. She grabbed bandages and disinfectant. It was all she really understood, besides the Plagueis myth, but she didn’t know how that worked, and experimenting on someone didn’t appeal to her. 

~***~ 

Mira as trustworthy almost made Phasma laugh, as well. However, Phasma did trust in Hux, and that he had some insight into the knight. Didn’t Kylo mention something about a dinner? And Hux returned from Mira, alive and well. Phasma knew not what game the once-knight, once-Jedi, was playing—but it seemed to be working. ‘You just need someone to listen to you.’ It was a thought that crossed her mind, but as soon as it did, it laid the groundwork to ‘Hux needs a pet’. 

The helmet was a blessing. Hux couldn’t see the shift in her expression. ‘You’re not a dog person.’ That was obvious. Even if he liked to command and give orders, a dog wouldn’t be the pet he wanted. ‘Cat.’ 

And yet with these thoughts she was still able to answer him. “Only one?” Phasma would have preferred two. “Very well, sir. I shall see to it that I bring along a vibro-polearm.” If Mira had a lightsaber, it was the only thing that would stand up to it, and a polearm would give Phasma the advantage of distance, as well. She’d not get any closer than necessary against a Force-sensitive. ‘Speaking of, can Leia use it as her brother?’ 

That was a concern. Phasma didn’t know. There wasn’t any talk of Leia using the Force. “There is no way to stop the Force from being in use, is there?” Phasma inquired. If there was, it was something new that she was unaware of. “I am concerned with Leia and Mira both being Force sensitives, they may try to use it to influence how things go. It is also a weapon on its own. They have an unfair advantage.” She’d just witnessed what Kylo Ren alone could do.

KyloGlenn · May 13, 2016

Paquin felt a little bad that Kylo’s ship had to be destroyed, but it was his own fault. That’s why she only felt a slight bit of sympathy for him. Then at the mention of Snoke, she felt a little more sympathetic. She took Kylo’s word when he said that Snoke was not the understanding type. Kylo would know him best, after all. 

Especially now that there was a failure around every corner. 

Paquin seemed to only be in the presence of Snoke when something unpleasant was being shared. She wondered if she’d ever meet him in a good mood. Paquin offered Kylo a reassuring pat on the arm. She honestly wanted to envelop them all in a hug. “What’s the worst Snoke will do? Kill us?” Maybe. Probably not. “We’ll probably get a slap on the wrist and sent on to the next mission.” 

She wasn’t entirely sure if that’s what would happen, but she was just trying to ease them. It wasn’t long before they were out of Wild Space and slowing near Kamino. “When we have free time we can all go over communication exercises. I know a lot from working as a medic.” Medics had to have a flow within each other. If one person did something wrong, someone could die. 

She wondered how her former colleagues were doing now, without her. She shook her head. Her head should be with the Knights and not the Order. It was raining on Kamino as they returned, only slightly, though. The sky was dark and cloudy, as usual. The sea as angry as ever. It certainly wasn’t uplifting. 

- 

“Jess, you guys can go ahead and leave, I’ll tell everyone else and follow after.” Luckily assigning people to keep watch on the planet wouldn’t be hard. He just needed to split them in half and they’d be good to go. He didn’t say goodbye to either of them before hopping out of the cargo ship. 

He wasn’t sure of Snap’s condition and if it were bad, but he wasn’t going to risk wasting any time. 

“You got him covered?” Jess asked as she closed up the ship after Poe. She’d be occupied by flying for a little while until they entered known regions. Then she can jump into hyperdrive and they’d be on D’Qar in no time. Which reminded her to call ahead so the medics would be ready. 

Jessika sat in the pilot’s seat and set the coordinates back to the base. She lifted from the ground, snow falling off of the ship as she did so. She adjusted the radio to connect with the command center, a calm voice answering that didn’t belong to Leia answered, “What’s up?” 

“Kylo Ren and the Knights showed up,” nothing was said, but the two both held annoyance over that fact. “Snap’s injured pretty bad, we’re heading back now,” Jess spoke as she maneuvered past stars and a few planets. Without the coordinates showing where she was, she probably would have flown deeper into the unknown. 

Well, she had Mira who was apparently a Wild Space expert or something. 

