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Once one guard was taken out, Ariel knew it would be easier to take out the other. Especially with the pointy end of their weapon chopped off. Speaking of, she shook off the chain that still wrapped around her wrist, no longer powered by an electric current. She didn’t get a chance to look at the damage, not that she was sure she even wanted to.

The guard straightened their weapon, what was left of it snapping back into what could only be used as a blunt object. Ariel flourished her lightsaber, advancing on the guard with a wildness to her. She was angry, hurt, feelings that she was used to drawing on, feelings that fueled the Force when she fought. Now she was just fighting angry.

Her attempt to run through the guard with her lightsaber was thwarted by their broken weapon striking hers to the side. But she didn’t relent, her following blows delivered quickly, without aim, backing the guard up. Through the swish of the guard’s red robes, she spotted a movement of black. Their upper legs, unprotected by that red armor. She formulated a plan.

She reeled back and swung, knowing the guard would attempt to parry. She wanted them to, and she aimed low, for their hand. She took a blow to the face, the jagged end of the broken chain slicing across her cheek. But it was worth it when her lightsaber found their fingers, gliding right through them. With a twirl of her saber, she sliced through their leg, bringing them to their knees. She thrust the blue of her saber through their chest, through their armor. She felt their body grow heavy as they went limp and she used her foot to push them off. ‘The others.’

Paquin pulled herself to her feet, now wielding a foreign weapon. One she couldn’t have a practice run with as she caught a blow to the middle of it. The guard retracted, once again aiming to move the blunt end of their weapon against her face, but Paquin was quick enough to evade it. She unsuccessfully swept at the guard with one end of her weapon, the guard side-stepping and taking the chance to thrust their blade at her. She moved her weapon, deflecting enough to keep the blade from going right through her stomach, but it still cut through her side as it passed.

She shoved their blade away from her, reeling back her own and hitting them over the head with it. It didn’t penetrate their helmet or anything of the sort, but threw them off balance enough that as their arm rose to regain balance, Paquin wheeled it back around and thrust it just underneath their arm. And she pushed and pushed, deep as she could. Until she was sure she’d severed enough arteries, until their body crumpled to the ground. Only then did she pull the blade out, tossing it away from her.

She breathed, heavily, pushing away curls that stuck to her face with blood and sweat. Adrenaline that had coursed through her seemed to seep out of her like the blood from her wounds, and every ounce of pain she’d ignored throughout the fight seemed to hit her all at once.

-

Names were a weird thing for the lot of them, it seemed. Leia would have preferred to call Mira just that, but in their semi-professional atmosphere, it seemed better to address her by her rank, just as she’d want to be addressed as General. Remind these people she was there for business, though she didn’t think anyone would assume otherwise. There was no room for assumptions or challenges.

And then Leia felt slapped in the face again, by Mira’s mentioning of her son. Well, perhaps not so extreme. But she was jolted, blinking at Mira’s correction of his name. If Leia was honest, she wasn’t sure what she’d prefer her son be called. Both names took her out of it, but sometimes it was easier to call him Kylo Ren. So she didn’t have to explain this was her son. Or so she could separate her son from his actions. And sometimes she clung to Ben. She felt herself doing that more, now, after Mira came around.

She’d given Leia some sort of hope. Mira had abandoned Snoke, the Knights of Ren. She was still a part of the Order, but there was still a shift in her. Leia wanted to believe her son had that chance. Hell, whatever name he wanted to use, she’d accept if he came back. Leia knew she had her own issues with her name. She didn’t take Vader’s name when she learned he was her birth father. She didn’t take Han’s. She was an Organa. And if Ben was a Ren, so be it.

She just wanted her son to come home.

Leia pulled herself out of her daze, sighing. If Hux had the stone, and he’d been delivered to Kylo Ren? Surely the stone was in the hands of Snoke by now. Anything in the hands of Snoke was not good. But that was a different issue. “Well, the more information the better. Kafrene is good...Be--Kylo Ren is good,” he was obvious if he was seen, surely. “Do we have any information on the ship they left Kafrene in?”

“Working on that, too.” Adelaide again, interjected.

“Maz Kanata,” Leia said, finally answering August’s question. In case they thought to withhold information from her until she did. “She has her hands on a lot of contacts, I’m sure she has some in Kafrene, too.” She most definitely did, and Leia would have to update her with what she’d learned.

And frankly, Leia didn’t care what opinions might be had. She trusted Maz. Maz had managed to maintain peace in her castle, until the First Order came along and tore it up. And she no doubt could appreciate the need for discretion in this situation.
 
Kylo never relented his offensive pressure on the praetorian. With two weapons, one decidedly too short, he pressed him back, and back, until he had him against a wall. Kylo could imagine the sudden fear that must have crossed the face of the praetorian. He tried to feint right, but his body language was too obvious. Kylo dropped the voulge blade and reached forward, grabbing the guard by the arm and pulling him away from the wall.

He threw him right into the ground, and followed with plunging his saber through his head, that satisfying hole burning through the armor meant to protect him.

He looked up to see how Gnaeus was faring, and was relieved that it was well.

Gnaeus had managed to get back to his feet after realizing his hand was also by his side. He’d grabbed that quickly, and used it as a makeshift weapon, throwing it at the praetorian’s face. He backed up just a little, but it was enough. The adjustment of his strength let Gnaeus push away, roll away, and at least get up to his knees.

He didn’t immediately try to get further, but given his proximity and height, he thrust one blade at a leg.

It burned through the robe. It burned through the armor behind, going through to the knee.

The guard staggered and fell to their other knee – and then was finished by Kylo Ren, stepping up and pushing his saber through their chest. The guard fell forward, onto Gnaeus, who pushed him off to the ground, before deactivating his lightsaber.

Kylo looked around at the scenery. At everyone.

No one was dead.

Not even Hux.

There was a beat of silence as the realization of his own success hit him, and the others had a moment to digest what the hell just happened.

Kylo didn’t break that silence, coming down from the adrenaline shaking, as Gnaeus started to pull himself back to his own feet, and walk to retrieve his fake weapon, while blood continued stain his attire near his shoulder, and further down.

~***~

‘Kylo.’ Mira returned to her norm in her head. If Leia was going to use Kylo, then so, too, would she. It was still how she thought of him, and likely how she’d continue even if he ever returned to Ben.

He hadn’t exactly liked Ben, when they were with Luke, although back then he’d buckled under the weight of what ‘Ben’ meant.

The additional tidbit of information on who Leia’s contact was, had Mira relax a bit more. She had met Maz, while out of it. While with Terex, but nonetheless, Maz had recognized her – or something in her, really – and showed no problem with it. Mira drew her hands back, as August sighed.

“I don’t like Maz, but I know she’s good for any information,” he didn’t like Maz, because Maz had been a pirate, and had thwarted ancestors of his, evading capture. Even Wilhuff. That also meant he had a grudging respect for the little Pirate Queen, and was more than aware she had supposedly cleaned up her act. While he didn’t fully believe that, he knew she certainly wasn’t causing as much chaos as she used to. “We don’t have much more than what Mira’s said,” August confessed.

That Hux was in Kylo’s hands was known.

That it was Brendol and Terex who did the exchange on Kafrene, was also known.

“The Order has been taken over by Brendol, but that won’t hold,” August indicated, “Phasma is returning. From what she’s told me through a Mitaka, no one in the Order is really certain what to do. Brendol’s hold is tenuous at best.” He wouldn’t give him so much as a title, nor refer to him by surname.

General Hux was Hux.
 
Silence fell upon them, apart from the heavy breathing in the room and the sound of her own heart beating much too fast. She breathed out, shakily. Everything was shaky. Her eyes roamed the room, examining the bodies that lay about it. Examining her friends at a glance to determine if any of them had urgent injuries. Definitely cuts and bruises, and in Gnaeus’s case much more than that. But nothing she’d thought they’d die from right away.

Though, she was anxious to get to Gnaeus’s shoulder, sooner rather than later.

Her hand wandered up to her own wound, the worst of the two, anyway. She cringed as she touched it, losing any desire to look at it. It was long and deep, jagged from the vibration of the praetorian’s weapons. She let her hand drop. “Is everyone--” Paquin’s voice came out squeaky, at first. She cleared her throat, tried again, “Is everyone okay?” She hadn’t processed Snoke yet, what his death meant. Only that her people were alive and he wasn't.

Ariel felt sick. Her wrist burned. Her face ached. And she didn’t feel drunk anymore. She felt painfully sober, and as she calmed down, regained her breathing, she was painfully aware of what just happened. Her eyes found Kylo. She didn’t mean to ignore Paquin as when she spoke, but she couldn’t help blurting, “What the fuck, Kylo?”

Snoke laid lifeless on the ground by his throne. Ariel hated him, she did. She feared him. He'd hurt her, hurt her loved ones. She wasn’t upset he was dead. Just confused, shocked. Relieved, all at once. And lost.

“I...we--a little warning next time you kill the Supreme Leader?” What did they do now? How would they explain this? This facility was full of people who worked under Snoke, just like the guards. They couldn’t take all of them. She and Kylo could fair well. But Paquin was a shade of white Ariel didn’t think was possible. Gnaeus had to use his fake hand as a weapon and what was his good arm was now acting as a faucet, actively leaking blood.

-

“Brendol can’t lead,” Leia wasn’t concerned about Brendol having much power over the Order. Leia had been involved in many conversations regarding that man and his son, and the younger Hux seemed to have more popularity amongst the Order’s supporters. Brendol mainly had the connection of older Imperials, a species that was dying out. Though, not quickly enough for Leia.

