Fandom Star Wars: Rising Tide [closed]

[cleopat]

Kylo shot Myka an unamused glance as she commented on the fucking chair of all things. Even Del Meeko looked at her as if she just grew two heads. Who was this woman? Kylo only scoffed and rolled his eyes, refocusing his attention back on Meeko, even as she sat on the floor with the sarong removed.

If he looked back at her, he may lose his composure.

“Are you going to tell me what it is I wish to know?” Kylo asked, taking another slow step forward as his head canted, surveying Meeko and every twitch of a muscle.

The unfortunate man shook his head. “You know I will give you nothing.”

“They always say that,” he mused, before he extended one hand outwards, towards Meeko’s face. The man stiffened, unsure of what to expect next. Then he felt it. The growing pressure in his mind, as if something was trying to get inside. He groaned in pain, and tried to fight it off, but that only made the pain worse.

Kylo noticed the resistance he put up, but it was terribly easy to push that aside and delve deeper into his thoughts. “Just give in. You can’t fight this.”

And...there it is. “Ah, so the Lor San Tekka took the map to Bayora, didn’t he?”

~~~

The lounge area didn’t look impressive enough to Azra, but at least one person in there was familiar to her. And she seemed to be letting out some pent up aggression in some holo game, something that Azra had never touched before.

It looked...fun.

She gave a smile and a small wave to Suralinda. “This looks...cozy.” Her words sounded a bit unsure, but Azra wouldn’t say anything negative about the lounges. They seemed to do their job in allowing people to relax, given by the two women on the game.

“Who’s that?” Azra asked, motioning towards Jess. They seemed to know each other very well, which meant Azra may be seeing more of her in the near future. Might as well try her best to get to know everyone.

 

[Lucyfer]

Eventually, Kylo gave up offering this prisoner chances, and went right to the point. Myka didn’t bother to hide her sigh. It wasn’t as if Del Meeko was going to notice it through his pain, nor Kylo through his focus. That focus did seem intense. Blinding. She imagined she could have easily snuck up on him through it, but of course, didn’t.

She let him work, and felt how he did it through the Force, attuning herself to the way he’d been taught to plunge into minds.

Eventually, he got the information. ‘Took long enough.’ Not that it actually took long. She started to get back to her feet, assuming when he spoke that he had what he wanted, though she didn’t move to the door. Just rewrapped her sarong and waited until he made that move.

He might be looking for more.

Or he might have some threats to throw out at the end, or some promises of how Meeko’s demise. ‘Bayora.’ Another world she didn’t know. She wondered why this Lor San Tekka went that way. ‘Can we go now?’

~***~

Cozy.

Poe scoffed, hearing a bit of the hidden insult in that by her hesitance, but he wouldn’t lash out. He wondered what First Order lounges were like. Somehow, he couldn’t imagine ‘cozy’. Or warm. Or anything nice. He’d have to ask another time, though. He wasn’t going to ask in front of Suralinda.

“This is Jess,” Suralinda introduced.

“Also Black Squadron,” Poe said, “no one knows more about ship modifications than her.” He applauded.

“Mm.” Jess wasn’t paying either of them much attention, more focused on kicking Suralinda’s ass in the game, apparently.

BB-8 added she was also a notorious astromech killer, and she nearly threw her own controller as she looked at BB-8, “It’s not my fault!”

Poe held up his hands, even as BB-8 rolled behind him, “We know, we know – it’s an, uh, odd coincidence.” None of the astromechs trusted her.

 

[cleopat]

“You will fail,” Del Meeko said, as Kylo moved to leave the room.

He didn’t even stop and turned back as he responded, “I highly doubt that.” Failure wasn’t an option, and who was going to stop him? Lor San Tekka? Luke Skywalker? Both were weak old men. Kylo had every bit of confidence that he would succeed in his mission.

Kylo did pause in the doorway, before he said over his shoulder, “Send Gideon Hask my regards.” Someone Del Meeko once served with in the Infernal Squad during the Empire, before defecting like the traitor he was. He didn’t bother to linger long enough to hear Meeko’s response before he left the room.

The Stormtrooper still stood outside the room. “Tell Commander Hask he may do with the prisoner as he wishes.” The Trooper nodded and sent the message to the man in question, after which Kylo led Myka away from the room. “You’re in luck, it seems that we’ll be away from the Finalizer a bit longer.”

They needed to get to Bayora as soon as possible, before Lor San Tekka had a chance to escape, or erase any further clues as to where he was going.

