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KyloGlenn · Jun 15, 2016

Paquin approached the unconscious Kylo, looking around Kylo's head for any signs of blood. It was common to hit one's head while collapsing, but luckily it didn't seem to be the case. His hand was burned, however. "General Hux is an expert in that field," she mumbled, but then realized it likely wasn't a funny joke. 

They weren't apart of the Order anymore. 'Ow.' Paquin nearly sighed. 

"There's a first aid kit around here somewhere, right?" Paquin questioned, looking at his hand. She'd try to fix it up the best she could, spare him from any discomfort for when he woke up. 

"Somewhere." Ariel was sure. "Come on, let's get him to bed first." Perfect time for the buns. He'd be out for a while. 

"How?" Paquin's eyes narrowed at Kylo's hulking form. She knew how much he weighed, it wouldn't be easy. 

"Use the Force, Paquin." Along with carrying the beast. The Force would help with that, though. "Alright, everyone grab a part of Kylo," Ariel instructed, grabbing at an arm. Paquin could take the other, Gnaeus the legs. It would be easy with the Force, serve as training for Paquin, as well. 

- 

Hux was targeted first as he moved closer to the fire, taking a seat. He wasn't planning on moving any time soon. The cat seemed happy with this action, immediately moving from her bed to hop in Hux's lap. The fellow ginger didn't protest, the cat wasn't causing any harm. "Truth." He remained true to his previous thoughts. 

"No fun," Poe grumbled, meaning for it to be heard. Finn shushed him. 

Hux rolled his eyes but gestured for the droid to question him. The droid started off easy, likely knowing how apprehensive Hux would be. The droid questioned what his middle name was, to kick the game off on a good note. "I feel that counts as organizational secrets." Hux protested it. 

"No, it does not!" Poe argued. "You picked truth, answer it. You sure you've played this game before?" 

Hux let out a barely audible sigh, eyebrows raising in irritation. At no fault of the droid's, just its owner. "Eugene." Hux nearly cringed as he shared his awful middle name. He hated both Brendol and Eugene, which led to him usually going by his last name. 

Poe didn't hide his laugh, but Finn did. And for that reason, Hux quickly moved on by targeting Poe. "Dameron. Truth or dare?" 

- 

Phasma was silent for a moment as she contemplated Leia's request. What harm would it do? It would be valuable information to each party. "I'll see what I can find out." 

Phasma understood where Leia was coming from. Not as a General, but more as a mother worrying over her child's well-being. Evil Force user or not. It was apparent in her voice and her hesitation with the words. Well, Phasma didn't really understand. She wasn't a mother, gladly so. But she did just get it. 

"It'll be done. Feel free to interrupt if any new information comes up."

Lucyfer · Jun 15, 2016

“If we use the Force, literally none of us have to carry him,” Gnaeus complained, but he went to grab Kylo’s feet anyway, since this was a training exercise for Paquin it seemed. 

Wait, did she even know how to do that? 

What could she do with the Force? “I’ll lead the way back,” he said, once Kylo was held between the three of them. He was absolutely not a light man, and the intimidating thing was that weight did come from his muscles. 

Yet another reason Gnaeus couldn’t believe Kevan had been so stupid. He wasn’t as good at the Force. He wasn’t as strong, either—strong, yeah, but not as strong as Kylo. Nor was Mira, for that matter. 

“So do you, uh, know how to use the Force to lift objects?” He asked Paquin, careful not to use the Force himself to make this easier. This wasn’t for him to figure out, he already knew. It was for Paquin. She had to put it all together. “I mean…what have you even done with it?” He hadn’t seen much. He’d seen some in their brief spar, but not much. 

And she had a long way to go, that much had been obvious. 

~***~ 

Mira smiled as she saw the cat jump into Hux’s lap, but made sure not to let her gaze linger or to comment. She wasn’t about to interrupt something that adorable and rare. 

The droid started off relatively easy, though Mira had some idea of how much Hux probably didn’t like his middle name. If he didn’t mind it, he probably would have gone by it over Hux. After all, Hux tied him to his father. ‘And not everyone can just throwaway names like me.’ How many more could she go through before she died? 

Eugene was the name, and Finn looked surprised and then tried to hide his amusement, though Poe laughed openly. Mira just kept her face blank. 

It was awful. Brendol was a better name. She wanted to cringe. His father must have been in charge of all the naming. ‘So what of his mother…?’ 

Poe’s laugh made him the target. “Dare,” Poe didn’t even hesitate, looking Hux in the eye. He couldn’t say truth—not after protesting how boring it was. His look even dared Hux to do his worst, waiting for what the General might come up with. 

And, of course, trying to brace himself for it. 

~***~ 

“I will, I promise,” Leia would be staying connected to get information from her own pilots as they moved about the area, hoping beyond hope that they would have good news. 

She let Phasma go then, and relaxed against her seat, though she wasn’t relaxed. Merely her posture. ‘I should have taken Luke up on his offer.’ It was a fleeting thought, but Luke had offered before to truly train her in the ways of the Force, but she had denied it. 

If she had it now, could she find them? ‘Could I have found Luke?’ Maybe not that. Not even Kylo could find Luke. 

Perhaps it wasn’t that useful for this, but Leia was grasping at straws. 

She quickly sat back up, and then decided to go at it another way. ‘Dameron Girls.’ She couldn’t believe she was thinking of them that way, but from the bits and pieces she’d gathered from them, they knew how to get information—and they’d do anything to find Poe. 

Leia moved out of her chair, but grabbed a radio to bring along with her, putting in an ear bead before walking out to find them.

KyloGlenn · Jun 15, 2016

Paquin was already struggling with holding Kylo up. Someone of her weight and height, unathletic, could lift maybe eighty pounds. Kylo was a few times that. 

“Well, kind of.” Not really, Paquin had lifted exactly one thing with the Force, and that was a flower pot. On accident. But she’d done it, and she remembered how it felt. And she was alright at grasping at and with the Force, the few times she’d done it. Which Gnaeus had asked about. 

“I moved a flower pot. And I held someone in place for a few seconds. And I’ve pushed a thing or two with it.” Nothing big, especially not compared to what she’d seen be done. And half of the time she was either very scared or less than happy. Unimpressive. 

“You held someone in place? Like…living?” Ariel questioned. That was impressive for someone who hadn’t been trained. “Anyway, just think of Kylo as a flower pot. A giant one. Do the same thing you did with the flower pot.” It might be hard for her, but Ariel was ready to lift Kylo if Paquin fell short for a moment. “Get him to the stairs.” That would be enough training for the moment. They were all drunk. 

“Oh, well, okay.” She felt the urge to remind Ariel that it was a flower pot and that she only moved it about an inch in the air before it flopped down again. But she didn’t, and instead worked to recreate the pot ordeal on an unconscious Kylo. 

- 

The General was good at coming up with ways to torture. Violent and blood filled, ways to extract information and whatever else was needed. Not dares that were supposed to be harmless. Hux actually had to think for this one, if only for the rare chance he’d get to exact ‘revenge’ of sorts. 

Hux didn’t think very hard. The purring cat in his lap inspired him. 

“Since you seem to be incredibly thirsty,” Hux was referencing the childish display with the water supplies, “maybe you should take a drink. From the cat’s bowl.” Not only did Poe seem to not like the cat, the water was dirty. If the visibly dirty water wasn’t enough, maybe imaging all that had been in the cat’s mouth and transferred to the water would gross the pilot out. 

Even though it would be considered hypocritical, Hux would fill the cat’s bowl with clean water afterwards, from the supply. He had to, he was taking essential resources from a helpless cat for a game. 

“That’s it? That’s the worst you could do? I’ve had worse.” Poe rolled his eyes, finishing off his food before moving to grab the cat’s bowl. The cat meowed at that, moving from her place in Hux’s lap to protest. 

Poe looked at the water. It was dirty, but not so much worse as their jugs. He’d had worse. ‘Cats have the cleanest mouths, anyway. Don’t they? Or is that dogs?’ Poe shrugged it off, before raising the bowl to his lips and downing the gross liquid. The quicker it was done, the faster he could dare someone else. Or truth them. 

- 

Phasma took a moment to compose herself, or at least wipe the anxiety off of her face. There was a lot at stake here, there was a lot resting on the prisoner they held. Phasma knew that if Hux really was gone that the Order would crash and burn. Maybe slowly, but it would. 

Certainly they’d be at odds against the Resistance again. Snoke and the clones would easily get the upper hand. 

But Phasma couldn’t think on that now. So, now as composed as can be, she marched back to the prisoner to hopefully get some useful information. 

Becki had been joined by Britney with Black Squad. Lena and another girl, Ashley, had been tasked with finding out more information about this Mira woman. It was proving to be a bit of a challenge, Lena and Ashley concluded that Mira hadn’t been her real name. But that wouldn’t be too hard to find out. Smooth sailing from there. 

They’d regrouped, the four of them, Black Squad moving about around them while the girls occupied each other. Ashley and Lena relayed the information on Mira and Becki and Britney shared the lack of info on Poe’s whereabouts. 

“I say we go find him our own damn selves!” Becki suggested. The whole lot of them would scour the entire galaxy to find Poe. Every town on every planet in every system. But they at least knew the general area, near Jakku. 

“General Organa.” A pilot had greeted the General, causing the Dameron girls’ attention to shift.

Lucyfer · Jun 15, 2016

To the stairs. Gnaeus held still for a few moments, until he felt a shift in how much weight he was bearing. Then, he started to walk, taking them to the stairs carefully, slowly. “Got it?” 

He didn’t really wait for a response, though. He just poised himself to be prepared to catch Kylo with the Force if Paquin let him go. ‘Hi, Snoke. So, yeah, Kylo’s dead. Banged his head against the edge of the stairs and it came open. Thought he had a thicker skull.’ Gnaeus tried to turn off the monologue as he took each step, one by one, trying not to be too slow but also not wanting to rush it for any of them, lest the haste ruin the focus. ‘Why? Oh, we were carrying him, and had Paquin use the Force. You know, not me or Ariel, who are trained in it. We put Kylo in the hands of the novice and yup…now he’s dead.’ 

That was really not how Gnaeus wanted to die…telling Snoke that Kylo died thanks to drunken exhaustion and foolhardy stair climbing. Snoke would not forgive that. 

~***~ 

Poe drank fast, some of it slopping down the front of his shirt, but he downed it, and then set the empty bowl down and wiped the back of his hand by his mouth. He looked quite disgusted. It wasn’t just the water; he did start to imagine what germs were in it thanks to the cat’s mouth. The more he thought about it, the worse the water seemed. 

He pushed the bowl away from himself. “There,” he tried to make it appear now as if it had been nothing, before turning his sights on Mira. “Truth or dare, blondie?” 

“Dare.” Mira said it in a bored tone. 

He’d been hoping for that. He had his idea brewing for so long, after all. He smiled, “I see someone on the dark side’s got some guts.” Mira almost laughed at the implication that Hux was on the dark side. “All right. That weird thing in the fridge—go lick it.” 

“Is this a food eating competition now?” Mira asked, unfazed. 

Poe just said, “That’s not gonna get you out of it.” 

She smirked, “Wasn’t trying to get out of it,” she was all but certain she’d had worse, too. She rose and walked back to the fridge, “You all may want to take a deep breath,” she had to open the fridge, which meant that putrid smell was going to return. 

Finn was already covering his nose and mouth. Mira took a deep breath before opening the fridge, locating the moldy blue thing on the top shelf, taking off a piece of it, and simply popping it into her mouth as if it was candy. 

Not breathing helped to not taste it, but it was still absolutely disgusting. Still, her need to screw with Dameron helped her maintain a poker face before she shut the fridge. 

Taking a breath ruined it and she blanched, then covered her lips with her fingers. Poe burst into laughter. “You didn’t have to eat any of it!” 

“I thought it might be one of those fancy cheeses from the Core,” Mira lied. Poe kept laughing. 

“Cheese is yellow….” 

“Comes in other colors,” Mira grabbed one of the water jugs, deciding no, she was not suffering that, “It smelled as disgusting as some of the cheese there.” She didn’t drink from the jug, but pulled water out of it with the Force. She wouldn’t inflict whatever poison she’d just eaten onto the jug through backwash—she’d not risk it. 

