Fandom Fight for Control [closed]

[cleopat]

If everything went south after this call, Kylo would have to remind himself to punish both Huxes. Hell, he toyed with the thought of killing them both, Armitage especially for fucking things up as much as his decision did. And Lieutenant Storax for not alerting him of this decision earlier.

Tarkin continued to talk, a voice that now grated on Kylo’s ears. If they still had that damned superweapon, Eriadu, and any other planet directly allianced with Tarkin, would be next for demolition. Now that he won’t back down on Lothal? Kylo was set in his desires. Even if he didn’t first approve for General Hux to visit Governor Pandion on the planet, he had to see it through.

“Then it seems that our conversation is now over, Governor.” He turned off the holovid, and Tarkin’s figure faded from their sight. For a few seconds, Kylo stared at the spot where Tarkin stood, but his furious gaze focused on nothing particular.

Without warning, a roar of pure anger and desperation erupted from his throat, and an empty chair flung into the wall from his uncontrolled Force reaction. It wasn’t intentional. Kylo hadn’t meant to lash out like that, but his anger was hard to control when he was placed in a helpless position. “Prepare our ships for battle,” he barked at Reveille.

~~

“But how would you go about making it taboo? Something like this is so engrained in the culture of many planets, that I can’t see a feasible way of accomplishing this.” The culture of extremely populated inner planets such as Coruscant and Denon did not have this such culture, although Lavinia knew nothing of the underworlds of the planets.

She thought back to the holoprompter, and with an idea in mind, Lavinia stood up and walked back over to it. The screen lit up at the touch of her finger, and she perused the selection with haste, before Armitage had a chance to see what she was doing. Her selection was made, and the order placed. If he chastise her for her decision, then so be it.

“To make something as universally enjoyed as comfort food a taboo matter would be quite a feat. It’s easy enough to do it among those who are already used to obeying orders, but to try and instill that on the planets? I think that’s an impossible feat.” As she was done with the holoprompter, Lavinia lackadaisically strolled over in Armitage’s direction, arms crossed over her chest. “Maybe instead focus on those who indulge in this lifestyle the most, the elites of the inner world.”

 

[Lucyfer]

The Exigency was ready for battle. Of course, hopping out of lightspeed would mean a delay, but with any luck it wouldn’t matter. The TIEs were ready to scatter as soon as they left. Valles would fight harder to protect his home, and his pilots would do the same, feeling his energy. Still, as Governor Tarkin faded out, Reveille wouldn’t deny a sense of trepidation that was, thankfully, banished by Kylo’s outrage.

She’d rather feel annoyed than anything else right then.

Several officers flinched, but most went right back to work. Reveille addressed them calmly, “Reach out to the rest of the fleet left at Coruscant. Request that all but the Finalizer, Supremacy, and Executor join us at Absanz, prepared to engage the Imperial forces.” Her voice didn’t waver. “Request the Executor to go to Tepasi for a skirmish to prevent Governor Tagge from joining Governor Tarkin, or to at least distract. It is not to get close to Tepasi; I do not want a dreadnaught shot out of the sky by ground weapons.”

“Understood, ma’am,” a lieutenant said, as orders began to spread.

Reveille added, “See my ship prepared, as well.” Kos’tel’lanni would handle the Bridge. Reveille was going to go out in stealth and monitor the battle from the best vantage points she could get and do what she could, as well.

~***~

“You do realize that Emperor Palpatine made the Jedi Order out to be villains, when they had stood for millennia as peacekeepers, don’t you?” Perhaps not. The Jedi Order was now more of a myth than anything, and most of that was, in fact, thanks to Palpatine.

He had shown it was possible to make drastic, sweeping changes in a short period of time.

He did notice that she returned to the holoprompter, and he arched a brow, wondering what she was ordering now, but he didn’t have time to move and go see. “I do not think it will be easy, but nonetheless, I shouldn’t give up on something just because it’s difficult. Otherwise I may as well give up on ending slavery, which has been going on for as long as the galaxy has existed, I’m sure.”

In some form or another, people took advantage of others. It was despicable, and he’d never fully end it…but he was certain he’d do a better job than the New Republic. “But I will make it clear the elite lifestyle is one to abhor. That is how they will be targeted first.”

 

[cleopat]

Kylo was pulled from his mind as Reveille laid out her orders for her officers. She was quick, calm, and there was no hesitation in her orders. He almost resented her for how second-nature her commands seemed. As Supreme Leader, he needed complete confidence in himself in leading troops into battle, but he was never taught how to do just that. And his pride at refusing to acknowledge that could be dangerous for them all.

In another series of circumstances, Kylo would admit he held admiration for the way she commanded a room.

He spoke up, a harsh whisper, after she finished her series of commands. “You better hope that Tarkin decides to yield, for your brother’s sake.” There was no hiding his contempt. He felt justified in thinking that he could kill several people directly and indirectly involved in the situation unfolding on Lothal and in Absanz’s orbit. In his anger, he didn’t even consider their incalculable value to the First Order. No one else could command troops like they did. Kylo certainly couldn’t.

He would follow her to her ship, watch the battle up close and gauge what kind of forces Tarkin had exactly. And when that was done, perhaps pay a trip to Lothal.

~~

“And now the Jedi are seen as a symbol of hope for the Resistance and their sympathizers.” Lavinia didn’t know much on the exactly history of the fall of the Jedi. She knew of the stories of some of the legends, such as Luke Skywalker, and the Resistance had relied on hope to find him to help them destroy the First Order.

Too bad that didn’t exactly work out as they had hoped.

Her steps paused a few feet in front of Armitage. “It’s funny to equate food with slavery, though. They’re hardly the same scale of corruption and depravity.” He had large visions for the galaxy, some of them too grand to ever hope to actually enforce, and that could spell his downfall.

The one thing they agreed one was targeting the elite class. They held too much wealth, and as a result, held too much power over the planets they resided on. “I take it you grew up surrounded by this elite lifestyle?”

 

[Lucyfer]

Reveille refused to pause when Kylo whispered his threat. ‘And you better pray for mercy if you think of touching him.’ No matter his error in moving on Lothal, Reveille would not let Kylo Ren execute him for it. His intentions were to help the Order. The Order didn’t need Lothal, not enough to fight Tarkin over.

Not yet, anyways.

She continued to head out from the Bridge, pausing only as she reached the hangar to round on Kylo, “You are not joining me in my ship.” Not only did she not trust him with her ship given his recent hacking of its chair, “I need the vantage it offers to help us win, without distraction.” Or fear of him bursting into a rage or grabbing the wheel or weapons. “If you wish to participate, join Lieutenant-Admiral Kos’tel’lanni on the Bridge, or get to your own TIE.”

She didn’t so much as glance over as Schaeffer moved by, his intent clear enough given the order to prepare her ship.

He would be joining her in the ship as her co-pilot.

Rani would be occupied with her own TIE fighter.

~***~

“Now,” he shrugged, “but that can be fixed,” like so many other things wrong with the galaxy. Armitage had to believe that.

Althea moved from the holoprompter, over to his position, as he idly wondered how long it could to make a salad. Perhaps the kitchens were far from the area, “Hardly,” he scoffed. The First Order hadn’t been overly luxurious at any point in its existence. “I had to deal with hypocrites who claimed they had no desire for that lifestyle, while making attempts at living it.”

His father hadn’t been fat because he only ate the nutrient bars. No, he’d indulged. He thought it was his right and his privilege to do so because of his rank, like others from his father’s time who considered their status reason enough to indulge, forgetting what they were striving for.