And she doubted anyone who worked under Hux would be so easily accepting of Brendol. It was common knowledge they loathed each other.

When Phasma returned, that would be a conversation for her and Mira to have. To figure out how to handle that. She was sure they could easily get assistance for it, if needed. Leia was undecided if the Resistance would offer any help in that regard.

“And this Terex? Any idea where he is?”

“He left with Brendol, but we haven’t heard anything about him being with the Order.” Adelaide offered. The culprits and the kidnapped were all scattered, two entirely unknown.

“Right,” Leia turned to Finn, “Would you mind reaching out to Maz? Give her the new information?”

Finn nodded, already dialing it up on his datapad. Maz was strange, but he liked her. And she was an incredibly resourceful woman. Old and wise. Of course, he wouldn’t say the old part. Even if they all knew it.

It was then that the aforementioned woman came in, Phasma. Changed out of the dress and heels she’d worn not long before, but not dressed in her armor either. She had it in her ship, but she dressed only in the thermal layer she’d typically wear under it. Her armor felt a bit much for the situation then. She seemed surprised to see Leia there, as she entered, but greeted her. “General Organa,” she allowed, before turning her attention to Mira and August. “Have you kept Admiral Vallens informed of the situation?” She asked. She herself had been kept updated by Mitaka. Apparently Brendol wasn’t being very convincing, quick to demand but not explain anything. Mitaka had been confused when she told him Hux had been kidnapped.

Mitaka had also mentioned hiding Hux’s cat in his quarters, after that. Apparently Brendol had asked about the Commodore.
 
Ariel’s reaction was the break in the calm that was needed. Kylo let his gaze move to her, still a bit dumbfounded. Not that she spoke over Paquin, not that she spoke at all – but that he was successful. The Supreme Leader was dead. ‘Long Live The Supreme Leader.’

“Well, there shouldn’t be a next time,” he said. He was the Supreme Leader now; who could question him? He didn’t think he’d be trying to kill himself anytime soon. His gaze moved to the lifeless corpse of Snoke, still in disbelief. There was no way to explain this.

He had tried to think this far ahead. Tried to hope the praetorian wouldn’t be involved, and it could all be blamed on Hux. That wasn’t happening. Hux was still asleep. Kylo almost envied him.

“I’m not okay,” Gnaeus said, walking back to where he had been, and promptly sitting down. His color wasn’t good, that was clear as Kylo spared him another glance now that he had his hand. He didn’t put it on. He just dropped it into his lap. He was dazed in his own way, whether blood loss, shock, or some mixture of all that was to blame, Kylo couldn’t say.

He swallowed, “Paquin, can you take a look at him?” There wasn’t much to be done in this room, but they had to figure something out before just opening the door and stepping out, and so he moved across the room to Ariel. “We need a story.”

“You didn’t think of that?” Gnaeus could still complain, apparently. Maybe it wasn’t worth looking at his arm. He’d be dead by the reaction to this.

“I didn’t have time to think! How often does a stone that stops the Force fall into our hands?” How often did they have a way to kill Snoke? “This was an opportunity that we couldn’t—I couldn’t waste.” He probably shouldn’t say ‘we’. He dragged them into this without warning or discussion.

~***~

Phasma joined soon enough, as Finn stepped aside to call Maz. ‘The gang’s all here.’ But not Hux. Hux was an unknown and so was Terex. Mira certainly wanted to find Hux first, but she wouldn’t mind a side-trip to Terex, wherever he’d run off to.

“Yes, I have kept Admiral Vallens informed,” August wondered why Phasma thought he wouldn’t. Perhaps to prevent further risk to his home? Thankfully, she had remained calm throughout. “General Organa is up to speed, as well, and it seems we’re now involving Maz Kanata – I suppose she might have information on Terex.” Or be able to find it quicker than most.

August eyed Finn as he saw the little woman appear over the datapad. He couldn’t make out what was being said from this distance, but assumed that Maz didn’t have much to offer just yet. She would. Later.

“We’re still unaware of where General Hux is,” August indicated, “as well as Terex. I am not sure if locating Terex will assist with that, but if he is outside the Order, that makes him easier to apprehend, unless you’d rather attempt to get into the Order, and at Brendol, first?”

He had resources. He had plenty of resources for such things, and was certain if Phasma pulled a few strings with Mitaka, they’d find their way. They could probably get onto a ship not with the main fleet, and then take a First Order transport, there.
 
Paquin only nodded when Kylo asked her to take a look at Gnaeus. She wordlessly wandered over to him, dropping herself down next to him on the side of his injured arm. Paquin had nothing to contribute to whatever story Kylo and Ariel intended to weave. How would they be able to explain any of this? Who would they pin this on? They couldn’t pin it on Hux.

He was lucky enough to sleep through the entire thing. Paquin was beginning to wonder if he’d had too much of whatever he’d been given.

Paquin did her best to wipe her hands free of what blood was already on them, an attempt to be more sanitary in the situation. Gently, she examined Gnaeus’s wound, careful not to poke or move him in a way that would hurt. “You’re not going to die,” she offered. Not then, at least. She would have to make do with what was available. She scooted herself closer to a dead guard and attempted to tear a piece of their robe off, only to sigh when she couldn’t get the strength.

She used a discarded weapon to tear off a long strip, returning to Gnaeus’s side. “Lift your arm,” she softly instructed so she could slip the fabric underneath and around his shoulder, tying it tight to halt the bleeding. That was all she could do while they were holed up in the room. After she finished her task, she found herself lying down on the ground, basking in the coolness of the flooring. She was tired. She was sure they all were.

Ariel watched her two friends as she tried to think of what to do. She shook her head. Kylo didn’t think this through. “We can’t put this on Hux. The guards, maybe? Stab one of their weapons through Snoke’s head, say they saw the opportunity. We killed them in self-defense. Or revenge.” They were essentially bred to be guards, but...well, apparently there came a point when someone was tired of servitude.

“Maybe if you’d mentioned something beforehand we could have worked to make a damn story.” The guards were all clearly slaughtered by lightsabers. Snoke too, but they could cover that up. How would they get anyone to believe Hux wielded a lightsaber and decapitated a praetorian? They were horrible with communicating everything. From feelings to plans to murder the Supreme Leader.

-

Phasma had given updates to August along the way, assumed he’d use his own judgement to decide whether she was stable enough to hear any of it. Phasma only knew of the chaotic mess that she’d left behind, and was honestly surprised to see Mira among the group when she’d returned. She was glad, though. Glad she’d calmed and would hopefully be up for engaging, finding Hux.

And August had kept her updated, which saved Phasma time and energy to explain it.

“Finding Terex, as of now, is on the back burner. Mitaka didn’t say anything about Terex being with Brendol when he’d arrived. We have nothing to suggest Terex knows anything beyond handing General Hux over to Kylo Ren,” it was still strange to Phasma, to be working against Ren and Snoke after so many years. But at the end of the day, she was loyal to the Order. Or rather, Hux, at that point in time.

“Unless we get any more information on where Hux might be, I believe it to be wise to regain control over the First Order. Before Brendol’s lead plunges it too deep into chaos,” exactly the opposite of Order. Brendol might believe he understood how to carry the Order, but Phasma was certain he’d be surprised the lengths Hux went to, the things he managed.

“If he doesn’t know where the Knights of Ren took Hux, he should at least have a way to contact Snoke,” Phasma figured, anyway. “I can contact Mitaka, get information on any incoming First Order ships we can intercept.” That would be the easiest way to get on, hide amongst an expected ship. Phasma was already wielding her datapad, typing away a message on it. "Mitaka can piece together a few people on the inside to help, I'm sure." Phasma had more of a hold within the Order, specifically the Finalizer, than Brendol did.

Finn rejoined them, then, putting his pad away. “I spoke with Maz. She says she’s going to investigate and contact us when she hears something relevant,” he wasn’t sure what she was doing, but he trusted her. She also mentioned, fleetingly, about how she’d seen the Knights recently on Takodana. Something about getting a hand. Literally.
 
No, of course they couldn’t put it on Hux, but Ariel suggested something Kylo hadn’t even thought of. Due to the loyalty of the guards, as seen in their strewn bodies, he hadn’t considered that they could be used as scapegoats. Likely, he was too close to the situation to think of that, but Ariel had a point. “It wouldn’t be a surprise if one of the guards took the stone to take to Snoke, and used the opportunity.”

As he, himself, did. They had brought things forward to Snoke before, and Snoke was likely wishing he’d shown that caution this time around…but he thought he had the knights under control.

“Snoke could easily slip and say what it was during all of this…,” and then the opportunity was taken, as Kylo took the opportunity…and all the praetorian were dragged into the mess by one rash decision. He stepped aside to pick up one of the double-blades, deciding one of those guards would be at fault. It helped that the blade was a bit thicker than a lightsaber and would be easy to twist and cover the lightsaber wound.

“I’m sorry I didn’t mention it. I still wasn’t sure,” he planned it.

He hadn’t figured out how he was going to go about it – maybe they could have helped with that – or maybe they would have warned Snoke, or slipped up and revealed it all, somehow.

His gaze shifted briefly over to Gnaeus and Paquin. Paquin, who was lying down now, and Gnaeus who remained sitting, arm in his lap. They needed to get closure on this quick so that they could be seen in the medbay.

And probably Hux needed that. He was still asleep.

~***~

August wouldn’t argue with making Terex a lesser priority. The main ones were Hux, and making sure the Order didn’t crash and burn. He still needed the Order as an ally, much as Leia did. Brendol, in all likelihood, was the one who had been working with Snoke more directly, and had set this up to achieve his lofty dreams of being General.