Finn watched the water move with a bit of awe, and Mira merely drank it when it got to her lips, a little bit. Enough to help wash the taste out. “Finn,” she smiled to him once the taste was semi-gone, “Truth or dare?” 

~***~ 

The Prisoner couldn’t say it was enjoying its time, already bloody and wounded, but it had been taught to resist. Taught, always, to resist. It took pleasure in the reprieve, but it knew its life was over for this failure. It would be Phasma, or it would be Snoke, but its life was forfeit. 

It could do one last thing and remain silent, and it would try as Phasma returned, still with its blood on her. The clone stared at the spots, before looking back up at the face of one who had once been meant to be an ally. 

“Traitor.” It said that single word out of hatred. 

There was always an excited energy amongst the pilots. Leia liked it, even if she knew that excitement was more anxiety and anger than joy. With Poe missing, everyone was on edge. 

The girls were there, though, and Leia nodded to the one pilot who greeted her before walking straight towards those girls, “Becki, Britney,” Leia remembered. “Could I ask a favor of you two?” 

“Anything!” 

“Of course.” 

Leia smiled, “We need assistance finding Poe Dameron. He’s gone off the radar,” Leia told them. 

“We know.” 

“We heard about it from around here,” Becki said quickly. “We’ll do anything. We have ships—” 

“No, I’d like you to stay here,” Leia said. “You have resources at your disposal that my own men do not have, and different tactics of gathering information,” that much was quite clear. “I’d like you to tap these resources. I don’t want anyone leaving here—if Poe is in trouble, I don’t want any of you getting hurt trying to rescue him. Just tell me. Okay?”

KyloGlenn · Jun 15, 2016

Paquin was excited when the weight lifted from her hands and to the Force. She didn't allow herself to relish in it yet, in worry of breaking focus. She didn't want to drop Kylo and crack his head open, even if she could fix him up one way or another. 

The stairs came up and they moved slowly, Paquin's hands still gripping Kylo, just in case. Even though if he was dropped, he'd just take her down with him. 

Ariel was pleased with how steady Paquin was going. The weight being beared fluctuated, but never enough to concern Ariel. She was always prepared to catch him, anyway. 

The top of the stairs were reached and Ariel relieved Paquin of her duties, "Not bad, Paq!" Ariel utilized Gnaeus' nickname for her. "It'll work on it some more later, with less valuable cargo." Now time to move Kylo back to his room, fix his hand a little bit. Then the buns could be implemented. She was done wasting time. 

- 

The cat let out noises of irritation at the smell as well as her empty water bowl, which she crawled into and sat in. Hux would refill it soon, but for now, he kept his nose covered. He was absolutely disgusted that Mira had actually eaten it. A step up from just licking it. 

Hux would keep an eye on her. In case of food poisoning. Or death. 

Finn was frozen in awe when it came to be his turn for truth or dare. The thought of him being able to do that, drink water without a cup, excited him. Well, move water and the like. Though drinking water without a cup was handy, too. 

Of course, Finn was all too excited by the dares, even if he'd get one equally as disgusting. When it came to choosing, he couldn't pick truth after that. So, with a grin, "Dare! Give me the best you got, Vallens." This was the best idea he'd ever had. For the most part, everyone seemed to be having fun. Or at least Poe was, cackling at both Mira and Hux. 

Second best idea, on second thought. After leaving the Order. 'Sorry not sorry, Hux.' 

"Be careful what you wish for, Finn. Mira just ate poison, she's crazy." Poe was still laughing at it, on a smaller scale. Thank whoever lived here and left whatever the hell that was in the fridge. 

- 

Phasma was an unknowing traitor. Not only had she not known of the clones, but she didn't even think Hux would split from Snoke. Technically Hux was the real traitor, but she wouldn't say that. 

She wasn't complaining, either. 

Phasma ignored the prisoner's words. "Give up what information you have." She'd demanded that many times already, but she wouldn't give up. The prisoner already knew it was going to die, which made it all harder. She'd have to get creative. If she had to, she'd keep the clone prisoner for weeks. Anything for the slightest chance at retrieving the General. "Radio, Knights, Snoke." There was little more she could do, other than run a knife in creative ways along its flesh, or twist something awkwardly. 

Phasma hadn't realized how convenient Force-sensitives were until now. 

The girls' shoulders slumped, but they agreed. "Okay." 

"Alright." The two chimed in with different words. 

They wanted so badly to go out and look for him, if anything to feel useful. The girls looked at one another before looking back to the General. "We'll access cameras in the western reaches," most cities had cameras. Whether they knew they were active or not. They were fairly easy to get into. 

"Set it up so we're alerted if Poe's face is recognized," Becki finished Britney's explanation, quickly adding, "And the other's, too. Of course the others." Maybe not Mira... 

No, they had to look for Mira, too.

Lucyfer · Jun 15, 2016

‘Thank Force.’ Gnaeus breathed a sigh of relief once they were all up the stairs. 

He almost gave Ariel a thumbs up for her use of ‘Paq’, but refrained when he remembered what his hands were holding. Sure, Ariel had him—but even so, it wasn’t worth it. “Got plenty of broken droids we’ll need carried up the stairs to work on in the garage,” Gnaeus offered. 

That was definitely less valuable cargo. They continued on towards the dorms, and to Kylo’s room. He always expected to see a poster of some emo rockband, but he was never rewarded. Though, he knew that some of the audio chips in the room were said bands. They were scattered in a disorganized pile atop an endtable, besides a radio. 

Once Kylo was laid across his bed, which he was almost too large for—it was a twin in the dormitories of Korriban—Gnaeus turned to Ariel, “You think you can go find the first aid for his hand?” Then Paquin could work on him, and they could sleep off the alcohol and wake to lovely hangovers. 

And hopefully forget Anakin. 

~***~ 

Despite how disgusting the ‘cheese’ was, Mira found she wasn’t too miffed by Poe’s continued laughter. She’d plot revenge later, of course. Tamper with the donuts or something—but not yet. Besides, it helped…lighten things, somehow. 

Finn’s enthusiasm helped. 

Mira let a wicked grin cut across her lips, and she brought one knee up to her chest and folded an arm over it lazily, debating. It was so much more fun to play truth-or-dare when there were people around who weren’t involved in the game—like Luke. Without that, though, she had to truly think of what to do. 

She wasn’t continuing the food theme. ‘Actually….’ “C’mere,” Mira motioned Finn towards her. 

He gave a queer look to the motioning finger, but then crawled forward. Mira let her knee down and leaned forward as well, cupping his ear in her hand to whisper. 

Finn pulled away, nose wrinkled, “But he just—” Mira just canted her head a bit and arched an eyebrow. “Oh! Okay, okay, fine!” 

The full dare had involved both of the two who couldn’t hear the whispered words, and he could see how anxious and excited Poe looked. Finn had to do the first part, though—trick Hux into thinking the dare involved him. 

“Hux,” he took the man’s hand, quick, “I’m so, so sorry,” he definitely would be if Mira had dared him to do what he was about to do. 

Mira was all but dying from containing her laughter when Finn took Hux’s hand. She knew that had to be bothering him, as well as the worry that must have sparked that Finn would do something to him on a dare. 

He took a breath, let Hux’s hand go, and turned to Poe. Poe looked confused for a half-second, before Finn caught him by the back of his head and pulled him into a quick, but hardly chaste, kiss. 

Mira was now the one laughing as Poe flailed from the confusion and suddenness of having a kiss stolen by Finn. The sand that had blown into the home over the days shifted rapidly around her, the amusement quite sincere. 

Revenge. She wouldn’t have to ruin any donuts. 

~***~ 

The prisoner just answered, “No, no, and no.” 

Having nothing to live for really made withholding information much easier, and he was quite fortunate that no Force sensitives were present. He knew he couldn’t hold out against them. Snoke had made sure of that, if only because Snoke believed that Luke would never stoop so low as to use dark side tricks to get information. 

So the prisoner wasn’t worried. Except, “What, you don’t have Mira to come question me?” The other traitor. “Or Leia?” he all but laughed at the idea of Leia. 

Leia was glad that the pair of them agreed, “Good. If you see anything, or hear anything, tell me immediately. No one else first—me.” They might go blabbing to Black Squad, who then might try to pull a heroic stunt of their own. 

Leia loved her pilots, but every single one of them was reckless. 

That was, of course, why they were Black Squad. “Poe should be with General Hux, Mira Vallens, and Finn,” Leia told them, in case they didn’t know who all was there, “Definitely Mira Vallens,” it wasn’t for sure that Poe had caught up with Finn and Hux. “But keep your ears and eyes open for any of those four.

KyloGlenn · Jun 15, 2016

"Kylo doesn't need first aid, this is just an excuse for Paquin to hold his hand." Ariel giggled at her joke before she actually answered. "Yeah, it's probably in the bathrooms." It made sense for them to be there out of all the available places. Stupid Kylo getting his hand burned. 

"Could you bring a cold, wet towel as well, please?" Paquin requested, ignoring her joke, to which Ariel nodded. Along the way, she'd be able to grab some hair pins and ties. She only had one shot at doing this, and she was going to do it right. And so she scurried off to retrieve the items. 

But not before picking up a nearly empty bottle off of the ground and downing the rest of it. And sadly, there'd be no alcohol left for the rest of the while. 'I could probably find something somewhere...' She didn't want to feel miserable for the rest of their training excursion. 

Ariel was right in the location of the kit, getting a wet towel at the same time. On her way back, she stopped at her room and grabbed varying hair products. 

- 

Hux was initially nervous with Finn grabbing his sunburnt hand, the flesh stinging as Hux began to pull his hand from Finn's. But then Finn let go and moved on to Poe, his next move shocking them all. Except Mira. 

Hux stared wide-eyed, glancing over at a cackling Mira. Wasn't a game involving kissing called something else? 

BB-8 beeped frantically at the sight of its owner and his friend kissing each other. And the kind of kiss it was. 

Finn easily brushed it off or at least acted like he did. The tint in his cheeks told otherwise. "BB-8, truth or dare." Mira hadn't even stopped laughing yet and Finn was already moving on to the next person. But before the shocked droid could answer, Poe shook his head. 

"Wait, wait, wait," Poe waved his hand for emphasis, confusion still on his face. He turned to his buddy, that had just kissed him. His confused face broke into a grin. "Hey, that wasn't bad, buddy." He praised Finn's kissing skills, causing him to turn as red as Hux. BB-8 let out another beep, expressing its surprise. 

But Poe had effectively shut down Mira's 'revenge'. Wasn't revenge supposed to be unpleasant? Because that sure wasn't. 

Hux's confusion became amusement, though it didn't show on his face. Mira was genuinely amused, the flying sand proving that. There was also amusement in the fact that Poe hadn't actually minded that. It seemed Mira had unintentionally played matchmaker. 

Or maybe it was intentional. 

- 

"We'll keep an eye out and we'll come straight to you if we hear or see anything." The girls agreed, ready to get to work. Becki and Britney turned, Ashley and Lena immediately following after them. All leaning in close and talking amongst each other. Once again they had a chance to save Poe. 

Maybe make him fall in love with them. And not Blondie. 

Nothing. Absolutely nothing was what Phasma got from the clone trooper. Well, that wasn't true. She'd gotten several variations of 'fuck you's from it. But nothing about the radios or Snoke, not even the Knights. 

It was always a hit or miss with prisoners who knew they were going to die, at least without any Force-sensitives involved. Some wanted quick deaths, end the suffering. Some didn't care and would even let it go on for days or weeks. That's probably what Poe Dameron would have done if Kylo Ren hadn't extracted information about his droid from him. 

It was funny, know she was torturing to find him. 

And now she had to relay the lack of information to Leia and figure out what to do from there.

Lucyfer · Jun 15, 2016

Gnaeus waited with Paquin, “He is unconscious. He wouldn’t know if you felt him up,” he still remembered her comment when she had touched Kylo’s arm. “And he’s related to the hot dead guy.” 

