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KyloGlenn · Apr 9, 2016

Paquin followed Kylo closely. Even if she could clearly see Kylo, she wanted there to be no chance of getting separated from him. He was probably the only reason she wasn’t dead already. 

She caught him glance at her and all though he didn’t ask her anything, she felt that she already knew what he was going to say. Paquin was not good with technology that was unrelated to her job as a medic. But, as she’d briefly been trained as a field medic, she knew of some ways to get into passworded doors. 

“Some security systems manufactured by companies rather than militaries have reset codes, in case someone got locked in or out.” She gently pushed Kylo to the side, examining the keypad. “Especially old ones like this,” she mumbled, looking for the company’s logo. 

“During my brief field medic training, we went over the major companies and their codes.” She rambled as she identified the company. Luckily, it was one that had been discussed. Paquin was fortunate to have a good memory. “Injured people get locked in rooms and can’t exactly open the door for you, you know?” She hesitantly entered the last number. If it was wrong, they’d be screwed. 

Luckily, the light flashed green and the door slid open. “After you.” She grinned up at Kylo, obviously proud of herself. 

- 

“Neither of us is normal, I thought that was obvious.” She had the Force and he was the General of a major organization at war. And for that reason, Hux never really had to worry about bringing money with him. He either never went anywhere he would need it, or things would simply be provided to him. 

He wondered how much longer he’d hold that position. 

“I can just as easily strangle you with my hands as I could with that chain.” He informed her, briefly splitting from her as people shoved their way in-between them. “And I’m certainly thinking about it.” He rejoined her. He did not like the idea of pawning the blaster. The handcuffs he couldn’t care less about, it would be just as easy to immobilize someone by breaking a leg or two. 

But, “Without a blaster, we’ll be vulnerable to attacks. We won’t have any weapons and someone who wants us—me—dead certainly would.” He snapped at her. “I’d rather rid myself of my uniform and run around naked.” 

Although he bitched, he still kept an eye out for a pawn shop. He knew there would be no other option. He wasn’t genuinely planning on running naked through the streets of Coruscant. That would make him stand out even more than his uniform. 

Hux let them occasionally be separated, thinking it might confuse any journalists still following them. Of course, he always had the blonde woman in sight. Luckily, the pawn shop sign was blatant. Or else he would have missed it as he kept his eye on Mira. He pushed his way back to her side, grabbing her arm once again and leading her in the direction of the building with a large neon sign saying ‘Pawn Shop’.

Lucyfer · Apr 9, 2016

Kylo Ren was relieved when Paquin knew something about these security systems. He watched as she put in the reset, listening to her explain it. Her reasoning was sound. It was not difficult to get locked behind a door like this, and it was a good place to hide if you were wounded. 

Still, he felt some anxiety as he watched her put the code in, half-expecting Kevan had altered it in some way. His relief showed when that green light came on, though, as he let it out in a sigh and smiled behind his helmet. “I thought it was lady’s first?” Though Kylo didn’t argue. In this case, it was better if he went first. 

They entered into a hallway, of course. There were doors that lined it, and Kylo knew he would need to pick one. Fortunately, there appeared to be none in the hallway. A gesture, and Kylo crept forward, trying to feel the general direction that Kevan was in. ‘Definitely here.’ 

And then he heard footsteps coming forward. 

He was sure of ‘left’ and no more, so he opened the nearest door to the left and quickly went through it, hoping Paquin made it through before being seen. 

~***~ 

Mira could only find the threats of the General humorous right then, since it was followed almost immediately by his worry of being weaponless. A part of her wanted to reach out and mess up his hair, “You poor boy,” slipped her lips instead as she gave him a mock-sympathetic look, “Hiding behind your toys, after you say it’d be so easy to strangle me. Your front is showing.” 

As in, he wasn’t looking so tough anymore with his complaining and his fears. 

If he was afraid of an assassin, but not afraid of her with the Force, he was sorely mistaken. A blast of Force lightning would be enough to get him to stop strangling her, but perhaps he had forgotten that—after all, she had only tried to ‘pull’ him off the other individual on Hoth. 

“If you want to run around naked, feel free, though. I’m sure I can get quite a good deal for your clothing…but then Kylo Ren will get those pictures of you. I think you’d rather die of a gunshot than of shame, don’t you?” 

Not that she got much of an answer. Her arm was grabbed and she was dragged towards the Pawn Shop. She really should stop him from doing that, but right now it was advantageous. She was pulled in, with a bell ringing over their heads, to see some reptilian creature manning the store. ‘Well damn it.’ A creature that the Force didn’t work so well on. 

Mira still walked right up to the counter, and laid both the blaster and the handcuffs down before him. Without so much as a greeting, she said, “I’d like to sell these.” And silently hoped Hux’s gun was something special.

KyloGlenn · Apr 10, 2016

"That phrase is archaic, no one follows it anymore." She said, but quieted once she followed Kylo through the door. Again, she stuck close to him, especially now that they were inside. Much easier to get cornered, Kylo was the perfect human shield. Paquin felt only slightly bad for thinking that. 

Kylo was not only better protected, but it would be much easier for her to stitch him up than herself. 

She was glad she remained quiet upon hearing footsteps. At first, she thought they were Kylo's but then they fell out of sync. There was a brief moment of panic where she froze but then quickly slipped through the door after the Knight, pressing her back against it. 

"Hm," She heard from the other side, followed by more footsteps. Fading footsteps, to which she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She hoped they actually hadn't seen them and weren't just pretending to lure them out. It's probably what she would have done, but would Kevan's henchmen be that smart? 

She didn't say or do anything, instead waiting for Kylo to make the first move. He was the on who could feel Kevan, after all. 

- 

"Tell me, Mira. Would you run, unarmed, at a bounty hunter who was armed to the teeth? No. Because you wouldn't even get close enough to strangle them." He barked, jaw clenching afterward. He was surely overreacting, but who could blame him? Although, it was more or less his fault that he was in this situation. 

"But you'd be easy to attack, especially if you were unsuspecting." Hux hadn't taken into consideration what she could do with the Force. Force-sensitives, Sith or Jedi, he'd never fought. Only been told of some abilities, none of the truly aggressive ones being used against him. Snoke had forbidden Kylo from using anything that could really impair him. 

"Shame won't be the thing I die of when Kylo sees those pictures." She'd have no chance to reply, seeing as Hux dragged her through the pawn shop doors. 

When Mira set down the blaster and handcuffs, the reptilian stared at her. Hux assumed that if the creature had eyebrows, they would be raised. Without saying a word, the reptilian took the blaster and examined it. It wasn't anything special, but it was a quality gun. "Five hundred credits," the voice was held an accent, surprisingly. Hux looked around at the other guns in the shop. It seemed low, but he'd let Mira make the decision. 

"For the cuffs, ten."

Lucyfer · Apr 10, 2016

It was too easy and Kylo should have known it, when relief made its appearance again and he found himself in what must have been barracks due to the lines of bunkbeds. He walked forward, intending to find another exit from this area and into a main portion of the base. 

Then all the lights turned on. 

“Kylo Ren.” 

Kylo glared up at the ceiling, hearing the intercom and Kevan’s voice. “You didn’t really think I wasn’t having the base monitored from a communications room, did you? Unlike Hux, I do have the men and cameras to watch every room.” He knew Rey had managed to sneak through Starkiller, completely undetected. 

“Is that where you are?” 

“Yes. I’ll be on my way to the command center,” he offered. “There are signs,” he was being cocky now. “But now everyone also knows that you, Kylo Ren, and your friend, are in barracks L-4. And they know every path you could possibly take.” 

And those footsteps which had just passed by suddenly turned back their way. ‘Damn it!’ 

“Good luck.” 

And Kylo ran for an opposite set of doors, lightsaber immediately in his hands and illuminated. 

~***~ 

Mira let a thousand thoughts run through her head as the reptile looked over the items she brought. First and foremost was how little faith Hux seemed to have in the Force, if he really thought Mira needed a weapon. She certainly wanted one—her lightsaber, mostly. 

Then as the creature glanced at the cuffs, she couldn’t help but wonder what Hux would die of if the pictures did get out in the open. It was a terribly amusing thought, but she kept a poker face as the prices were given. ‘510 isn’t enough for clothing and a hotel room.’ And she needed a hotel room. She needed a bath and a place to rest, if only for a couple of hours. 

And yet, as she was about to debate it, she noticed a shining crystal under the glass. ‘Kyber….’ Did he know what it was? “450 and the crystal.” Mira tried. 

The creature’s eyes moved down to it, and then he snorted. “No. That’s worth more than this blaster and the cuffs together.” 

Mira grit her teeth. So he did know what he had, then, and likely guessed how much she wanted it despite the limited expression. “But I’ll give it to ya for both, and that holocron in your coat.” 