Rank in the First Order came with responsibility, and they had forsaken it. “Why this immense curiosity? Have I not explained things well enough?” For one who claimed not to indulge much herself, she was needlessly interrogatory on this subject.

 

[cleopat]

The denial of observation from Reveille’s ship was an unanticipated command. Reveille had given in to what Kylo demanded before, so he briefly paused in disbelief. He fought through his incredulity, and agitation took its place.

He wanted to argue against her, to question her leadership skills if she could so easily be distracted. That would simply be a waste of time right now, when they were heading into battle with Tarkin. Both of their energy needed to concentrate on destroying Tarkin’s fleet and ensuring they had Lothal.

“Very well.” His voice was deceptively calm while a storm of emotions rolled through his mind. “Good luck out there, Admiral.” Sincerity was falsified, and Kylo stormed back to the Bridge so he could watch the battle from there. Before, he would’ve considered joining the battle in his own TIE, but as the Supreme Leader, he wouldn’t risk his life in the battlefield anymore. Not when he grew closer to his goal.

He would just have to direct the battle from the Bridge, with Reveille's Lieutenant-Admiral there. She appeared to not rile him up like Reveille managed to, a fact he didn't think about, only accepted.

~~

At his question, Lavinia shrugged. “I’m just curious.” She was aware that at times, her curiosity could be too much, but that was also what made her great at her job. Her curiosity landed her information, but she was aware that that same curiosity, if not carefully managed, could land her in trouble. “Curios to learn more about how you think.”

As soon as she finished that thought, a soft knock sounded at the door. Wordlessly, Lavinia strolled to the door and answered it, where she was greeted by a twi’lek holding a tray with their salads. Upon seeing the missing item, she asked as she grabbed the tray, “Is my other order coming?”

The twi’lek nodded, letting go of the tray for Lavinia to take. “Yes, miss. Someone else is bringing it. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

She shook her head. “This will be all. Thank you.” The twi’lek nodded and walked away from the room, and Lavinia closed the door behind her with a light tap of her foot. Upon remembering that the room lacked any appropriate surface for eating, she huffed as she glanced around. “Governor Pandion sure does know how to treat his guests.” Armitage’s coat still laid on top of the dresser, so she motioned for him to remove it so the tray could be placed there.

 

[Lucyfer]

Reveille was quietly relieved when Kylo Ren backed down without a fight. She had expected one to come from him, but on this, she knew she had to be firm. For her fleet. For the battle to come. She had to be at the top of her game, and that meant no Kylo Ren who could lose his temper at any second and ruin everything.

Not that the Bridge was a better place for him…but she trusted Kos’tel’lanni to handle it. “Thank you, Supreme Leader.” With those words, she turned back to her goal of her ship and rolled her eyes a bit as she saw Schaeffer already leaning in the doorway.

She’d figure out how he opened it without the key later.

She just stepped up and by him, “So, Tarkin.”

“I know. Right after our meeting, too.” The door shut behind her as she walked to the cockpit.

“We could go to him instead. He has the tools to take down Kylo Ren.” Schaeffer felt fairly secure, for the time being, to suggest taking down the Supreme Leader. Reveille's distaste was obvious. Perhaps now was a terrible time to suggest dissent, but Schaeffer felt nervous going against Tarkin, and keeping Kylo at the head of the First Order. It wasn’t good for anyone. They’d wasted time trying to get Tarkin on their side, only to have that slip between their fingers in a night.

Reveille was silent. It was an option, and she knew it, too. Slip in with a stealth ship, speak to Tarkin himself, return with the means to take down Kylo Ren….

But if they failed….

Reveille shook her head. “Let’s see how much of a problem Tarkin is, first. It may just be his name.”

Schaeffer scoffed. They both knew it was a lie, but he didn’t argue any further.

~***~

Kos’tel’lanni was back in the Bridge before Kylo Ren, with Jinah present, as well. They both shifted a bit when the man returned, and Jinah quickly stepped off the catwalk to join the officers below. His job was fairly singular – use his sight to detect anything that could be problematic, and alert everyone else to it.

Perhaps it would be unnecessary with Kylo Ren present, but nonetheless, he had his job.

Kos’tel’lanni turned to fully face Kylo Ren, hands moving behind her back, “So Admiral Hux has gone to her ship,” not unexpected, but a move Kos’tel’lanni herself didn’t approve of, no matter how secure the stealth made her ship. “We have information on Tarkin’s forces, but it is not much,” Kos’tel’lanni would motion to one of the monitors, “We know he tends to use similar designs to our own fighters, but we know little of his strategy, unfortunately. When we get in range, I believe we should focus first on disabling any static he’s creating down on Absanz. If we can get a message to Sienar Fleets that we’ve arrived, they may be able to assist.”

They made ships more than they flew them, but an attack from below may just help turn the edge against Governor Tarkin.

~***~

Curious to learn how he thought? Armitage scowled a bit at that. Perhaps it was meant as a compliment, a show of interest, but that was suspicious to him. He reminded himself again that, while Kos’tel’lanni cleared her of ties outside the Order, she remained Kylo’s spy. She may have little care for Kylo, but he could still choose to read her mind at any time.

He didn’t think he was giving away anything that Kylo didn’t already know about him, though.

He let her move to get the food, and he was relieved to see the salads. He could eat, and sleep. Then in the morning he’d get the business of this meeting over with. He did sigh as he was reminded that there was no space to eat, and he’d had to move his coat. There wasn’t much else to put his coat over, though, so he walked to the door adjoining the room to a bathroom, and draped the coat over the top corner of the door.

It could be moved back to the dresser when they were done with the food, so that closing the door was an option.

“I do not imagine Governor Pandion has many guests,” not like this, anyways.

He reached for his own salad off the tray and took the fork to eat, munching on the greens immediately. He was hungrier than he’d given himself credit for earlier. "Did you actually want a salad?" He opted to ask. Her curiosity on food and him aside, few people ever wanted salads.

 

[cleopat]

Kylo’s eyes flickered in the direction of Jinah when he moved off the catwalk, but Kos’tel’lanni held the bulk of his attention. She was the next in charge and taking Reveille’s place while she was on her ship. It was natural for him to communicate with her in the middle of a battle.

Kylo ddn’t need reminding that Reveille went to her ship. He didn’t bother to ponder on why it bothered him, except that she turned him away. That had to be it. He shifted his body to better view the monitor Kos’tel’lanni motioned at, listening to her while watching the picture. “Do we have any way we can send someone down to the planet to further help disrupt this static?” If Tarkin’s fleet surrounded the planet like they were told, then that may not be possible. But the First Order possessed noise disrupter technology, although distance and an atmosphere filled with enemy ships posed a problem.

“Has someone managed to get in contact with General Hux yet?” Now that the decision was made to attack Tarkin, contacting the general would do no good for them anymore. He already blew his chance by not only visiting Lothal, but sleeping through this unfolding chaos. “Or the Lieutenant?”

~~

Once the coat was removed, Lavinia placed the tray on the dresser and grabbed a plate for herself. She could only hum in agreement to Armitage’s comment on Governor Pandion, as she had a mouthful of the crispy greens. But it also made her wonder why Tybalt Vosh was there to begin with.

She waited until she swallowed her food before answering Armitage’s question. “Sure, why not? They’re healthy, and with the right ingredients, quite delicious. I don’t care for heavy foods, and given how late it is, nothing else sounded good.”