It was then that Ariel returned, and when he saw the hair supplies, he pushed off the wall, “I am not being witness to this!” He denied. He knew what was going to happen. He’d put the idea in her head, “Ya’ll girls can have fun,” and he meant Kylo in that group, too. 

He had the long hair to be a girl, after all. 

But then he paused, reconsidered, and turned back, "On second thought, I'll just plead blackout." It might work. It probably wouldn't work, but he really wanted to see this before Kylo ripped it out. He took the actual medical supplies from Ariel to hand them off to Paquin. Playing middle-man at least made him feel like he was doing something useful. 

~***~ 

Perhaps revenge wasn’t had, but Mira wasn’t displeased with the results all the same. Finn was so many shades of red, and Poe was either actually interested—or joking. Now this could be fun. Was Finn interested? Ah, now they needed some truths from that duo… ‘Or just word it properly.’ Mira could get a truth from a dare, if she wanted it. 

The sand continued to shift a bit around her, more lazily as the laughter died down, circling as if a breeze swept through. BB-8 was called to task. “Dibs on being a bridesmaid. Or groomsmaid. Whichever.” Mira waved her hand dismissively after Poe complimented Finn, just making his dark skin tint even further. 

“W-well, BB-8?” Finn stuttered it a bit now. 

The droid decided to go with truth. It’d seen enough of these dares, and it was pretty sure any dare it got was going to involve the fluffball that was still in the water bowl. 

Finn even looked relieved that it chose truth. “What’s the most embarrassing story you have, BB-8?” He decided that was probably something safe. Something likely to amuse all of them, too. The droid would end up happy with that—BB-8 would make them smile with it. 

~***~ 

Nothing. 

Nothing but bad news. 

The shipwrecks had been found. Poe’s ship, and Finn’s ship. No bodies, except for those of the clones in a destroyed clone ship, but it was on Jakku. Of course, no evidence of a path or direction. Evidence of struggles, but that was expected at a crash site. A parachute was there. But it wasn’t clear if they had been captured, if they were injured badly, or anything. 

It was frustrating, and Leia was about to pull her hair out. 

Then she got Phasma’s message, “I don’t have much more,” she confessed, “The wreckage was found, but no bodies…and no clue of what happened at the wreck.” If they were captured or if they just walked away. “I’m sorry, Phasma.”

KyloGlenn · Jun 16, 2016

Paquin's face held disgust when Gnaeus suggested feeling him up when he was unconscious. And when he said he was related to the hot dead guy. Paquin sincerely hoped her words would be forgotten in the morning. Even if they were true. 

Before she could ask if Gnaeus had ever felt someone up when they were asleep, Ariel returned. Along with the first aid kit, she had quite a few hair supplies. "Don't worry, I'll take all the blame for this one. This will be glorious." Ariel's grin was wide as she laid out the items on the ground before sitting and starting to brush Kylo's hair out. 

"What are you doing?" Paquin questioned as she began her own work on his hand. Was she really going to put it in a bun? 

"Buns," was her answer as she twisted his hair, rolling it into a bun on one side of his head. She felt on the ground for a pin, one hand keeping the bun in place. Once she had it, she pulled it open with her teeth and pinned the bun in place. It was tinier than what his mother or grandmother's would have been since his hair was shorter. 

- 

BB-8 had a lot of embarrassing stories. Some of the droid itself, lots of Poe. Quite a few about the Resistance members. And of course, that included Finn. As BB-8 racked its memory, it wasn't initially looking for one on Finn. But the droid found amusement in embarrassing Finn further. 

He was fifty shades of red already, but BB-8 was going to add to that. 

The droid began, beeping out slowly so everyone would be able to catch what it was saying. It started with the situation. BB-8, Finn, and Rey were in the Millenium Falcon, celebrating a win against some TIE fighters--an apology briefly beeped to Hux--when a loud pop went off. 

"Oh, BB-8, not this story." Finn tried to stop it, but the droid continued. Rey had moved to fix it, a conversation ensuing about where the Resistance base was. Rey asked Finn for a part to fix the ship and Finn had cycled through three items before Rey started yelling about how the ship was going to fill with poisonous gas. BB-8 had to show Finn what part she was talking about. 

Hux briefly wondered what it was they were teaching his Stormtroopers if they didn't know what parts a ship needed. 'May need to work on that.' 

The droid also explained that it had to tell Finn where the base was, a sorry to Poe although it had all worked out. Finn and BB-8 exchanged a thumbs up, but R2-D2 had later explained when it awoke that the flame could double as a human middle finger. 

- 

No bodies were found. That wasn't a good sign, but it also wasn't a bad one. Leia apologized for not having more, but Phasma shook her head, even if Leia couldn't see her. "No, I'm sorry, General Organa. I failed to get any information regarding their radios from the prisoner." 

Again, hit or miss. Why did Mira have to go? If only she hadn't run off with Poe, they could be closer to finding the missing three. But no, she had to go and make it four. 

"Or your son," Phasma added. She did feel especially bad about that, knowing Leia must have been worried. But she felt worse that Hux and the others wouldn't be found, not with anything from her end. "All we can do now is keep our eyes and ears open, it seems. Continue with cleaning up Cimarosa."

Lucyfer · Jun 16, 2016

Gnaeus observed the women in action, shaking his head at Ariel as she got to work, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away. Couldn’t leave. Kylo in buns. Sure, they were small buns, but they were buns! 

“Did anyone get cinnamon rolls? I think we need cinnamon rolls in the morning,” he was willing to jump back in his ship to go grab them if necessary at this point, to add insult to injury. Sure, that would definitely mean he shared in the blame, but as Ariel was thinking—worth it. 

His gaze then shifted to Paquin’s work, and he had to ask, “Have you tried using the Force yet to heal?” It was something beyond Gnaeus, but she was a medic. Perhaps it would come naturally to her. 

~***~ 

Mira couldn’t have been more pleased with BB-8’s story if she’d planned it herself. It was backfiring on Finn, “Seems I’m going to have to teach you how to build a ship first before I teach you of the Force, Finn,” Mira sighed. 

“Does that mean you will?” Finn let the embarrassment slide off into immediate hope. 

“I’m still thinking—” she paused before saying more, losing color. “Be back,” she didn’t bother to explain herself as she let Hux’s coat slide off her lap and she darted for the door to the house. She suspected that ‘cheese’ in the fridge would make her sick when it got to her stomach, but she’d been hoping to keep it down for longer. 

The feeling that had passed through her let her know that hope was in vain. “Mira?” 

BB-8 beeped out its concern as Finn rose, but Mira was out the door by then and dashing so she wouldn’t make a fool of herself anywhere near them, although the sudden chill was quite shocking to her. 

Soon enough she had to stop, body demanding it as she keeled over to get rid of the foul blue thing and all the beans. Her hands tangled themselves in her own hair quick enough to keep the loose strands from suffering. ‘Damn it.’Body shook. 

There went all her sustenance that day. 

~***~ 

Phasma had fared no better. Leia clenched her fists in helpless rage as she knew that this was leading no where. Wait. 

But Leia was not a passive woman. She was a woman of action and organization. “I’ll have Jakku searched,” she told Phasma. The entire planet. Something would turn up. Something had to turn up. “They couldn’t have gotten far from the crash site if they’re alive. We’ll find them.” 

And nothing about Kylo Ren, either. Leia was disappointed, but it was what she suspected. “I will go to see if there is any other information, and…” she paused, noticing a ship landing out of the corner of her eye that she did not recognize. “One moment.” 

The ship was far too fancy for its arrival to be a coincidence, and when Leia rose to move closer to the window, she felt her heart drop into her stomach. 

It was another red-headed man who walked out, but his features screamed of a different Imperial bloodline. Even from afar, Leia could see how sunken his cheeks were, and how lean. He dressed like an Imperial, too, the subtle differences from the First Order always obvious to Leia. “Phasma, are the Tarkins aligned with you?” Leia, in truth, did not know where that family had thrown its loyalties, but for some reason she was thinking they hadn’t. 

Old issues with Hux the Elder and his secret organization. “I believe some have just arrived.” 

Which could be a problem.

KyloGlenn · Jun 16, 2016

"Nope, no cinnamon rolls here." Ariel certainly wished she had gotten some, though. Oh, the look on Kylo's face if he woke up to a cinnamon roll breakfast. 

Maybe she needed to send Gnaeus out for some. And some more alcohol. 

Ariel stood and got up on Kylo's bed to do the other side, crouching awkwardly at his side. But the buns had to be perfect. 

"No. I'm not sure how I'd go about that." Paquin finished looping some gauze loosely around Kylo's hand. "Kylo has mentioned Darth Plague, though." 

"Darth Plagueis." Ariel corrected, "Hand me a pin, please." 

'Same thing.' Paquin handed Ariel the requested pin, "Darth Plagueis." She repeated the correct name. 

- 

Mira darted out the door, the shelter immediately filling with cold air despite the fair. "Wow, she was right. It does get cold." Was Poe's rather uncaring comment. 

"You had to dare her to eat that cheese, didn't you?" Finn groaned. 

Hux stood, grabbing the jacket that had slid off of her lap. He quickly scurried out the door to find the sick Mira. 

"I didn't dare her to eat it!" Poe protested to Finn as he followed Hux out of the shelter. BB-8 followed after Finn, so Poe followed after the droid. 

The cold air felt pretty pleasant against Hux's burning skin as he searched for Mira. He found her hunched over and heaving, holding her few strands of hair back. He gently draped the coat that had once been his over her before simply standing next to her. "You should get some rest." He mumbled it quietly. 

"I agree, you should lay down on the bed. I can cover your watch." Finn agreed. He was already planning on bundling her up in blankets with some water, maybe search for a cup for it. Find a bucket, too. It was likely she'd throw up again. BB-8 beeped its agreement, but Poe simply observed. 

- 

"The Tarkins?" Phasma was confused for a moment before Leia stated that one may have just arrived. "I don't think so." This could be really bad, especially if there was any bad blood between the Tarkins and the Huxs. 

"The last I heard that Tarkin name was when Hux became General." Phasma felt it might be good for Leia to hear that, she could guess what the other redheaded family's intentions could be. It seemed to imply that they weren't supportive of the current General, but Phasma didn't know for sure. 

What she did know was that she had to see this. 

"I'm going to come meet you if you don't mind." Phasma would probably investigate anyway. "Where are you?"

Lucyfer · Jun 16, 2016

“I’m gonna get cinnamon rolls,” Gnaeus said, pushing off from the wall and looking again to Paquin and Kylo’s hand, and then to Ariel and her fun with the hair. “You ought to try, Paq. You can feel the Force. Maybe you can feel how to get it to repair Kylo’s hand.” 

He shrugged his shoulders as he walked towards the door, “A lot of the Force is just ad-libbing.” Or that’s what Kevan thought. A lesson, no doubt, learned from Mira…funny how the creatives were leaving. ‘Or not so funny.’ 

“Plagueis is an interesting choice of a name, for someone who could heal, eh? But I think Kylo was once ranting about all medicines being poison, and viceversa. Likely something he thought was clever when he learned how antivenoms were made,” he joked, uncertain how true it really was, or if it might apply. Might help Paquin learn what, no doubt, Kylo wanted her to learn. 

If anyone was going to crack Plagueis’s code, it would have to be someone who actually understood anatomy a bit…and that was definitely not any of them. “I’ll be back in a bit. Get a picture or something, Ari.” With that, Gnaeus slipped out. 

~***~ 

There was a pride to Mira that she did not like showing. It burned beneath her skin as she felt the coat drape over her shoulders, surprising her. She’d been focused on getting her breath evened out that she hadn’t even heard Hux. 

Her cheeks heated in embarrassment. A part of her wanted to shout at him to leave, but she refrained, hearing the others and not wanting to make the scene worse by acknowledging how much she hated every single one of them in that moment. 

Illness, weakness, these were not things others were allowed. Her fists clenched, masked by the coat. 

Finn only made it worse, with Poe and BB-8. Mira forced herself to straighten up, to take enough of a breath to say, “No, Finn. I can manage a watch. I may be too sick to sleep anyway,” poor reasoning. “My own fault.” It was, and she’d not deny it. 