He’d seen it when she took the cuffs out. “Jedi relics are popular here on Coruscant.” 

“No,” Mira denied him. 

“Pity. I’d even give you some money on top of it.” Holocrons were worth quite a bit, since so many of them had been destroyed by the Emperor. ‘You could get them back….’ And he used the singular. “A holocron of Obi-Wan, the gun, and the cuffs…for the crystal and how many credits?”And she added, "The holocron is worth more than that crystal--there aren't many who even know what to do with them." 

"And you do?" 

"No. I'm merely a collector," she lied. "I don't have one of those yet. That's not an Ilum variant," she could tell that much. She'd used Ilum in her Jedi blade. She'd used a synthetic variant for her red one. It wasn't from the Wild Space planet, either.

KyloGlenn · Apr 10, 2016

'Oh no,' was the first thought in Paquin's mind when the lights turned on, before any voice was even heard. Nothing good ever happened when mysterious lights turned on. Not that she had much experience, but still. Stormtroopers had stories. This time was no different, as Kevan's voice came over the intercom. 

All hope Paquin had for the mission disappeared. 'Why do I even bother relaxing?' She questioned herself, moving to block the door that they came in. Luckily, a bunkbed was rather close to the door, she easily pulled it in front of the entrance. She followed after Kylo, pulling out her blaster once again. Maybe she shouldn't follow, trailing after him seemed to get her in a lot of trouble. 

They found that the door wasn't locked but as soon as Paquin made a step out of the door, a bolt whizzed by her face. "Holy-!" She quickly backed into the room. She threw the hand holding her blaster around the corner and randomly shot. One, two, thump. The sound of a body hitting the ground. 

She drew her hand back in and cautiously poked her head out. "It's clea-" She paused as she heard the sound of boots running their way, but not yet seeing anyone. "Nevermind." 

She pulled her head back in, "What do we do?" Part of her hoped he'd say abort. But, although she didn't know him that well, she knew he wouldn't do that. 

- 

If Hux's jaw could clench anymore, it would. He had an idea of what Mira would do with the crystal, "Do you really need that right this moment, Mira?" He breathed to her. She could find a crystal in her own time for all he cared, but now? Wouldn't they need as much money as they could get? 

Then the holocron was brought into the discussion. 'Where did she get that?' It didn't matter, he knew it could get them a lot of money. Especially since the reptile wanted it. However much he'd give them for it, he'd likely double that when he sold it. And he told Mira that. "If you want to buy it back, you'll have to pay a lot more for it than what you'll get." He informed in a whisper. 

He'd heard her initial hesitance to sell it. And while Hux wasn't really a businessman, he'd dealt with enough trades and negotiations to know some tricks. "The kyber crystal and a thousand credits are what I'll give you for the gun, cuffs, and the holocron." The reptile offered. 

Hux didn't know much about kyber crystals or holocrons, but he knew that seemed awfully low. But if Mira really wanted the crystal he figured she'd take it, like when they traded the ships. But then again, how badly did she want to keep the holocron of Obi-Wan? 'She's apparently a Jedi now...' It would be something useful to her, wouldn't it? 

The General decided he didn't care, he just wanted off of Coruscant at that point. Come up with some brilliant lie to tell Snoke on the way back to the base, maybe. "Two thousand and the crystal." Hux countered, dismissing his previous plan to let Mira do the talking. Two thousand would be enough to get them both a change of clothes and have some money left over. And Mira would have her crystal.

Lucyfer · Apr 10, 2016

Somehow, Paquin shot ahead of him, and opened the door before he could, nearly getting herself shot. He didn’t even think to roll his eyes, he just continued forward as one fell. He heard Paquin’s question as he passed: “We fight.” 

It wasn’t ideal, but it was the only way. Kylo would have to think of some way to start misdirecting them, but that would come after he could get out of this mess. 

He walked into the hall to see two more figures coming upon their fallen comrade. They raised their guns and fired, and the energy from their blasters was immediately caught by Kylo Ren. He held it there, letting it simmer in the air for a moment, before throwing it right back at them and knocking them off their feet. 

The blaster energy burned through their chests, effectively killing them. Had it just been fired from a gun, it would have damaged the armor they wore, but from Kylo Ren’s hands—with the Force backing it—it was strong enough to pierce through that armor. ‘You’ll have to do better than that!’ Kylo wanted to scream it, but instead he sliced his lightsaber across the floor and up one wall, before turning, bringing the blade horizontally through the wall, and going forward to find a sign that would start to point him towards Kevan. ‘We fought on Endor together, you know a mass of men doesn’t scare me!’ 

Him, Mira, and Kevan had decimated far more than a thousand Ewoks together, the very same Ewoks that had halted the progression of the Galactic Empire, just to get Darth Vader’s helmet. “Stay near, Paquin.” The energy brimming around him was both a shield and a detector. He was trying to feel out all life that would be a threat, and so he was keeping the Force very alive around him so that anything that entered that field, he could stop quickly. 

He’d used the trick on Jakku, which was how he’d survived Poe’s blast. He kept that field up and alert, and so caught the blast before it could destroy him. 

~***~ 

Mira did need the crystal, right that second. ‘You don’t understand how long it can take to make a lightsaber.’ And the first step of that was always making the crystal attuned to the Force, but not just any Force. Her own lifeforce. 

There was a reason Kylo’s was broken. He wasn’t good at the patience thing. 

Hux made a deal on her behalf, and of course, the creature argued, “I have to turn a profit on it, too.” 

“You don’t think you can?” Mira understood they were adding in the price of the crystal. 

“If it were really Obi-Wan, but,” he chuckled, “Well, these things are difficult to open, aren’t they?” 

“No,” Mira knew what he meant. Mira lifted it into both hands, and channeled that energy forward into the device. The lines upon the small box lit up, and to the man’s surprise it was not Obi-Wan who appeared, but Yoda. 

“Separated, they must be.” The voice of the green alien began, and Mira let it continue for a bit, until it became clear that Yoda was relating what had to be done with the infamous twins, Luke and Leia. Then she powered it down, and placed it back on the table. 

“A personal correspondence from Yoda, to Obi-Wan. That is worth far more than 2000 credits on its own.” And to make that point, she slid the gun away and let it rest in front of Hux. ‘Have your precious gun.’ 

“Let’s call it 4000.” Now that Mira knew what was on there, she understood its value. 

“You…you opened it.” Mira just smiled. He needed no explanation for why or how—he knew. Perhaps he was the one who truly collected the Jedi artifacts, or else he saw enough come in and go out to know what that meant. Without a machine, the holocron could only be activated by the Force. “3,700.” 

“4,000.” 

“With the gun.” 

“Without the gun.” 

There was some more hesitation, some glances, and then finally the creature took out 4000 credits and laid them upon the counter. “Here!” 

Mira snatched them, and the crystal when it was deposited on the counter, and turned to leave.

KyloGlenn · Apr 10, 2016

Paquin wasn't very good at the whole mission thing or the 'be on guard' thing. She was lucky she wasn't a field medic, she probably wouldn't last very long. 

'Of course.' She knew that would be his answer. Still, she hesitated in following him. The thought of turning back and returning to the ship crossing her mind. 'No, you're not a coward.' She kind of was, but she figured she was in too deep now. Besides, she probably couldn't make it back to the ship without Kylo. 

So, Paquin quickly caught up with Kylo, pausing behind him as he stopped the energy shots. 'Neat.' Although her thoughts somehow kept a humorous tone, she was thoroughly terrified. Kylo's manic slashing at the wall didn't help in easing her. Still, she shadowed him when he told her to, careful around his crackling lightsaber. "Don't have to tell me twice." 

Paquin was actually surprised that there were signs leading to the command center. She thought Kevan was just being an asshole. He still was an asshole, but now he was a dumb one. Assuming they'd make it to the command center. 

They managed to walk for quite a while, drawing closer to the command center, without being interrupted by Kevan's men, making Paquin wonder what they were doing. Kevan was probably arrogant enough not to care. Or maybe his men were afraid. 'No, not afraid.' She determined when she heard the sound of boots again, two men coming into view. 

Paquin didn't want to be completely useless behind Kylo, so she raised her blaster and shot. She managed to catch one of them in the throat with a bolt--which was not a pretty sight. He was still alive, wouldn't be for long, but he still attempted to shoot. All his shots missed. The other one had enough time to raise his blaster and fire at them. 

Then more pairs of footsteps could be heard, but this time from behind them. They were being cornered. 

- 

Hux's nose scrunched up the slightest bit at the sound of Yoda, the green thing popping up. He watched along with Mira and the creature, it soon becoming clear that it was the infamous twins being discussed. Hux suppressed an eye roll. He knew people would pay a lot of money for a holocron involving the twins who 'saved the galaxy'. 