“Agreed,” August said. “If need be, we can also use my Revenant.” His stealth-craft, that he still considered his dearest child. After Johann, of course. Though he’d usually have Johann with him; if it came to that, he’d have to drag Caius along with him, because while he could use it as a single-pilot, it wasn’t ideal.

“What is the plan even when we get on?” Mira asked, “There’s only so much convincing I can do with the Force to get us through the hangar.” If the hangar was full, she wouldn’t be able to convince everyone.

“Well if we get Stormtrooper uniforms, we might not need to use too much of the Force,” August considered, “Unless we come in the Revenant,” in which case they wouldn’t be expected and as soon as the cloak fell when they were in a hangar, it’d be utter chaos. “There should be some here, with the group that you and Hux arrived with, no?” August glanced to Phasma for confirmation on that.
 
Ariel sighed, accepting Kylo’s apology. She could understand his uncertainty, she supposed. But at the same time, Kylo had to know that once he even thought about killing Snoke, it was either he followed through or they all died for those thoughts. Snoke would have heard them in Kylo’s head. It wouldn’t have been something he tolerated, not from Kylo, anyway.

It didn’t matter now.

“You were thinking about it on the way here,” Paquin mused from her place on the ground. His mind had been occupied from the time they’d acquired the stone, she’d noticed. She’d assumed it was for the same reason she was anxious, but now she realized it was because he was debating whether or not to kill their problem.

Ariel crossed the room, picking up Paquin’s saber that had been discarded during the fight, returning it to its owner by setting it atop Paquin’s legs. She extended both her hands to her seated companions. “Come on, I don’t think sitting around will do you guys any good.”

“Well--”

Ariel hushed Paquin. “We have our story now, we need to get you two to the medbay. Hux, too, I think there’s something wrong with him.” Well...what would they do with Hux now? Maybe she was thinking too far ahead, but for that she briefly turned her attention to Kylo. “Speaking of...what do we do with him now? Snoke was the one that wanted him.”

Hell, everything they did was what Snoke wanted. What would they do now? What was their goal? But Ariel held those questions, that would be something to discuss later. “Should we just kill him?”

-

“There is, yes.” Phasma confirmed. Probably some spare armor parts in their ships somewhere, too, if needed. “If this works out as well as I want it to, we won’t need the Force. At least, not until we have Brendol in our hands.” Mira would be useful in rifling through his thoughts, so they wouldn’t have to waste time with torture droids or anything of the like.

Or who knows, maybe once they had him he’d squeal like a pig.

“I imagine he’s on the bridge playing General,” which was deep within the ship, in comparison to the hangars. That could prove to be difficult, if they couldn’t breeze by as Stormtroopers. “All we need to do is get close enough to capture him,” couldn’t kill him, not until they knew General Hux’s fate and whatever information the father held.

“The hope is to wrangle Brendol and regain control of the Order, but if nothing else, we just need Brendol out of there.” Those in rank that would assume control were mostly appointed by Hux, they had to be somewhat competent enough to last until they retrieved Hux. “Mitaka can help internally,” cover up their access, possibly lure Brendol someplace if needed. “And if nothing else, if things in the hangar prove difficult, I can push ahead to Brendol.”

Going off alone wasn’t ideal, and would likely end with her having to drag the ginger back through the ship on her lonesome, blasting her own troops. But if it was what had to be done…Phasma’s pad dinged again, no doubt Mitaka delivering upon those incoming ships.

“Do you need my help?” Finn asked then, briefly dreading the possibility of having to put on Stormtrooper armor again. But if Mira needed him, he would. And maybe he wouldn’t have to. Stay in the ship or something. But either way, he offered.
 
Gnaeus looked down at his not-hand when Ariel offered a hand to take, to get up. He should probably put the fake hand back on properly, but the situation wasn’t really allowing for much logical thought. He was tired. He was wounded. He didn’t like his fake hand, anyways.

So, he took Ariel’s hand for help up, and let his fake one clatter to the ground.

His gaze drifted to Hux as Ariel inquired about what was to be done.

Kylo continued up to where Snoke was, and he coldly thrust the praetorian’s blade into the wound he’d created, and twisted it, enlarging it, “No, Hux still has his uses to us alive.” Obviously, it didn’t matter to Brendol Hux whether or not his son lived. He had the Order. Hux, alive, was a threat to that stability.

There were reasons to kill him. Even Kylo knew that, and considered it.

However, there were other reasons to keep him alive. “Snoke wanted him alive to deal with Mira.” Because where Hux was, Mira was soon to join. Kylo tossed the blade haphazardly onto the ground. “Mira is still against us.”

He didn’t phrase it as her being an enemy any longer. Snoke was to blame for that. There was the chance Mira might come around now. She had before. She had trusted in him, before. If she saw that he had made changes to get back on track, then maybe…maybe quite a bit could be rectified.

He walked to where Hux was still laying, and bent to pick him up, though a bit cautiously. He wasn’t entirely convinced that Hux wasn’t faking – he had to be prepared in case the asshole tried to bite him, or something.

“…Let’s go inform the others.”

~***~

The Force might be unnecessary, but Mira wasn’t above reckless use of the Force against Brendol. She kept that thought to herself. Best not to mention what kind of torments she was concocting in her head, or to think long on them, lest they fire up her own anger again in a manner she couldn’t control.

Better to lose her cool around Brendol, anyways. It would hurt the right person, then.

“Phasma, you hardly need to push ahead alone,” August indicated, with Mira nodding. Both of them were fairly capable, “Although I suspect at least one person would need to stay back with the ship if it comes to something like that, we’re all invested in seeing Brendol’s reign come to a short end, and doing as little harm to the Order’s forces as possible.”

Which, he figured, Mira could help with, to some degree. The Force had its benefits, even if they should plan on ways not to use it. “We’ll hope Mitaka has an in to the Order.”

Finn spoke up, and Mira’s immediate thought was to reject it. However, if she did lose it? Well, she was a danger to everyone around her.

Leia considered Finn’s offer, as well, and was about to speak to the situation and what the Resistance could, or would, contribute – except, she lost her words in a feeling that dropped her jaw.

She wasn’t the only one to shift. Mira’s gaze suddenly shot skyward, bewildered, confused – and gradually, manic with a glee that came with the unexpected feeling, and then a burst of bubbling laughter that was followed by a few objects nearby starting to float in the air.

August was just confused, but Leia met his look, somewhere between that same manic look in her own eyes, and immense confusion, as well. “Snoke is dead.”
 
Paquin hooked her lightsaber back into its usual resting place, taking Ariel’s other hand as she helped pull both her and Gnaeus up. Paquin frowned as Gnaeus’s hand clattered to the floor. She wished he’d be more accepting of it, though she understood why he wasn’t. So she didn’t comment on it then. Instead, she silently picked it up. She’d hold onto it until he was ready for it again.

Ariel found herself uncertain with Kylo’s response. In the way he mentioned Mira. Ariel had a feeling keeping Hux alive was meant for more than just luring Mira to them. With the stone and the fact nothing inside its range could be felt, they didn’t really need to keep Hux alive.

The idea didn’t please her, but she said nothing to confirm her suspicions. She hoped her assumptions were just that. “Whatever you say, Supreme Leader,” that’s what he was now, wasn’t he? Well, she just wanted to get Paquin and Gnaeus taken care of in the moment. They were both out of it, but Gnaeus...Ariel worried about him. Her hand found his back, a gentle guide. “As long as we ditch that stone soon.” Being without the Force wasn’t fun, but for as long as they had? It didn’t feel right.

Paquin pushed forward ahead of the little line they’d formed to open the set of doors, no guards to do it now. Her wound stung in her little rush, head swimming as the cool air from the hall breezed by. The hall was empty, but the bustling from beyond it could be heard. No one was aware, not yet.

And then a noise came from Hux, something akin to a snore. That was probably a good sign.

-

The room had been quiet before, but it seemed to find itself in a dead silence the moment Leia uttered the words ‘Snoke is dead’. Mostly met with confusion, doubt. Adelaide idly reached out, grabbing one of the floating objects out of the air to anchor it down, simply processing. How could Snoke possibly be dead?

“How…?” Finn mumbled, trailing off. He wasn’t sure what he was asking ‘how’ to. “What does that mean?” Who killed Snoke? Hux? No way. But then who did that leave? It couldn’t have been the Knights of Ren. Couldn’t have been Kylo Ren.

But...why couldn’t it have been? If Kevan...if Mira had a change of heart...why not Kylo, too?

“You’re sure Snoke is dead?” Phasma questioned, brows knitted together. It wasn’t some ploy? “That he wasn’t just masked?” Phasma nearly said ‘by the stone’ to finish her sentence, but the knowledge of the stone was limited. Quiet, and she’d keep it that way simply because she didn’t know if everyone here knew.

Leia shook her head, “No, no, this is certain.” The feeling of loss in the Force, it was different than not being able to reach something. It was distinctive, definitive. And Snoke was gone. Leia felt overwhelmed by an onslaught of emotions. Confusion, glee. And hope. For what this could mean.

And she found herself retreating into herself, into the Force. She braced herself against a wall, searching. Calling, looking for her son. But there was nothing. Not even him ignoring her, shutting her out...just…nothing. ‘Ben.’ She sighed, accepting she wouldn’t be able to reach him, then.

She looked to Mira, “Do you still have any way to reach them?” She didn’t mean to change the subject from the Order, but this was monumental. And just for a moment, the mother in her won out over the general.
 