“Alright, we’ll be ready. See you soon.” 

Jess shut the radio off, to halt the static. “He’s still breathing, right? You okay?” Jessika figured Mira had no issue with blood or possible death, but it didn’t hurt to ask. It was pretty hard stuff to take in sometimes. 

- 

A vibro-polearm would be a good choice. He knew Phasma would probably prefer an arsenal, but her choice, his blaster, and the stationed troopers would be fine for a diplomatic meeting. And then the subject of the Force was touched. “Mind tricks only work on the weak-minded,” or at least that’s what he’d heard. Extracting information worked on anyone, but influencing someone? He didn’t know. 

Mind things were what Mira was good at, though. But Mira wasn’t the concern. It was Leia. 

“I don’t think General Organa uses the Force as Skywalker or her offspring.” Otherwise they would have heard something of the likes. All that was really known was her brilliant mind and ‘amazing’ leadership skills. While both her brother and son were known across the galaxy for their Force abilities. Maybe she was keeping hers a secret, Hux wouldn’t be sure. 

“But there is no way to stop it from being used, unfortunately,” not that he knew of, anyway. Maybe that would be a good thing to research. “There’s nothing you or I can do about it.” They’d just have to trust that it wouldn’t be used against them or hope that Organa wasn’t as skilled in it as Mira or her family. That was one disadvantage of being departed from Snoke, no Force users. Although the one he’d been supplied with wasn’t very useful. Kylo Ren really had held the Order back, Hux wasn’t lying when he said that. 

So, it was an advantage at the same time. It was complicated. Either way, no longer being tied to Snoke was what was needed. The pros outweighed the cons, certainly. “All we can do is wait and see.” Hux sure did hate that, but that’s usually all war was made of.

Lucyfer · May 14, 2016

Kylo bowed his head as he felt the hand move down his arm, sighing and trying not to feel completely hopeless. “Snoke can do much worse than kill us.” 

He could take away their will if he felt like it. He could render them lifeless. However, he did not offer those details to Paquin. He wasn’t even sure if Gnaeus or Ariel knew how truly powerful Snoke was. 

Paquin spoke of petty things like communication and he chuckled as he shook his head. “What?” Gnaeus asked, sounding annoyed. 

“As if we’re going to have time….” Kylo’s voice was almost shaking with fear the closer they got to Kamino. He knew the others could feel it. He knew Snoke would feel it. He never wanted to fail Snoke, he wanted to succeed, only ever to succeed, but nothing was going well for him. Too many unanticipated things. ‘I should have seen it.’ 

It didn’t cross his mind that Snoke, also, should have seen it as the ship landed. “We’ll explain what happened,” Gnaeus said again, “We tried. He can’t fault us.” 

Kylo ignored him and stalked off the ship, glaring at the tall alien who greeted him. He did not wait for the others, though he knew they would follow, as he made his way to find Snoke. Afraid, he might be—but he always faced his fears. Snoke had taught him that. 

~***~ 

Mira stayed by Snap, cleansing the wounds and wiping off the blood, doing her utmost to keep more from spilling out as she wrapped them tight around him. She caught the radio, but didn’t hear what was said as she focused on trying to ensure he wouldn’t bleed out. ‘Most I can do.’ Mira could feel his pain through the Force. That was better than nothing. Better than his passing. 

Mira barely heard Jessika’s question until a few seconds later. She glanced towards the cockpit then, “Yes,” her answer to both queries. “Still breathing. I think he will make it.” 

Mira certainly hoped so. Death did not truly bother her unless it was someone close, but it was still not pleasant to feel in the Force. ‘Pain is power. Anger. Hate.’ That had been the motto of the Sith—of the Knights. 

Mira would remain besides Snap until the ship landed, but once it did she picked up Snap with the Force, keeping his body stable as it was held aloft in the air. As the ramp of the ship lowered, she let Snap out first and noticed there was a medical cot there. Mira lowered him onto it and nodded, moving her hands behind her back as she stepped off the ramp and waited for Jessika to join her. 

Poe was not far behind—being in a faster X-Wing helped, as did those he’d ordered to come along. 