'Who ruined the galaxy.' His mind hissed at him. If it weren't for them, they wouldn't be at war. There would be peace and order in the galaxy. But no, people didn't want to be 'controlled'. They'll soon learn how wrong they were, how badly they needed someone to rule them. 

'You'll teach them.' Hux shook that thought from his head. Snoke would teach them, not him. Hux would simply give him the leeway by crushing the Resistance. If he even lived after this. 'You'll live.' 

The General snapped back into the negotiations when his gun was placed in front of him. Before it could be brought back into the discussion, he happily placed it into its rightful place at his side. He was equally pleased with the amount that had been decided on, eager to snag the money and leave. 

Luckily, Mira did just that and Hux followed after her without so much as a glance back at the reptile. The creature didn't have a chance to get a word out before the bell on the door chimed and the pair were out on the streets. Hux paused for a moment to look around for reporters. He could see a couple, looking around in confusion. 'Good.' 

"Happy?" He asked as he rejoined her. He was, even though they could have gotten more money if it weren't for that crystal. "Keep an eye out for a clothing store." He didn't even care what clothes they had, just as long as they had something he could change into. "With some hats." He had to cover his hair or else his outfit might not even matter. 

He cursed his parentage for his hair. Even if his father's locks were now graying, they were red at some point. Maybe even his mother's were.

Lucyfer · Apr 10, 2016

Kylo was alert, certain the more they walked, the more that Kevan would have the command center itself guarded. All the forces would be there, waiting to greet Kylo Ren and Paquin. A few ‘courtesy’ soldiers were sent, to their deaths. Paquin shot the first one, which fired out erratic shots. 

Kylo simply caught them, and threw one at the remaining soldier, catching him in the chest, before he whipped around to face the two coming up behind them. 

The other erratic shots he’d caught zoomed right ahead and pinned those two soldiers as they came into sight, knocking them back into the hallway they’d just come from. 

Under his helmet, Kylo wore a disgusted look, rolled his shoulders, and turned right back around to continue towards the command center. His anger at being played with was quite high—not a good thing for poor Kevan. 

There were no more interruptions to the command center. The only surprise was that Kevan was not hiding within, but was waiting outside. No lightsaber. No doubt the Resistance had taken that from him. Instead, two vibroblades were at his hips, and he took both into hand as soldiers and turrets alike fired at Kylo the second he walked into sight. 

Kylo threw his empty hand out, tilted down, and an invisible wave of the Force shot forward. All the shots were returned. 

Kevan gestured with one hand, holding a blade, and the shots all deflected into walls. Kevan darted forward immediately and deadlocked Kylo immediately with a slash, sacrificing a bit of his arm to the crossguard of Kylo’s lightsaber in order to thrust the vibroblade into Kylo’s side. 

And Kylo did let out a surprised cry as he felt the vibroblade cut right through his own armor as if it were butter. The high-speed vibrations gave it that sort of power. 

And of course…more shots were fired, though now they weren’t focused on Kylo—to close to Kevan for that. They fired themselves at Paquin, turrets and soldiers alike. 

~***~ 

“No, I’m not happy,” Mira answered him. “You have no idea how much I did not want to part with that.” 

However, what was done was done. Mira divvied up the money quickly, handing over half of it to the General. “I’ll stay with you until you have new clothing, then we’re splitting.” She indicated, not sure if it would be that easy. It hadn’t been that easy to just leave him at the docks. Luck did not seem to be on her side in getting rid of the First Order man. 

Clothing stores, though, were not difficult to find. Coruscant, like Naboo, was a place that liked to consider itself civilized—cosmopolitan. That mean it liked to be on the front end of fashion. 

She put her half of the money into the inner pocket of the coat, determining she was keeping it if only out of spite. It was warm, though. ‘Two left….’ Would they only be history, too? Or would they have teachings? 

There were a few clothing stores that Mira passed because she didn’t see the hats that Hux so craved. Mira would need a hat until she could properly wash her hair of the bloodstains. ‘You can probably rinse it well enough in a bathroom.’ Fair enough. Blonde hair wasn’t terribly unique. 

Blood-stained blonde hair was a concern. 

Soon enough, Mira motioned to a store and then just turned towards it. There was no bell to announce them. Music played through the store, “This should work,” there were hats for Hux, and the store was divided into male and female sections. Mira, however, went to the restroom sign, intending to clean herself up a little before finding attire.

KyloGlenn · Apr 11, 2016

'This is even worse than the cantina.' Paquin didn't trust herself to be able to stop the shots like Kylo had so she slipped back behind the corner. She wasn't sure what to do in this situation other than shoot but it was a little hard to aim and shoot at one person when a mass of them are all aiming and shooting at her simultaneously. 

Of course, she couldn't hide behind the wall forever. She came to realize that when she heard Kylo cry out. Whether he was in serious trouble or not, she didn't know. 'Doesn't matter. Stop being a little bitch, Paquin.' With a silent prayer to whoever may be listening, she poked her head around the corner. 

First order of business was to locate and take out the turrets. Locate she did and she quickly took aim around the corner and shot them out as quickly as she could before she herself was shot at. She managed to knock out all except one before ducking back behind the wall. 

She took only a brief break, knowing she'd have to step out fully to shoot the last one. She also knew that they'd be ready to shoot at her again. How was she going to get through that? 'The Force. You've grasped it before, you can do it again.' If it weren't for her inner voice, there was no way she could do this. 

She took a deep breath and jumped out again, shooting the turret and at least one soldier before they retaliated. Her hand shot in front of her as soon as she saw her presence register to them. She didn't grab ahold of the Force until the last second, it seemed, only able to stop the energy blasts that would have actually hit her when they were inches away, the others fly past her. 

Paquin could feel the shots pushing against the Force, and she did her best to redirect them, towards Kevan. It was possible that she may hit Kylo but she could patch him up easy enough. With a wave her hand, they bolts shot forward, some hitting the soldiers who stood stunned. They hadn't expected her to use the Force, it seemed. 

- 

"You shouldn't have sold it, then." Hux rolled his eyes. "On the bright side, it had information we already knew. The Skywalker twins were separated. All it is is a collector's item, really." He offered. 

He took the money from Mira and placed it in the pocket of his pants. He'd buy a bag, too. As easy as it would be to replace his uniform and greatcoat, he didn't want really want to. "Fine with me." Would they really split up then, though? It seemed to be difficult to rid himself of her. 

He directed himself towards the store Mira pointed out, cringing at the music being played. It wasn't too terrible, but Hux was simply not a fan of music. He enjoyed silence, something that was rare to come by on Coruscant. Or at work. Or anywhere, really. Wherever Hux went, headache inducing noise followed. 

Hux watched as Mira branched off and headed toward the bathroom. He didn't stop her to question what she was doing, he had manners. No matter what she did from here would really effect Hux. He had money, he could buy clothes and leave. They didn't need each other at all. 

He didn't concern himself too much with what Mira was doing, even if he did browse clothes closer to the bathrooms. He sifted through clothes, his body in a constant cringe. Some of the things he saw were hideous, much too flashy. But then again, it was Coruscant. If Naboo didn't exist, it would be the fashion capital of the galaxy. 

Either way, he wasn't going to be too picky. Whatever fit and whatever wasn't his uniform would do. It would be peeled off as soon as he returned to the starship base, anyway. So, with that in mind, he grabbed the first shirt and pair of pants that looked like they would fit before moving onto the hats. 

It was funny. Hux was so dedicated to maintaining a pristine appearance, yet knew nothing about clothes or clothes shopping. He'd never really needed to shop for himself, though. Everything since childhood was tailored to him.

Lucyfer · Apr 11, 2016

Kylo Ren could not let his focus slip to protect Paquin, though he felt it do so against his wishes. He was never the best at focus—emotions guided him, and they guided him then to want to protect Paquin when she moved out of hiding. 

Kevan felt it. 

Kevan felt the shift as Kylo shot a lightning bolt at his chest. It was powerful enough to burn and to sizzle the flesh, to send Kevan backwards. If Kylo had followed it up, it might have even been enough to be the end of him. 

But Kylo didn’t. 

Kevan observed as Kylo instead slammed several of the soldiers against the wall, all those had been firing at Paquin, and he let out a laugh. “Do you care about someone besides yourself for once, Kylo?” He shouted in mockery, before recognizing that Paquin was actually using the Force. He hadn’t taken notice—his focus was always better than Kylo’s—and he saw the bullets coming for him. 

He dove to dodge, not risking putting his own Force up against hers. 

Kylo was on his heels then, and he had to lift his blade to guard again. 

Before he could retaliate with the second blade, Kylo slammed the sole of his boot into his already-fried chest and he was slammed back against the wall. 