~~~

Azra gave Poe a pointed look when she heard that scoff, but she wouldn’t comment on it. Not when they were in front of others who may ask questions. Especially Suralinda.

And she wanted to greet Jess, but the pilot seemed to be too focused on the game, so she would save it for another time. Well, she seemed to have been focused on the game until BB-8 mentioned something that made Azra guess that there had been an unfortunate accident in the past.

“I feel like this is an interesting story,” she whispered to Poe, not wishing to rile up Jess anymore than she already was, no doubt thanks to the game.

BB-8 disagreed. It didn’t want to take a chance with her, or allow any of the other astromech droids to accompany her on missions without a chaperone.

 

[Lucyfer]

Myka stepped by Kylo, rolling her eyes as she was by him, back to him, hearing the standard chirps – promises of failure, the ending threat – these games were so tedious, it was so much easier to rip information out and leave the person breathless or dead. Why leave it to chance? She almost wanted Del Meeko to escape just because of this inane banter.

‘Well….’ A glance back before the doors had fully slid shut, and Myka flicked her wrist, opening the cuffs that held Del Meeko in place.

If he wasn’t an idiot, he’d at least wait a few seconds before doing anything. ‘Have fun~.’ Because this was not her lucky day in spite of getting to spend time with Kylo. Which was nice, but she didn’t want to just be running around the galaxy.

“Is Bayora a water world? I might need a change of clothes if it isn’t,” not that she’d insist on going to the Finalizer for that, but she would insist on picking something up, simply because she had nothing else to do. Following Kylo Ren around and observing him was important, but observation was never the most fun thing to go about doing.

~***~

The stories were interesting, but Poe just shook his head as Azra sidled up to whisper to him. Not here. It really was a series of unfortunate events, and they’d lost a lot of good droids. None of it was Jess’s fault, really – things happened out on missions. One had been hit by a TIE, another had been killed by a security droid at a prison, and there were others beyond that.

The droids called her the ‘Great Destroyer’, which would be a title almost anyone would want, but for Jess it was just a constant frustration, and reminder of her failures to protect the droids.

Jess huffed, shooting Azra a glare as she lowered her voice to whisper something, before going back to her game. “Well, nice to know we have another gossip on base,” she didn’t let her irritation go unnoticed, and Suralinda chuckled.

The two didn’t exactly get along even on the best of days, though they were trying. That was what had brought them to the lounge. They were both Black Squadron and had to get better at working together. Jess was just consistently annoyed by Suralinda.

 

[cleopat]

Caught up in his own thoughts and reality, Kylo had no idea of what Myka had done behind him, freeing the prisoner with a silent flick of her wrist. Nor would he imagine that she would ever do such a thing, which, really, was foolish on his part.

When Myka spoke up, he did glance at her and gave her a glance over of her attire. “No, it’s not a water world. There’s land and sea, and the temperature is a little colder than here.” Not that the temperature would bother Myka, and honestly, Kylo figured she would’ve just kept her current clothes on. She seemed to have no morals.

“But if you must have a change of clothes, I believe there is something on the shuttle.” Which meant something of his. “Or there might be a place on Bayora you can buy something.” It was a bit more habitable than Pillio, which mainly consisted of underwater cities from the natives, and the occasional above surface base by the First Order.