Her eyes remained down. Her hands found the coat to bundle around herself, rather than slip into. It seemed at least for the moment that was all her body was going to get rid of—if there was even anything more in her. Dry heaves wouldn’t be fun, but Mira wouldn’t waste food on herself when she’d only lose it. 

“Mira, you shouldn’t be on watch when you’re sick! What if something does show up to attack, huh?” 

“I’ll wake you up and give you a lightsaber.” 

Finn’s lips quirked, half smile, half utter frustration. He remembered BB-8 mentioned nightmares. Was she so afraid of something like that, just nightmares? BB-8 seemed to think so, beeping something out about waking her if she had another, though it also quickly beeped an apology for the shocks that it had to use to do that. 

Mira frowned at the droid. “Is that really it?” Finn had to ask. “It’s just some bad dreams, right? They can’t—” but Finn hadn’t been at the meeting. 

“Snoke can get in my dreams, and he can get into my thoughts from there.” Mira said, abruptly cutting Finn off and stalking back towards the home. “If you let me sleep, we’re all fucked.” She usually tried not to curse much, but this demanded a curse to drive home the severity of why she wasn’t going to sleep. Ever. 

She was already exposed from illness. Why not tell them this as well? Yet Mira regretted it almost immediately. She had only figured it out on Cimarosa, connecting the nightmare to the unnatural lightning that had harmed her in sleep--her own Force's attempt to wake her. That failed. 

Finn felt some of the strength leave him when she said that, his arguments dying in his throat. ‘Oh.’ 

“You’re just telling us now!” Poe was, of course, outraged. 

~***~ 

Leia simply said, “Hangar,” before exiting her ship to go and see what a Tarkin wanted here of all places. 

The man was younger than Wilhuff Tarkin had been on the Death Star, his hair still red, but the age was clear in the lines around his eyes and the darkness that seemed to encircle them. He paused when he saw her approaching, turning only a bit so he could look directly at her. 

Then, he continued on. 

Despite his age, those blue eyes of his burned like fire, as they always had. It was a trait that Leia thought unique to them. The Tarkins were natives to the Outer Rim, and had clawed their way to the top like beasts. They still thought like them, too. 

August Tarkin, nephew to Wilhuff, was among that class of Tarkins. Raised on the Carrion lands and honed in the Academy, he had entered politics and was the leader of Eriadu, one of the few Outer Rim planets that was not sworn to the First Order. They had resisted…strongly, as General Hux learned when he took over, from his predecessors. Hux hadn't been foolish enough to try. 

“Tarkin!” 

He didn’t stop. His black cape billowed nicely with each stride as he made for the exit from the hangars towards the campus. Leia cursed her own inability to keep up with such strides without rushing, but it seemed she wouldn’t need to. 

Phasma was there sooner than expected and darkened Tarkin’s way. 

“Move.” The Imperial told the white-clad woman.

KyloGlenn · Jun 18, 2016

"How did he think antivenoms were made?" Paquin grumbled but did look at Kylo's hand, wondering if she should try and test it out. What was the harm? She wasn't sure where to begin. 'Maybe by manipulating the tissue?' That seemed way to hard. For her, at least. 

The final pin was pushed in place as Gnaeus began to leave. Ariel leaped over Kylo's sleeping form and rushed to the door. "Get me some alcohol!" She called, not caring much for how loud she was being. "One bottle and I'll love you forever!" Ariel turned back to Paquin. "He better get me some fucking alcohol." 

Next mission was taking a picture for Gnaeus. As much as she didn't want to, the likeliest place for a camera was in Kevan's room. Ariel began to leave, but Paquin stopped her. "Hey, Ariel. Is there a room I can sleep in?" One that wasn't occupied, preferably. 

"Um," Mira's room was empty, it always seemed to be. "The one next door." Kylo, Mira, and Kevan's rooms all seemed to be in a row. With that, she left to find the camera. 

Paquin turned to Kylo and made an attempt to do something. Maybe it would have worked if she actually knew what she was doing. Instead, she was nearly slapped in the face. 'Maybe later.' She decided. 

- 

Hux wasn't surprised by Mira's revelation. It seemed like something Snoke would be able to do. He was more surprised that Snoke hadn't done something like that before. At least, not to his knowledge. Poe was furious, of course, stalking after Mira. Hux nearly rolled his eyes, but he understood where the pilot would be so angry. 

"Alright, so, new mission. Keep Mira awake." Finn wasn't really suggesting it. 

"That's a stupid mission. Mira's going to fall asleep sooner or later." Hux had tried many times to live without sleeping ever. Who knows how long they'd be on Jakku. Hopefully not much longer, but still. 

"Sooner or later, when none of us are near her!" Poe protested, "Mira can't sleep." They had no way of defending themselves. Surely Snoke would send a mass amount of forces to kill them once he knew where they were. 

And Hux knew that. But she was so clearly sick. Staying up all night wouldn't help. But Hux was too tired to fight Poe Dameron. His flesh hurt too much. And Snoke's new men showing up certainly wouldn't aid that. "Fine, keep Mira awake. I won't be the one carrying her when she passes out tomorrow." 

Mira was going to keep herself awake, anyway. That much was clear. 'Stubborn wench.' 

BB-8 beeped as they all followed Mira back to the shelter, stating that it would stay up with her, zap her if she starts dozing off. That way the rest could all sleep. 

- 

'Definitely a Tarkin.' Phasma agreed, observing the man. Red hair, sunken cheeks, fancy dress, the blues. Tarkin. He was tall, but Phasma still had some height on him. Although, it didn't do much to intimidate him. He demanded for Phasma to move, but she ignored that. "What is your business here?" She questioned, continuing to stand in the way of the man. 

She had a right to know. There had just been a battle here, and then he conveniently shows up? Maybe the administration had started contacting parents, maybe he had a child here. Phasma sincerely doubted that, though. That wasn't the way of the Tarkins, sending their kids off to some random academy in the Mid Rim. 

"Move, Phasma." That voice nearly made Phasma groan. 

Commandant Hux. 

Phasma didn't have to take orders from him, General Hux had made that clear. And so, she didn't. No one would be made a fool except for Brendol. 

"What is your business here?" Phasma questioned again, waiting for the tiny Resistance General to catch up.

Lucyfer · Jun 18, 2016

Gnaeus knew he probably shouldn’t pilot when he was even a little tipsy, but he’d done it before to no harm. Besides, there was a good agri-world not far from here that ought to have a farmer’s market thing opening up soon. He could swing by it, grab some cinnamon rolls, and be back when Kylo was waking up. 

The cinnamon rolls wouldn’t be warm anymore, but it was nothing that couldn’t be fixed easily enough. 

He set the coordinates for Cimarosa without a second thought, and ended up in a hangar different from the one all the chaos was going on in. He could still feel the tension in the world as he lowered his ship into a place, and upon exiting his ship and walking towards the market, he started to hear the whispers. 

Crim Academy had been attacked. 

General Leia and General Hux had fought—together. 

Clone troopers. 

A Jedi with a purple lightsaber. ‘What in the…?’ Gnaeus knew then he couldn’t stay long to pick up on gossip. He found a stall with baked goods and just bought all the cinnamon rolls he could to get out of there quickly, sobriety returning far too quickly. He forgot Ariel’s alcohol. 

~***~ 

A bitter laugh escaped Mira as she heard them all arguing about her sleep. ‘I can’t have anything nice, but at least I can have this.’ Finn, Hux, and Poe unified around one thing. Her staying awake, so they didn’t all die when Snoke figured out where they were. 

“I’m not going to pass out tomorrow,” she called back to Hux. If nothing else, she’d find a way to slip into a meditative trance rather than sleep. She could manage that if it became too much, “It’ll take a few more days before that happens.” 

Poe didn’t comment on how confident she sounded. Likely, she did have some experience in this—perhaps not when ill, but experience all the same, and she’d proven before she could back up her words. “Have you told Leia yet?” 

Mira shook her head, “I only just figured it out,” she said as the shelter came back into sight, the cat waiting in the doorway for them. “I’ll figure a way to stop it, die of exhaustion, or go rogue,” those seemed the three options before her. Stop it, die, or leave First Order and Resistance behind so she could no longer be a liability. 

Kill Snoke if possible, but if Mira was honest…she didn’t think she could. Not on her own. He’d rip her mind to pieces before she struck him, unless she caught him asleep…but she wasn’t even sure he slept. 

The cat mewed at all of them, and Mira passed it by without a look. Poe just shot it a dirty look as he stepped over it, when it tried to weave around his legs for attention. Finn had the curtesy to reach down and scratch it’s head. “We’ll figure it out,” Finn stated, ever-confident. “There’s gotta be ways, right? Leia doesn’t have to worry about this….” 

~***~ 

August was not at all amused by any of them. Not by the brute in his way. Not by the General. Not even by the damned traitor Commandant. “I am a private citizen, I do not need to answer to any of you,” he reminded them, ice in his voice, but never in his eyes. 

Leia caught up, “Tarkin, you may be a private citizen, but this scene—” 

“General,” he interrupted her, didn’t look to her, “How do you think I’ve come to know of this situation?” 

“I assume you still have a wide array of informants.” 

“Yes. One of which is my son, who happens to be on a debate team that was here for a competition.” 

August Tarkin was there for benign reasons, even if he also had others. It was not only his son that alerted him to the situation. One of Snoke’s representatives had shown up on his planet. A bit of wining and dining let him know that Snoke wasn’t exactly asking for his loyalty so much as demanding it. 

Tarkin sent his messenger off with an ‘I’ll think about it’—but he had no plans to give in to threats. “Now, will you remove yourself from my path, Phasma, or will I have to have you removed?” Unlike a certain traitor who liked to brainwash children, he actually gave a damn about his children. 

One of his own guards straightened. They couldn’t match Phasma in height, being a Rodian, but the hand had gone to a gun. They would be quick on the draw if necessary—faster than Greedo, anyway.

KyloGlenn · Jun 18, 2016

With deciding to attempt healing with the Force later, maybe when Kylo was awake and could hold his hand from slapping her, she headed to bed. Ariel followed soon after, capturing Kylo and his buns on camera first. She was excited to wake up to a bottle of alcohol. 

Paquin didn’t sleep any deeper than normal, even with the alcohol. She still woke up every once in a while. Maybe it was because she was in a new place, maybe it was because Gnaeus wasn’t with them. Maybe it was just her. Eventually, she settled on staying awake. Fortunately, a hangover was non-existent. 

Ariel wouldn’t be so lucky, whenever she woke up. Paquin could hear her snoring. From what Paquin could tell, she was the only one awake. She’d keep an ear out for any sounds of Kylo’s rage when he woke up. 

For the time being, she opted to look around. The room was empty, for the most part. There were a few random bits of parts laying on a shelf, but other than that, nothing. Paquin wondered how long they’d stay on Korriban, and if she should bother trying to decorate. If only she had her medical degree to hang up. But that was left with the Order. 

- 

‘We’ll see.’ was Hux’s initial thought when Mira said she wouldn’t pass out. If her sickness carried on to the next day and she was tired, with the heat of Jakku? They certainly would see. 

The shelter was before them and Mira listed off three options, two out of three Hux and Finn shared a dislike for. Dying wasn’t an option. Period. And neither Finn nor Hux wanted her to go rogue. She certainly seemed to be more trouble than she was worth, but Hux paid no mind to that fact. 

The only option was to stop it. 

The cat greeted them at the door, Finn scratching the cat’s head. BB-8 avoided the cat the best it could, but she still brushed up against it. Hux’s turn came and the cat moved through Hux’s legs, rubbing against him. Hux happily reached down to pet the cat, despite the pain in his arms. The cat purred and Hux moved on as Finn spoke. 

“Would Skywalker know anything about this?” Hux questioned as he grabbed a jug of water, refilling the bowl labelled ‘princess’. The cat ran to the bowl with a happy mew and began drinking the clean water. 

If Hux had to, he’d start another search for the Jedi. Surely they had his location now, though. But really, anything other than Mira dying was fine with him. 

“Yeah! With Luke, Rey, me, and you, we could figure something out!” Leia didn’t have to know or worry either. Finn’s voice was full of both hope and confidence as he spoke to Mira. 