Mira saw Leia in the crowd, and the woman made her way to their ship, “I heard that Kylo Ren was present,” it was more a question than a statement. 

“He escaped,” Mira answered her, “alive, so far as I know.” They both would have known if he wasn’t. “We still hold the planet.” 

~***~ 

Phasma very much doubted mind tricks worked only on the weak minded. Something told her that Mira and Kylo wouldn’t fear Snoke so much. Unfortunately, there was nothing to be done. Phasma did not like it, but Hux was correct…there was nothing that could be done. “Very well,” Phasma did not hide the displeasure in her voice. 

There was one last thing that was truly bothering her about all of this, though. “General,” Phasma wasn’t sure how to put it tactfully, so she put it bluntly, “We have never before considered speaking with the Resistance. We have never before considered breaking from Supreme Leader Snoke—I had no inkling it was in your head, though I am not opposed to it—I am concerned about our direction.” 

Mira was the mind tricking Force user. “Why are we making these movements?” She didn’t ask ‘why now’. Now didn’t matter—what mattered was the fact that they were doing it, “And how much is the Commandant to know?” Phasma wasn’t a gossip, but the Commandant was her superior. She needed to know exactly how much to keep from him.

KyloGlenn · May 14, 2016

Paquin was internally screaming. Her face didn't show it, but she was frustrated that her attempts to ease them had failed. 'They always worked on the Stormtroopers.' But those situations were different, she had to remember. During those times, she was in control and knew for a fact that a future was going to happen for then. 

Here was different. Here she had no clue what was going to happen, this wasn't some sick trooper asking if he'd live. Here she was trying to convince everyone that a higher power, that they knew more about than she did, wasn't going to ruin their lives. Talking about trivial future events wasn't going to help. 

Kylo's talk of Snoke doing much worse than killing them, as well as the evident fear in him, knocked what little positivity there was right out of Paquin. 

Ariel was the first to follow after Kylo, being unaffected by the conversation. She appreciated Paquin's intent, but she knew they were in deep trouble even if they said they couldn't have helped their failure. 

Paquin followed after the stony-faced redhead with thoughts of ‘I tried’, wrapping her arms around herself. It was what she usually did to comfort herself. The tall alien remained ignored, but a second one came and spoke as Kylo stalked past. "Snoke is waiting in his throne room." Snoke most definitely sensed them, then. 

And he was, in fact, waiting. The door was open and a clear view of Snoke was provided. Hands gripping the armrests, what looked to be a snarl on his face. "You're afraid," was his greeting, to whom Paquin was unsure of. "Explain." 

- 

“Good.” Leia nodded, speaking of both her son being alive and the planet being held. There was slight disappointment, she kept missing chances to see her son. If she could just talk to him, maybe… “Besides an appearance by Kylo Ren, everything went smoothly?” 

Jessika soon joined Mira and Leia. “Yeah, apparently the worms are just curious things. At least to Mira and the rest of us. They don’t like the Knights too much. Did Snap get off okay?” 

“Yes, the medics took him. I’m sure he’ll be fine.” Leia confirmed, gesturing off to the direction Snap was hauled. 

Then BB-8 came rolling in between them, beeping about how exciting everything was, despite Snap getting shot down. The droid spoke of its worm friend and finished beeping after describing the damage to Ren’s ship. BB-8 looked up at Leia before lowering its head, a long drone of an apology. 

That’s when Poe came, helmet off and under his arm. He said nothing of Kylo Ren and the Knights. “I say, once Snap is alright, this can be considered a success.” It had been a minute since they’d had a big one, not since Starkiller. “There’s still quite a bit of crystals left on the planet, but we’ve got a ton here.” He patted the cargo ship, offering a grin to Leia. Despite the Knights and the irritation he felt over the meeting, he was at least happy with this win. Neither the Order or the Knights had it, they did. 

“This could be counted as a success, yes. I’m proud of all of you. We can collect the rest later,” after the meeting. “We’ll unload the cargo, and I’d like to talk to you and Mira afterwards. About the meeting.” Poe took that as a good sign that he would be accompanying Leia. “Mitaka hasn’t contacted me yet, but we should iron some things out. What to bring and what not to, maybe make a list of things to discuss.” 