“Will that suffice?” Not that she had a choice. Kylo wasn’t returning to the Finalizer before he trekked to Bayora, simply for an extra pair of clothes. It was her fault she was in that predicament, anyways.

~~~

Azra frowned at Jess’s unexpected reaction, sensing that the topic was a sore one for the pilot. She wouldn’t even comment back on Jess’s assumption that she was a gossip. She was not.

Well, aside from any gossip she may seek out for a lead on a story. But that was it.

“Maybe we should continue on,” she softly urged Poe, not wishing to stick around and invoke anymore ire from Jess. And Suralinda she already knew she would see later, at dinner.

Even if Azra was still a little huffy over the fact that Suralinda tricked her into going to medbay.

“I’m sure there’s still plenty you want to show me.” Well, maybe not plenty. The base wasn’t terribly big, as they had already established, but there had to be somewhere else they could go and leave the two women to their game.

 

[Lucyfer]

Of course it was going to be colder, and of course they couldn’t go somewhere nice to get clothing. She huffed, pouting as she considered what Kylo had to offer in the ship, before reconsidering that. His shirt was basically long enough on her to be a dress. A very short dress. “Fine, I guess I can work with what you have.”

Though there were questions about underclothes.

A problem to decide later. In theory, the bikini would work as that, but Myka liked to be difficult on these things.

“If not,” a shrug. She could continue in the bikini as well. ‘Might be able to wrap the top as a belt to actually add a waist to Kylo’s shirt.’ And add a splash of color. Yes, she could probably make this work without ruining his clothing. Just his image of it. That would be enough.

~***~

Poe hadn’t really planned to stick around long anyways, so he nodded, “We’ll catch you two around later,” Suralinda could probably fill in some gaps about Azra to Jess, though it wouldn’t help much. It’d no doubt further confirm her beliefs of Azra being a gossip, though that was really just how she viewed journalists.

Suralinda waved them off, and Jess stayed focus as she was, letting Poe, BB-8, and Azra leave without further comment. “Jess is good,” he said, “but the situation with the droids – it sucks. She had one get sniped by a TIE, and another killed by a security droid. She had nothing at all to do with that one, wasn’t anywhere near it, the droid was just assigned to her on that mission.”

BB-8 still protested something about bad luck. It was only Jess’s droid that got killed on the mission, after all. No one else’s.

“And since we never have much to go around in that area…,” well, it also made assigning her to droids a bit of a touchy matter, so she wasn’t. She’d have a droid for a mission if it called for it, but otherwise, she didn’t have a bonded droid anymore, like he had BB-8.

 

[cleopat]

Kylo rolled his eyes at Myka's reluctance to take what he had in the ship. This is what she got for not wearing something more appropriate for a mission, and now she had to deal with it, because Kylo was not going out of his way for clothes.

“I’m glad it will be satisfactory enough,” he drawled, just hoping the sarcasm was evident.

But the image of Myka in his clothes was a pleasing one and only reminded him of their sparring session and what followed that.

It didn’t take long for them to reach his ship. Once onboard, Kylo didn’t hesitate before heading towards the back, where he riffled through a few things and grabbed a black tunic, similar to any other he wears on a daily basis. He walked back to where Myka was and offered the tunic out for her, “Here you are.”

~~~

Azra felt guilty over the small relief she felt when they walked away. She could sense that Jess was...a passionate person. And she had to go and make a great first impression about what appeared to be a delicate subject over droids.

She wanted to ask why the fuss over droids that could be replaced, but, glancing down at BB-8, she stopped herself before she did. The close relationship between it and Poe had been clear from the start. Did others in the Resistance similarly have a bond with their droids?

“Was it only twice?” Azra wondered. “Sounds more like an unfortunate coincidence rather than bad luck.” She shrugged. It seemed neither Jess nor the droids saw it that way, and she wouldn’t dare say that to Jess.

“But anyways,” changing the subject seemed like the best idea, “where are we off to now?”

 

[Lucyfer]

Myka heard the sarcasm easily enough, but wouldn’t respond to it with more than a chipper, “I’m glad you’re concerned,” to annoy him, more than anything. When they got into the ship, she thought she might be free to go looking for something, but no, Kylo wandered off rather than go to the cockpit, and so she stood waiting rather than follow him.

At least he didn’t bother to bring back pants.

He must have known that was a losing fight.

“Thank you,” she accepted the tunic, before immediately stripping out of the bikini top, hardly caring that Kylo was still there. He should have expected such things, though. She slid the annoying rectangle down over herself, before rolling the bikini top a bit to mask what it was, and wrapping it around her waist.

It did work well enough as a belt. It gave her back her waist, and by pulling the fabric closer to her skin, it lifted it up, as well, making it fall even shorter on her. ‘Perfect.’ Not perfect, but it would work.

It’d be perfect if it actually had a better cut at the collar.

~***~

“Yeah, but those happened within maybe a week or two,” Poe said, “it’d be like going to the same place for food and getting sick both times. You stop trusting it after that,” even if it was just coincidence. Sometimes, one time was enough to do that, though there were usually more factors involved in that determination.

“I figured I’d show you the rest of this barracks, where my room is, and then get you through some of the others,” there wasn’t much to the base besides barracks for people and supplies, the landing pad with its ships, the medbay, the cafeteria, and the control center.

They had the basics.

They didn’t have much else besides the basics.

Then again, they could do what a lot of others couldn’t do, even with more supplies and more people, so they at least had that going for them.