Another fork full of the greens and a little chicken. Swallowing that bit, she asked her own question. “Do you care for it?” Lavinia had always been careful of what she ate. Some of the motivation may come from vanity reasons, but she was also very active, which required a better diet than her parents or their friends indulged in.

 

[Lucyfer]

Kos’tel’lanni let her gaze drift to the information, “We can always try to send someone through the blockade, but it’s unlikely we’ll succeed as quickly as I would think necessary. We would also lose contact with them,” they would enter into that field, after all, “I believe it would be more efficient to strike at what they are using to disrupt the field. That will take some time to discern, though Admiral Reveille is likely to gather that information for us.”

She would be able to get close enough to get better read-outs, and not be engaged in combat, initially.

“In regards to Lieutenant Storax and General Hux, we do not have word from them currently,” trying at this point seemed a futile endeavor, and if the situation were different, Kos’tel’lanni may have attempted to reach out to Governor Pandion.

As it was, she did not want to tip him off, if he wasn’t already aware, to the situation at hand with Governor Tarkin.

~***~

Armitage supposed a salad could be considered far lighter than most foods that were offered. Given they were generally just greens in dressing, it was hard to get ‘lighter’, unless someone added a heavier dressing. The vinaigrette was hardly that.

He almost sighed at her question, but didn’t. He should have known that continuing to speak of food would earn him another question on the matter, “When I do have a need to eat, I do tend to prefer salads or things that would be called ‘light’.” He wouldn’t admit it was the freshness of it that made it appealing.

He knew how easy that would be to turn into an argument about why actual food was better, and fresh food, at that.

In regards to flavor and simply how it agreed with him, though, he wouldn’t deny that fresh fruits and fresh vegetables were tasty. He doubted the chicken was all that fresh, but alongside the other things, it was hard to notice how long it may or may not have been frozen. “Hearty stews and the like never really appealed.”

Though he could still recall the scents of a few of those from the kitchen back on Arkanis, things his mother had probably made.

 

[cleopat]

Of course he’s still asleep. Of course he’s conveniently unreachable when he caused this mess. Kylo didn’t suppress a scowl at the information. Why should he hide his unhappiness due to the mistakes of his inferiors? Incompetence was not tolerated.

“Let’s make finding the source of this disruption a priority, then.” Anything else could prove a foolish move for them, as Tarkin would continue to have the advantage over them. “Are the ships from the other dreadnoughts on their way yet?”

He wanted to ensure everyone was moving as fast as they could. Tarkin was always one step ahead of him, and this time, Kylo will do his damndest to knock Tarkin down a peg or two, until the day came where he could kill the man. His hands clasped firmly behind his back as potential strategies played out in his head.

He would need to see what happened next. If they could destroy the disruption source, then the rest of the battle may play in their favor. Anything else would spell disaster.

~~

Lavinia nodded at his answer and didn’t press the subject any further. She could tell that her earlier questions had started to grate on him, and she wanted him to be more at ease around her, if that was possible for him. Although her earlier comment about his being a droid was only said in jest, Lavinia had to wonder if it was possible for him to relax around anyone.

“Hearty stews can be nice in cold climates, but I’ve never really been fond of them either.” She picked at her food a little, absentmindedly pushing around the greens before spearing it on her fork. There was another knock on the bedroom door, and Lavinia placed her plate down in favor of answering. A man, dressed in garb similar to the twi’lek from earlier, stood there with a decanter half-full of an amber liquid, a small bucket of ice, and two short glasses.

“Thank you so much,” she said, a light smile on her face as she took the tray from him. He bowed, exchange pleasantries, and walked down the hallway. “Now I know you don’t typically care for this,” she began, closing the door behind her, “but a small glass to compliment our dinner will not hurt.” The tray was placed on top of the other one that carried the salads, and Lavinia momentarily ignored her salad to place a cube of ice in each of the glasses and poured a small amount of the amber liquid into them.

 

[Lucyfer]

Kos’tel’lanni was pleased with the Supreme Leader’s agreement. It would make things so much easier to attempt to destroy or interfere with the source of the noise that Tarkin would, no doubt, be creating. Of course, if he had said otherwise, she would have to order it, and hope it panned out. “Yes, the dreadnaughts moved as soon as they had the order. They will exit lightspeed shortly after us.”

The dreadnaughts were a bit slower than the Exigency. To be fair, the only ship that really matched it, in regards to their larger vessels, was the Finalizer. The destroyers were always quicker than the dreadnaughts, and of the destroyers, the Finalizer and Exigency were the fastest in the fleet, for obvious reasons.

They were the flagships of General Hux and Admiral Hux.

“Exiting lightspeed in 3…2…,” there was no need to say ‘one’.

The star lines burst apart as they became pinpricks once more, revealing the fleet before Absanz that belonged to Governor Tarkin, a mass of star destroyers and a couple of dreadnaughts, with his TIEs already out on patrol – and TIEs that immediately moved to rush their position. “Put me into our fighter comms, please,” Kos’tel’lanni said, and was given a nod when it was done, “Commander Sienar, launch TIEs. Your first object is to find and destroy Governor Tarkin’s jammers so we can reach Absanz. Admiral Hux, if possible, would you attempt to locate it?”

She couldn’t order Reveille, not even given Kylo’s agreement.

“TIEs launching,” Sienar reported back.

“On it,” was Reveille’s simple response.

Kos’tel’lanni nodded, “Please begin a hailing sequence to Absanz on the standard frequency, and adjust power to our frontal shields for the moment. Let the TIEs and dreadnaughts do the work, focus on defense.”

Their dreadnaughts zipped into sight not long after those words were spoken.

~***~

Armitage frowned at the sound of another knock, but he did recall that Althea had gone over to the holoprompter. His eyes followed her as she went to the door to fetch whatever else she had ordered, returning not long after with a decanter of some amber liquid he was fairly certain was alcoholic. Not that Althea offered to tell him what it was, merely suggested it would go well with the salad.

“I would have preferred a water,” there was obvious dryness to his tone as he observed her pour the liquid into two glasses.

He was aware that one glass wasn’t going to impact him, however he had abstained at their previous meetings, and he had one in the morning. He had worked through lack of sleep and hangovers before, but the idea hardly appealed to him. He was already low on food and sleep, for all he knew that was going to compound the impact.

“The burn of alcohol rarely goes well with salad,” not that he’d discovered, anyways, though he didn’t stray outside of the alcohol he knew. Perhaps wines went well with it, being on the fruity side of things, but he wasn’t inclined to learn too much about them.

 

[cleopat]

Kylo nodded, accepting Kos’tel’lanni’s answer. Everything, and everyone, was running smoothly thus far, for they all knew the seriousness of the situation unfolding. He didn’t know exactly what kind of weaponry they faced against Tarkin, but the governor had money, resources, and powerful allies. He would be a formidable foe.

Kos’tel’lanni counted down for their exit of lightspeed, and Kylo waited with bated breath for what awaited them in Absanz’s orbit. The fleet was impressive, and he felt a pinprick in the back of his mind of fear. What if they did lose this battle? Not only would Tarkin have the upper hand, but most of the First Order’s fleet will be wiped out. And for what, the battle of egos and claim over Lothal?

The Lieutenant-Admiral did a well enough job of commanding their ships. He could see why she was second-in-command for Admiral Hux, and yet she was far more pleasant to be around. His focus centered on the viewport allowing them a glimpse into the battle scene. For once, Kylo was not in a TIE dealing the damaging blows, and it felt odd to him. As if he shouldn’t be standing there on the Bridge.