Kylo’s lightsaber came again, and Kevan moved in time to hear it sizzle in the wall near his ear. 

~***~ 

Mira went right to the sink, took off the hat, and undid the braid she had. She turned the sink on, but didn’t lower her head—she used the Force to pull the water up, and to direct it to pull the blood out of her hair. Bit by bit, clear water became red, and blonde strands darkened with moisture. Mira continued with this until no more red went into the sink. 

Her hair was still wet, but it was easily masked with another quick braid, and the hat restored. She wouldn’t need the hat soon; wet hair wasn’t abnormal, and it did dry quickly. 

Mira exited the restroom, noticing Hux not far, and she rolled her eyes as she saw him grab at what must have been a random shirt. 

Mira wasn’t going to be so quick. ‘Nothing black.’ She had been wearing black for too long. She found herself drawn instead to whites, if only to be contrary. Her hands ran over the fabric of many dresses, shifting eventually to colors she hadn’t worn in ages. ‘How long have I been in black?’ It seemed an eternity. 

Since Kylo.‘Fitting. Mourning.’ 

Green drew her in. Green like her lightsaber, and green like her eyes. Hadn’t someone once said it looked good on her, a long, long time ago? ‘Yes.’ A padawan. A now, very dead, padawan. 

In the end, Mira settled on a green dress of an ombre design, from green to a golden yellow that seemed to flare at the bottom of the skirt like fire. Her thoughts were on Leia and her dresses, and how elegant the General had once looked. This dress was a halter, no sleeves to cover the burns that still colored her body from her lightsaber and Obi-Wan’s house, but she resolved that by grabbing a couple of golden, silken attachments that would fall easily over her arms. The back couldn’t be covered so easily, the deep scoop going to the middle of her back, but when she looked in the mirror she saw her back had been spared most of the burns. Not all—but most. 

Enough. 

She let her hair fall from the braid once she’d changed, and then went to look at the jewelry, looking for a locket that could hold the crystal until she’d gotten time to empower it. She didn’t change out of the dress—she’d pay for it and walk out in it, taking a bag from the counter for her old clothing. She didn’t bother to change the shoes. 

And, well, she couldn’t resist looking up occasionally to try and find Hux, to see if he actually put on that shirt.

KyloGlenn · Apr 11, 2016

Paquin felt some relief when Kylo slammed the soldiers against the wall. He was keeping good on his promise of not letting her die, and she was intending to do the same. She took the opportunity to fire at the soldiers as they were trying to stand up. She didn't think her shots were enough to kill them, but enough to disable them. 

Her attention redirected to Kevan and Kylo. While Kylo seemed to be handling the situation, she still moved to help. She aimed her blaster at Kevan, but he just kept moving. He was either moving, or Kylo was in the way. It was frustrating, frustrating enough for Paquin to give up on trying to shoot him. 

She remembered the vibroblade she'd been given, moving to make use of it. She wasn't skilled in any form of combat, really. But how hard would it be to swing at someone? 

And so swing she did. She was conscious of Kylo and his position near her, not wanting to swing and catch him with the weapon. She used two hands to hold the hilt of it, grip tight as she swung it like a batat a retreating Kevan. Her eyes were closed, just like in the cantina, so she had no clue if she was actually going to hit him. 

She may not have been helping, might have been in Kylo's way, even. But she was sure he'd yell at her if she was. 

- 

Hux moved about the hats, looking for one that didn't have some sort of spike or jewel on it. 'Do people actually wear this crap?' He was about to wear it. He pulled the simplest of hats, a green fedora. Hux felt sick to his stomach just holding it. 

He turned, his eyes scanning the women's section for Mira. To see if she'd left or not. To his surprise, she was still there. Looking at dresses of all things. He didn't take her for a dress wearing type, but he shrugged it off and searched for a dressing room. 

He found one and wasted no time in changing his clothes. Although Mira was leisurely searching through clothes, he wanted out of the dreaded clothing store. 

The shirt he'd grabbed was entirely too small with large shoulder pads, a pale yellow color. It wasn't as obnoxious as neon yellow, but Hux much preferred the charcoal uniform he wore. The pants were white and too short on his legs. Luckily, his boots and socks could cover his ankles. 

He placed the hat on his head and gathered his clothes, not even looking in the mirror. He hoped the outfit would be enough to disguise him, he didn't want any pictures of him in such an outfit. 

He exited the dressing room to search for Mira. He found her by the jewelry, but didn't immediately recognize her. Her hair wasn't in it's usual braid and she was wearing something vastly different from her previous outfits. "Well, you look...pretty." He wasn't sure if he was being mocking or genuine.

Lucyfer · Apr 11, 2016

Lives faltered into death. 

Others just slipped into the deep sleep of unconsciousness. 

Around the Sith, this was energy. 

Kylo was the faster of the two, but Kevan had the advantage of two blades. He used them to catch and manipulate Kylo Ren’s lightsaber to avoid harm when he wasn’t fast enough to move away, always following it up with a slash from his blade or a gesture with the Force. 

And Kylo Ren was trying his own Force tricks. Lightning flickered and missed. The push was always held back, the choke never reached its destination—Kevan could feel it just as easily as Kylo could. It was the main reason he was not relying on it. 

There was no point, as Yoda had once determined against Count Dooku. 

Yet fighting Kylo Ren was still a consuming dance. Neither had yet made fatal or truly devastating blows at each other, though armor and clothe was frayed from their strikes. 

And Kevan thought his soldiers would last longer against the medic. He didn’t take notice of her while he assumed her busy with that, paying enough attention to only notice when the blasters stopped firing. 

Then there were extra steps, just as he jumped away from Kylo, arms open in a gesture of his arrogance. He had no time to get away from what he’d jumped into, and he felt the weapon swing hard against his back. He stumbled forward, and lifted the vibrosaber to catch Kylo’s weapon, but it pushed him right down to his knees as he held it up and fought against the pressure of Kylo Ren’s strength. 

~***~ 

Hux had put on the atrocious shirt, and more, added a terrible fedora of all things. Mira managed not to laugh, but it took some concentrated effort. Mostly, she let her eyes return to the jewelry, measuring lockets and how deep their containment chamber was. 

So far she hadn’t found a match. “I…thank you,” Mira answered his compliment, not sure either if he was being sincere or not. There was no reason for hostility, now. It was odd that he was approaching her, though. He had the money. He could pay and leave. “I do have to actually live with myself in this.” 

Hux did not. Hux only had to get a ship and get back to his base. She lifted her eyes, and offered, “No one is going to recognize you,” to ease any fear he may have had. “Though, you may want to add sunglasses, to be on the safe side.” Both a sincere suggestion and one to make the attire all the worse. 

Her hand clasped itself then around a rather gaudy locket, but when she set the crystal into it, it was enough—just enough—to hold it. ‘It will suffice.’ And so she pulled it from where it was hanging. “I think I’m done now,” the comment was more to herself than Hux. She did recall he was there, “I’m keeping your coat.” And she walked off to pay for her things. 

Perhaps that was why he’d come to her—to retrieve his clothing. Well, he wasn’t getting it.

KyloGlenn · Apr 11, 2016

Paquin was satisfied when the weapon struck him in the back, Kylo forcing him to the ground. 'Teamwork.' She would have high fived Kylo, had he not been gripping his saber, using it to push against Kevan's weapon. 

She saw an opportunity at that moment. Kevan's hands were full, distracted by fighting against Kylo's raging weapon. And she, she was completely unoccupied. She knew that opportunity could slip away easily in a matter of seconds. 

So, her attention narrowed onto Kevan, shifting the vibroblade in her hand. The new grip freed one hand, which she placed on Kevan's shoulder to keep him in place. And within the next second, she shoved the blade through his chest. The blade slipped through his armor as easily as Kylo's, the vibrations making the wound significantly worse than a normal sword. 

She felt the life slip from him, his body going limp as it did so. His arms went limp, giving up the fight against Kylo and allowing his lightsaber to slash against him. 

In that moment, as she withdrew the blade from a very dead Kevan, Paquin realized two things. One, Kevan had absolutely no clue who she was. She killed him, but he didn't even know her name. 

And two, killing seemed all too easy. 

- 

When she responded in thanks, Hux knew he was being sincere. He had been unprovoked, no reason to be cruel. Unless you could count her struggle not to laugh at his garb offensive. He didn't say 'you're welcome', only nodded. "You have a point," Hux wondered how long she'd stay on Coruscant. 

"I wouldn't stay long, by the way. Once those pictures reach the Order, Kylo will be coming for you." He wanted Mira to live, oddly enough. It certainly had something to do with how she wanted the same for him. As much as she annoyed and angered him, and even though she'd betrayed the Order somehow, he still liked her a little bit. 'Bad General.' 