They would get to Poe’s room, and he opened the door, stepping in and gesturing, “I, uh, still have to share this space, but here it is!” BB-8 rolled in, noting the laundry on the floor, and noting that it was, in fact, Poe’s. He wasn’t the clean roommate. “Hey, I don’t leave food lying about or anything like that.” His bed wasn’t made. “I just get busy.” He had gotten too comfortable here. Hadn't remembered the state he left things in. Not that it was bad, but no one wanted to walk into a room with an unmade bed and some socks and pants scattered about.

 

[cleopat]

Myka felt it necessary to change right there with Kylo standing beside her, and as she stripped off the poor excuse of a top, he blushed and looked away. Despite knowing what was under there, experiencing it firsthand, the sudden move was enough to momentarily fluster him.

Kylo would busy himself by heading to the cockpit as Myka adjusted herself. No point in wasting time when Lor San Tekka could very well be leaving Bayora at that moment.

A never ending hunt, a loth cat and mouse chase, until the older man slipped up, which Kylo knew had to happen. The old man is a fool.

The ship soon departed the planet, and Kylo readied it for lightspeed travel to their destination. With her questions regarding the planets earlier, Kylo was curious enough to ask Myka, “Which planets have you visited?” She didn’t seem particularly well traveled, or perhaps she’s just been in other parts of the galaxy.

~~~

While she thought the comparison wasn’t quite that fair, Poe did have a point. They didn’t have enough money to keep replacing droid after droid, and so none of them wanted to take a chance in having Jess bring another one with her on a mission unless absolutely necessary.

Azra quickly pushed down an initial thought in Poe stating that he was going to show her his room, and she nodded instead. It would take her some time to remember exactly where everything was, and she imagined that Poe would receive quite a few messages from her, wondering where a certain room was.

Upon stepping into his room, Azra looked bemused at the messy sight as BB-8 mentioned it was Poe’s mess. “Do you always bring someone to your room while there’s clothes on the floor?” she teased. Becoming distracted by dirty clothes would definitely be a mood killer enough, if it was even noticed to begin with.

Sometimes people were too into the moment to care.

 

[Lucyfer]

Myka did return to the cockpit as she finished dressing, taking the seat that was available. She hummed at his question, putting all the planets into a list in her head and considering if she ought to begin in any particular order. “Well, obviously Korriban,” he had found her on that planet, and he had to know she wasn’t born there.

Then, she gave a slight dismissive wave, and just went in the order the planets came to mind, “Dathomir, Coruscant, Corellia, Rion, Ashas Ree, Bosthirda, Jaguada, Serenno, Jedha, Scarif, Alderaan Station, Mustafar, Rhelg, Malachor, Ziost, Asog, Nur, Kamino, Sullust, Lothal, Devaron, Ushruu, Aleen, Iktotch, Tatooine, and Ossus – I found my kyber there.”

She frowned, “I’ve probably been to other worlds, but I can’t remember them,” most she had been to were related to the Sith or the Force in some fashion, and she’d been so many places, dragged about at the whim of Darth Phantasm, that she likely forgot several of them. The need to stay undercover also had a way of hindering her growth and interactions with others on those places.

Most of her exploration had been when she was young.

~***~

Poe scratched the back of his head, “I mean…yeah, I probably do,” Poe laughed a bit and shook his head, “I’m usually too rushed in the morning to think of picking up every little thing or making my bed when I’m just gonna mess it up again,” it seemed he was often waking up to messages about things that needed done.

He knew that was an exaggeration.

“Anyways, this is where you’ll find me, or Chavdri, he’s not here right now, though,” Chavdri was a good guy, usually piloting their shuttles or transporting goods, so he was likely on a run right now. Poe used to share with Snap, but Snap was a married man now, so some arrangements had been adjusted in light of that.

Now he shared with Chavdri instead. He did miss Snap; Snap and he just clicked better.

 

[cleopat]

Kylo was a little impressed at all the planets she listed. So she was more well traveled than he initially thought, so maybe she hadn’t done much of recent. And all of the planets seemed to have been scattered all over the galaxy.

Myka had seemed so ignorant of the galaxy, but maybe she wasn’t as much so as he believed.

“I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised that you were well traveled,” he admitted. “Not when you were trained as a Sith.” There were certain tasks. Missions. Assignments to do for training. And yet he ended up finding her on Korriban, and by the state of the place when he was there, she had been there for a while.

If she were to ask the same question, Kylo wouldn’t begin to know all the places he’s been himself. Ever since he was a boy, he was always traveling.

And now, she may add some new planets to that list, depending on how their little mission on Bayora goes. Which, speaking of Bayora, Kylo glanced over the panel in the cockpit as the ship was in lightspeed. “We’ll be in lightspeed for some time.”