‘Or a battle plan,’ Poe thought, but didn’t say. 

- 

Hux hadn’t expected her to ask, but wasn’t really all that surprised it came to be. “We are headed in the right direction, I assure you. Snoke and the Knights of Ren were holding us back. They had their own agenda and their endgame is not the same as ours.” Hux was pretty sure that Snoke was attempting to be the next Palpatine. Hux couldn’t allow that to happen. Not after the results of the last fifty years. 

“Their misuse and abuse of our resources during their hunt for Luke Skywalker set the Order back quite a bit, I’m sure you’re well aware.” Lots of troopers had been lost during their escapades. “As for this meeting, it’s like I said. The goal is peace and if not, we take away some valuable information. It keeps us moving and one step closer to ending this war.” Hux didn’t actually have to explain anything to her, she wasn’t high ranking. 

But Hux was certainly thinking of changing that. 

As he remembered the subject of his father, he rolled his eyes. “The Commandant can know whatever you want him to know, he just can’t blabber about it to anyone else. I’m sure he knows how to keep his mouth shut.” It’s not like Brendol held anything against him anymore. Hux was a higher rank, he couldn’t be ordered around. In that moment, Hux contemplated getting rid of his father and giving his position to Phasma. “If he asks about anything, send him to me.”

Lucyfer · May 14, 2016

Kylo did not plan to hide his fear as he came to stand before Snoke. He didn’t have the strength to bend his knees, only to take off his helmet and answer, “I have failed you again.” He didn’t say ‘we’, conscious now of throwing the others under the ship with him. Of Paquin. She’d never truly endured Snoke’s rages, and he wasn’t sure if Ariel or Gnaeus had, for that matter. 

Snoke’s hands gripped the armrests so tightly they should have broken. “Why?” The single syllable was drawn out. 

“Mira was there already, with the Resistance forces. The worms—I don’t know what she’s done or how, but the worms seemed to be heeding her.” That’s how it looked to Kylo, since they had spared Mira and the Resistance, and come right after him. “There were too many of them.” 

Snoke’s voice was low in his rage, “Your grandfather destroyed an entire droid army before he was an adult.” He reminded Kylo, “He alone infiltrated the ship with their power source and destroyed it. He destroyed hundreds of Jedi, and you…,” that snarl returned, “you cannot destroy a few worms, one jedi, and some Resistance fighters who must have been surprised to see you as well?” 

“I am sorry.” 

“I DO NOT WANT TO HEAR APOLOGIES!” Snoke pushed himself to stand, and Kylo dropped to his knees in sudden pain as he felt Snoke pierce right through his own protective measurements in his mind. He’d never keep Snoke out, but the guards he had up were passive. His hands moved to clutch his head, dropping the helmet to the ground, as Snoke searched to make sure that Kylo was not lying to him, was not protecting the Resistance for Leia’s sake or Mira’s sake. 

Gnaeus remained mute, jaw clenched and set. Behind his back, his hands became two fists. 

~***~ 

Leia was quickly filled in of all the successes they had. BB-8 in particular explained, and Mira couldn’t help but laugh a bit at his ‘worm friend’ adventures. “I played fetch with one,” Mira added. 

Then they got to Kylo Ren and the damage to his ship. Mira felt cold for a moment, looking down to the droid. She hadn’t seen how bad the damage had been. ‘Good. He can lose his ship, too.’ But Mira swallowed back the bitter feeling. She wouldn’t hate Kylo. She would try to save him. 

If she hated him, she’d never succeed. ‘Remember Ben. Like Leia does.’ Even if she, too, was adapting to calling the Knights by their chosen names. “I’ll assist with unloading,” Mira offered, “Just show me where to take them. I can get most.” 

“You think so, eh?” Poe saw it as a challenge. “All right. I’ll lead the way, get the boxes,” Poe directed as other X-Wing pilots started to land and exit their ships, expecting jobs of unloading awaited them. Mira walked around to the back of the ship with Poe, who lowered the larger ramp to the cargo hull. 

There were already several boxes. Mira made a show of stretching her arms and fingers by lacing them between each other, and then she let them drop to her side and grasped the Force to pull the boxes up, and bring them outside. 