- 

Well, that seemed more Tarkin-ish. Being on a debate team. 

“That won’t be necessary.” Phasma wasn’t spooked by the Rodian guard all that much. Not by the size, not by the gun. But August Tarkin had a son currently at the school and he was a citizen. Phasma had no right to stop him from entering the battlegrounds to be with his kid. 

So, with an apologetic look to Leia, Phasma stepped aside for the Tarkin, leaving him in clear view of Brendol and vice versa. 

The relationships between the Tarkins and the Huxs was unclear. While Brendol had served the Empire along with them, afterwards it was unclear where the Tarkins’ loyalties lied. Not with the Order, that was quite apparent. Brendol was the least bit irked when Hux hadn’t tried to reach out again. They certainly would be good supporters. 

But Hux had known that to be a silly idea. At least then, with the size of the Order being much smaller than it was now. 

Even with August Tarkin having an innocent and fair reason for being present, Phasma wasn’t going to just leave it at that. “Most students have been moved to the dorms,” she offered. But she was prepared to follow after him. She almost wanted Leia to jump onto her back so she could carry her around. 

Phasma could keep up better with the stride of a Tarkin than Leia could.

Lucyfer · Jun 18, 2016

Gnaeus returned at dawn, tired and sober, and kicking himself for not grabbing more alcohol. The words he heard still haunted him. Hux and Leia on the same side? 

That was not good at all. 

And a purple lightsaber? 

Had they missed a Jedi besides Luke? ‘Or…?’ But Gnaeus thought Mira had green. 

He yawned as he exited his ship and went to the kitchen, leaving the cinnamon rolls there and hoping he could catch a quick nap. 

He wouldn’t get that pleasure. 

Gnaeus Ren entered the dormitory area in time to hear Kylo let out a shout. He paused, deliriously forgetting why Kylo should be so upset, until the dark-haired man exited his room and let his eyes fall on Gnaeus in a glare. “Who. Did. This?” 

Gnaeus saw the buns. 

Gnaeus snorted, “Dunno. There’s cinnamon rolls in the kitchen, though. Hungry?” He quirked his lips in a smirk. 

~***~ 

Mira smirked at Hux when he asked about Luke, and ignored Finn’s continued optimism, “If Luke knew anything, do you think I’d have these problems?” She asked him point blank. She had studied under Luke already. Luke hadn’t helped her then. She didn’t think he could help her now. 

“He might have learned some new things!” 

“In exile?” 

“Wonder why he went there,” Poe, ever the asshole. 

Mira offered a shrug, “Find his pet rock's family?” 

Poe’s laugh was bitter. He could say the reason point-blank but opted not to. They all knew where the blame laid—at the feet of her and Kylo Ren. “You’re right. Even if he knew it, he probably wouldn’t teach you.” 

“Hey!” Finn snapped, “You don’t know that.” 

“Yeah? We’ll see, won’t we,” so far as Poe knew, Leia hadn’t so much as reached out to Luke to let him know that one of his padawans had returned to the fold. That said enough to Poe. 

Now that was a hard pill to swallow, but Mira did, just averting her eyes down. True enough. “There are other sources. Holocrons. Books. Perhaps Rey,” she’d grant, “The scavenger bested Kylo at his mind games and turned it back on him. She might know something.” 

“Then we’ll have to get in touch with her, once we get back to Leia.” Finn said. 

Mira gave a nod. Then, “You all should get to sleep,” she leaned against the wall, “I’ll be fine for a while yet…and I’ll wake Finn for watch,” she offered, uncertain if they’d try to reorganize the watches now. BB-8 would be awake regardless; he could watch her or wake Finn if something happened. 

~***~ 

Leia wasn’t happy about Tarkin being allowed forward, but she also couldn’t fault Phasma. He had a son here—that was enough of a reason to let him through. She’d probably be far more irate if it was her son. 

But the Tarkins always had a quiet dignity about them, even if their eyes burned through everything they gazed upon. 

Like Commandant Hux, whom Tarkin did not so much as acknowledge with a word, only that scalding look before he stepped right by him, taking in every ounce of difference with pride—even the slight flare to his pants compared to the straight legs of the First Order. 

The campus was a mess of movement and debris when August could see it, and he allowed, “If you know where the dormitories are, show me.” Not even a ‘please’. 

Leia wanted to follow along, if only to discern if there were other reasons for Tarkin’s visit. “This way,” she said, and took off to lead, since it would really be the only way she wouldn’t get left so far behind by all the long-legged people. Her pace was still quick, though, making up for her shorter strides. 

August followed.

KyloGlenn · Jun 18, 2016

There was that shout Paquin was waiting for. And Gnaeus had returned as well. Paquin then poked her head out of the door and her eyes widened, holding back a laugh. 

The buns were even more amazing when he was awake. Still, there was a part of Paquin that felt bad. It seemed they held something traumatizing. 

Ariel stormed out of her room, looking grumpy as ever. She had a hangover, so obviously. "Shut the fu--oh." Ariel had nearly forgotten at the buns. But all they got out of a sober Ariel was a single chuckle. 

Paquin noticed how vastly different Ariel was when she was sober. When she was drunk, she was obviously happier. Now she was apathetic towards something that excited her so much the night before. Maybe it was just because she wasn't a morning person, Paquin didn't know. "Yeah, I did those," Ariel admitted and as if she had read Paquin's mind, she looked to Gnaeus for the alcohol she asked for. 

- 

It seemed the argument on how to fix Mira's issue was over. For the moment. They'd figure it out later. They had to. 

"BB-8, you make sure she wakes me up for my watch, alright?" Finn instructed the droid. Even if Mira would still be awake when he was on watch, he still wanted to be up. At the very least he could keep Mira company like she said. And if she was tired, he might be better to actually watch. 

The droid beeped its agreement. 

Poe had plopped onto the one bed in the shelter. It was dusty, covered in a light layer of sand. But that wasn't anything shaking it out couldn't fix. "Finn, this bed's big enough for the two of us, if you want to share." Poe offered with a wink. He said it playfully, but he actually didn't want Finn to sleep anywhere near the General or on the tiny chair in the center of the shelter. 

Finn burned red, of course, but he agreed. "We'll lay in different directions," Finn stated. 

Hux went on a mission to find extra blankets. He'd be sleeping on the ground, clearly. It wasn't hard, there was a tiny linen closet with some sheets, a couple of blankets, and a pillow or two. He grabbed a sheet, two blankets, and a pillow. He threw everything but a blanket on the ground, his 'bed'. He gave the other blanket to Mira. 

She didn't ask for it, but Hux shoved it in her hands anyway. 

- 

Phasma trailed behind Tarkin, but only slightly. She walked basically right next to the Rodian guard, the alien clearly eyeing her while simultaneously watching the passing Resistance and FO troops and officers as they moved through parked ships. Many of them were filled with people, organizing and planning. 

Commandant Hux trailed along, to which Phasma nearly barked at him for. She wanted to know what he wanted, but by the way he was eyeing Tarkin, it was pretty clear that what he wanted was not with her, but the fellow ginger. She still wanted to know what that would be. Maybe he had found out about his missing son and wanted the Tarkin's help. 

No, they'd know if the Commandant had found out. 

They passed by a few of the FOTC boys, who gawked at August, recognizing who he was. Some whispered, but they didn't run up and ask for an autograph. 

The dormitories were reached and it wasn't all that hard to find Tarkin's son. The debate team, since they weren't actual students, were in the lobby. And August's son was pretty apparent. The only red head among the group but that wasn't the only thing he shared with his father. He was a spitting image. Like all the Tarkins were. They shared that aspect with the Huxs. All gingers seemed to look exactly like their father before them.

Lucyfer · Jun 18, 2016

“Take them out!” Kylo started to lift his hand, and Gnaeus knew what he was going to do. He reached forward quickly and grabbed Kylo’s wrist from behind, even if that put him in the awkward position of pressing his chest to Kylo’s back. 

“She can’t if you’re choking her,” he hissed, “Come on, can’t you get them out?” 

He was met with silence. 

“You can’t, can’t you?” 

“I don’t understand how they’re even held together.” 

That broke Gnaeus into a laugh and he pressed his head into the back of Kylo’s shoulder, feeling the man shaking beneath his forehead. “Okay. Okay. Paquin will take them out. Ari and I will go heat up the cinnamon rolls. We’ll have breakfast.” He looked up then, “And…uh…I forgot the alcohol. I’ll explain.” He did not want to mention what was going on in the outside world to Kylo. Not right now, not when he was fuming over buns of all things. “Go on,” he pushed Kylo towards the bathroom, and then motioned for Ariel to follow. 

He could tell her what was going on. She might understand how he could forget the alcohol, then. 

~***~ ‘This is why you can’t have nice things.’ 

The thought came again, almost happy, when the blanket was wordlessly shoved into her hand. She only knew of nice things because of the fleeting moments of them. The temporary 'nice'. ‘You break them.’ 

And Hux went to his makeshift bed, and Mira let herself sink to the floor, bringing the blanket closer around herself while the fire continued to crackle. She could have nice things, for a short while. A fond memory of truth and dare, where Hux got off easy. A cat who walked to Hux and climbed up onto him to curl up on him. 

Perhaps just to steal his warmth, but it would have been warmer between Finn and Poe—which, Mira was never letting her padawan live down. ‘My padawan eh?’ Unbidden the possessive came, and Mira sighed. If he were her padawan, she'd let him pursue Poe if he wanted to. Anyone he wanted to. The Jedi and the Sith forbidding such things seemed foolish. 

She glanced to the droid who was her only companion for the night. 

She sighed again, and let the back of her head hit the wall, listening to the breathing of others. She’d meditate, but BB-8 would likely think she slipped off into sleep. “Finn and Poe deep sleepers?” It was at least an hour of silence before Mira even dared to speak. 

The droid beeped an affirmative. 

Mira imagined Hux exhausted enough that day to be a deep sleeper even if she imagined he was not normally so.“All right then,” Mira dug into the coat and soon brought out the holocron. “Let’s watch history, BB-8,” she invited, before she held her hand over the cube and channeled her energy into it, letting it start to light up and come to life. 

Again, the kyber crystals at her ear took on the glint of green, but she didn’t notice it. 

Before her and BB-8 appeared Qui-Gon Jinn again. “There is no dark side, nor a light side. There is only—” Qui-Gon cut himself off as he heard the soft whir of the holocron, and looked back over to his young padawan, “Are you recording this, Obi-Wan?” he smiled. Obi-Wan was off-camera, as it were, “Yes,” he admitted, “I knew you were going to be upset with the Council’s decision today, Master. I knew you’d go off on another of your rants, so I wanted to record it for posterity.” When Qui-Gon tilted his head, Obi-Wan added, “Geniuses aren’t recognized in their own time, right?” Qui-Gon chuckled. He let himself fall back into the seat usually occupied by Mace, “So what you are saying, my young padawan, is that I am a genius and you would like my opinions to be saved for the future, when the Jedi Council might finally listen to them?” “Yes.” “You disagree with my philosophies, though.” 

“I’m of your time—I cannot recognize your genius, Master.” 

~***~ 

The young Johann Tarkin was similar to his father; sunken cheeks and blue eyes, as well as a small frame that would not usually be intimidating. He did not yet have the widow’s peak that his father had—at least, not visibly. His back was to his father, but he knew when something of interest happened by the reactions of those around him, and he turned to see his father there. 

A faint smile came to his lips and he walked from the group, dressed in his debate suit, stains of blood on it—none his. He had joined the fray, of course. “Father,” he greeted. 

His father gave him an assessing look, “Is everything well?” Johann inquired, glancing at the queer entourage. 

August rolled his eyes, “Such things can be spoken of later,” when he didn’t have an audience, “I am merely glad that you are well,” there was affection, warm, but distant. The Tarkins were not the sort to embrace and cry. Their regard for the dignity of each other was too high for that. 

And so, seeing his son well, August took a step forward and turned with lockstep precision to then face his entourage. “Is there a reason I am not allowed time with my own son? Do none of you have any decency for a father and his son during a crisis?” 