~~~

Azra was not surprised to hear that Poe typically was just too busy to bother picking up things or making his bed in the morning. He just...seemed like the type that would. Someone who’s always on the go for other people, but never for himself.

Poe mentioned the name of his roommate, Chavdri, but Azra knew she wouldn’t easily remember the name. Not that she didn’t care, but already there’s been an overload of new faces and names and places. She’ll slowly learn, after some slip ups.

And she also didn’t think she would so easily remember the path to Poe’s room, but that’s what datapads were for.

“Something tells me you actually don’t spend that much time in here, do you?” Azra could only see Poe either away for missions all the time, or doing something around the base. Never one to relax in his room.

 

[Lucyfer]

“No, you shouldn’t,” Myka chuckled, “I’ve been to many places, just not spent much time in civilized worlds,” even when she had visited them, she was always kept from much of that. Her Master didn’t even like to be in the civilized places like Coruscant, but sometimes they were a necessity. “Are you used to people who know all the little details of places like Bayora?”

It was said teasingly, but she wondered if he might realize that expecting her to know two random worlds, including the details of their weather, was asking a bit much. It wasn’t as if she cared about either world enough to know such things, let alone had an encyclopedic knowledge of them.

Perhaps he did.

It seemed they’d be there a while, though. She sighed. She hadn’t bothered to eat breakfast, either. “Well then, if we’re going to be here a while, why don’t you show me the rest of this shuttle?” She hadn’t gone exploring it yet.

She could.

She had a feeling Kylo probably wouldn’t want her roaming about on her own, given he had some personal items on the ship. At least his clothes. Maybe other things.

~***~

“No…not really,” Poe admitted, “I’m pretty much just in here to sleep,” he didn’t spend any other time in here. Even his downtime was usually in a lounge, or on the landing pad, working on ships, doing something. He was always too restless to stay in his room when there was something to be doing, or people to be seeing.

“But, I sometimes keep weird hours, so I might be in here if you can’t find me anywhere else,” though she could also just call him; that might even wake him up if he was sleeping.

“There’s a few other barracks I can show you,” he said, “and a few storage rooms with items you might want to keep in mind. Basics, mostly, but also fuel and some other things, in case you end up finding yourself running out of something, or missing something, so you don’t have to go out and buy it.”

They did try to keep a stock of things.

Poe would move to step out of his room, BB-8 following, of course.

There wasn’t a real reason to linger there.

Especially not while it was dirty. That wasn’t doing his reputation any good, even if he doubted it was much of a surprise to her.

 

[cleopat]

Kylo wanted to ask her more of if there were reasons she didn’t spend much time in civilized worlds, but the conversation continued before he could think to do so. “Depending on the planet, then yes,” he answered. Most of the time, the planets were common knowledge enough for most of the officers to at least heard of them, and sometimes, even Kylo had to look up a planet.

But now he was learning he had to teach Myka more of the planets and what would be appropriate to wear. Though, he wouldn’t complain how she looked in his tunic.

And now, he could sense that Myka was growing bored. Which meant he did not want her roaming the ship unintended, for he didn’t know what sort of trouble she could somehow get into while alone. There wasn’t anything too personal or valuable on the ship, but still…

“Alright,” he conceded with a heavy sigh. He stood up and moved out of the cockpit, assuming Myka would be following right behind him. “There isn’t much to see in this ship.” It was merely a shuttle, after all. Not meant for long journeys, but a quick one or few days adventure, like going to Bayora.