He took her advice and grabbed a pair of sunglasses as he followed her to the checkout. They were woman's, but they were sunglasses. "Keep it, it suits you." A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. He separated from her at the aisles, paying for his things and getting a bag for his uniform. 

He checked out faster than Mira since he had fewer things. So, he rejoined her and waited for her to pay for her own items. He wasn't sure why he was sticking around, he could leave and finally be free. They would split after this, anyway. Maybe he wanted a goodbye, strangely enough.

Lucyfer · Apr 11, 2016

Kylo let his blade finish slashing through the corpse, seamlessly tearing Kevan in two once the fight went out of him. His eyes burned down at the corpse, as if waiting for something else to happen. He was not even sure what as he watched, blade burning a hole in the ground where he held it firmly down. 

He knew a moment later. He hadn’t been waiting to see anything, but to feel it—the passing of Kevan that struck him like a blade through a heart. 

He could still see the shock painted across Kevan’s face when the hand fell on his shoulder, and he was then stabbed through. 

By his so-called replacement. ‘So who will replace you, Mira?’ He assumed her already dead, until he realized—he hadn’t felt that. Could Snoke be having problems? ‘Impossible.’ He lifted his head, blade slashing across the ground between him and Paquin before he turned it off. 

He half-expected to be shot through the back. “The rest will scatter now,” he told Paquin, meeting her gaze through his helmet with a new level of respect. She had stepped up to the plate, and even been the one to kill Kevan ‘dishonorably’, as he was unable to defend himself. “Good work. The Supreme Leader will be pleased to hear of how you have aided today,” but now the heat was killing him, paired with the wound in his side. ‘Straight ahead is the control room.’ “There should be a way to destroy all of this in there,” he motioned passed Paquin and then lifted his hand up to remove his helmet as he walked forward. 

He needed some relief from the heat, as relief from the wound would not come until later. 

First things first was self-destructing the base. 

No officers had remained in that room, fortunately. Kevan must have fought with them all outside of it, and so Kylo stalked around, looking for an easy way to start the self destruction sequence. He knew it wouldn’t be as easy as a giant red button, but he did need to discern which of the many computer screens was going to have access to it. 

“Everything has a password,” he grumbled when he came to the main terminal. 

And the answer was never slicing it to pieces with his lightsaber, no matter how much he wanted it to be. 

~***~ 

Mira matched Hux’s smirks at the words ‘it suits you’. If only it meant more than that, but Mira knew her time with the Order was done. What she could do outside, she’d do to support them, but it could no longer be as an active employee. “Don’t worry about me,” he needed to be concerned with himself. 

Mira would stay on Coruscant a little longer, but she knew it was more important to get to the Resistance. Some senators ought to have ways to contact Leia, or Rollo. Mira would figure out which ones, and hide with the Resistance, if they would let her. ‘They let Finn.’ Finn didn’t commit mass murder. 

Finn did have a stolen jacket, though, if some of the gossip was true. 

Mira paid for her things, noting how Hux waited for her. One last goodbye then. “Thank you,” she spoke to the clerk, and as Hux, put the uniform in the bag and grabbed it. 

She didn’t get a step further from the counter. Her free hand fell upon it, and the other dropped the bag to the floor. Her eyes widened, both immediately welling with tears. 

“Kevan….” 

Her pain mirrored Kylo Ren’s, but it cut deeper. It was unexpected; Kevan should not have died that quickly. He should have been running and hiding. Sorrow and fear lanced through her as one, and the hand on the counter sparked with electricity far beyond her will to control. ‘No. No, no, no.’ 

Mira balled her hand into a fist in a vain effort to grip control. The lightning spread out from her, shooting by the clerk who let out a scream, and ran. 

Sorrow could never be felt or dealt with when it always translated back into anger; anger towards Kylo and anger towards herself, then, for the lack of control as her emotions chose to rule. Fear started to push everything away through the Force. Clothing, people, mannequins, all of it started to move and Mira let herself dissolve by the counter, hands going to cover her head as she tried to breathe, tried not to feel the pain of loss. 

And that was always when the anger rose, when she failed, and failed. And the anger only had one target—herself, the one failing. The lightning lanced back against herself while still spreading out, crackling along the floor with no clear direction. That had always been the part that horrified her parents, more than the way the Force tried to hurt everything around her, when the Force turned on Mira because it was herself she was always upset with for causing such a mess.

KyloGlenn · Apr 11, 2016

Paquin wasn’t too concerned with how pleased Snoke would be. The Supreme Leader was terrifying and it was good to have him happy, that she knew, but her medic instincts kicked in as he spoke. 

Her eyes wandered to the wound on his side, which she hadn’t looked at early. She did her best to observe it as he passed her to enter the control room. She didn’t bother asking him if he was okay. “I can either stitch you up back at the ship,” there was nothing she could do about the wound right that moment. 

She followed after him, watching him stalk around. “Or back at the base but either way it needs to be taken care of.” Kylo struck her as the type to smack a bandage on a wound and call it good, as long as it wasn’t something fatal. After all, she hadn’t seen him anywhere near a med bay before he was on the brink of death. 

He grumbled about everything having a password and since they were no longer in some sort of life-threatening situation, she chuckled at him. She could understand his frustration, though. “I could try a reset code?” She offered. It was a computer, not a security system like with the door. But from what she could tell, it was by the same company. 

“What’s the worst that can happen? It’ll blow up?” She didn’t wait for him to laugh at the joke before she tried putting in a reset password. 

- 

Hux was confused. Everything was going fine and then all of the sudden there was lightning and he was being shoved away by the Force. Displays were knocked over and people were quick to run from the store. Hux likely would have been among them if he was not concerned for Mira. 

What had caused the outburst? The clerk said literally nothing to Mira except an amount of money. Hux hadn’t done anything, and he was sure no one else in the store had. And then it registered with him, just what she had said before her hand started sparking. ‘Kevan.’ Kylo must have found and killed him somehow. 

Hux found himself pressed up against a wall, both from being pushed and because he couldn’t move with the electricity slithering on the ground. He had a view of Mira, dissolved by the counter with her hands on her head. The Force seemed to turn against her, all while it was still branching out from her. 

That didn’t seem quite right to the General. 

He couldn’t go over there and drag her out of the store, and he wasn’t sure how to get her to calm down. He knew that attempting to tell her that Kevan’s death was for the better wouldn’t help. “Mira! Calm yourself. Look at what you're doing.” His voice was stern, trying to emulate his father. The tone was not comforting at all, but it always shut Hux up. 

He wasn’t positive if Mira would even hear him talking to her, but maybe that was best. Maybe he should just let her wear herself out. But that might take too long, surely the Coruscant police would show up soon.

Lucyfer · Apr 11, 2016

Kylo wasn’t as amused by this joke, when the results Paquin gained from it were a screen that indicated the password she put in was incorrect. 

The screen informed them both that they had only two more attempts or it would all lock down. “That is the worst that could happen,” he said, glaring at the screen, before a beeping at his wrist bothered him. 

He wasn’t sure who he expected when he touched the band, but it hadn’t been Gnaeus Ren, the man looking quite windswept and disheveled, “Kylo, how the hell did Kevan die?” Gnaeus asked, looking horrified. ‘Oh, right….’ No one had told him. Ariel wouldn’t have known, either, were it not for Mira dragging her along with her plan. 

“He was a traitor. Mira as well,” Kylo said, watching as the brunette’s jaw fell open at the statement. “You haven’t felt Mira pass?” 

Gnaeus shook his head, “Should I have?” 

“By now…,” Kylo just shook his head, “Never mind. Return to the First Order’s base in Alderaan, we have some things to discuss. Ariel is already there.” 

“All right….” And Gnaues vanished. 

Kylo’s frown remained, “Something’s gone wrong. Mira should have been dead by now as well, unless something’s happened to General Hux,” and though he’d never admit it, there was concern in his tone. “There’s an easier way to do this,” he indicated to Paquin, “Let’s go back to the ship,” there, he could also try to reach out to Snoke and see if Mira had arrived. 

~***~ 

Mira was painfully aware of what she was doing. ‘Just stop.’ Emotions had always been an enemy to her. She couldn’t bend it to her own will, they acted on what she felt. She flinched with each bolt, she tried to seek control amidst the pain. 

It’d been such a long time since she felt anything this intense; she was certainly out of practice with taking back control from the hell that was the curse of the Force. 

Her nails dug into her scalp. The tears continued to fall, the grief wanting to be felt in spite of it all. Mira was never allowed to know the peace of simply breaking down; it was never anything peaceful. Always, it was this. ‘Then get up and run, find a place you won’t destroy.’ Like the isolation closets she’d been stored in as a youth. The spike of fear shattered glass from somewhere, and Mira was tempted to give up the fight and just let destruction and chaos reign supreme. Perhaps then, when the hell ended, she’d have some idea of how to turn it all against Kylo. 