Kylo paused as he was addressed as Supreme Leader.

It was obvious, of course, that such was the role he’d taken up, but it was nonetheless strange to actually hear it, and from Ariel. ‘No one else would hold the role.’ True enough. No one would question that Kylo Ren was next in line for it. He certainly knew of no one else that Snoke may have been grooming for it. ‘Although he has…plenty of surprises.’

Kylo would have to be prepared for the potential of a clash, at some point. He’d have to find a way to maintain his position in the face of that.

Still, he gathered himself again, and followed them out, Paquin leading the way. While he held the stone, he knew there’d be little relief for any of them. “I plan to.” He didn’t think he wanted to get rid of it. It might come in hand. “First, medbay.” Then he’d figure out what to do with the stone.

Hux was alive, at least. The sound he made at least confirmed that. Maybe he was starting to wake up. ‘Maybe you should have actually cuffed him.’ Problem for medbay to figure out. Which, he didn’t know where medbay was, here, but when they left the hall up to the Supreme Leader’s throne room, he had a feeling that answer would come soon enough.

The bustling of some, stopped.

And then others noticed.

“Where is Medbay?” Kylo boomed out, and one soldier stepped forward.

“T-this way.” The soldier said.

“What happened?” someone else pushed through, “Are we under attack?”

“We were,” Kylo noted, “Snoke’s praetorian guard betrayed him.”

~***~

Mira’s laughter died down, but the exuberant energy didn’t. Snoke was dead! And unlike the others, she had no questions of how. ‘Kylo.’ She knew it – why, she didn’t understand, but she knew that, because after all the shit that had happened, what else would Kylo do? He was watching Snoke mess everything up.

And for once, she truly felt the hope Leia felt.

Kylo would come back.

She didn’t answer Finn immediately, but let the shift of conversation direct any changes to plans. Mira did chime in to Phasma, “Death feels different than what the stone does. When someone joins the Force, their presence isn’t gone so much as…yanked away.” A pull. A break. The stone was more like stepping out of a room. Dying was a severance. The person was still with the Force, but their ego, their personal identity, was lost.

‘And for the record Snoke – fuck you.’

“Yes, I have a way.” Mira hadn’t thought of it, but Snoke’s death – she remembered. “Kevan’s communicator – I still have it, it’s in the Nymph.” She had brought the Nymph here, as well. “I’m sure I could reach one of the Knights with it."

However, that wouldn’t be enough. She looked to August, “If I can, can we track where they’re answering from?”

August glanced to Yularen, who gave a nod.

“Why didn’t you think of this earlier?” Though Adelaide didn’t sound angry, she did sound annoyed.

“I’m not used to having Kevan’s things yet.”
 
“The guards..I-where’s Supreme Leader Snoke?” The same person asked, though they had a feeling.

“Snoke is dead. The praetorian killed him and turned on us,” Ariel answered. “We handled the threat. Kylo Ren is the Supreme Leader now.” Even though Ariel had called him that a bit mockingly, he still was now. Which was weird. And she couldn’t determine if it felt natural or not. She just continued to lead her friends on, after the soldier.

The crowd of officers and soldiers broke back into their noisiness, confusion and uncertainty amongst them, but Ariel would leave that for later. Besides, Kylo had killed Snoke. He can deal with the aftermath of it.

The medbay was a medbay. Crisp, sterile, clean. Mostly empty, the medics springing to life at the sight of them. “What happened?” A woman asked as Paquin mindlessly took to the sink, scrubbing away at her hands.

“Casual stabbing,” Ariel ushered Gnaeus onto one of the cots that adorned the room before she went to fetch Paquin, to force her to sit too. Only Paquin navigated around her, dragging a cart of instruments along with her. She settled beside Gnaeus, slipping on a pair of gloves. “Hey, Paquin, maybe you should--”

“Miss, we can do that. You should have your own wound looked at.” That same woman suggested, her hand finding Paquin’s arm.

Paquin didn’t take to that idea, frowning at the woman as she pulled her arm to herself. “I can do it.” Maybe her hands were a little shaky, but she could still do her job. This was the one thing she knew she could do. “Hux will wake up soon,” she mumbled as she untied the strip of robe she’d wrapped around Gnaeus’s shoulder. This medic could deal with Hux.

-

“There’s been a lot to think about, anyway,” Finn thought to defend Mira. He was sure a lot took precedence over trying to contact Kylo Ren again. Like avoiding him. And Snoke. And just about everything else that happened in the last few hours alone.

Leia shook her head, a smile incessantly pulling at her lips, “All that matters is that we have a way to contact them now.” She had to stop herself from getting too excited. There was still a situation at hand. There was still the matter of even getting a hold of anyone. There was still Hux and the issue with the First Order.

But the monster who had tormented her son for so long, who tormented Mira. Who waged war against them. He was dead.

Phasma couldn’t say she understood anything, certainly not the Force, in its entirety. But she supposed all she could do was trust Mira and Leia’s feelings. If Snoke was dead, Hux could still be alive. If his death hadn’t been felt. But it also could only be a matter of time. Kylo Ren never liked Hux, and Hux had never liked Kylo Ren. If Kylo Ren had even been the one to kill Snoke, which wasn’t something Leia and Mira seemed to be questioning.

Priorities shifted. Getting the Order out of Brendol’s clutches was second to getting Hux back safely, now. “Why don’t you go retrieve it and we’ll be prepared to track it when you get back,” Phasma addressed Mira, for she would know what to get. “If anyone even answers.”

“I’ll go with you,” Finn was quick to volunteer, if only to get his questions answered. What did this mean? Was Kylo going to try to come back? Finn could’ve sworn he felt a sting run up his back, run up the wound Kylo Ren had inflicted on him when he was trying to protect his friend. And of the other Knights?

Finn was sure all their heads were racing with something. Questions, confusion. Excitement exclusively on Leia and Mira’s parts.
 
Kylo was aware that he would need to deal with the matter of Snoke’s death. There would likely be some sort of speech required, to get the news out about the tragic death of Snoke, and how they were going to continue from there. Kylo hadn’t exactly practiced for this, nor was he certain about proceeding when one mystery loomed ahead of him.

For now, he was content to move into the relative safety of the medbay, and drop Hux on the first open cot he saw – hardly gentle, but he didn’t care, as Paquin moved to deal with Gnaeus, “She was a medic before becoming a knight,” he told those fluttering about, “Leave her to Gnaeus and then see to her.”

As much as he wanted to see Paquin helped, he would allow her this. He understand the need to be busy, to be acting, in that moment. To distract. And he didn’t think Gnaeus was going to be terribly inclined to let unknowns deal with him, right then.

Gnaeus barely acknowledged Paquin, in truth. He still seemed quite distant, quite distracted, from everything, but he followed the cues well enough so Paquin could look him over.

“Check Hux. Get him under restraints, and make sure he’s going to survive whatever poison he was given,” Kylo directed the staff, before touching his pocket idly where he’d shoved the stone back into. He needed to take that somewhere away from here. “I’ll be back, I’m going to the ship,” he told them.

It seemed the best place for it, for now.

He could likely speak to a few others about the situation with Snoke, as well. Start the process of spreading information, and locking things down.

~***~

Mira nodded. She could get the device, and she could try to reach someone. She had a good feeling – Snoke, after all, had answered when she called. If Hux was still alive ‘And I haven’t felt his death’ then why wouldn’t Kylo? He killed Snoke! He had to be open to something more, something other than the path he was on, right?

“Come on, Finn,” Mira wouldn’t hesitate in the least to get out of that space and let them set up. They’d likely also prefer to have the time to talk about ‘plan b’, if this plan didn’t work out. To prepare to infiltrate the Order, based on what information they could get from Mitaka.

Mira made a mental note to thank Mitaka for protecting Millicent, and helping all of them.

As soon as they were in the lift to get down to the bottom floor (although jumping out a window had crossed Mira’s mind, stealing a random speeder likely wouldn’t have good results, even in these times), Mira didn’t forget to address Finn’s questions: “Kylo killed Snoke. I’m sure of it,” she told him, “He might—we may be able to bring him back.”

Not something Finn would be thrilled with.

Not that she blamed him for that. She wasn’t going to be close to forgiving Kylo Ren, in spite of all she’d done, but…for Leia. For Leia, she’d try. “I don’t know how. Snoke was always immensely more….” And then, it dawned on her. “The stone. Hux had the stone!”
 
Paquin hadn’t even thought to explain that she had been a medic before all this. Forgot she wasn’t recognized easily for being one like she was in the Order. The momentary reminder made her pause for a beat and with a blink she was back to work on Gnaeus. She did think to protest Kylo leaving until she looked him over, but she didn’t. He had the stone and it would probably be better for it to be taken away, first.

And it was relieving, once the stone left their range. Ariel couldn’t find words to compare it to, the feeling of the Force returning. Relieving, immensely. The sick feeling in her stomach faded away. She felt lighter, less tired.

Paquin flushed Gnaeus’s wound, closed it, slathered on bacta and rewrapped it. She had to cut away at his armor to reach it properly, but it already needed repairing before she touched it. Gnaeus didn’t seem to acknowledge her, and she wouldn’t make him. “You should rest. I’ll ask about getting you something to snack on, some water.” He’d lost a bit of blood, it was important to encourage regeneration. And then Paquin focused on Ariel as the other medics were focused on hooking Hux up to an IV.

“No,” Ariel denied her. “Go sit, get yourself looked at.” Paquin’s wound was worse than any of Ariel’s, so the redhead ushered her to an available medic.