The sharp words were enough to make Leia flinch, for they were wholly unexpected from him. “I—I’m sorry, Governor Tarkin. I thought—” 

“Thought I was here for political or reasons not benign, yes, you made that apparent, General Organa. If I have business, it is not with you, even if you are the only one in this group who is, oddly enough, not a traitor.” He looked to the Commandant then, finally addressing him to say: “Like father, like son, hm?” He went on to add, “You both have a queer fascination with the Jedi, if rumors are true.” He had already heard the rumors from Coruscant, of course. He was a politician. The blonde had been identified as an Ex-Knight. 

If he recalled from his spy in Hux’s ‘secret’ academy, the idiotic Commandant had thought to follow some of the Jedi teachings of emotionlessness. Honestly, did he learn nothing from Vader and Sidious?

KyloGlenn · Jun 19, 2016

'Yes, send the tiny defenseless one into the room with a big angry man.' Paquin didn't protest, though, simply followed the fuming man into the bathroom as Ariel and Gnaeus left for the kitchen. 

She stopped him in front of the mirror and reached up to pull the pins out of the buns. They were so cute, even cuter with his big ears, but he didn't think so. The first bun was out and she raked her fingers through it to separate it from the twirl Ariel had put it in. "Are you okay?" She asked as she moved onto the next bun. 

She wanted to ask if he was okay after his tantrum last night, if his hand was okay, if he was okay then, but she settled on just one vague one. She would accept whatever answer he gave her. 

Ariel followed after Gnaeus, nearly dragging her feet. "The one thing I ask you for, just one thing!" Ariel was very unhappy with the absence of alcohol. Now she couldn't nurse her hangover, she'd probably be exhausted the rest of the day. She grumbled 'useless' under her breath, though she didn't really mean that. 

She stomped through the kitchen, grabbing a glass and filling it with water before going on a hunt for aspirin. Ariel had many bottles laying around Korriban, it wasn't very hard to find one. She wanted to down the entire bottle but settled on two pills. 

"So, you forgot the alcohol. The thing I actually screamed at you for. What, was my undying love not good enough?" 

- A smirk tugged at the corner of Qui-Gon's mouth at his padawan's words. "Yet, you just said I was a genius." 

There was a light groan from Obi-Wan, likely accompanied by an eye roll. "Just continue, Master." 

Another chuckle came from Jinn. "I don't believe my philosophies will be covered in one recording." 

"We'll makemore, when the opportunity arises. You could write a book! Like the Jedi one." Obi-Wan suggested. 

BB-8 interrupted then, asking if this was the same holocron that had been playing when it woke her up that one time. The beeps came out quiet, as if the droid had lowered its volume to accommodate their sleeping friends. Which was, in fact, what the droid had done. 

More questions were spewed, asking who they were. As Poe's droid, it wasn't exposed to much information on the Jedi. Other than Rey, Finn, brief mentions of Luke, and Leia, the droid didn't know all that much. Mira had stated she wasn't a Jedi, so it couldn't count her. 

There was the question if there were any more holocrons, since Obi-Wan had mentioned making more of them. Then came the question of the Jedi book that had been mentioned. What it was and if she had read it. The droid mentioned that maybe it had something to help her with her dream issues. 

All questions came while they were still talking, another reason why BB-8 had lowered its volume. But as a curious little droid, it loved to obtain new information. 

- 

Phasma was ready to apologize to Tarkin, even with his words of her being a traitor. They didn't bother her, she was loyal to the one that mattered. Hux. He was right, though, he should be allowed a moment with his son, even if Johann seemed just fine. Phasma and Leia could at least watch from afar. But then Tarkin's attention turned to the Commandant, and Phasma took in a deep breath. 

'Here we go.' 

Commandant Hux couldn't deny his son's status as a traitor, but he could deny his own. "I won't deny my fascination with the Jedi, as you will. And I won't deny my son's...affair. But I will refuse to be labelled a traitor." Him, a traitor? He'd done nothing but support the ways of the Empire, he couldn't help his son's poor decision. If anyone was a traitor, it was Tarkin. He'd denied the Order, even before his son had established it as what it was now. 

He would have said that, as well. 

"Oh shit, your dad is going to fight General Hux's dad." It was whispered to Johann by one of his debate team members. 

"No, my father has dignity," Johann mumbled back. His father didn't need to argue anything. 

"Commandant, enough," Phasma snapped, "Leave the man to have a moment with his son. All of us." Again, watching from afar.

Lucyfer · Jun 20, 2016

The Tiny Defenseless One was, in fact, the only one Kylo Ren wasn’t going to harm, which Kylo Ren still didn’t realize when he was sent into the bathroom with her and she began to undo the buns. 

“My mother wore her hair like this.” 

He spoke it quietly as he stared at the mirror, stared at his hair, and saw his mother’s features there. Saw her, almost too clearly, but without the twin buns. He saw her, with that new hairstyle, with the gray, in a hallway of some building, and for a moment he knew it was her. 

He shut his eyes to keep the reflection out of the mirror, and out of his mind’s eye, as everything suddenly ached terribly. Both of his hands went to either side of the sink. ‘Weakness.’ Light. He had to kill her, and kill her soon, before she destroyed him. 

He felt the pull of fingers through his hair and tried to exhale. “I’ll be fine.” He wasn’t. But he would be. He’d eat the damn cinnamon rolls and he’d try to be all right, try to figure out training for all of them…and for himself. 

Gnaeus knew Ariel would complain, and she did it in such a terribly, mocking way. He had to chuckle a bit, “Hey, I meant to grab them, but the world I ended up on was…well let’s just say shit went down there, and it sounds like Hux and Leia made a pact.” 

He didn’t say the unspoken. ‘Mira’. “We don’t need Kylo knowing about this yet,” he told Ariel pointedly as he grabbed the cinnamon rolls and went to warm up all of them. “We stood a chance when they weren’t together, but if the First Order’s in bed with the Resistance…I’m not sure we can win this, Ariel.” 

He’d never express doubts around Snoke or Kylo, but now he could. He understood numbers. He understood that with the Resistance and First Order at each other’s throats, they had a chance. With them together, though…that was another story. They had the numbers. They had Jedi. They could royally screw them over, too. 

~***~ 

Mira’s attention was on the holocron, but she answered BB-8, "Obi-Wan Kenobi and his mentor,” she told the droid, “And it is the holocron of before. I’m afraid I don’t know much about either. Darth Vader killed Kenobi….” And the other was an unknown to her, even though she knew the legacy of Qui-Gon Jinn as the finder of Anakin Skywalker. Without the name, she didn't know who the stranger before Obi-Wan was. 

He was not what she expected of the one who mentored Obi-Wan, “If there are more…,” if there were, she wanted them. A new hunger rose within her, the thought that this Jedi had teachings and philosophies that would appeal to her, if they did not appeal to the Jedi Order. 

A Jedi that wasn’t a Jedi? 

And so it continued. “A book, hm? I’ll never have the time to write it, not with these inane missions the Council keeps sending me on.” “Then I’ll just have to keep recording these moments. I can usually predict them.” “You’re getting to know me too well,” the smile was wry, and a bit sad. “Fine, Obi-Wan. I’ll humor you.” Qui-Gon shut his eyes. He seemed to take a few moments to gather his thoughts, before he began, “The Unifying Force philosophy is what guides the Jedi Council to many of their decisions. Unfortunately, it is a flawed and passive philosophy," he said, "It was the philosophy that my own master, Dooku, followed for a while. His opinion changed while I was under his tutelage.” “Why? Dooku was Yoda’s apprentice, wasn’t he?” “Yes,” which made it all the more interesting. “Dooku loved debate, and you know how argumentative I can be. I forced him to think about his decisions. I questioned everything about the Force, and oh—he hated it. I was his most irksome padawan,” his smile was crooked, “He tried to answer me, he did his research, but I still remember the day he came into my room and dropped all of his books onto my floor.” Qui-Gon was quiet for a few more moments, before he continued, “It was one of the few times I saw him flustered--and he was known for shutting down people with just a glare. I think that's why he liked me. I wasn't so easily intimidated," Jinn suggested, "Dooku told me, ‘Jinn, you’d be killed if this were nine centuries ago.’” Jinn must have seen something in Obi-Wan's reaction, because he lifted his hands in a calming gesture, “I knew nothing, at that time, of the Living Force philosophy, or what people now call me behind my back—a Gray Jedi. Some seem to believe that means I am merely a renegade, envious of being passed over for a council position, but it is not so. I have a different understanding of the Force, and I always have. It is akin to theirs, and yes, it was deemed heresy and people did get killed over it.” He lowered his hands to his lap and turned them so they were flat upon his legs, fingers over his knees, “The Unifying Philosophy deals with abstracts. Prophecy, what can be, and what should be. Yoda is so focused on the future that he does not concern himself with the problems before us now. That is true of most of our esteemed Councilors.” He did not hide his dissatisfaction with them. He continued, “This belief is that the Force is timeless and brings the Past and Future together, all but denying any free will. It’s made the Jedi passive, and rather…laissez-faire.” “Is that why you act so rebellious?” “Someone has to,” Qui-Gon stated. “The Jedi wouldn’t get anything done without me." 

Mira was captivated. BB-8’s beeps and questions were met with a finger pressed lightly to her lips, "After," she said, all exhaustion seemed to wash away from Mira as she leaned closer to the holocron. 

~***~ 

Leia wanted to slap the Commandant, but before she could add her own two cents, she felt a sudden tug. A sudden pang. She looked away, looked around, but saw nothing different. She frowned, but the pain remained, a dull ache that she knew she was feeling through the Force...but she couldn't discern just what it was. 

Would August Tarkin fight Commandant Hux? Yes. And the Commandant would lose, because he had only ever bothered to fight with humanoid things and never beasts. He would not think outside the box, and would rue the day he thought to throw down. 

Yet, August would not do so now. There was no point to it. The man before him was a broken man. “Is that why you hid your Cadets from the sight of the Emperor himself, Commandant, because you were doing something he wholly approved of?” The ginger’s eyebrows lifted, but it was clear what the answer was. “If you have ever wondered why I and others have stayed back from your son’s organization, you have it.” 

Phasma interrupted them, which Hux should have shot down, but Tarkin noticed that reaction did not come. He had heard much of Phasma, how her title as ‘Captain’ was unbefitting for her real position. At one point, he might have considered her Hux’s lover, but with the Commandant referring to the General and the Jedi’s relation as an ‘affair’, he doubted it. Both blonde, though. Perhaps he had a type. “Yes. Go.” He agreed with Phasma, but didn’t wait. “We will have our words later, Commandant.” 

He would not completely ostracize him, but now was not the time. He had more important things than him. 

With a nod to Johann, he indicated the command for his son to find them a location to speak, which he knew could be produced. Likely from one of the FOTC members who had enough respect for the Empire, and not enough knowledge to separate the two, to give them space.

KyloGlenn · Jun 21, 2016

Well, that explained his reaction to the buns. “I’m sorry.” She couldn’t seem to go a day without those words coming from her mouth. But if Paquin had known the significance of the buns…nothing would have changed, really. Ariel likely would have done them anyway. But Paquin wouldn’t have handed her a hair pin. 

It was obvious that Kylo wasn’t okay then. She didn’t need the Force to tell her that, it was clear. “I’m not very good with advice or ideas,” he probably knew that by now, “but I think I’m alright at listening if you ever need it.” Destroying things seemed to be his thing, and that was fine. But she wanted him to know that there were other ways if that ever failed. 

Or if he didn’t want to pass out again. 

She pulled the final pin from the bun and freed his hair, raking her fingers through his hair again, it returning to its usual fashion. “There,” she patted his shoulder to signal he was back to normal. Now he could go eat the cinnamon rolls if he wanted. 

They could have dealt with the Resistance and the Order separately. Take one down and then go for the other, when they were at each other’s throats and destroying them already. But together? They were too big. They had the Jedi. Ariel had about as much hope as Gnaeus, and it showed. 

There was frustration there, which could easily be disguised as frustration for Gnaeus’ forgetting her alcohol, thankfully. Though, she was still miffed about that. Especially now did she want a drink of something. “You’re right, Kylo shouldn’t about this yet.” Big baby. They’d shove some food in him and get him distracted with their book plan. Have him calm and winning a thing or two. 