Right now, they all played the waiting game for when Tarkin’s jammer will be destroyed. And if they couldn’t...”Do you have a plan for if we’re not successful in eliminating Tarkin’s source of noise disrupter?”

~~

Naturally the man who preferred nutritional bars over an actual meal would dryly comment on his preference for water. Lavinia ignored the statement as she placed the decanter back on the tray. Just one glass wouldn’t hurt at all, and it may do the general some good to relax for once. Not that she would say that particular thought out loud.

“The burn of alcohol goes well with everything.” Salad lay forgotten, she picked up her glass and swirled its contents around, contemplating if she wanted to knock back the entire glass or take smaller sips. “Just take one sip. Nothing will happen.” A brief smile crossed her lips before she decided to take a small sip of the alcohol, jogan fruit brandy that she recalled enjoying at some of the dinner parties of her past.

The glass was traded for her salad, for she thought it would be better to savor the drink and not crave more. Lavinia did briefly wonder what Armitage would be like drunk, but that night was not the night to try and figure that out. “I think you may even find out that you enjoy it.”

 

[Lucyfer]

Stealth was an advantage and a disadvantage. For one, no one could see her ship.

Two, no one could see her ship.

Reveille had to maneuver out of the path of TIEs frequently to avoid being stricken by one, while they approached the looming destroyers and dreadnaughts that had assembled over Absanz. “And here’s where the signals jam,” Reveille commented, not surprised, to Schaeffer. A few switches were hit to run a scan of the area and try to triangulate and pinpoint the location of the jamming.

It was likely on a ship. Destroying that ship would clear up communications.

‘No?’ No, it wasn’t.

Reveille and Schaeffer both stared a few moments as nothing was picked up, either to triangulate or pinpoint. It was just fed back to them. “Interesting,” Reveille murmured, “Run a cloaking scan instead.”

“Tarkin’s cloaking technology is superior to our own, Admiral.”

‘Right.’ Something forgotten, even if Tarkin couldn’t find her, she didn’t have resources to find him, either. “Let’s run through some frequencies then, I have an idea.” A feedback loop wouldn’t run on all frequencies. Not even Tarkin could pull that off, and if she could narrow that down, she should be able to figure this out.

Wave, after wave, was pushed out, until something hit and returned with static rather than a loop. Reveille used that, and eventually figured out that the feedback loop wasn’t being run from a ship to jam communications, but satellites that were cloaked. “How are we going to find cloaked satellites?” Schaeffer grumbled.

“Not easily…hold on, I’m going to direct our forces to a ship,” to try and get Tarkin’s focus on it, “His flagship won’t be central,” he wasn’t that stupid.

After checking readings of radio waves going out and coming in, she determined the central left was the most likely one to be home to Governor Tarkin, or his commanding area, and reached out to the Exigency to pass that information along, before whipping her ship around and calling out to Sienar.

“We have a few cloaked satellites in this area,” she would send him a bit of a map of the area they were in, the area she suspected they were in highlighted. “I’ll try to—”

“Head’s up!”

Schaeffer’s words surprised her, but she saw what he meant almost as soon as it was said. Bombs had been dropped from above them, something they didn’t even consider. A quick dodge, and the bombs fell down onto the ship below, not inflicting much damage due to the spot.

It did mean one thing, though: Tarkin could see through their cloak.

~***~

The viewport was host to the sights of the battle. The sounds came in mostly through a quieted radio of voices of their fighters out there. They had dedicated personnel to listen in, to make sure everything was going well in the battle, or to take note of any happenings. It was not Kos’tel’lanni’s job to listen for that, but she couldn’t help but to do so as she watched.

Kylo’s query was still easily heard over that, and she shook her head, “No,” it was the truth, “I have ideas, of course, but I would need more information before concocting a plan. Admiral Hux will be able to provide that,” if it was necessary, which Kos’tel’lanni did not think that it would be.

From her vantage on the Bridge, she was able to oversee the maneuvers of their own fighters, and of their opponents. She was able to watch the turbolasers and other weapons on the dreadnaughts ahead, and consider when, and how, they might strike.

“Lieutenant-Admiral?” A man spoke up from below, and Kos’tel’lanni glanced down, “Admiral Hux has discovered the source of the disruption to the planet, and is requesting the order be put out for the dreadnaughts to target the central-left destroyer in the line-up.”

Kos’tel’lanni did not bother to ask why. In these situations, that was a waste of time. “Bring up our dreadnaughts,” she’d provide them with just that information – just as she saw a flash of flames burst ahead of them from one of Tarkin’s ships. Not the central-left one.

And just as she saw several groupings of bombers leaving from Tarkin’s vessels.

~***~

Armitage couldn’t help but roll his eyes, “I’m aware that one drink isn’t going to do anything to me,” a further indication of its pointlessness, really. Alcohol didn’t particularly taste good. It only had one real purpose in his mind, and that purpose was hardly a good one, even if on rare occasions he had determined it was good.

It wasn’t.

He just needed the small break it provided.

Althea suggested he might enjoy it. Even suggested the burn went well with everything. “I didn’t take you for an alcoholic,” though he knew little about her so far, he was fairly certain her record wouldn’t indicate such a thing. Still, there was disdain in his tone as she indicated her approval for alcohol with everything.

In spite of that, he humored her a bit by asking, “What, exactly, is it?” He didn’t know many alcohols by taste. He stuck mostly to one thing, with one purpose. Other than that, he tried to avoid the substance on the off-chance it was poisoned, or did impact his thinking capabilities.

 

[cleopat]

Occasionally Kylo would pick up on the quieted voices coming through the radios, but they simply became white noise as his focused remained on the battle scenes playing out in front of his eyes. Not every movement could be seen from his viewpoint, but most of the TIEs, dreadnoughts, and destroyers were within eyesight. He could still tell who had the upper-hand.

A flash of sudden light caught his attention from the corner of his eye, and his head whipped to the direction of the source. Several bombs landing on a ship, but as far as he could tell, there wasn’t much damage. He saw groupings of bombers leaving Tarkin’s vessels. First instinct told him to call on the TIEs to shift their focus on the bombers, but then they would be vulnerable to attacks.

But if they could clear the static to Absanz, then Sienar Fleets could be called sooner.

“Make sure the TIEs continue to focus on finding and destroying the source of the noise disturbance,” Kylo demanded, largely towards Kos’tel’lanni, but his voice carried to the officers focused on their screens and keeping up communications. “Our dreadnoughts and destroyers need to direct their ion cannons to those bombers.”

~~

Lavinia arched one eyebrow, as if she was silently challenged him to accept the drink since he admitted it won’t do anything. She took another sip, savoring the taste and the burn as the liquid slid down her throat. “I’m not an alcoholic, but I certainly enjoy a glass every now and then.”

Alcohol was a great way to relax, to enhance some dishes, or, in more desperate moments, to help forget about any issues plaguing her. Lavinia certainly did take advantage of alcohol when she was younger and dragged along to parties, but she did limit how consumption in more recent years. It could pose a high risk for her.

“It’s jogan fruit brandy, a particular favorite of mine.” Sweet and smooth, it was one she enjoyed savoring. “Just one sip, and I won’t pester you about it anymore.” She didn’t know why she was so adamant about Armitage trying the alcohol. Maybe she wanted to see him loosen up some. Maybe it was an unspoken battle she was trying to win, after their discussion of food.

 

[Lucyfer]

There was a debate in the silence of the cockpit for both Schaeffer and Reveille as they noticed other TIEs starting to move to their position – whether or not cloaking was worth the energy any longer. Neither of them asked the question aloud, but Reveille reached for the comm again, “Commander Rani, do you see any TIEs acting strangely from your vantage?”