Only, medics made bad patients. Paquin shook her head, shooting a look to Ariel and the medic. Paquin was no stranger to fixing herself up, “I’ll take care of it myself.” Before Ariel could tell her that was a bad idea or the medic could insist, Paquin wheeled the cart of supplies away, grabbing something reflective as she retreated towards the back of the medbay.

Ariel sighed deeply, plopping herself on the cot next to Gnaeus’s. The medic Paquin denied took a look at Ariel’s wrist as she sat. “You guys are worrying me. I’m supposed to be the fucked up one. After Kylo, anyway.” Ariel spoke to Gnaeus, though she didn’t expect a response.

-

Finn, too, was eager to leave the Tarkin’s apartment, Though, it wasn’t his desire to leave Leia there on her own, but he knew she didn’t mind. She could handle herself in there. And Finn was tired of being surrounded by the First Order and well...Tarkin’s people. He was sure Mira would be happy to leave, too. That place, the people, she hadn’t had a break from like he did.

Some fresh air–as fresh as Coruscant air could be–would do her some good.

Tarkin’s apartment was much too high up, Finn decided, as he took his upteenth ride in the lift that day. Too high up, the lift was too slow. There was an excitement buzzing in the air, mostly from Mira. Who finally answered his questions. Though, he wasn’t sure if he was entirely pleased with the answers she gave.

Kylo most certainly killed Snoke. And there was a possibility of bringing him back. Mira was right to assume Finn wouldn’t be thrilled. He was less than thrilled, but he didn’t let any expression of it take over his face. Oh, how he wished to complain to Rey and Poe in that moment. They’d feel the same as him. But, at the end of it, this was for Leia. And if Kylo was on their side, the hurting he, the Knights, Snoke all caused would stop.

Finn didn’t have to forgive any of them. He didn’t have to try. He could tolerate them, if he had to.

He was lost as Mira exclaimed. “The stone?” Yeah, Hux had the stone. They knew that, that’s why they couldn’t… “Oh, the stone!” Snoke didn’t have power without the stone. He was just an old man. An old man against Kylo Ren. But that also meant Kylo had the stone, which might not be a good thing. The lift doors opened into the lobby of the building, but no time was wasted in it. “What if Ren doesn’t want to come back? Have you considered that?” Finn had to pose the question.

What if they read this all wrong? What if Kylo was just taking the power Snoke had for himself? And then he’d have Hux in his clutches, Snoke’s resources, the stone. Too many questions, not enough answers.
 
Gnaeus heard the bit about snack, about water. He couldn’t say he had much of an appetite right then, but he would eat. He found he actually wanted it, and managed a single, tired nod, as Paquin promised these things to him.

The bacta was bringing him around a bit, if only because the feeling of it seemed to force him to recognize that he was still present.

Gnaeus heard the bit of argument with Paquin, and turned his head enough to see Paquin retreat, before Ariel plopped down near him. A smile started to pull at his lips at Ariel’s complaint, but faltered, and fell off, as he went back to looking at his lap. ‘Well, when you have one hand and no Force….’ It was likely some small miracle that Gnaeus was even still alive, and in large part thanks to Kylo.

Even if Kylo was behind all of this.

And even if Gnaeus felt they had a lot more they needed to talk about. Sooner, rather than later.

Since it wouldn’t be happening, and since he was tired, and there was no snack, he leaned back. Collapsed back on the cot, knees still bent over the edge, and closed his eyes.

He’d rest, then.

~***~

Kylo could not make it to the ship without interruptions. The news already spread like wildfire. A few had gone to investigate and confirm that the praetorian, and Snoke, were dead. It seemed Kylo didn’t need to tell them to spread the information, but now he had to make sure it was spread correctly.

“Who leads this facility – besides myself?” Kylo finally asked, absolutely exasperated with the situation around him, and deciding he needed to work with a few officers.

“Allegiant General Pryde, Comman—Supreme Leader.” One of them finally said.

“Good. Tell him I demand a meeting with him in the next thirty minutes, and whoever else he feels should be a part of this meeting,” Kylo wasn’t familiar with the name, although he supposed he might have heard it before and just thought it was being used in…well, another sense, honestly.

He was half-expecting him to be a clone. In either case, it got the soldiers off his back for now so he could retreat to his ship and put away the stone.

~***~

The statement took a moment for Finn, just as it had taken a moment for Mira to realize the significance of Kylo having the stone. Still, as the lift came to a halt, and as they were let out of the Republica 500, Mira’s excitement dimmed.

She had not yet considered it. Not truly. This was too fresh, too new, to consider that Kylo Ren wouldn’t want to come back. “No,” she wouldn’t lie. “You’re right. I suppose…we should.” She should, Finn was obviously, already, on board with that.

Her arms folded over her chest as she walked beneath the rain again. No droplets touched her, this time, passive Force moving it aside. No umbrella needed. Gentle orange glow from the kyber. “I…I suppose it’s possible, but,” but how hard it was to consider it! She shook her head, “If he killed Snoke, it seems like he would want to go in another direction.”

That direction didn’t mean their direction, though, did it?

Mira sighed. “Either way…we have to try and get Hux back, while he’s alive. And if we can bring Kylo back, as well, it’s worth a shot, isn’t it?” A sidelong look, “Without Kylo, the war won’t last long. It will all start to fall apart for them.”

They’d win the war much easier, that way.

“Perhaps we can talk Leia into not coming, though. Just in case.”
 
They all could do with a minute to themselves. Even if it was just a period of quiet. Even if Paquin spent her time with watery eyes as she stitched herself back together in the privacy of a tiny refresher. She was quick to clean herself up a bit and abandon the top layer of armor. It was torn and she disliked it, anyway. She understood the need for it, though it seemed to prove useless against the guards.

She emerged clean, skin and hair slightly damp from where she scrubbed both her own blood and the guard’s from herself. The sight of her tempted Ariel to do the same. Or just shower entirely.

Paquin mumbled an apology to the medics as she approached them, knowing she’d been rude to them when they simply wanted to help. Paquin had just felt out of it and was particular about her and the Knights. And then she questioned about those snacks she had promised, She received an assurance Gnaeus would receive them soon.

He was resting when she rejoined them. Ariel, too, had abandoned the stuffy armor, pulled her hair up. A bandage wrapped itself around her wrist. “Kylo’s not back yet?” Paquin asked in a whisper, to which Ariel shook her head. It hadn’t been long, though, so neither of them would investigate.

The quiet was interrupted, then, by a groan and a rattling. Hux. Paquin moved around to the cot he rested upon as his eyes opened, eyes dilating to adjust to the light. “General Hux,” Paquin greeted, used to calling him such. He seemed confused as he looked at her, as he tried to remember what he could. He knew her, a medic, but...why was she here?

He threw up. Paquin rolled him onto his side so he wouldn’t choke on his own vomit.

-

Finn hadn’t meant to bring Mira down or dash her hopes, not that it seemed he did. He just wanted her to consider the facts. Snoke’s death was a good thing, but it didn’t mean it was a good deed. Another direction indeed, but not the right one. “Maybe he was just tired of being told what to do. Maybe he wants to do the telling.” And maybe it was hypocritical of Finn.

Finn had been raised by the Order, raised to fight for them, and he’d changed. Mira had changed and he’d accepted her. But...Kylo chose the dark, didn’t he? He killed, willingly. Finn refused to kill innocents his very first battle. Kylo had hurt him, his friends. Mira had never done that.

He huddled closer to Mira in her little bubble of a shield from the rain. He sighed, and said nothing. He informed Mira of the possibilities she didn’t consider, and he’d count that as his job done. And she had a point. They needed to try and get Hux back this way, and if Kylo was looking for a change, it was worth a shot. He wouldn’t deny Kylo a chance to change, just as Poe hadn’t denied him one.

“You’re right. We might as well give it a shot.” He allowed. Though, he did have to snort as Mira suggested convincing Leia not to go. “Easier said than done.” Leia was stubborn and this was possibly a turning point to get her son back. But, Finn was all for her hanging back. Hopefully she’d see sense in staying back, that there was a strong possibility this wasn’t what she thought it was.

It wasn’t long before they came to the hangar. It felt like a shorter walk to the ship than the lift ride down from Tarkin’s apartment. “And you’re ready to speak to him again?” Finn asked. Partly concerned with how she might react, emotionally. And partly concerned Kylo might be able to worm his way back in and convince her of something. If he was even the one that picked up.

"If you need a minute, or if you want me to hang back..." Finn offered, trailing off.
 
It was a delightful retching sound that greeted Kylo Ren as he returned to the medbay, still a bit frazzled, and certainly needing medical treatment he’d put off to handle the matter of putting the stone away. At least with the Force buffering him, he was able to keep the pain under control, and power through it much easier.

“He’s awake,” that was good. Kylo moved to take a seat, shrugging off his top armor so it could be tended to.

Best to ignore Hux for now; Paquin probably had that handled as best as anyone could, although he certainly would have preferred her to look over his wounds, he wasn’t going to be too picky right then as a nurse came over to examine it. “Do any of you know Allegiant General Pryde?”

“Who?” Gnaeus was at least awake enough for that, it seemed.

It may have helped that someone had just lightly tapped him and showed him cookies. He had sat up for that, and the juice that was brought. Perhaps childish things, but nonetheless – snacks, and sugar – energy.

That was a ‘no’ from Gnaeus.

One of the nurses spoke up, “He’s been in charge of this facility for a couple of years,” he said, “I don’t see him much, of course. He used to be with the Empire.”