Except, Hux was here, and possibly in danger. Mira could hear his voice when he shouted at her, a stern tone that broached no argument. ‘I KNOW WHAT I’M DOING!’ If it were ever that easy… 

One, deep, shaky breath after another. A loosening of her grip on her hair and her scalp followed, and she slowly opened her tightly shut eyes. No, it wasn’t over, but Mira found enough calm in the moment when she recalled that there were lives at stake. Delicately, she picked herself back up, pulling the Force back and steadying a hand on the counter. ‘Sorry.’ Frightened eyes. The silken sleeve additions were charred through, but somehow much else was spared so far as her attire. A minor miracle. Her arms bore the wounds alone, the place where the lightning began. 

The ache within was steady, and a steady pulse remained, a push outwards that had a much smaller radius, as Mira forced herself to walk towards the exit, to get out while she could. Her steps were certainly not steady. ‘Don’t. Don’t.’ She couldn’t think of Kevan. She couldn’t think of the pain itself, raw as it was, or it would start it all over again. 

She didn’t dare to look towards the General.

KyloGlenn · Apr 11, 2016

Well, she tried. 

'I'm still funny.' She assured herself. Her attention shifted to Kylo's wrist as it beeped, recalling the previous times it had beeped. Once when Mira and Ariel were injured, and the other had been Kevan. That band didn't seem to bring good news. 

An unknown man popped up and it didn't take a genius to figure out it was the other Knight. She remained silent as they spoke, her gaze returning to the computer until the two disconnected from each other. 

Her eyebrows furrowed at Kylo's words. She didn't comment on the concern she heard in his voice. Something could have happened to Hux, it wasn't appropriate to joke about Kylo Ren's completely valid concern. With a nod, she turned and began to make her way out of the building. She used the bodies as a trail, as morbid as that was. 

Paquin was the slightest bit irritated that they couldn't seem to catch a break. One bad thing happened after another and all she wanted at that point was a moment to relax. That wouldn't come for a while, sadly. 

Soon she found herself at the hole in the wall. The gate was unmanned, but it was still likely locked. The hole was easier. She wiped sweat from her forehead after coming out the other side and began the trek back to the ship. "Remind me never to come back here." She mumbled to herself. One thing she was looking forward to was Kylo's cool ship. 

- 

Hux remained unflinching as glass broke. In his line of sight, he could see that a few mirrors and the windows of the store had shattered. 

Hux observed as Mira managed to pull the hurricane that was the Force back. It seemed to click with the General that Mira wasn't as cold as he thought she was. It was mostly a front, Mira felt emotions just like everyone else, it seemed. If anything, she felt more intensely than most. 

He had wondered why Mira and Kylo stayed together. Maybe it had something to do with how similar they were. They both were certainly intense when it came to feelings, but simply handle it differently. Kylo could somehow use emotions to his advantage with the Force, control it. But Mira didn't seem to have the same grasp as he did. 

'Leave. Return to the base.' His head told him. He needed to get off of the damn planet before he got into any more trouble. It's not like he could help Mira at all. 

Yet, when he saw her unsteadiness, he felt compelled to at the very least follow her. So, with a roll of his eyes, he grabbed the bag that she dropped and followed after her. 

She was quite a bit ahead of him at this point. Luckily, too. The flash of red and blue lights was fast approaching. She was still in his sights, though. He quickened his pace and was almost directly behind her in no time. Yet, he found he couldn't walk directly next to her, thanks to the Force. "You knew this was coming, Mira," she couldn't have seriously thought Kevan would live. 

"There must've been a point that you accepted you'd never see him again. It can't be any harder to do it a second time." Hux attempted to comfort her. He cringed at how much he sounded like his father. Even if he sounded like a nice version of his father.

Lucyfer · Apr 12, 2016

“Don’t worry, I don’t plan to return,” it was why Kylo was sure he had to actually destroy the base .Then he’d never have to return to this place—hopefully. “Perhaps we’ll get lucky and get to go to a hospitable spit of land next.” 

He doubted it. 

The heat was unbearable, but with no guards around, Kylo Ren didn’t bother putting his mask back on. There was no need for his front anymore, and he made haste back to the ship. The interior had, fortunately, remained cool. 

It was then he remembered what Paquin said about stitching him back up, “You can look at my wound, after I call Snoke,” he said, moving to the cockpit and shifting the radio on. He called out for the Supreme Leader. 

No hologram appeared, of course. Just his voice, “Kylo Ren,” he knew who would be calling him, “Kevan Ren is dead.” 

“Yes. Paquin and myself ensured his demise. She is here with me,” he noted, “I have a more pressing concern than our success, however. Have you seen General Hux yet?” 

He was hoping the answer was ‘yes’. That, or that Snoke had heard something which would explain the delay—something that wasn’t General Hux’s head had been found on some random planet. ‘No, I’d know if he were dead, too.’ Irritating thing, the Force. It always tied him to those he was close with, even if they weren’t Force sensitive. 

Like Han. 

~***~ 

At least Hux remembered her coat. 

Mira would have abandoned everything in the store without a thought, and regretted it later. 

“Hux,” she probably shouldn’t be using his name on the street. “Have you ever loved someone?” Mira was starting to think he hadn’t, as she folded her arms over her chest and tried to ignore the swell of anger at his careless words. He couldn’t be trying to set her off, not if he was trying to walk with her. 

His assumptions were horribly off the mark, though. Mira had not accepted that Kevan was going to die. She’d accepted many things, but not that. 

She couldn’t pull the Force in any tighter, though. She bit down on her cheek to try and change the pain from the heartache to the pain at her cheek. It wasn’t terribly effective. Nails dug into flesh. “I did accept I would not see him. I did not accept that he would die.” There was a difference. “None of it matters now. He is dead.” 

Death was supposed to be something different, but not bad. A rejoining with the Force. Perhaps that was why it hurt so much; Kevan had likely not accepted his own death. Mira had once wondered if the Dark Side was so powerful because of all those who weren’t ready to face death empowering it with their own stricken emotions. There couldn’t be as many people who were calm and collected about their own demise. 

A deep breath. Mira could see a hotel, but just made a note of it. She didn’t need to trash a hotel room, and she didn’t trust herself not to.

KyloGlenn · Apr 12, 2016

Paquin felt immediate relief upon entering the ship. She simply nodded at Kylo when he gave his consent to looking at his wound. She trailed after him into the cockpit, stripping herself of the weapons and armor she wore as he called upon Snoke. 

"No." The Supreme Leader's voice sounded in response to Kylo's question. His answer was slow, he must've just realized how long it had been since he'd spoken with Hux. "I've provided time for any challenges that could be faced in transporting Mira Ren...but it's been entirely too long." 

'That's not good.' Paquin thought as she slumped into the seat beside Kylo. 

"Neither of them is dead," Snoke stated the obvious. Or what was obvious to Kylo Ren. "And I've not heard of any delay." He sounded too calm for someone who could possibly lose a very valuable General. Paquin had witnessed him in his anger, it wasn't as if he was incapable of any other tone of voice. 

"It is safe to assume something's gone wrong. Send orders to the base to have his ship tracked, find out if they've any information on the General's whereabouts." Straight to the point. 

Paquin's head fell back against the headrest, suppressing a groan. Of course, everything that could go wrong was going wrong. 

- 

The ginger's jaw clenched when she spoke his name. 'I swear if anyone recognizes...' His thoughts trailed off when she questioned if he'd ever loved someone. 'Ouch.' Well...had he? Something, yes. Someone? 

There was his father. No, there was not his father. Brendol Hux could drop dead and his son would throw a celebration, that was not love. 'What about that nanny droid? No, that thing was pure evil.' He internally shivered at the thought. Externally, he was just blinking at Mira, not able to come up with an answer. 

"What's the difference?" Never seeing Kevan again and his death were essentially the same thing, to Hux at least. The General shook his head, realizing how insensitive he was being. 

"Forgive me, Mira," his attempt to smooth things over. "It's not my intention to anger or upset you. Quite the opposite, in fact. Though, I'm proving to be no good at comforting." The death of a loved one and the feelings that came with it were unknown to him, perhaps because he'd never loved someone before. He had no idea how to console her or empathize with her 

It probably didn't help that Hux was glad Kevan Ren was dead. 'Dirty traitor.' He refrained from saying that. But wasn't Mira a traitor as well. 'Different.' He excused himself. 

"I'm sorry for your loss." He offered, pulling ahead and stopping in front of her. He held out the bag containing his coat. Hers now. "If you need something while I remain in your presence, feel free to ask." Much better than telling her to accept someone's death within minutes of it happening.