A few moments of silence, before Kylo’s message went out all vessels, and then, “Yea—ooooh shit,” it dawned on Rani why the question was being asked, “On it, Admiral!” And commands to move TIEs to pursue those locked onto Reveille’s position came, as she dove down into the field she suspected the satellites were in, “Schaeffer, monitor their movements – look for what they dodge.”

“We aren’t going to know what to dodge, Admiral,” Schaeffer said lowly, but Reveille ignored that, shifting the power of the cloaks to the shields.

“If we hit something, we’ll destroy it.”

Schaeffer kept an eye on their paths, though, and he began to relay information to Sienar as his own TIEs started to sweep the area, while Rani’s pursued the TIEs after the Admiral’s ship, which was doing a fairly good job at avoiding satellites, looping back around and toying with the TIEs in pursuit as they tried to deal with Rani’s forces.

There was a rather bright flash of light that could only be the destruction of a large vessel – followed by another.

“Admiral, we’ve lost the Praetor.”

Reveille knew to be bothered by that – but she couldn’t let that impact her right then, as the static on her line cleared up.

~***~

Kos’tel’lanni had been prepared to make the same order that Kylo Ren did, but he spoke first. Kos’tel’lanni gave a simple nod, and listened as their teams were told to continue with the original plan. She directed the Exigency to do what it could to blast the bombers that were coming their way – all for one dreadnought, rather than split between them.

She considered an order for evacuation, but opted for silence instead. There was a chance they could eliminate all the bombers. A chance that the shields might be enough. The dreadnought still had all its weapons.

“Praetor, turbolaser is primed.”

“Felfire, turbolaser is primed.”

Kos’tel’lanni nodded, “Proceed with firing on the indicated ship.”

First one, then the other, dreadnought fired on the ship that Reveille had indicated earlier, the first shot taking out the shields, while the second put an end to the ship, debris scattering over the field, and likely impacting several smaller fighters on either side.

And then, there was an explosion to their own side, and Kos’tel’lanni had to reach for a bit of railing to remain standing as the Exigency was rocked, too close to the dreadnought removed from the fight.

The line whined loudly until one of the officers quickly cut the communications, before it would have naturally been cut. Kos’tel’lanni swallowed hard, and was about to reach out to Admiral Hux for direction when she realized something: the static in the background had cleared up.

~***~

Armitage did believe Althea as she suggested she wasn’t an alcoholic. Nothing he’d seen of her behavior or her record thus far indicated such a problem, and alcoholics usually couldn’t hide it. He’d seen enough of them in the Order, and had to see a few of them dealt with. Some were able to pull it together once they were docked pay or otherwise punished for letting it slip into their work.

The drink was a brandy – not the sort he was familiar with, and the thought of it being a ‘fruit’ drink only made him wonder if it would have a rotted taste to it, rather than a sweet one. Still, as she suggested it was a favorite of hers, he decided he would at least have the sip she seemed to so desperately want him to have.

“I will hold you to that,” he stated as he took the glass and took back a sip, forcing himself not to shoot it. He was more accustomed to that when taking down his alcohol. His goal here was not, however, to ignore the taste and get drunk.

Thankfully, it didn’t have the rotted taste, nor did it burn so much as what he was more accustomed to. It was nearly pleasant, but even so, he set it down after the promised sip, “Satisfied?”

He doubted it. She was likely hoping he would have kept drinking after the sip.

He likely would. Wasting the glass would be a shame, but for the moment he cared only to show her the sip she desired and see if she actually would back off the subject.

He could finish the rest of it later, likely when there was less a risk of her refilling it. He’d hate to have a second glass wasted, but he wouldn’t drink more than the one. "I will admit it tastes better than what I've had, but I have not explored much alcohol - nor do I intend to," there was a warning edge in his voice, in case she thought to try and push this further. He'd rather explore foods that wouldn't damage his ability to think.

 

[cleopat]

Chaos erupted all around them. Everyone, and every ship, were engaged in action, and as more ships were destroyed, debris scattered all over Kylo’s vantage point. For a moment, an iota of his being felt fear that they won’t be successful in their attack against Tarkin. That they would needlessly lose several good officers in the battle, including the admiral.

Snap out of it. If it happens, then you rebuild.

An explosion rocked the Exigency, and Kylo braced his feet so he wouldn’t stumble and fall. His heart sank, initially thinking the worst of what happened to the destroyer, but his fears were put to rest when the ship proved it sustained little damage.

Kylo was nearly about to shout another order when he realized the same thing as Kos’tel’lanni. The aggravating static cleared up, and now they could call in reinforcements. “Get a hold of Sienar Fleets immediately!” He didn’t know who exactly he aimed that command at, just as long as someone jumped on the demand before they sustained anymore losses. One dreadnought was already down.

“Tell them we need immediate backup against Tarkin’s fleet.” Hopefully they would be quick to respond and turn the battle in their favor. Hopefully Tarkin will admit defeat.

~~

Lavinia held a sense of accomplishment as she watched Armitage give in and take a sip of the drink. The very notion that she persuaded him to do something he wasn’t thrilled about, in this case indulge in a little bit of alcohol in a casual setting, was an achievement in discovering who Armitage was, in her eyes.

“Quite satisfied.” She had a large grin on her face before she dug into what was left of her salad, savoring the last few bites. Although Lavinia would have preferred for him to finish the drink, but she was content that he took that one sip.

She wouldn’t press the subject any further, noting the slight tone of his voice as indication he would not accept any more. Her salad was soon finished, so she focused back on sipping the last of the drink. “I’ve explored more than my fair share, and certainly came across many I strongly disliked.” She finished the last of the drink, and opted to place the glass on the dresser, ignoring the remnants in the decanter.

“Is there anything you do enjoy exploring?” Lavinia couldn’t imagine that the general had many hobbies, if any. He was a man obsessed with his work and the First Order. There was no time.

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo’s voice could be heard even without him directly speaking into a comm, or the activity of the bridge being directly advertised to the occupants of the cockpit, “I’ll handle that,” the Admiral said as she pulled the ship up and out of the field that debris was blowing into, the TIE following lessened by Commander Sienar’s forces. “Kos’tel’lanni, maintain focus on defense of our own ships.”

With that, she muted herself from that side to speak to Schaeffer, “Take over piloting,” she didn’t need to be split between conversation and piloting in this chaos. Wordlessly, Schaeffer agreed, as Reveille hailed Absanz, and in particular, Sienar Fleets.

It was not Darrin that picked up, but rather the frantic mother of Valles, “T-this is Danica Sienar, who am I speaking to?”

“Admiral Hux of the First Order. We are working to remove Tarkin’s fleets from above Absanz. We are requesting aid in this endeavor; I understand you do not have many pilots, but what pilots and ships you have would be of assistance, as would any ground level fire.”

“Oh. Hold on a moment,” as she said it, the ship rocked, and a warning light went off, indicating a rather severe hit to the underside of the ship.

When Reveille shot Schaeffer a look, he mouthed, ‘turbolaser’.

It could have been much worse, but for now, this was manageable. “This is Captain Thatch. Admiral Hux, Danica has relayed what you’ve said to her. If you could send me the wavelengths and serials that the First Order are operating under, I can make sure we target all ships not adhering to those from below. I’ll have a few ships out of the atmosphere to assist in a few minutes.”

Reveille smiled, but began to transmit the information, “Sending it now. Thank you, Captain.” And with that, she unmuted the bridge, “This is Admiral Hux. Sienar Fleets will be joining the fight.”