‘Ah. One of those.’ Kylo immediately assumed he’d be like Canady or any of the other old assholes who thought they knew what they were doing, but were really just living on the so-called status of being an Original from the Empire Times.

~***~

It was possible that Kylo Ren no longer wanted to serve. That he had ideas of his own that did not fall in line with what the Order or the Resistance wanted. Mira had to consider that possibility in all of this, and she would. This reunion could be more heartbreaking than anything, but nonetheless, she wouldn’t approach this in a hostile fashion.

She was trying to be more diplomatic, anyways.

She noticed Finn come closer, and silently willed the bubble larger so that he had space and his shoulder wasn’t getting splattered with rain. “I know it won’t be easy…but Leia’s not irrational.” She knew what Kylo had done. What he remained capable of.

Some of it might depend on how the conversation went.

They came to the ship, and Mira paused with Finn. “No.” She admitted, “But I was never going to be ready,” certainly true. More than anything, she wanted to slam her fist into Kylo’s face, or tear him to pieces.

Kevan was gone, because of him – and if she wasn’t careful, Hux might also be gone, because of him. “I just have to retrieve a comm device, Finn,” she chuckled at his hesitance, “You can come into the ship. The actual calling is going to take place with an audience, anyways.”

Of that, she was certain. There was no privacy to her conversation once it was in Tarkin’s hands, and once they tried to track where it came from.

Mira wouldn't delay further outside the ship, but unlocked it, and stepped inside to locate where she put the device.
 
“Allegiant General Pryde...sounds pretentious,” Ariel commented as she eyed Gnaeus and his snack. She thought about asking for her own snack, but she felt she was too close to Hux’s vomit to have an appetite.

Paquin would have preferred to tend to Kylo, but she was unfortunately occupied with cleaning up Hux’s vomit. She didn’t think the medics there were incompetent, but she didn’t know or train any of them. And she was particular, especially when it came to the Knights. To Kylo. But for the moment she was caught up in the lack of food content in Hux’s vomit. Did the man ever eat? No wonder he was so skinny. And no wonder he’d been out for so long.

“Why do you ask?” Paquin inquired as she undid one of Hux’s restraints momentarily, to sit him upright. She had heard of Pryde, seen his name on some of her rosters, but she’d never met him. The person who was most familiar with Pryde was the one who was most out of it. All the times Hux had complained about him having the title of Allegiant General when Snoke refused to promote Hux beyond General, despite the work he did exceeding his rank.

And Hux could hear, even though he was dizzy and couldn’t risk opening his mouth lest he throw up again. He was still struggling to make sense of where he was, what was happening. Why was Pryde here? Did his father call for the man? Where even was here? ‘Mira?’ Did she have any involvement in...whatever this was? He remembered being with her at some point. Was she alright? He looked around for her, his vision blurred. He could make out a number of figures, none of which were even blonde. “Hello?”

“Hi. You’ve been kidnapped,” Paquin informed as she readjusted Hux’s restraints before taking the disposable linens and throwing them away. He stared after her, having more questions, still very confused. Paquin didn’t really have his answers. A medic switched places with her, supplying Hux with water via a paper cup.

A hand wash and generous squirt of hand sanitizer later, she found herself sitting next to Kylo. Quite literally looking over his shoulder to watch what the medic was doing.

-

Leia wasn’t irrational, no. Finn didn’t know Kylo Ren personally like Mira and Leia did, but he knew Ren could be deceptive. Hell, how else would he have gotten close enough to Snoke to kill him? Finn worried that Kylo would deceive Leia, or even Mira, into a false sense of security. Convince them that he’d changed and lure them out to where he’d hurt them. Or do worse than that. There were too many possibilities running through Finn’s mind. Most of them bad.

He sighed. He just wanted to protect his friends. Maybe that was hindering his perception of what could be, the good.

Finn followed Mira into the ship, but stayed by the entryway. He figured it would be best to stay out of the way as she looked for the comm. “I don’t mean to bring you down,” she had hope, that much he could see. His intent wasn’t to eliminate that. “I just don’t trust him and I want to keep everyone safe. This is a big thing, whichever way it swings, and I just think all potentials should be considered,” he explained. He didn’t have to, surely. She knew that already. She knew Kylo better than he did.

So he would say nothing discouraging anymore.

“I’ll be there for you,” he offered, “when you call. If you get overwhelmed, being in front of everyone and all…” well, he meant more so if speaking with Kylo was a bit too much. If she got angry or sad. He was there if anything happened, just like he had been in that room. Just as he planned to be for as long as he needed to. Which, if he could do anything about it, wouldn’t be long.

“And maybe...if Leia has anything to say...it might be good if she spoke to him? Being his mother and all,” maybe if he was on the fence, she’d be a push. Of course, that was dependent on if Leia wanted to talk with him and things were going well. He imagined she would want to talk to her son, but Leia was also Leia. They all probably had their own issues with Kylo and could very well snap at him at any moment. Or he could snap. Did Kylo even care about his mother? Based on how he stabbed his own father… “If nothing else, keep him on long enough to track him down.”

How did Finn get in this position? Following a former Knight, a First Order admiral to rescue General Hux, who had committed plenty of atrocities. And to try and recruit Kylo Ren back to the right sad, and Finn wouldn’t even touch that man’s sins…

Finn supposed nothing was black and white, was it?
 
Hux seemed terribly out of it. Kylo couldn’t quite help the smirk from touching his lips, some vindictive malice manifesting as Hux greeted Paquin with utter confusion, and she informed him he had been kidnapped. How much did he forget? How much did he remember?

Problems for later.

When he came around, he’d be annoying. Demanding. Petulant. Kylo wondered if it would be safe to knock Hux out again or if he’d already been through too much with just one little poisoning. He never did seem all that strong.

He focused on the bit of information about Pryde, though. Which no one seemed to have. Not much of a surprise, given Kylo didn’t know. “He seems to be the one set over this facility, and I’m going to have a talk with him in a half hour,” should he be concerned that Hux was listening?

Probably.

The situation was uncertain at this point. Ideally, if things turned south, it’d be easy to just kill Hux and nothing he heard would spread, but ideally wasn’t going well – least of all for Snoke. “We’ll all see for ourselves, soon enough.” He probably needed to have a cell or something located for Hux, didn’t he?

Stars, but he didn’t even know where the dungeons were.

He started to rise, but then remembered by a glance from the nurse that it might be a bad idea.

The small lacerations on his side were being coated in bacta to help heal and close them.

“Ariel, can you go find out where we can put Hux?” Like some discarded object, rather than a person.

~***~

Mira knew Finn wouldn’t be far, and she was grateful for that. He might not be in the picture when she called Kylo – most of them wouldn’t be. Ideally, Kylo would never know anyone else was listening in, though as Finn said it, she did consider how to work Leia in. “We’ll bring that up with Leia,” Mira said as she went back into the room she had more or less claimed as hers. It worked, for now.

Might work forever, if she opted to just turn this ship into a Stealth ship. She’d have to take a closer look at the blueprints. Probably work with some people.

Not that she could focus on that for long, as she found the comm device and stepped back out into the main area of the ship, holding it up for Finn to see.

“That’s the plan.”

To keep Kylo on, long enough that they could determine where he was, so they could at least try to get Hux. Stars knew she would remain worried and anxious about that – more than she was excited at the prospect of Kylo returning, she was worried about Hux.

“Let’s get back before Leia starts a riot in Tarkin’s home.”

Leia wouldn’t, but it was still hard to imagine her tolerating the presence of a Tarkin for long, just by names alone. Mira was assuming that August wasn’t as bad as Wilhuff…he didn’t seem to be…but she hadn’t known Wilhuff.

She would exit the ship and lock it back up, before stepping back out into the rain – again, that barrier rising around her and Finn. “I’ll have to teach you this, soon,” she said, wanting to try and keep some sort of positive future in mind. For the sake of not breaking down.
 
Ariel groaned as Kylo asked her to go find out where they could put Hux. Didn’t anyone there have that information? Nevertheless she hopped off of the cot she sat upon. And was she really following orders if she didn’t complain about them first? The answer to that was no, and she dreamed of going to bed early, passing out after drinking a bottle of something as she sauntered out of the medbay. Surely a clone or someone would have information for her.

“He probably shouldn’t be left alone. I don’t know what Brendol gave him, but it definitely messed him up.” Maybe too much for his height and weight. Was there any intent for Hux to simply overdose and die?

Brendol. That began to make things click in Hux’s head. He’d been with his father last...he’d seen him when Terex put him in a speeder…’Fuck.’ If Hux were certain he’d be making it out alive, he’d be plotting his revenge. But he recognized Ren’s voice...between him and Snoke, hell, even Pryde, he had little confidence he’d be making it.

“We’ll have someone keep an eye on him,” the medic working on Kylo commented. Paquin nodded as they finished by covering the bacta coated lacerations with gauze, so the bacta wouldn’t rub off. Paquin decided not to nitpick the medic’s work, since Kylo was treated sufficiently.

She rose as the medic departed. Her hand found Kylo’s arm, lingering to make sure he was alright. “You’re okay?” Not just physically, but killing Snoke couldn’t have been an easy decision nor thing to do. And that was the first moment Paquin realized that Snoke was gone. She didn’t have to hide or resist giving affectionate touches, didn’t have to worry about being executed for even thinking of Kylo in that way. Perhaps it was a small benefit in the grand scheme of things, but it made her feel that rush of warmth again. Though she said nothing more as Ariel returned with a clone companion.