She left one. “There you go, Poe.” 

~***~ 

Phasma was still a bit flabbergasted that Hux’s intent truly was peace. Could the Resistance really want the same things? They were the ones that rose up against them at first—thus their name. Resistance. They resisted the First Order. ‘But was it us, or the Knights?’ Phasma couldn’t recall. The Order hadn’t truly faced much opposition until the Knights and Snoke, but they also didn’t have the grand successes they’d had until the Knights. 

Those successes had turned to failure in recent times. “Understood, sir. I shall simply tell your father to visit you. Is there anything else we need to discuss, or shall I go prepare my soldiers for tomorrow?” 

Hux needed to report to Mitaka to reach out to the Resistance, and Phasma needed to start preparing for that day. She needed to pick her best pilots in this case, not her best fighters. A few fighters would accompany the pilots in the TIE Fighters, but it was more important that the pilots be swift.

KyloGlenn · May 14, 2016

And Paquin had thought she’d Snoke when he was angry. 

She nearly had a heart attack upon Snoke’s voice raising, eyes wide as she witnessed Kylo fall to his knees. Paquin couldn’t help but think back to Hux, that he wouldn’t be as cruel as Snoke was being. Hux could be mean and harsh but he was also reasonable. He wouldn’t harm someone for something they had no control over. 

“Sto—“ Before the p sound could be made, Ariel’s hand shot out and gripped Paquin’s upper arm, hard enough to shut her up. The redhead shot the other woman a look, telling her not to try and b the hero. Ariel let her hand fall, hoping Snoke hadn’t noticed either of them. Ariel hadn’t endured such rage before and she didn’t want herself or anyone else to, as bad as she felt for Kylo. 

Thankfully, it didn’t seem Snoke was even paying attention to them. Snoke had confirmed that Kylo had not done it for Leia or Mira’s sake, but that didn’t quell his anger. Not even witnessing the damage done to the Knight’s ship affected the Supreme Leader. “You let one damaged ship stop you? You had another, Gnaeus’s, didn’t you? As well as the Force.” Snoke believed Kylo should have pressed harder. 

“I’m having doubts. Maybe you aren’t as skilled as I thought. Maybe you won’t be as strong as Darth Vader.” 

- 

Poe’s face held a displeased look, eyes moving back and forth between the one box that had been left and Mira. With a sigh, he walked into the cargo hull and picked up the remaining box. “Show off.” He grumbled to Mira as he passed her. “Hope you can float them all the way to the armory.” 

While Poe was rolling his eyes, everyone else was more than happy that they didn’t have to unload anything. 

BB-8 rolled behind Poe, offering beeps of encouragement and favor. “Thanks, buddy,” Poe mumbled to the droid, even though his mood wasn’t really affected by Mira’s assistance. The droid turned around to face Mira, an arm shooting out and a flame igniting, a thumbs up. 

Leia watched the exchange, shaking her head at them. She wanted to say ‘it’s not a competition’ but Poe likely wouldn’t be convinced of that. At least he wasn’t being too terribly rude. And hadn’t come back with words of how the Knights’ appearance must have been Mira’s fault. 

“Mira’s not all that bad,” Jessika commented to the General, “I don’t get why he’s so irritated with her.” 

“General Organa! There’s some Lieutenant Mitaka trying to reach you!” Someone called out to the General, averting her attention. 

Seemingly perfect timing on the Order’s part. “Coming!” She called back, dismissing herself from Jessika and making her way back to the command center. 

- 

“I think we’ve covered everything we needed to. I appreciate your assistance, Captain.” Hux dismissed with a nod. They’ve planned as much as they could, now it was time to organize everything. He added, “I suggest you and your soldiers turning in early, so we can be ready a few hours before the meeting.” So they could triple check everything. 

With that, he returned to the command center, where Mitaka was anxiously waiting. “Mitaka! The details have been discussed.” Hux didn’t relay such details until he and Mitaka were safe and away from everyone else’s hearing range. Before Hux could even begin talking, Mitaka pulled out one of the four pens he wore on his uniform and pulled out a pad of paper. 