Lucyfer · Apr 12, 2016

Kylo felt his jaw clench at Snoke’s denial. ‘Not good.’ Kylo wasn’t sure what it meant if neither were dead, either. Perhaps Hux was simply having an extremely difficult time; he wouldn’t kill Mira. He was loyal to the cause, and though Kevan was dead, Mira may have done more harm when she saw Leia and the Resistance. 

“I will do as you request, Supreme Leader. If it is your desire, you may want to reach out to General Hux as well.” 

“Yes,” Snoke agreed, “I will attempt to establish contact again.” 

“Then leave me to organizing the First Order to find him or Mira Ren.” 

The line dropped, and Kylo let his own head fall back against the headrest, hard. “He never should have tried to transport her on his own.” Kylo blamed himself. He should have taken Mira to Snoke first, and then gone to find Kevan. ‘But the delay….’ He pushed a hand back through his hair, then pulled himself forward and radio’d the ship. 

He had a quick conversation with Phasma, fortunately, indicating that General Hux was missing. Phasma promised to get everything in order so that there should be news when Kylo arrived, at least of where the General’s ship was. 

Then, Kylo let the ship lift off the forsaken planet, and he shot it right into hyperdrive, “All right, Paquin,” he managed to say, “We have some time before we get back to base and are thrown into a new layer of hell.” 

Hopefully Phasma would keep her mouth shut enough to not cause any panic on board the ship, “Let’s make sure my appearance doesn’t add another reason for concern on base.” The last thing everyone needed was for them to all know Hux was missing, and for Kylo to walk in with a bleeding wound. 

~***~ ‘No…no you haven’t.’ Hux didn’t need to answer the question. His evasion of it followed by a snap said enough, though he quickly tried to redeem himself. Mira had wondered if there was a mother, or a dear friend, once in his life. 

And a part of her envied him that there wasn’t. Her love for the Knights was, clearly, going to be her death. ‘I couldn’t even face Kylo now.’ Hux’s new words were smoother, better. They were standard, but Mira wasn’t used to them. She’d never had need of them. When the padawans had all been slain, grieving would have gotten her killed. 

She never mourned her parents. ‘And if you mourn Kevan again it could be the end of you, as well. Think of it like that.’ 

Hux stepped ahead, around that bubble of the Force, and held out her bag. Mira had to stop, and then take another deep breath to reign the Force in enough that she could reach out for the bag and take it from Hux’s hands. “For someone who should be celebrating the death of the traitor, you’re being rather nice,” even Mira knew what Kevan was to Hux. “I didn’t expect…well, anything, from you.” 

Especially considering his upbringing, but it seemed though he did not understand personally, he was at least learning that he had been doing harm. 

She allowed a distraction for her own sake. She needed to not think of it, so she turned to Hux’s odd statement. “How long are you going to be around?” She wouldn’t ask him why.

KyloGlenn · Apr 12, 2016

“I don’t think I’ve spoken a word to the Supreme Leader yet.” She commented as she grabbed her bag of supplies, moving to sit on the ground next to Kylo. It was easier than having him standing up. “He’s spoken to me, but I have yet to open my mouth and say something to him.” 

She didn’t comment on the situation with Hux. Like he said, they had time before they were going to be thrust into a new layer of hell. She wasn’t going to spend that time discussing the said layer of hell. 

Paquin pushed Kylo’s arm to the side to look at the wound. It wasn’t too deep, but jagged. Nothing serious. “I can stitch it up, it’ll only take a moment.” She informed as she rummaged through the medical bag. It was a good thing that Kylo told her to bring supplies, or else he’d cause concern. 

‘Or maybe he’s worried about being viewed as human.’ 

Paquin allowed herself to relax while she had the chance, and it wasn’t hard when she was doing something she found relaxing. Her job was stressful when someone’s life was in her hands, but when she was doing something as simple as stitching a minor cut it could be therapeutic for her. 

“I can either try and cut open your armor a bit more, or you can take it off. But by all the layers I’m seeing, it seems like that would be quite an event.” It was surprising that Kylo hadn't burst into flames. It had to have been excruciating under all that, a layer of hell all it's own. 

"Those vibroblades sure cause an impressive amount of damage." 

- 

Hux felt the push against his hand dissipate for the briefest of moments, only long enough to allow Mira to grab the outstretched bag. Then it returned. He let his hands wrap around him, holding them behind his back. “If your friend lost someone dear, that you happened to hate, would you jump around in glee over the death of a person you didn’t care for? Or would you comfort the person that mattered?” 

Had Hux just called Mira a friend of all things? She’d betrayed the order and kidnapped him, yet had let the word ‘friend’ slip from his mouth. ‘Pathetic. How can you claim you’re loyal to the Order with all that you’ve done?’ The voice in his head sounded all too much like his father. 

Still, Hux understood now. Understood why his father discouraged friendships so much. They really did get in the way of work. After this, Hux was not going to allow himself any relationship more than a business one. 

“I can’t stay much longer. I’ll see you to a hotel if you wish,” it felt wrong to leave Mira out on the streets in her state. “But I need to find a ship and return to the base. I’ve gotten in enough trouble and I’m sure I’ll have a lot of explaining to do.” 

Oh, boy. A lot of explaining. 

“I haven’t come up with on excuse yet, but I think drugs might be the answer. You were alone with the medic long enough, it wouldn’t be unbelievable to say you stole something from her.” It would be easy enough for Hux to alter the inventory that he was sure they kept. 

“Preferably, I’ll return before they learn of Hoth and search for me. I’d be able to say you drugged me and dropped me off on some planet. I could probably find away to block news from Coruscant until my presence blows over.” 

It was a very shaky plan, and a very situationally based. Hopefully, Kylo would be too angry to think on any details that had fallen through. Snoke would be so much harder to fool. ‘Shit, maybe it’ll be easier to tell the truth.’ But what would that mean for him? For his rank that he’d worked all his life for?

Lucyfer · Apr 12, 2016

Kylo Ren had truly hoped that Paquin would be able to tend the injury without him needing to take off his armor and shirt. The scar on his face was bad, but he hated the scar over his heart the most. It was rarely visible, though. “Vibroblades are one of the few weapons that can stand up to lightsabers. It’s no wonder Kevan got a pair when he didn’t have a lightsaber.” 

He leaned forward in his seat, and then pulled off first the shirt. Then came the armor, which zipped and buckled itself into place. Kylo removed it, and then, at last, the black undershirt. All but the undershirt he set aside. ‘Mira will probably do the same thing.’ He balled up the undershirt and put it over the scar, as if it were still an open wound. 

Or would she? As he considered if Mira was even alive and free, he realized she was more likely to be deadset on claiming a lightsaber for herself. ‘I’ll have to ask Gnaeus or Ariel to help Paquin with her saber.’ He realized that as he leaned back against his seat. The sweat from the earlier heat still attached itself to his body, but it cooled against the leather, which was an absolutely amazing feeling. 

He shut his eyes, knowing he shouldn’t be this relaxed, yet easing into it. This wound was something Paquin could easily tend. “You may have to keep that vibroblade a while longer.” He realized he didn’t want Paquin touching any of the crystals Mira had retrieved. No, she’d have to get her own, and her own materials. 

He’d see about having Phasma and her Troopers decimate Mira’s ship and all that had been in it. It shouldn’t be a hardship. Stormtroopers always needed to get better at destroying actual ships. 

~***~ 

Friend? 

Mira’s arms wrapped around herself rather tight at that bold declaration. ‘Friends.’ It was almost enough to laugh at. It was almost enough to throw him into the nearest building, so he could return to his ship hating her and believing her a traitor. 

And yet she did not. Her friends were getting fewer and fewer in number, and she rather liked having them. “See me to the ruins of the Jedi Temple, Hux. I can’t cause much more damage there,” it was a terrible joke, but she wasn’t ready to head to a hotel. Not until she was well and truly exhausted, and couldn’t do any damage to the room she occupied when, inevitably, she woke from some nightmare…or some pleasant dream. 

She started to walk. She’d known the way as a child, her one hideaway, and even from these streets she still knew the general direction. “If you want, I can alter your memories. Snoke may not pick up on the alteration,” but Mira knew it was he that Hux had to be concerned with, not Kylo Ren. “Snoke may know if you lie to him otherwise.” ‘And you’re expendable.’ 

She didn’t dare to say that, though. “But if your memories reflect something other than the truth, you should be safe.” He wouldn’t remember, but that would be better for him, in the end. 

One protected their friends, at their own expense.

KyloGlenn · Apr 13, 2016

'Quite the event, indeed.' She observed as he unclothed the upper half of his body. The way he balled up the shirt and placed it over his chest didn't go unnoticed by her. She knew of the scar there, she was aware of many of his scars. She didn't comment on it since it obviously made him uncomfortable. 

She was curious, though. 