“Force, are we ever going to get on top?” Ariel pushed her face into a cabinet. 

- 

BB-8 beeped out an okay and silenced itself as Mira leaned in intently towards the holocron. The droid watched curiously as well but probably kept more watch out for dangers than Mira was. “You once said to me, ‘I break the rules not because it suits me, but—‘“ 

“‘But because sometimes during a mission the rules get in the way. I did say that, didn’t I?” Qui-Gon seemed pleasantly surprised that that had stuck with young Obi, although his padawan had clearly paid no mind to the saying. 

“You do get quite a bit done, Master Qui-Gon.” Obi-Wan agreed without badmouthing the Jedi, and Qui-Gon seemed to know that was what Obi-Wan was doing. That smile was kept in place, signaling that he wasn’t annoyed with his padawan’s beliefs. At the moment, anyway. “You spoke about the Living Force?” Obi-Wan went to continue on the subject of his master’s philosophies. 

“Ah, yes. The Living Force.” 

A name, BB-8 beeped. Qui-Gon. “What is it?” Obi-Wan already knew, but for the sake of the holocron, he’d ask. 

“The Living Force philosophy believes the Force surrounds every living thing. There’s more sensitivity towards living things than following through a prophecy.” Obi-Wan let out a scoff at that. “Like you? Always bringing in defenseless lifeforms.” It was clear that there was a bit of annoyance in that. 

“Yes, focusing on the here and now. Helping lifeforms here and now.” 

“Living in the moment.” Again, it seemed that Obi-Wan was familiar with the saying. 

In that moment, thunder decided to roar, causing a surprised squeal to come from BB-8. It wasn’t enough to wake the two sleeping men on the bed, who had moved positions during the night so they now seemed to be facing the same way, arms thrown over each other. And it wouldn’t have been enough to wake Hux, had the sleeping cat on him not dug her claws into him in fright. 

A groan came from the badly sunburned ginger. It was freezing cold and raining, which he would have much preferred it to have been when they crashed. Then the claws digging into his sunburned flesh wouldn’t have hurt as much. 

- 

The Commandant was prepared to argue that everything he’d done was for the Empire, even if it had been hidden from Palpatine. But he was silenced by Phasma’s demand for him to quiet. August got the last word, much to Brendol’s displeasure. Though, he did speak of talking to him later. 

Brendol offered no goodbye, other than his mouth raising into a snarl at Phasma as he turned on his heels, marching from the building. It creeped Phasma out, how that was the same snarl that she’d seen on General Hux’s face many times, but it seemed so much more evil coming from his father. 

Johann wasted no time in abandoning his father’s entourage, leading him through the halls and away from the strange group. He could find one of the FOTC members, who seemed to have taken over the role of ‘guarding’ the students in the dormitories. They seemed to wander about the halls, making rounds. 

It took only a minute before one rounded a corner, the boy freezing at the sight of Tarkin and his son. Or, at least, August. Whether the boy froze in fear, or in awe, Johann didn’t care much. “I need a private room. To have a moment with my father.” 

“Of-of course.” The boy’s eyes lingered on August for a moment before gesturing them to follow him. 

Phasma turned back to the way the Tarkin’s retreated after the elder Hux left. She looked around the lobby for any cameras, “Are you aware if this place has security cameras?” She questioned the General, turning towards her. “General Organa? Are you alright?” The confusion was clear on the older woman’s face.

Lucyfer · Jun 21, 2016

‘You’re already hearing enough.’ Kylo thought. 

Though Snoke encouraged emotions, he didn’t exactly encourage being touchy-feely about them. No, they were not meant for that, they were meant to draw power from, and ‘coping’ with them like a sane person would have detracted from their use. 

“Thank you,” Paquin would learn, one day, how the pain was useful. 

Not that day. Not when he didn’t find it useful. Not when it couldn’t do anything at all for him. Not when he enjoyed the way her fingers moved through his hair and calmed his soul. Such a small gesture. 

All of it, small gestures. 

All of it, pleasant. He pushed the injured hand and its fingers back through his hair, then brought up his other hand to try and fix his hair so it was styled how he liked it, and the hair wasn’t pulling or twisted in odd angles. “I suppose Gnaeus only brought sweets, didn’t he?” Kylo just shook his head. 

Cinnamon rolls weren’t bad…but he really wasn’t in the mood for them. He wanted pancakes. 

Gnaeus was relieved when Ariel agreed with him on the matter of Kylo. “I had to tell someone,” he said. Obviously, Paquin wasn’t going to be told. She couldn’t yet be trusted with secrets. 

Somehow, the drunk could. 

To her question, though, “I don’t know. We have to stop the Jedi.” But Snoke wasn’t letting them do that. “Maybe with this training, getting Kylo back I shape, we could…but we have to find the damned things. Aren’t Jedis supposed to be blazing symbols of good and light or some shit?” 

Shouldn’t Luke be out in the goddamn open? ‘Or Mira?’ 

Why did the latter seem more likely? 

Why did he really hate that idea? “Fucking Jedi are more Sith than us.” He complained as the microwave beeped at him, letting him know the cinnamon rolls were done. 

~***~ 

Mira almost cursed the thunder when it struck, and immediately the holocron stopped, cutting off when Mira heard that Hux was waking up. It wasn’t that she felt any need to hide it from him, only that he needed to sleep and she didn’t intend to allow background noise to wake him up. She picked it up and returned it to the safety of the coat's inner pocket. 

“Remember that name,” she told the droid in a whisper. “We’re going to hunt down everything we can about him.” Mira had hope; here was a Jedi who broke the rules. A Jedi that Obi-Wan had trained under. A Jedi who, if she was understanding the holocron, had an affinity for animals. If this Qui-Gon Jinn figured out how to calm things like the worms, maybe… 

Maybe they shared a similar path. Maybe he had found something that could help her. 

The green remained in the crystals as Mira stood and threw the blanket over the ginger and the cat, partially to give Hux more warmth—he might be sunburnt but the cold would not be kind to him—and partially to disturb the cat. It worked, too. The cat removed itself to get out from under the blanket, its claws leaving his flesh. It gave her a rueful look for it, but Mira just eyed the cat in a daring way. 

It would add another layer for the cat’s claws to get through, too. “Go back to sleep,” Mira said, before she let her steps take her towards the door. 

She liked storms. 

She could still guard them all while standing outside and letting the rain fall on her face, right? 

Mira relaxed against the wall outside, besides the door, and smiled as it fell. 

BB-8 decided that was a good time to wake up Finn, so it rolled over towards the sleeping man and tried to get his attention, even though he and Poe did look so comfortable together. Mira was going to make herself sick. Eating terrible food. Going out in the cold, in the rain. 

~***~ 

Tarkin followed the boy to a private room, and thanked him once they were allowed in. It was someone’s dorm, apparently, but that didn’t matter right then. Tarkin locked the door behind them, and then removed his holo-projector from his wrist and set it on the table. “CH03, call home.” He instructed it, and then turned to his son. 

“Your mother remains home, safe for the moment,” he said. They would not have privacy eternally. “Snoke sent an ambassador to Eriadu. He asked for our alliance and I asked for time. You know how this will escalate.” 

Snoke would force it. “What have you seen here today?” Eriadu would defend itself well on its own. It was more than capable. However, even with August leading the defensive and the offensive, he knew the truth of the matter—they would not hold out forever. The only reason they had survived the Separatists was because of the alliance Wilhuff forged with the Empire. 

Now August had to look at his options, without revealing dire straights to anyone. No, he had to look and be equal to the leaders in this game. 

The holoprojector then shifted on the table, and before them stood August’s wife, dressed elegantly as ever, and with a glass of a light wine in hand. She smiled gently at Johann, “It is good to see you’ve broken in your suit.” The comment came easily, “August,” she address him, tone taking on a more serious one. “There are ships around Eriadu. An embargo is moving into place.” She was ever-calm. She was just as calculating as any of them, she just wore it differently, in the guise of a know-nothing trophy wife. 

August gave a stiff nod. Returning home would be difficult, it seemed, without breaking the lines. “At least communications have not yet been shut off.” 

~***~ 

Leia was startled when directly addressed, which Phasma took note of. She let out a breath, “I’m fine,” she answered. 

It tasted a lie. “I’m not fine,” she corrected, “It’s…call it mother’s intuition,” or call it the Force, but in this case it felt more like the intuition of a mother rather than a mother. The ache was one she knew more from her heart, and not the loss of anything in the Force. 

She took a breath and smoothed her hands over her top, “If there are cameras, Poe’s fanclub knows about them. We can go ask them,” Leia said. She understood—spying on Tarkin might be an atrocious thing to do, but Tarkin wasn’t here just to check on his son. 

Leia was all but certain of that. “This way,” she had an idea of where the Dameron girls had set up—far too close to the Black Squad fighters. She hoped those fighters were behaving themselves.

KyloGlenn · Jun 22, 2016

Paquin leaned against the counter, watching Kylo fix his hair. That man had really nice hair. ‘I wonder if Anakin’s is anything like it.’ Her eyes widened as that thought crossed her mind. Why was she thinking of the dead guy while sober? ‘He was really cute…’ She was luckily pulled from her thoughts when Kylo spoke of Gnaeus bringing sweets. 

It seemed Kylo was a little calmer now, which was good. “I have dried kale if you want some?” She offered in place of the cinnamon rolls. “Not really breakfast food. Nor do they have very many calories in them. But you could put salt on them?” 

Paquin wasn’t sure if she’d eat the cinnamon rolls either. She’d ask Gnaeus where they came from and hopefully they had the ingredients listed on the packaging. If they were good by Paquin’s standards, it would probably be the best breakfast she’d had in years. If not, Paquin would still be happy with her dried kale. 

“I think that was abandoned when Kylo killed all the padawans and hunted for Skywalker. I wouldn’t want to be a blazing symbol of good and light, either.” Ariel turned from the cabinet and leaned her back against the counter instead. The scent of cinnamon rolls filled the kitchen, Ariel’s stomach growling then. 

She ignored it and continued to speak. “Are we even Sith, though?” Dark side users, sure. But not actual Sith. “We don’t get the cool Darth titles or the spooky eyes.” It was a silly complaint and wasn’t actually a real one. She’d heard mumbles about the Knights being some sort of perfect blend of light and dark, so it seemed this was how Snoke wanted them. 

“Do we have any coffee?” She could really use some. There was an old dusty coffee maker, but the actual coffee beans had not been spotted. 

- 

“You go back to sleep.” Hux’s accented voice was thick with sleep as he mumbled the words to a retreating Mira without thinking. The cat tried to drape herself over the ginger’s legs, but he was already shoving the blankets off to stand up, movements stiff as due to the pain of the sunburn. 

The cat let out a mewl of protest as Hux pulled his legs out from under her, the cold air hitting his skin as he stood up. Hux bent down awkwardly and gave her a head scratch as an apology. 

He reached for the boots that had been kicked off before bed, shaking the sand out of them before pulling them on again. The overshirt he’d pulled off during the day was retrieved from the ground next to his makeshift bed and pulled back on carefully, warmth being restored but his irritated skin being brushed against. 

He stumbled past the droid and out of the shelter, the cold rain surprised him as it pelted his face and clothes. His face scrunched as he searched for Mira, only to find her leaning against the shelter. “It’s cold and raining.” He informed her of the obvious but meant it in a way to inform her that she’d become even sicker. 

Meanwhile, the little droid gazed at the sleeping men for a moment, savoring the image. Maybe it should take a picture and store it in its memory. So that’s what it did. And then an arm shot out, moving over Poe’s form and shocking the younger man awake. A quiet apology was beeped out as Finn groaned. 

“Is it my watch already?” Finn whispered, to which BB-8 beeped a confirmation. “Alright.” Finn wasn’t really aware of what he was doing when he pushed Poe’s limbs off of him, rolling off the tiny bed before standing up. He stumbled past the droid, much like Hux had, and to the outside world. 

“Oh, hey. It’s raining.” His voice was still a grumble. 

BB-8 stole a blanket from Hux’s bed, pulling it over itself to shield it from the rain, just in case, and joined the three outside. 