Hux rose an eyebrow, wondering where he even got the paper. Most things were done on datapads and computers. Hux didn’t let it stop him from conveying the details discussed with Phasma, the Lieutenant writing everything down on the paper. 

“I’ll contact General Organa and get back to your right away, sir.” Mitaka offered a salute before scurrying off.

Lucyfer · May 14, 2016

Kylo wasn’t certain he’d breathed when Snoke invaded his mind, but he certainly did when he ceased his violation. He took in a deep breath. “I will be stronger than Darth Vader.” He couldn’t say he was now. He’d lost that right with all of these failures. “Please do not give up on me yet, Supreme Leader. I have been blindsided and I have failed you, but I will learn and I will grow stronger.” 

His head remained bowed. 

Snoke had not seen anything incriminating. 

Snoke relaxed back into his chair. “You will all be dispatched to Korriban. You will train there, and recover what holocrons remain,” Snoke was going to leave Korriban behind. For the time being, with the Resistance focused on the kyber crystal planet, he supposed it was better to secure what he had laid claim to. “The next time I send you on a true mission, you will not fail me.” 

“You are generous, Supreme Leader. Thank you.” 

Gnaeus knew he should echo it, but his throat was tight. He just looked away, eyes down. 

~***~ 

Mira smiled and returned BB-8’s gesture, but with her thumb. She didn’t deny what Poe had to say—this was showing off. The Force should be used for practical things like this, though. And Mira was good at grabbing multiple objects with the Force, so this was no issue for her. 

It seemed that Poe just wasn’t going to lighten up about her, though he so easily accepted Finn. ‘He knows I saved Rollo, right?’ She did wonder why he hated her in particular. 

A question for another time. It wouldn’t be a good conversation to have before going to see Leia. 

As the pair came into the storage space set aside for the crystals, Mira moved the boxes slowly to set them all in spaces where they wouldn’t cause much trouble, trying not to stack them when she could avoid it. Once they were all set, she asked, “How long have you been with the Resistance, Dameron?” 

“A while,” he answered evasively, “How long were you with the Knights,” he snapped back. 

“Sixteen years. I think Finn was a Stormtrooper longer than me," she couldn't help the comment. She took a few of the smaller crystals from one of the boxes, “I’m going to go get food, I’m starving. You can join me if you like,” though she doubted he would. She wanted to see Finn, anyway, and tell him the news if he hadn’t heard already. 

~***~ 

“I will see to the arrangements, Sir.” Phasma left Hux then, and quickly went to a datapad to check which Troopers were on board and which ones would be easily recalled. She made special note of the Fighter who called for Hux when asked for him by Vallens, and decided he would be among those invited. 

All in all, Phasma grabbed fifteen pilots, and ten fighters. That would leave five ships open to potentially take her and Hux from the chaos—and, if need be, Mira, Leia, and whoever Leia chose to bring. 

She also made sure a small group would be stationed on a nearby planet, with a fast cruiser prepared as well to meet the TIE Fighters if it was needed, to split the groups. The cruiser would go with two Fighters of its own. 

With all of that done, Phasma instructed all of them to call it an early night—they’d be leaving soon. 

~***~ 

A young woman was standing besides the command center console when Leia entered, and she stepped aside, “Lieutenant Mitaka, General Organa is now present,” the woman introduced, before Leia got right to the point. 

“What do you have to report, Lieutenant Mitaka?” 

The man cleared his throat before beginning, “General Hux has accepted everything agreed upon on the planet in Wild Space. He has some stipulations of his own. He would like to make sure that weapons are limited to one per person, if they are brought at all. We have also arranged for the use of a lecture hall in the Crim Academy, in their union, Memorial Room on floor three,” right above the main floor 2. “He would like to meet in the morning, near to dawn. Is this agreeable so far, General Organa?” 

If not, he’d need to run back to Hux to work out the details of what was not agreeable.

KyloGlenn · May 15, 2016

‘Generous?’ That wouldn’t be the word Paquin would use. But at least Snoke wasn’t going to kill Kylo or them. She guessed that was generous by Snoke’s standards. 

“Thank you, Supreme Leader,” Ariel was the only one to echo Kylo, to which she felt awkward for. 