~***~

The loss of a dreadnaught was an expensive travesty. After the loss of Canady’s, in particular. They would need more, something the General was meant to be arranging. Kos’tel’lanni felt regret and guilt pool in her own stomach as she considered how this could have been avoided if she was stronger in her discouragement of upsetting Tarkin.

Of course, if the General’s deal with Lothal still went through, it may be worth it. Access to the doonium there would allow them to recover from these losses quicker, and more cheaply, but it wouldn’t restore the lives.

They were recruiting actively in the Core, but it took time for someone to fill the spot of a ship’s command.

Kylo Ren was handling command better than she anticipated. Despite the loss of their dreadnaught, he did not call them back. He recognized the static, and gave his command – one answered by Reveille herself who was likely closest to the planet, by now.

The command to defend the ships came right after, and Kos’tel’lanni nodded. “Commander Sienar, Admiral Hux has ordered defense of our ships – please command your TIEs to begin to harass the Destroyers and Dreadnaughts of Tarkin. I will have bombers sent out momentarily.” She hadn’t dispatched them when she saw the TIEs of Tarkin already out in the open, but now the field was a bit better for that.

Some would still die en-route, but they had a decent chance to knock off a few more ships and keep Tarkin from charging up another shot.

Reveille’s voice returned, declaring Sienar fleets would be joining – though Kos’tel’lanni could hear the alarms of Reveille’s own ship going off in the background.

~***~

Armitage felt a pull at his lips to smirk at Althea’s assessment of her own satisfaction. He had expected disappointment to show more than anything at the fact he’d only done just that one sip. Somehow, her satisfaction was equally satisfying to him. She’d been honest. She’d not pushed her limits. And apparently, she saw this as a victory – however small it may be.

Perhaps she knew small victories were likely the only ones she’d get.

Or perhaps she was considering how to get other victories, as she shifted the topic to one more appropriate, of what he did explore.

Admittedly, it wasn’t much. There were things he’d like to explore more, but his realm remained more one of knowledge than anything else. He continued to eat his salad, intent to at least finish it first, “Small arms, and weaponry in general. I’ve contributed plenty to the First Order weaponry, design and engineering,” he may not be an engineer, but it had been his idea to use the power of suns for the aptly named Starkiller.

He knew their power as a source of energy, and he’d heard someone claim there was kyber at their hearts. That hadn’t seemed to be the case when Starkiller drained a star entirely, but nonetheless, its power had been superb.

Even if, perhaps, he’d relent that orb-shaped planet killers needed to be a thing of the past. And even if that part of Starkiller had been Snoke’s idea, as they needed something that massive to contain that sort of power.

He wasn’t really one to explore culture or worlds – he rarely got off his starship. He would read of them, of course – he tried to know about his enemies, but he didn’t do much actual exploring of them. Perhaps one would call his collection of games on his datapad an exploration of sorts, but he wasn’t about to talk about those. Music he didn’t explore much of, but, “There are some operas I have a fondness for,” he could say that much, “Gallius Rax, Rae Sloane, and others…at the start of the First Order they were our main source of media and storytelling.” He recalled the use of them to hammer down certain facts, “The Cantata of Cora Vessora was used to show the error of the Sith and the Jedi, to remind us of the failings of both. I’ve expanded my collection a bit since then. It had been a favorite of Gallius Rax, but Admiral Sloane still found reason to encourage its viewing.”

Perhaps that counted as exploring. It was certainly not what people expected of him.

 

[cleopat]

After their call patched through, after the confirmation that they received that Sienar’s Fleets are coming to aid them, Kylo felt as if a huge weight was lifted from his shoulders. They could win this battle. No, they will win the battle. There was no room for if’s. Should the battle turn in Tarkin’s favor, not only would they have lost many of their ships, but Kylo’s shaky leadership would just come into question even more. The Huxes would have plausible reason to start a coup.

He felt as if he would already get enough flack for the lost dreadnought, but if they win, that would hardly matter. Not when they secured Lothal and increase their resources. He hardly concerned himself with the lives lost, even if he felt the sudden incineration of thousands of lives tug at him. Similar to the billions lost in Hosnian, but not nearly as strong.

The ringing of alarms on Reveille’s ship set off a spike of panic within Kylo. He should just let her continue what she had planned. If she died, then it was one less Hux to undermine his authority. “Admiral Hux, return to the Exigency immediately. That is an order.”

Sienar Fleets aided their ships, and their TIEs now focused on Tarkin’s dreadnoughts and destroyers. She was no longer needed in the middle of the battle. Kylo directed his next command to the Bridge. “See if we can open up a communication line with Governor Tarkin.” He desired to know if the man realized how fruitless his attempt at war was.

~~

Armitage busying himself with weaponry was expected, borderline boringly so. She knew he dabbled into the design and engineering of First Order weaponry, and many currently in-use weapons were of his own design. She had hoped for something that would reveal more about him, maybe something that only a few people knew about.

Then he did give her something. His appreciation for opera proved to genuinely amazed her. “You’ve truly surprised me, General. I wouldn’t have expected you to hold an appreciation for opera.” And it was a shared hobby between the two of them, a familiarity and humanizing trait that only served to make Lavinia feel slightly uncomfortable.

“I enjoyed watching opera growing up. Of course, not as a child, but once I got older, I held an appreciation for them, their stories, and the sheer talent of the singers.” And the Coruscant Opera House was how she met a friend and contact, Calla Sayall. A fantastic singer and covert Resistance ally. “I enjoyed music in general, and often, I would stay up late in my room, listening to various orchestras. Sometimes I would fall asleep with the music still playing softly in the background.”

Lavinia smiled fondly as she reminisced over the few good memories she held of her childhood. Music and the arts may have been the one thing her mother allowed her daughter to indulge in, just as long as she was still playing the obedient daughter.

 

[Lucyfer]

Reveille considered arguing with Kylo as the order came over the comm. However, she knew her own plans with her ship were long gone. She’d dropped the cloak, and even then, some of Tarkin’s ships had tracked her. She didn’t know if she’d hold the advantage again if she recloaked. She might, for a bit.

Not long enough.

Still, she couldn’t claim to enjoy taking the order, “Understood, Supreme Leader.” Reveille said, and moved to take back the controls to get the ship turned back around. It would require repairs, but that was a problem for later.

The problem for now was getting it back to an open hangar without taking too much further damage, which was going to be a bit of a fight. Schaeffer took to the guns, and began to target and unload as they flew, taking out TIE after TIE on their route back to the Exigeny.

“Admiral Hux, get clear.”

That was Kos’tel’lanni’s voice, and Reveille wondered at it a moment, before she realized she saw the light of the a turbolaser – not aimed at her, but the Exigency had also lit up. She knew what Kos’tel’lanni was about to do. It was a trick they’d devised after learning about Grand Admiral Savit’s fight with Grand Admiral Thrawn.

Reveille turned the ship up, as the warning must have gone out to others, before the turbolasers followed, in sync.

And clashed, in the center of the field.

They’d never gotten to test what would happen – it had always been in theory.

Now they knew as the energy output rocked the ship, even though it was further up, regaining control of it was a task.

Other ships were simply charred – First Order and Tarkin alike. With any luck it was mostly Tarkin’s TIEs.

But the Exigency took no damage, and Reveille pushed her own ship back down through the clearing chaos to get it into a hangar.

~***~

“We’re hailing him now, Supreme Leader,” one of the lieutenants indicated from below the catwalk, as Reveille’s answer came through. Whether or not Tarkin would open the line to speak was questionable, and grew more unlikely with a new report.