- 

The small smile Johann offered to his mother turned into pursed lips at the news of an embargo forming outside of his homeworld. Right now it was just that, an embargo. But Johann knew that it would turn into a blockade if Snoke didn’t receive an answer of ‘yes’ soon. 

Of course, Eriadu could press, but as everyone seemed to know, not forever. 

He then decided to answer his father’s question of what he’d seen on Cimarosa. “Snoke has a large force.” That much was apparent. Snoke was still confident enough in his resources to form an embargo line. “The Resistance and the First Order were certainly not prepared for such an attack, but they fought well against the clones.” 

They’d fluctuated between winning and losing, as typical for a battle. 

Whether they would have lost to the clones if the pilot girls and the FOTC hadn’t stepped in, Johann wasn’t sure. He knew that the Stormtroopers and fighters he’d seen were just a fraction of what each organization had. 

But he also new the clones he’d seen were only a fraction of what Snoke had. Not to mention that with the clones, Snoke had the Knights of Ren. 

Johann wasn’t stupid. He knew that his father would have to look at his options and make a decision. “Eriadu will hold out for a time, but an alliance will need to be made.” With someone. There was no worry in Johann. He knew his father would take care of it. And he would watch and learn. 

- 

Phasma wanted to question more about Leia’s motherly intuition, curious about what could be going on with the former Commander. But she didn’t, she and Leia had things they needed to do. 

So, Phasma followed Leia to Poe’s fan club, which the Captain found quite odd. It was vaguely creepy, but if they could help, Phasma wasn’t going to say anything. 

And they were exactly where Leia had figured they be, too close to Black Squad. 

“Yeah, and this recognizes facial features and sends back alerts when the person is found.” Britney was explaining to an orange suited man, explaining the technology and programs they were using to find Poe. Leia had said to not tell them and go to her if they found anything on Poe, not that they couldn’t share what they were doing. 

Phasma let Leia address the girls, as they were on her side, essentially.

Lucyfer · Jun 22, 2016

“That’s not a meal…,” Kylo was pretty sure that kale wasn’t a meal, anyway. It was just greens. “I’ll eat the cinnamon rolls,” he said, “Maybe with some kale.” To get the sweet out of his mouth. He just wasn’t in the mood for it, but it would at least be filling. More filling than the kale. 

“We should go join them,” he sighed, finally satisfied with how his hair was laying. He turned from the mirror, but not before taking up all the bobby pins with the Force, and once out of the bathroom, hurling them all into Ariel’s room, onto the bed…just to be annoying when she laid down to sleep. 

“Jedi trait is to go run and hide it seems.” Yoda and Obi-Wan. Now Luke. “Eh, I guess they aren’t that Sith,” he came to that conclusion, and frowned when Ariel asked if they were. “Well…we’re not Jedi. What else is there?” 

So far as Gnaeus understood things, there were really only two options. If they weren’t Jedi, then they were Sith, right? “I’m pretty sure the Sith just don’t restrict themselves so far as the Force goes. They use whatever they need to accomplish their goals. Right?” 

Kylo was probably the person to be asking that. ‘And speak of the devil.’ 

“Kylo, catch!” He threw a cinnamon roll. 

Kylo obviously caught it, but not with his hand. With the Force. “Kylo, are with Sith?” Gnaeus asked, turning towards the cabinets then to start hunting for coffee. There had to be coffee if Kevan was stocking the place, right? 

“What?” 

“Are with Sith?” He asked again. “Ariel and I were trying to figure it out, since we don’t have cool Darth names or the eyes.” 

Kylo sighed. He could get into a very long conversation with them, to try and explain how they weren’t Sith, but his head was telling him no. That was a bad idea. He didn’t know how to explain to them that ‘Knights’ were different when, admittedly, he wasn’t 100% clear on it either. And they were following Sith examples. They were on Korriban. “Yes, we’re Sith.” 

Gnaeus then sighed, and Kylo thought it was about the Sith thing, until he said, "There's no coffee. None of us bought coffee. What is wrong with us?" 

~***~ 

“Astute observation, General,” Mira smirked as he stated the obvious, before opening her eyes and turning to look at him. “You should be inside,” he was perhaps more likely to get ill with the sunburn than she was. She’d just eaten something bad. It seemed with it removed from her system, her body was doing fine. 

Sans the whole sleepy aspect. But the rain was going to help her stay awake. 

Finn joined them then, early, or at least Mira thought so. She was disappointed that he’d been woken already. She wanted Poe to wake and see his entanglement. She’d become so curious now about them, it was ridiculous—but then, she never really got to have fun with these sorts of things. 

The Knights weren’t exactly allowed these things. 

“You should go back to sleep, Finn. You’re up early.” 

Finn’s scowl remained, and BB-8 beeped out that Finn wasn’t up early. It had woken him up. “Yeah, what the droid said,” Finn added. “You were just going to run away.” 

“I’m not Luke.” 

The surprise that passed over Finn’s face was almost painful, and Mira knew she shouldn’t have said that. “I’m not running away,” she clarified. “I suppose with you up, I can go take a walk.” 

“In the desert, in the rain. Really, Mira?” Finn spoke in disbelief as the blonde pushed away from the wall. It was a rather sudden decision, but she felt something out there. “How are you gonna find us again? You’re going to get lost.” Finn was trying to convince her it was a stupid idea. 

Mira just shook her head, “I’ll be back. You guard the fort. I wanted to get a sense of where town was, anyway. Do you want to go back to wandering aimlessly tomorrow?” 

“No….” 

“Okay then, let the person who roamed Wild Space go find civilization.” 

~***~ 

“You are correct, Johann. We will need to forge an alliance. It is a pity our neighbors are not strong,” the outer rim was unfortunately weak in many respects, most all of them being in regards to military and strong, centralized leadership. 

So he considered. Snoke had a large force. Clones. Resistance and First Order were actually uniting—and he’d thought the rumor mill had simply gone insane. “The Jedis returning. The First Order joining them, and the Resistance,” he shook his head. 

“You did say the Commandant was fascinated by them. It makes sense for his son.” Julia reminded him. 

Tarkin did not deny it. “Any communications from Snoke’s ships?” 

“None currently, but they won’t be long. I’m sure they’ll come here looking for you and your decision, and then they’ll stay….” 

“You have enough wine to deal with them,” he said as she swirled the cup. 

“So we are not joining with Snoke?” Julia didn’t sound the least bit surprised. She had expected as much. Her husband didn’t kneel to threats. He’d proven that the first time the First Order came courting. 

“He’s not worthy.” Tarkin said flatly. If he was going to throw in, it wasn’t going to be with Snoke. He was a pale imitation of Palpatine. He hid. He was not out, front and center, making his case and changing the universe. Tarkin would not support that. He wouldn’t support the one who was trying to remove his world from him. 

The Tarkins would always rule Eriadu. “Johann, describe the major players. Describe what you have seen of General Hux and General Organa.” It was likely not much, but by now he would have heard rumors from others who participated in the fray, and the aftermath, “Tell me of anyone notable.” The players in the game were not always the obvious ones. 

People would dismiss Phasma if they knew her rank, but Tarkin knew better. People would imagine Commandant Hux worthy of note, by that same virtue of rank. 

~***~ 

Leia didn’t bother to hide her scowl as she saw the Black Squad member with Britney, if only because of the particular interest the member seemed to be showing not for the information, but for the woman’s attire. 

When he heard the footsteps, though, he quickly moved away, saluted Leia, and then gave a quick word of farewell to Britney. 

Leia didn’t so much as comment, but said, “Britney, are there cameras in the dormitories?” 

“Yeah, of course. How come?” Britney looked between the two women, still finding it so weird that Leia and Phasma seemed to be hanging out. Leia gestured to Phasma. She had been the one to ask about it, she could elaborate on the situation for Britney.

KyloGlenn · Jun 23, 2016

“It can be a meal if you eat ten cups of it,” Paquin mumbled to herself as Kylo went to join the others. But who would eat ten cups of kale? Paquin would. 

A cinnamon roll was thrown at Kylo and a conversation about Sith was started. Paquin didn’t concern herself with it. She didn’t think she counted as anything yet. All she’d done was use the Force for a few things, one of which was nearly slapping her in the face. She didn’t think she was aligned with Sith or otherwise yet. 

Ariel wasn’t especially convinced by Kylo’s confirmation, but before she could make a comment on how she wanted to be called Darth Ariel from then on, Gnaeus broke the news on the lack of coffee. Ariel let out a loud groan and turned back to the cabinet, slamming her head against it once more. “This is the worst!” No alcohol, no coffee. Those things could always be retrieved, but Ariel was still grumpy about them. 

Ariel refrained from saying something along the lines of Snoke knowing how to punish them, as Kylo had actually been punished and this was really nothing. 

“Give me cinnamon rolls.” Ariel requested of Gnaeus. Maybe those would make her feel better. 

- 

“I’ll go with her,” Hux stated. It was partially to keep an eye on Mira, make sure she’d be okay. And then it was partially because he wasn’t going to be left alone with Finn and potentially Poe if he woke up as well. On the plus side, Hux had an alright sense of direction. He could probably navigate them back to the shelter. 

Finn’s eyes narrowed at this. Mira had said she wasn’t going to run off, but with Hux joining her? It seemed almost likely. It was just Hux giving Finn a sense of uncertainty, not Mira. He trusted her oddly enough. But running off in the freezing rain was still stupid. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?” 

“No.” 

“Good, because it doesn’t.” 

BB-8 beeped then, saying it would go with them as well. An arm shot out and a flame was ignited, squeals saying that it could keep them warm came from the droid. 

Mira probably didn’t want an entourage, but now she had one. 

“That’s not any better! You’re all going to get sick or lost,” Finn still protested, but sighed. “Fine, I’ll be here. If you guys aren’t back in an hour, Poe and I will come find you!” 

Hux turned back to Mira then. “I’ll wander a few feet behind,” he offered. Give Mira the illusion of privacy, if that’s what she wanted. 

- 

Johann felt confident that he’d identified the major players. At least that were there today. There were three noteworthy people, excluding both of the Generals. And Commandant Hux was not among those three. 

“A resistance pilot named Poe Dameron,” along with Black Squad, he had his fangirls. Johann didn’t mention those, his father probably didn’t even know what fangirls were. “He arrived with General Organa, I imagine he has some sway over the Resistance’s decisions.” From what Johann had heard, anyway. “He was involved in the fight, very much so, I believe.” Johann had seen him, along with the others he was going to name. 

“Then there’s Captain Phasma.” He’d known who she was in the lobby. It was hard not to. “The title of Captain doesn’t suit her, that much is clear.” Again, she appeared to have sway with the Order. At the very least, Hux probably trusted her opinion. That could be an issue in forging an alliance if Phasma put in a bad word of Tarkin. Johann didn’t feel the need to elaborate too much on her. 

“The Jedi played a rather large role in this all, as well.” She’d arrived with Leia and Poe. “She had a very prominent role in the fighting.” From what he’d heard, she’d partly initiated it. “Her name is Mira, I believe.” Or that’s what he’d heard. “She came with Organa and Dameron, but apparently Hux has a thing for her.” Some sort of mediator between the two organizations, likely. 

“Whatever General Hux and Organa were here for before the attack, I’m not positive on. An alliance of sorts, obviously.” But whatever else they’d agreed upon. “Hux was involved in the fray, certainly wasn’t the type to run and hide. I heard that even General Organa had been spotted on the battle field.” They weren’t Snoke, was what he was saying. 

- 

Phasma briefly wondered if Britney was even legal or if she was aware that the pilot hadn’t been interested in the computer program at all. Maybe she was too devoted to Poe to realize. 

She didn’t dwell on it long, being brought back into the conversation. There was no way to scoot around the subject and Leia seemed to trust the girl enough if she brought Phasma here. So, Phasma was open with what was going to happen. “We need to spy on someone. At the very least, we need to be able to hear what they’re saying.” 

Britney spared a glance at Leia, to make sure all was well and dandy before speaking. “You’ve come to the right person, Cap.” Britney turned back to the computer, and with a few presses of buttons, the projection changed to the security camera feed in the dormitories. “Who are we looking for?”

Fandom Star Wars

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

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