“There’s open cells for him. Apparently they don’t take many war prisoners here,” Ariel declares as she plopped onto Hux’s cot, roughly clapping him on his leg to which she earned a groan and a weak attempted kick.

-

Finn was quick to huddle close to Mira once again to avoid the rain. Still, rain bounced off his jacket where his arm swung outside of the bubble, but he was far from soaking wet. He smiled as she mentioned having to teach him, glad she was thinking pleasantly into the future even despite the situation. “Oh yeah, top of the list.” Because it was very important to deflect rain.

Though he was sure it had other uses.

“I didn’t even know it rained on Coruscant,” he commented, a misconception he shared with many others, it seemed. He supposed water had to come from somewhere. To be fair, it was uncommon, the rain. And Finn had never read about it, nor experienced it the few times he’d been on the planet. He wouldn’t complain, though. He liked it. Though it was pretty, the way the lights bounced off of the rain drops for miles into the sky. And thanks to the barrier Mira created, he could look up at it without getting water in his eyes or splashing against his face.

Another short walk and they were back in the building, in the elevator. If anything, the lift ride was the most nerve-racking part. There were no distractions other than the ding to let them know they’d traversed another floor. No walking to be done. Just standing, waiting. And Finn took the time as they approached the top to give Mira a final act of support, a gentle nudge of his shoulder with hers. They’d get Hux back. Finn was certain of that, though he couldn’t explain how or why. The rest was up in the air, but he had her back through it.

The lift doors opened, followed by Finn opening the doors to Tarkin’s apartment for Mira. In sat Leia, whose face had been hard set until the two rejoined them, perking up. No doubt waiting anxiously the entire time. Phasma was hovering behind Yularen, watching what he was doing as he set up what was needed to track the signal. She looked up when they came. “Good, you’re back. I’ve spoken with Mitaka and have him standing by.” But first, the comm. Phasma stepped away, gesturing. “Whenever you’re ready.” She figured Mira would want a moment or two to gather herself beforehand.

And Finn nodded his head in the direction of Leia, a gentle reminder to mention something. Leia was normally calm, composed, but there was something anxious in her then. Which Finn felt was understandable.
 
Kylo couldn’t say he would have thought of having Hux watched for medical reasons, though some guards around him would be useful. He knew that Hux had moments of cleverness, and it’d be just his luck that he’d think of something to get out of a cell. He didn’t imagine the man capable of overpowering, or sneaking by too many guards.

But, he didn’t need Hux to die. Not yet. So medical staff would have to also be there, he supposed.

So, Kylo also nodded when it was mentioned that someone would watch him. “Try not to fall for any tricks of his. And don’t enter his cell without two guards.” In case they did fall for a trick of him being ‘sick’ or doing ‘worse’. A medic, and two guards.

Certainly that was more than enough to keep the ex-General from escaping.

The medic left his side, and he was about to get up to grab his top, when another hand replaced the one that had been working on him. He jolted; he still wasn’t used to the gentle touches, not yet used to wanting them, either, but he relaxed just as quickly as he heard Paquin’s voice.

He didn’t get to answer her immediately with Ariel barging in and sitting down by Hux, who did not appear happy to be joined by his fellow ginger. “Good.” They’d see him to a cell, with one of the medics. Kylo supposed he really was burning up his time before he had to see this Pryde character.

He let his gaze shift back to Paquin, and although it was still a bit strange, he lifted his hand to cover hers, “I will be.” This was an adjustment. A major one. He couldn’t say he was fine in the moment, but he would be.

And unfortunately, he couldn’t linger.

He drew his hand away, fingers trailing down hers, before he’d move off the cot. “We’ll get Hux to a cell. You, come with me, so you know where he’s at,” he pointed to the nurse who had tended to him, intent to get moving on this matter immediately after he dressed.

“Do we all have to come?” Gnaeus asked, still laying down.

Kylo sighed. “Yes. We all have to go meet Pryde, too. Put your arm back on.”

Gnaeus idly wondered if he’d have better luck arguing with Kylo about the arm thing, before deciding it was mostly pointless. “Where is it?” He had completely lost track of it after Paquin picked it up.

~***~

Mira couldn’t help the way her thoughts went back to Hux on the balcony, in the rain. The rare rain of Coruscant, that Finn wasn’t aware of, either. “Now and then…not often,” she told him as they walked on, and back to the Republica. Back into the lift.

Mira couldn’t deny the sense of both excitement and dread that built up in her, and the thought of what was to come. She had to stay focused on the goals, though.

Finn helped. The little nudge brought her back with a smile.

“I like him.”

It was not a voice Mira could hear, but a feeling shared, though she didn’t know it, as that orange glow stayed steady, and she walked back into the apartment, which looked more and more like a stretched out and scattered arena for a group project. Thankfully, things seemed to have been set up while she was away. “Thank you,” she nodded to Phasma, though included Yularen with a glance, before following Finn’s gesture.

She hadn’t forgotten.

She first approached Yularen, “Please set this up as you need, I’ll call in a few moments.”

“Got it,” he took it without ceremony and started to plug it into his devices, giving it something of a long cord, expecting Mira didn’t want anyone present in view…nor any of his equipment.

Mira then went over to Leia, “Do you want to be in the call, General Organa?” And not just an outsider to it.

‘Do you want to talk to your son?’
 
Paquin didn’t expect Kylo to reciprocate her touch, but she certainly wouldn’t complain that he did. She accepted his answer, too. She’d have been more concerned if he said that he was fine. Will be, she was okay with. His fingers trailed down, and she briefly tried to catch his between hers. Again, she found herself wishing for more time. But no desperation followed.

It wouldn’t be the last time they were allowed little moments like that. At least, not for any foreseeable reason.

Quick to be back on task, Paquin sought the hand she’d placed on a counter when they’d first arrived. She delivered it back to Gnaeus, offering him an encouraging smile. She knew he didn’t like it, didn’t want it. But it was better he had it.

Meanwhile, the IV was removed from Hux’s arm, to which he winced. Now that he was awake, he could drink instead of needing direct fluids. “Would it be offensive to say that you two look like siblings?” Paquin commented, really looking at Ariel and Hux together for the first time.

“Yes,” Ariel was quick to answer. “My jawline is stronger and my accent is better.” After undoing his restraints, she pulled Hux’s arm around her shoulders, the clone doing the same. Hux groaned, glaring at the ground as the two tried to force him to walk. He was thinking he’d rather be difficult.

“Why am I here?” That was the first full sentence Hux managed, his voice hoarse. Kylo Ren could easily invade his mind, Snoke even easier. They could get whatever information they wanted in seconds and then kill him. Not that he was complaining that wasn’t the scenario...,though it could be worse. But what was the point?

What did his father have to do with it? Pryde? He didn’t want to risk the potential vulnerability in the subject, but he also had to ask, “Where’s Mira?” Hoping for confirmation she wasn’t captured along with him. And if she had been? Well...

-

Finn went to observe Yularen, to give Mira and Leia a moment to discuss amongst themselves. That, and because he was curious about what the hell he was setting up.

And Leia was surprised, for a moment. She was anxious for the call to take place, and knew without a doubt she was going to bear witness to it. It was her son after all. But she hadn’t considered actually participating in it. Of course, her initial instinct was to say yes. Was it even a question? But then Leia had a few moments of doubt, of fear. She always imagined having the chance to reconnect with him, but now that it was presented to her, especially as something she had time to consider…

He’d killed Han. Done countless other horrific things. Would she even have anything nice to say to him? Would she even be able to say anything? And if the situation wasn’t what they thought…

Leia snapped herself out of it. There was no question. “Of course, please.” That was her son. Her son she hadn’t actually spoken to in so many years. This was finally her chance to bring Ben home, wasn’t it? She hoped anyway. Leia had always hoped.

Leia passed a hand over the braids pinned around her head, “Do I look okay?” she questioned, as if it mattered. It didn’t, actually, and had nothing to do with it. She just had to do something with that buzzing energy that only grew and boiled over with every second that passed. “Actually, don’t answer that.” She dismissed.

It seemed everyone else felt the weight of the situation as well, whether they knew it or simply felt it from the others. People had cleared their areas free of food, drink, whatever devices they had in front of them. Leaning forward, ready to listen in.

Except, of course, the First Order officers Phasma had decided were not appropriate to be a part of the audience. She shooed any unnecessary bodies out of the apartment. This was still a bit of a sensitive matter, in a way. Herself and Mira would be representatives of the Order well enough.
 
Gnaeus accepted the hand from Paquin. He forced a smile, as he went about getting the hand back into place. No, he didn’t want it, but he supposed it might make things worse if he showed up in this state, without his hand. That wouldn’t be a good impression on Pryde, anyways. ‘Do we need to worry about that?’ Probably.

Someone could decide to perform a coup and attempt to kill Kylo.

They still had to look strong.

Kylo definitely wrinkled his nose at the consideration of Ariel and Hux as siblings, “They look nothing alike,” it was just the hair, and even that wasn’t the right shade.

He would have gone to get Hux himself and just picked him up, but it seemed they wanted to try and let him walk. Or drag him between two people. He wouldn’t get between it unless they had issues, and he gestured them forward, moving to the door as Hux asked his questions.

He wasn’t going to answer the first one.

He was about to answer the second with something of a taunt, when the chime on his wrist sounded. He was immediately startled. He froze; only the knights tended to communicate that way, and when he looked down, it said ‘Kevan’.

“Kylo…?” Gnaeus’s voice held some anxiety to it, and Kylo shook his head, but pressed down on the button to answer it.

“Hey, Kyle!”