She slipped a pair of gloves on and got right to work. "I don't mind. As long as it keeps me alive." She spoke as she cleaned the wound first. "I suppose I should practice with it, shouldn't I?" It would be useful. If she had time, between her work in the med bay and whatever else Kylo would get her into. 

"I have a lot of scars, too. Most of them self-inflicted, I was a stupid child with a lot of time on my hands. All of them embarrassing." She spoke as she began stitching, quick and easy. Her curiosity was getting the better of her, but luckily her words could be played as simply making conversation. He had other scars than the one he was covering, after all. 

"Good as new." She mumbled as she tied it off and fumbled with putting a gauze on it. She took the opportunity to peer over at the scar from the bowcaster. "That's healed up well." She gestured to it, though it was quite obvious she was looking at it. 

- 

"As you wish," he did not find her joke amusing, but she likely already knew it was a terrible one. She really could have hurt someone—him—and was lucky she didn't. 

He followed her, figuring she knew where she was headed. She had lived here, after all. Unless she'd been so isolated that she'd never left her home. 

The General's face scrunched at her offer to alter his memories, yet he considered it. It certainly would help with the lying on his behalf, but there would still be the issue of the events of Hoth and Coruscant. How would he deal with those if he couldn't remember them? 

With either plan, there were many risks and he'd just have to choose one. "Thank you, Mira. I'll consider it. It's quite a lot of trust to be giving, letting you into my head." That wasn't his main concern, but it was there. That, and he didn't want to shoot it down quite yet. 

"Maybe this'll lead to me running back to you, we could be traitors together." He almost shivered at the thought. He likely wouldn't even make it out of Snoke's throne room if he was deemed a traitor. He was fully aware that he was expendable. And that scared him. He didn't want to die. 

"Who would replace me? Kylo?" It was a thought. Certainly it wouldn't be that awful Lieutenant General. Maybe Mitaka, but he was all too skittish. No one else was really fit to be a General, not in Hux's eyes. Hux wasn't even fit in his own eyes.

Lucyfer · Apr 13, 2016

Kylo agreed with her idea to practice. “It will prepare you for a lightsaber, as well. The blade of the lightsaber isn’t steady.” ‘Yours isn’t steady because you broke it.’ Mira’s voice. Irksome. 

“Not as steady as a regular sword. It is energy.” He said, trying not to think of the way his moved and felt in his hand, compared to other blades. Mira’s and Luke’s had always been perfectly still, flawlessly shifting the air around them and illuminating everything with their glows. 

Paquin spoke of scars, and Kylo turned his face away from her, still hating his scars. There were others, of course, minor ones. A couple of lightsaber burns from sparring incidents, and others from less-than friendly combat situations. He didn’t have any stupid ones, but he only remembered where he got two of his scars. 

His wound was wrapped and covered without a word from him, and he frowned at the mention of the scar from Chewbacca. “Well, yes.” Considering that thing was fatal to most. “I keep forgetting to get that scar thing from you,” she’d mentioned it with the prisoners, and he’d never gone back to get it with her. Too much else had cropped up and everything had shifted so quickly. “I’d still prefer neither scar be too visible.” The one from the bowcaster was still an ugly, jagged, circle, too near his heart. 

Were it not for the Force, Chewbacca would have killed him. ‘And how would you ever explain that to my mother, you giant Ewok?’ 

He unballed his shirt as he saw the ship before them, “Hopefully Phasma has good news,” he muttered as he slipped the undershirt on, then the armor, and then the shirt again, before he needed to start steering the ship towards a hangar. 

In a fit of inspiration, he decided to pick the hangar Mira’s ship was in. There was no need to give it over to the Troopers. 

A few shots and it was decimated, the pieces of it quickly being thrown across the hangar as his gun made short work of it's powered down state. Kylo made to sure park right in the ruins. Several of the troopers there had run off and fled at that, or covered their heads, but none dared to raise a blaster to Kylo’s own ship. 

It was petty. 

It still made him feel better. 

~***~ 

“If you’re going to be a traitor, do it properly,” Mira instructed, “You have an entire army at your behest, and none of them have any loyalty to Snoke. They fear the Knights,” Mira noted as the area they walked through became gradually more ruined. “With a word, they’d expel the Knights and cast off all ties to Snoke. The First Order is yours. You don’t need to betray it…just change directions.” 

It was an option that was open to him, but not to her. She had no army. She had no loyal devotees. ‘Though I believe the Senate still has a spot on it for the Jedi Consular.’ That would be a level of mainstream protection. Snoke, Kylo, and Hux could just simply assassinate her, but she wondered. 

The Republic had stayed aside as the Hosnian system was destroyed, but would they abide a Senator destroyed? Somehow, she imagined something that petty, might set them off. That was a true move against their grand establishment. ‘But how do I manage it?’ Mira didn’t even know where to begin. Except Leia. 

Everything seemed to go back to Leia. She couldn’t ask Hux to pull strings of his own allies in the senate. “It would be Kylo Ren that replaces you,” she confirmed, “In name. It would be Snoke who would truly replace you, but Kylo Ren would serve as his face. 

The temple was before them, debris and destruction apparent, yet the doors still stood. The building itself had never fallen completely. Emperor Sidious was always looking for something he couldn’t seem to find in there—likely, the holocron she’d just traded. 

Destroyed holocron littered the path up to the doors. The air was heavy with death, still.

KyloGlenn · Apr 14, 2016

Paquin was rather excited to acquire a lightsaber, even if it would take a minute for that to happen. The reason she was excited was childish—she thought they looked cool. Especially Kylo’s, with the crossguards and the crackling, though she was fairly certain that was not normal. 

She wondered if she’d have a choice in the color of it. Paquin knew nothing of kyber crystals or what the colors represented, but she had noticed that both Kylo’s and Mira’s lightsabers were red. Darth Vader’s had been red and that seemed to be the extent of her knowledge on the subject. 

“I’ll dig it out next time we’re in the med bay and not in the midst of a predicament.” She hadn’t forgotten about it, there simply wasn’t a right time to give it to him. Hopefully they’d figure out what was going on with the General and she’d be able to hand it over before something else arises. 

“Hopefully.” ‘Though I sincerely doubt it.’ She didn’t voice her thoughts as she pulled off the gloves and began dousing her hands in hand sanitizer. She was once tempted to create a petition to place hand sanitizer dispensers around every corner on Starkiller. That never happened. 

Paquin certainly wasn’t expecting Kylo to shoot Mira’s ship when they entered the hangar. ‘Whatever makes him feel better I guess…’ She thought as she gathered the armor and weapons she’d freed herself of earlier. “That’s one way to clear a space.” She mumbled as she made her way off his ship, careful to avoid any smoking debris when she exited. 

She could already see the chrome armor that Phasma sported, next to her was a man in uniform that she didn’t recognize. Though he did look a bit like Hux… 

- 

An eyebrow rose at Mira’s suggestion. Hux had never thought of it that way, but she was right. The Order’s loyalty belonged to Hux while Hux’s belonged to Snoke. The First Order was his, he wasn’t betraying it. Just the Supreme Leader, who offered instructions and resources only if they aided his agenda. 

There was no one above Hux, other than Snoke. It would be so easy to branch off from him, expel the Knights. Four Force-sensitives against thousands of Stormtroopers? Easy win, surely. 

But who would dictate the galaxy when the Order won? That was supposed to be Snoke. 

‘Let’s just see how this goes,’ his mind attempted to dispel those thoughts. 

He pushed them away, for the moment. But there was still a nagging in the back of his mind saying that’s what was going to happen. Maybe it would be better for the Order. There would be no setbacks with the Jedi issue—the only reason that had been a problem was because Snoke gave Hux’s military to Kylo to rid the galaxy of a single man. Who was causing no issues. 

“You’re just full of ideas.” He commented, only just then noticing the change in scenery. It was surprising to see an area of Coruscant, a very much alive planet, so dead. 

Hux snorted at the thought of Kylo being General. “The Order would crash and burn under the command of General Ren.” He grumbled. Doubts of Snoke’s leadership even crossed his mind. No, Snoke was certainly worthy of the title Supreme Leader, even with his few and far between commands. It may have just been Hux’s possessiveness over his organization taking over. 

‘What the hell has this woman done to me?’ He wouldn’t have dared to think such things if it weren’t for her. 

The Jedi temple stood in front of them. It was by no means in good shape, but it wasn’t just heaps of material on the ground. The doors still stood, that was something. “Does this place mean something to you as a Jedi? Or is it just a place that you can’t do much damage to?”

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

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

either born in hell or heaven sent

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

either born in hell or heaven sent

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

either born in hell or heaven sent

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

either born in hell or heaven sent

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

either born in hell or heaven sent

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

either born in hell or heaven sent

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

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

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