“Turbolasers have locked onto our ship.”

“Our shields can hold it,” another said – but Kos’tel’lanni heard the doubt.

“We haven’t fired our charge yet, have we?” She asked.

“No, ma’am, we’ve been focusing on ion cannon defense,” the lieutenant reported.

“Lock onto the center ship,” Kos’tel’lanni said, “We’re sending a shot as soon as theirs is let go.”

“Ma’am?”

“Trust me, lieutenant.” Kos’tel’lanni’s gaze remained steady on the viewport. She could see the blast building. “On my word – Admiral Hux, get clear.” And then, “Sienar, command your pilots as far from the center point as possible. Full throttle.”

Only seconds passed, before, “Now.”

The Exigency sent a volley of turbo laser fire ahead, and it collided between the ships. The space around was decimated – TIEs dead in the air. Their pilots may be alive, but the energy had clearly shut down systems, and likely, killed the pilots in the violent jerk of motion.

That was when the call was picked up.

“I do not suppose this is Admiral Hux I’m speaking with, seeing as she’s been a fly out here on the field,” Matja’s voice came through with no panic, no anxiety, “What is it you want, Supreme Leader?” He guessed it would be him, given he had been with the Admiral earlier.

~***~

Once, in the time of the Empire, it may not have been so surprising. The arts were appreciated by many of the high-ranking Admirals, and by Palpatine himself. One, Grand Admiral Savit, had even produced beautiful orchestral pieces, which Armitage did enjoy. Classical music, operas, instrumentals, chants, these sorts of things were soothing, even without the story of the opera, he found he tended to like the music.

“I have enjoyed them since childhood,” something his father couldn’t criticize him for – not in public, anyways, lest he risk criticizing his betters and equals. “Of course, I’ve never gotten to see one live, but that’s not so important,” he likely wouldn’t. He had accepted that. His life was not to be like Palpatine’s.

There would not be an excess of luxury or down time.

“I took you for one to enjoy the more…indulgent music of the century,” modern tastes, like what Rani or Sienar listened to, “not the more orchestral pieces.” But she claimed to fall asleep to such. “I do not suppose you have a favorite composer?”

 

[cleopat]

Reveille obeyed his command without argument, must to his relief. Kylo let out a soft sigh as her acknowledgement and acceptance of the order filtered over the comm. The way her ship started to sustain damage? Any longer out there and the First Order may have needed a new admiral.

An announcement that Tarkin’s turbolasers locked onto them. A fist tightened at his side, and he braced himself for impact. What could they do to prevent the attack? But Kos’tel’lanni surprised him. His head snapped over to the Chiss, wondering if she had completely lost her mind.

Kylo nearly called for her to scrap the plan, but the turbolaser fired before he could issue the command. He waited with bated breath. A bright flash of light, and dead TIEs littered the space. “A risky move, Lieutenant-Admiral.” Neither disappoint nor anger laced his words. Maybe slight awe. There was no time to ponder before Tarkin finally patched through. The governor didn’t appear phased by the battle, but he was a politician. They were skilled in masking their true emotions.

“You are fighting a losing battle, Governor. You are outnumbered, and the longer you continue to engage, the more losses you’ll sustain. Will you give up this foolish fight yet?” His tone was firmed, underlined with the promise of danger and destruction he was capable, and willing, to do.

~~

“Maybe one day, you’ll get that opportunity to watch one.” Lavinia wasn’t sure if she believed her own words, but she recalled the many Imperials she saw at the Coruscant Opera House. Once the sector was completely under First Order control, which she knew was likely before the Resistance built themselves back up, it wouldn’t be unheard of for a man of his rapport to visit and pay his own tributes to the arts.

At the insinuation that she enjoyed more of the contemporary music, a huff of laughter displayed her amusement with Armitage’s assumption. “Hardly. I tolerate the music if someone else is playing it, but I certainly don’t go out of my way to listen to it.” An idea sparked with his latest inquiry. Her feet crossed the room and to the nightstand where her datapad lay.

She picked the device up, and as she spoke, she perused through the files, looking for something specific. “I don’t know if I can pick an absolute favorite, but I’ve always found myself drawn to the violin melodies of Zalandras Noscondra.” Lavinia finally found what she was looking for, and soon a soft melody of a string quartet filled the room, low enough so that the two didn’t have to worry about talking over the music.

She crossed the room to stand back next to the dresser, placing her datapad on the bed along the way. “What about you? Do you have a favorite composer?”

 

[Lucyfer]

It was not difficult to find an open hangar, and get clearance into it. As soon as the ship was on the ground, Reveille was quick to shut it down, and exit. Schaeffer was only on her heels for a few moments, before he took another route, as Reveille made a beeline for the Bridge.

If she couldn’t be on the field leading, she wanted to be on the Bridge – even if Kos’tel’lanni was clearly handling things quite well.

~***~

Kos’tel’lanni inclined her head slightly at Kylo’s comment. War was full of risks. This one had been calculated, the odds seemed more to their favor then not. Tarkin hadn’t known it would come. The TIEs were likely, mostly, his. She said nothing, of course – the call came through, and Tarkin’s voice floated over them.

Kylo responded, demanding surrender, and Tarkin chuckled, a low sound that seemed almost haunting in the way it reverberated off the walls. “If numbers won wars, Ren, mathematicians would be generals,” he did not sound bothered in the least. “Did you learn nothing from your esteemed mother?”

The Rebel Alliance had been severely outnumbered and outmatched from the outset of its war with the Empire.

Sienar Fleets began to ascend, and some of their ground weapons started to fire upwards, as well. “Besides, I need you distracted a little longer.”

~***~

While Armitage certainly desired to see such a thing in person, he doubted it would ever come to pass. His life was the war of the First Order, and when that was done, his life would be managing that huge machine, and he wasn’t sure that would be finished before he did, finally, die. The galaxy was huge. There were a lot of parts to make sure were working.

Operas weren’t scheduled at good times.

But, he had the holovids of them.

And he had music.

The one brought up was Zalandras Noscondra, a string quartet. Something simple, from the outset, but hardly offensive in its simplicity, “They aren’t a human, are they?” The name didn’t seem to suggest human, or if they were, they may be from a planet where humans weren’t native, or had mingled too well with the others. It wasn’t meant as an insult, though he realized after it was said, it could sound like it, “I don’t mean to be rude by that. The bith produce plenty of good music due to their range of hearing, but some of it is lost on us.”

Did he have a favorite, “As much as I have enjoyed the music the Savit family has put out for generations, my favorite composer of all is Igern, though he’s more famous for the Chalice and Altar, he’s written more orchestral compositions than he has operas,” in fact, he only had the one opera, which brought him to fame, and allowed his orchestral work to become recognized.

 

[cleopat]

Kylo sneered at the audacity Tarkin had in daring to mention his mother. It seemed that no matter what he did, someone felt it necessary to compare him to either one of his parents. Snoke had done it. Armitage had done it. And naturally Tarkin, whose family held quite a rapport with Leia Organa, did it.

He wanted to drive his lightsaber through Tarkin’s torso.

Kylo gave a brief pause, corners of his mouth pulling down in a frown. His brows furrowed as Tarkin’s words finally sunk in. “What are you talking about?” His eyes shifted toward Kos’tel’lanni before focusing out the viewport, attempting to locate any fatal flaw on their end.

“I am assuming you are merely playing games with me, Governor. Stalling from the inevitable.” Still, he looked to Kos’tel’lanni for any evidence that Tarkin had something bigger planned.