That was not his imagination, he was fairly certain he saw an orange figment in the static before the call connected, of Kevan, before he was replaced.

Leia.

Mira – that same orange seeming to pulse through the blue of the holo, crystals in her hair.

‘Mom.’

Kylo was speechless, but he immediately stepped out of the medbay for some semblance of privacy.

"...was I the only one to hear Kevan?" Gnaeus decided to ask. "I could believe it. I might be hallucinating."

~***~

Yularen was mostly plugging in a few wires to the device, and running those back through his datapad to go through encryption and mapping programs to read the signal that was coming through. He didn’t mind much that Finn was observing as he set it up, or else he might have tried to swat at him, but he didn’t really think Finn understood any of it.

Most didn’t.

August only had the barest understanding of it, which was why Yularen had a job.

He was ready, when the two would return.

After Mira opted not to comment on Leia’s hair, though it brought a slight twist of a smile to her lips. “Okay.”

They’d move to the designated area, clear of distractions, clear of anything that would give them away for location, really. Mira took a deep breath, before approaching the device again, and sending the call out. She did put her hand briefly on Finn’s shoulder, squeezed, before walking into the area.

It took a few seconds – but the call was answered.

Kylo appeared surprised, and he was the only one in the image, not full-body, but looking down at the device on his wrist. Chest-up.

He moved, a momentary blur, before he came to a stop.

Before he could gather his voice again, Mira spoke, “You killed Snoke.” It wasn’t a question. No, that wasn’t the question.

And yet, it required a confirmation of sorts, although Mira noted that he seemed to look around a moment. He wasn’t in a secure location. “No, Snoke was betrayed by his praetorian,” Kylo answered.

Mira’s gaze hardened. “Why don’t you take this call elsewhere, Kylo?”

“No,” he said, straightening, his need to command authority showing in a flash – his anxiety in the face of his mother trying to fade. “You didn’t call for information about Snoke’s death.” He wanted to focus on Mira and ignore Leia. It would be easier that way. Why was Leia there? Of course, he knew – Mira had joined the Order and the Resistance together. She would have access to Leia now.

But this was throwing him off more than he wanted it to.
 
Paquin spent a little more time analyzing Ariel and Hux. Sure, they had different facial structures. Different eye colors. But they were both tall. And had red hair. If she just overlooked the difference in the shades of ginger… ’I could see it…’

But the silliness of such thoughts were ended in a matter of seconds when Kylo’s comm went off, Hux’s questions going unanswered. It didn’t take much thinking to know the oddity of it, when all the Knights were in the room and Snoke was dead. Ariel could have sworn the breath was knocked right out of her when, for just a moment, something orange flashed through her vision. Kevan.

She tossed Hux’s arm off from around her shoulders, no longer caring about making him walk. But just as soon as Kevan appeared and spoke, he was gone. Replaced with Leia and Mira, the latter of which made Hux perk up. He got that answer, at least. She wasn’t there and that was what mattered. “Mira--,” he tried to fit in during Kylo’s moment of speechlessness, but the man was already on his way out of the medbay.

“Shut up,” Ariel shushed Hux.

“Fuck you.” If Ariel wasn’t caught up in that definitely being Kevan, she might’ve reacted to Hux swearing at her.

“No, I heard Kevan...I-he…It must’ve been...an old recording, or something,” Ariel acknowledged Gnaeus and dismissed it all in the same breath. He was definitely dead. They’d all felt it, right? Paquin, she had been there.

“And was that--” Paquin began to ask, only to be cut off by Ariel as she rushed past.

“His mother? Yeah.”

“Ariel, maybe you should let him have a moment.”

“I am, I am. I’m just listening.” She waved Paquin off.


Leia herself was at a loss for words when Kylo answered. She was grateful Mira could find words because after all this time, after actually getting a good look at her son...being able to speak to him...she was shaken. Frozen. All the things she wanted to say to him disappeared from her head.

And then came back to her all at once. Her head was swimming with a thousand thoughts running a mile a minute. She hadn’t seen her son, not like this, in so long. She hadn’t seen him without his helmet or up close. It was the first time she got a good look, even though he was tinted blue. At his face, at the scar that ran across it. Voids, her last solid memory of what he looked like was when he was so much younger. Lankier...brighter…

“You’re right, that’s not all we called for,” it would be hard to avoid Leia if she was the one talking. “We know you have General Hux. And...however it happened,” Leia would allow Kylo his story, “Snoke is dead. With his death comes the chance to reconsider some things.”

‘Come home, Ben,’
she mentally pleaded with him, but didn’t say the words. She was being cautious. She didn’t want to scare him off, especially not before they could track him at the very least. And she had to admit, she didn’t know her kid anymore. She didn’t know how he’d react.

And if she was honest, she also didn’t want to show her own vulnerability in front of all these people. She never looked directly at any of them while they were on the line with Kylo, not wanting to give him any indication that he was being watched or tracked. But she saw them out of the corner of her eye, mostly to see when or if Yularen gave some sort of signal to let them know they had his location.
 
Okay, Gnaeus wasn’t the only one to see Kevan. And Hux had seen Mira, and Leia was there. This was one hell of a situation. He couldn’t hear Kylo, but didn’t get up to fix this; Ariel would report, or she wouldn’t.

‘I don’t think that was old.’ Though Gnaeus didn’t mention that. He’d felt Kevan die. He never heard of a Force Ghost projecting into holos.

Not that he knew much about Force Ghosts.

“Could Kevan be a ghost?” He asked lowly, not certain if he should even expect an answer. It wasn’t like Paquin was going to know, Hux definitely wasn’t going to know, and he was trying to speak softly enough that Ariel wouldn’t hear, so he wouldn’t interrupt her eavesdropping.



Kylo Ren’s gaze flickered to where his mother was in the hologram. It really was hard to disregard her in the first place. His holo of them was so small. They were so close together. He heard what she said. He heard what she didn’t say.

It was written in the lines of her face.

In a certain exhaustion that he wasn’t familiar with, even after years of seeing her in holos, after hours spent fighting in the Senate. He knew he was the cause of that exhaustion, whatever else had happened that day.

And Mira was fighting to stay silent. He knew her, he realized, better than he knew his mother. He could feel her, almost as if she was there, unaware of the way she was trying to reach out to him right then.

And Kevan. Still. ‘You’re not sensing Kevan.’

He tried to deny that, anyways, as just being shaky after that strange appearance. “You’re right,” he agreed, holding to some haughtiness he didn’t quite feel. “I want to negotiate the current situation.”

It was true.

He could return Hux, barring his leadership from the Order. He wanted his mother to stop fighting, and hear him for once, to realize that his way was the right way. That the Republic needed to die. The Jedi needed to die. It all needed to go by the wayside for his plans.

“Then let’s meet to do that,” Mira offered, without hesitation. “There’s Cimarosa, that—”

“No.” Kylo denied. “You’re not going to be setting terms.”

Mira bristled, but refrained from immediately lashing back out.
 
Both Paquin and Hux could hear Gnaeus’s theory, as low as he’d said it. And no, neither of them had answers to that. But Hux knew of Force ghosts, and wouldn’t be surprised if there was a possibility. Hux hadn’t forgotten the place Kevan held to Mira. Maybe it would be a good thing for him to be a ghost. Or maybe it would make things worse.

Paquin was thinking it would make things worse. Not for Mira. But for herself. She’d killed Kevan. And the idea that he might still be hanging around? She felt bad enough about her actions as it was, she did not desire to be haunted by the ghost of him. Even if it was only when she was drunk. Though, that seemed to be more often since she became a Knight, “I hope not…” she idly commented, not meant for anyone but herself to hear.

“They’re talking about meeting…” Ariel interrupted, quiet as for her voice not to be heard by Kylo or anyone else outside of the room. “Do you think he’s planning to kill…,” Leia. Like he did Han. Ariel didn’t finish that sentence.

Hux wondered, then, if he should shout. If he should try and yell a warning to Leia and Mira, in hopes they’d hear it.


Leia couldn’t help feeling the slightest bit of discouragement from the way Kylo acted. She hoped it was simply because he was trying to keep up an appearance. And he was willing to meet them. That kept her going. She didn’t like the term ‘negotiate the current situation’, but...If he was on the fence now, Leia felt they could pull him over in person. Where something was tangible. Where she could reach out to him, physically. Hold him.

‘Slap the shit out of him,’ or try not to do that. Until later.

Leia felt Mira react to Kylo’s demands. Mira didn’t lash out in response, but Leia’s hand still found the younger woman’s arm, out of view of the holo. Not that it mattered if it was obvious or not, surely Kylo knew Mira well enough to understand her reactions.

Leia did not fight Kylo. If he were someone else she sure as hell would have. At least to create some sort of neutral ground but at this point, she disregarded strategy. Kylo had Hux. Mira wanted Hux back. Kylo was Kylo, Leia wanted him back. If the best way to do that was let him decide the terms, so be it. “Fine,” Leia was quick to catch herself from nearly calling him Ben, “Kylo.” The name sounded strange coming out of her mouth. Like she was speaking a different language. Especially because she was actually speaking it to him.

It was obvious, she was sure, how off it sounded. She held back from cringing away. “You decide what planet, when.” Anytime, night or day, but that was unsaid, too.

Finn stood out of sight, of course. Watching with his arms crossed. But he couldn’t help the feeling that he was right. That the change Kylo sought was not the one Mira or Leia wanted. He had no solid proof, despite Kylo’s attitude over the holo. Now he definitely thought it would be hard to convince Leia not to go.
 
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