Snoke observed the four for a second, Gnaeus and Kylo looking away from him while Ariel and Paquin stared wide-eyed. He could feel there fear, nervousness, even if some of it was dissipating now. He gestured to the door with his hand. “Take what you need and head to Korriban. You’re dismissed.” 

Ariel bowed her head before turning on her heel and walking out the door. Paquin copied Ariel in bowing her head, glancing at Gnaeus and Kylo before following after her. Both of the women visibly relaxed when they were out of the room, Paquin’s arms that had been wrapped around herself dropped to her sides, Ariel’s shoulders slumped as she released a breath. 

Paquin didn’t make some hopeful comment like she usually would, not only was now not the time but she couldn’t come up with anything other than ‘we’re not dead’. So, instead, she asked, “Is everyone okay?” She wasn’t a psychiatrist or anything, but that experience was traumatizing. 

- 

“That’s because Finn was taken as a kid. He didn’t choose to be a Stormtrooper.” Poe snapped. He glanced over Mira, taking note of the kyber crystals she’d grabbed. He did feel as though his retort was a little harsh, she probably didn’t mean anything malicious towards Finn by it. So he chose not to comment on them. 

“I’ve got stuff to take care of.” He denied the invitation for food. He didn’t really have stuff to take care of, other than find out the details of what the punk Lieutenant Mitaka was likely sharing with Leia right now. “I’m sure I’ll be seeing you later.” He waved his hand dismissively as he walked out of the door. 

BB-8 beeped, letting Poe know that it’d be sticking with Mira. The droid also had a desire to find Finn, to tell him about the worm friend. Poe called back with a noise of acknowledgement and BB-8 let out a pleasant squeal. 

BB-8 led the way to the cafeteria, rolling at its own fast speed. Mira knew the way if she fell behind. Conveniently, Finn was heading in that same direction with a few of the pilots that had just returned. The droid let out a noise to alert Finn, to which he turned and greeted the droid with a grin. 

“Hey, BB-8!” Finn paused as the droid rolled to him. BB-8 told the same story it’d told Leia of the worms and how Mira had played fetch with one. “Speaking of Mira…I heard about the Knights.” Finn had been a little disappointed that they hadn’t been able to figure out until there was a run in with the Order, followed by a run in with the Knights of Ren. 

- 

Hux had decided to turn in early after speaking with Mitaka. If Hux wouldn’t have had to be on top of his game the next day, he likely would have just stayed up the few remaining hours until the meeting. He would need the sleep, he knew. And luckily, for both the General and Mitaka, he wasn’t disturbed to re-evaluate the meeting plans. 

Leia was surprised that Hux had chosen an academy for the location, but didn’t protest it. She expected as much as far as weapons went, of course Hux wouldn’t allow himself to be unarmed in the Resistance’s presence. She could understand as she didn’t exactly want to be unarmed in the presence Hux and whoever he’d bring. 

“Everything’s agreeable.” She confirmed. The only thing she was hesitant about was the time, so early. Dawn on Cimarosa was only a few hours away, it didn’t give much time to prepare anything at all. She still had to choose who to bring. Poe was a top contender, though. It didn’t allow much time to do much in the way of preparing, other than a ship. “Thank you, Lieutenant. One weapon will be brought per person. We’ll see General Hux and his partner at Crim Academy in a few hours, then?” 

“Yes, ma’am.” Mitaka was plainly relieved that Leia had agreed to the details. Hux would know when he woke up undisturbed that it went well. That would probably put him in a good mood.

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I made something that'll love me even when I won't

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I made something that'll love me even when I won't

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I made something that'll love me even when I won't

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I made something that'll love me even when I won't

either born in hell or heaven sent

I made something that'll love me even when I won't

either born in hell or heaven sent

I made something that'll love me even when I won't

either born in hell or heaven sent

I made something that'll love me even when I won't

either born in hell or heaven sent

I made something that'll love me even when I won't

either born in hell or heaven sent

I made something that'll love me even when I won't

either born in hell or heaven sent

I made something that'll love me even when I won't

either born in hell or heaven sent

I made something that'll love me even when I won't

either born in hell or heaven sent

I made something that'll love me even when I won't

either born in hell or heaven sent

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