~~

The question Armitage asked seemed a bit impolite at first, and Lavinia raised an eyebrow in response. But he realized his own tone and quickly apologize, which from her standpoint, seemed sincere. He didn’t mean anything malicious by his question. She shook her head, “I believe the quartet is a mix of several species, but I can’t recall the specifics right now.”

The name Igern was familiar to Lavinia. She mostly knew of the opera he composed, which dealt with themes she’d imagine Hux enjoyed. Self-sacrifice and repressed desires were a shared link between the man and the opera. “I’m quite familiar with Igern, although I must admit, I’m more familiar with his famous opera than I am with any of his orchestral compositions.”

Her head nodded in the direction of where her datapad was. “If you want, you can play a song of his. Maybe you’ll introduce me to one I haven’t heard yet.” She spoke as if they were two friends sharing common interests and not boss and assistant, or in a dichotomy that resulted in constant paranoia for Lavinia, two sides in a war that want to see the extermination of the other.

 

[Lucyfer]

Kos’tel’lanni shook her head at Kylo’s look. There was nothing she recognized here that would require a distraction, and she glanced down to the screens and monitors to try and understand if anything was going on.

As Kylo responded, the doors opened, and she glanced back to see Reveille striding in, while Kylo seemed to deduce that Tarkin was trying to get into his head. “Perhaps,” Tarkin answered the assessment, “Or perhaps you’re only considering the fight in front of you and assuming this to be the entirety of my plan."

Reveille spoke up then, “Cut the call.” It was meant to be an order, but for once, those under her hesitated, glancing to Kylo, wondering if he wanted to try and talk more to get further information from Tarkin.

Wondering if it was better to risk his anger, or Reveille’s anger.

~***~

Hux hadn’t meant the quartet. He had meant the composer. However, he didn’t go back to reiterate that. He’d look them up later and see what they were, human or otherwise. “Most are aware of his opera first. I was mad aware of it first, as well,” and then he had learned and explored more, and came to enjoy the compositions.

At the question of songs and playing one, he did hesitate. He’d dealt with plenty enough mockery from his peers for this. His father, in private, hadn’t cared for Armitage’s preference for orchestral things.

Still, given what Althea had chosen, he suspected it couldn’t end too badly, “Very well,” he agreed and reached for the pad, to bring up one of the songs he liked. Soon enough, he found one, “This one was considered more of a tonal poem by Igner, and spoke of his own activity, and his homeworld’s activity, in a war. An intervention of sorts,” and so he played it, a familiar sort of beginning, the familiar beat of a march in the background, but layered over with strings and winds.

 

[cleopat]

Kylo recognized that Reveille was back on the Bridge, but he didn’t spare her a glance as he frantically tried to piece together whether or not Tarkin was tooling with him, or if he indeed was distracting him for something much larger at play.

When Reveille ordered for the call to be cut, Kylo nodded at the lieutenant who was able to patch Tarkin through initially. The lieutenant complied, and Tarkin was cut off without further warning. Inhale. Exhale. His chest rose and fell as he fought back the instinct to lash out at the problem. But there was still the possibility that nothing else would happen.

“Have we made contact with anyone on Lothal?” His rising frenzy was evident in the desperation that betrayed his attempt at composure. That was the only other situation he could think of that Tarkin may be controlling, and naturally the two First Order officers on the planet could not be contacted.

~~

Lavinia noticed the slight hesitation, and she decided she wasn’t going to push the matter if Armitage turned down the chance. He didn’t though, and her eyes followed him over to the datapad. The melody that played was unfamiliar to her, but it was one she found herself enjoying.

“It’s very expressive,” she commented. She slowly walked over to the bed, sitting down on the edge as the music seemingly caressed every frayed nerve and erased, even if it was just temporary, the stress of the day. “I like it. The music really is telling a story.” A light smile settled across her features. Suddenly she imagined herself back in her bedroom on Coruscant

But she wasn’t. Lavinia was still on Lothal, sitting in the same room as General Hux of the First Order, and they were having a pleasant conversation. What did any of that mean? “Do you ever listen to this music while working in your office?” She recalled the complete silence of the previous evening when they both worked throughout the entire night with little words, and definitely no music, exchanged.

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo’s frantic energy was obvious, and Reveille fought the desire to put a hand on his shoulder, to try and calm him. He’d calmed easily under her touch, in the – ‘Stop.’

Still, she had to do something, and also fight a damn battle. “No,” Reveille answered before anyone else. They’d know if there had been contact. “Trust the others to do what is necessary, Supreme Leader. We have to focus here.” And with that in mind, “What ship did that signal come from, lieutenant?”

“Behind the central ship, Admiral.”

“Take the Exigency up, and forward,” she directed, “Prepare our tractor beam.” Unlike Kos’tel’lanni, no one questioned the bizarre order. There was no way they could draw in a destroyer with a tractor beam. “Order captain Tien to follow, and have Sienar continue to cover our bombers.”

“Understood, Admiral.” The ship began to pull up, to pull forward, to break rank and put itself in a potentially dangerous situation. The other ships behind pulled forward to maintain the fire, and the dreadnaught that hadn’t been destroyed pulled up to follow, as well.

~***~

“My office and room are about the only places I can listen to it,” unlike the Exigency which was known to play music throughout the ship at times, or at least in the bridge when Kos’tel’lanni was in a mood, Hux kept his music to his room. The Finalizer comm systems were better used for reminders.

“It isn’t often I’ll listen while working unless it is easy enough,” he didn’t want to risk losing focus by listening to the melody and getting swept up in it, imagining the stories he’d seen associated with the melody or otherwise zoning.

He’d be less productive. “It’s for leisure,” the two rarely mixed, pleasure and business.

Althea had moved away to the bed, though, and he had finished his salad. He knew he’d have to head to bed soon, but he reached for the glass of alcohol that was left, and took another sip at it. “Which opera is your favorite?”

 

[cleopat]

Kylo felt Reveille’s desire to placate him, but in the moment, he didn’t focus on who it came from or the implications of the silent wish. Still, when the aforementioned woman spoke to quiet his concerns, Kylo nodded. He didn’t trust Armitage a bit, but he recognized that the man would still do anything necessary for the First Order.

What snapped him back in the battle was Reveille’s bizarre order. He furrowed his brows in puzzlement, but he couldn’t piece together what she had planned. A tractor beam on a destroyer? All she did was bring them closer to the enemy, and with that, a greater chance of destruction.

He stepped up next to Reveille, lowering his voice so that others couldn’t eavesdrop in on their conversation. “What exactly are you doing?” His tone wasn’t angry or accusatory. After watching her officers work seamlessly in battle today, he grew impressed with her ability to command in the moment. He knew she must have some plan in mind.

~~

Lavinia didn’t expect for him to listen to the music anywhere else aside from his office. The Finalizer wasn’t a place of such frivolities, and she wondered if the other officers even shared the same interest in music as he did. They had to have some form of hobby if even the general had one.

She tucked her legs in close to her body, relaxing on the bed. Armitage took a sip of the alcohol, a motion that did not go unnoticed by Lavinia, but she elected to not say anything about it. Observing out loud may sour the pleasant conversation they were currently having over music.

“That’s a hard choice. There are many I’ve enjoyed, but I think the opera Alcina has always drawn me in the most.” The opera told the story of two star-crossed lovers who, despite fated to opposing sides in a war, tried to escape and start a new life together, but neither of them survives to see their dream. “What can I say, I’m a romantic at heart.”