“Back here are the rooms,” he motioned down a corridor, where there would be two rooms, including his own.

~~~

Azra wasn’t surprised in the least when Poe admitted he was only in there to sleep, which is also why she could easily forgive the clothes on the floor, or the unmade bed. He was busy. And even she didn’t make her bed everyday.

She definitely didn’t that morning, after waking up with a hangover.

“I do suppose going out and buying something would require a trip to another planet,” she chuckled, following beside Poe. “All hypothetical, of course.” She kept denying that she made up her mind, and though she knew the truth, some doubts still lingered.

Like their size. Unless the Resistance had a secret weapon of their own, or more bases than just the one on D’Qar, then Azra had doubts over how their fight against the First Order will end. And she still had little faith in the New Republic helping them, ignoring her gut instinct telling her what may happen to the Republic because of the First Order.

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo clearly didn’t want to show her around, but he didn’t have much of an excuse. There was nothing better to do, locked up in the ship, and so Myka did, in fact, follow him to see precisely how little there was.

There were the two rooms, both fairly bare, though Myka still went towards the one that was obviously Kylo’s to poke around all the same, “How often do you use this shuttle?” Myka asked as she considered which drawers she should open first.

The room didn’t look as if it was lived in, but it also didn’t seem new. The minimalism of it wasn’t helping her determine how often it was used. She imagined Kylo didn’t make a point to sleep in the shuttle or spend too much time there.

But he clearly had to travel a bit to find this Luke and the leads to Luke.

~***~

Poe chuckled as well, nodding, “Yeah, this planet doesn’t have too much to offer,” which was one of the reasons why it was chosen, but also an annoying fact of working with it. Things weren’t readily accessible, they had to constantly leave to get even the basics, and they were already in desperate need of people.

People just didn’t want to believe there was a threat out there, though.

They saw no proof of it, wouldn’t believe Leia about it. It was frustrating as hell to deal with, and yet, this was what the Resistance had to do. At least the Order wasn’t actually entering into combat much. This remained mostly a cold war.

Even if he’d almost like them to, just to wake up the galaxy.

“I’ll show you where some of our storage spaces are, and fuel,” she might need fuel, if she ever left. He doubted anyone would begrudge her it after the information she brought, if she didn’t intend to stay in the end. He was still pretty sure she would, but…well, she hadn’t truly confirmed it yet.

 

[cleopat]

As Myka seemed persistent in exploring Kylo’s smaller quarter aboard the shuttle, he tried to fight off the image of him and Myka in there together, making use of the bed that otherwise did not get very much use at all.

“I use it whenever I leave the Finalizer,” he answered, but assuming she meant how frequent he used it, Kylo continued, “which, as of recent, is every few days.” Tracking down Luke has proved to keep him busy, as he hunted down every lead, every whisper of a rumor surrounding the missing Jedi.

His gaze followed Myka as she explored. The curiosity in her was obvious, but Kylo wouldn’t stop her from perusing any drawers or closets she happened upon. There wasn’t much of anything in the room except for the necessities. The room gave the appearance of someone meticulous, perhaps even boring, but that wasn’t Kylo. He just didn’t want to feel that the shuttle was turned into a second home.

“How long have you lived on Korriban?” She had mentioned that she used to travel, before making a permanent residency on the sandy planet, and it would certainly help him understand better how much of the galaxy she knew, or how much she was behind of the recent ongoings. What more he could teach her, or show her.

~~~

Doubt seeped deep within the crevices of Azra’s mind. She couldn’t stop thinking about the lack of resources and the lack of resources that the Resistance had. They would have to rely on the New Republic to stand even an iota of a chance against the First Order, but she held even more doubt that they would do anything.

That is, if the Order didn’t attack the New Republic first. Was it possible that they could do that and take out their military? She didn’t know, but her gut didn’t like the idea at all.

She wouldn’t continue to voice her doubts, but she would think about them more later when she makes her final decision on General Leia’s offer. She wanted to believe Poe, that they could make a difference, but seeing how little they had…

Unless Azra published the story of the First Order, presenting her hard evidence with it, to show the galaxy the threat the Order truly was.

“We both know how much fuel my ship will need,” she chuckled, not forgetting how uneasy Poe felt about her ship, and how he mentioned wanting to fix a few things. And there was another incentive to stay, to not use her ship as much and spend so many credits on fuel every week. Or maybe she could convince someone here to help upgrade her ship. “Maybe I do need to see about fixing up my ship.”

 

[Lucyfer]

Myka hummed acknowledgment as Kylo noted he used it about every few days lately, opening drawers to find little of interest. More clothes, or other boring things. Nothing she cared to examine for a long period of time as she moved on quickly from each one.

So much about Kylo was interesting, and yet, so much was also so very boring.

“Five years,” since the day she slew Phantasm, she began to use the base more often, until she was truly living there and not just stopping by frequently. Of course, Phantasm had already started that process. They returned there often enough.

It was where she kept her Master’s ashes, and where the ashes of so many others were kept.

“I’m 24,” she added, not certain she’d mentioned that, though certain Kylo was curious of her age, her level of experience in general. “Or so I was told. I doubt Phantasm actually knew when I was born or how old I was.” Not to mention she could have lied for her own agenda when Myka was younger.

She’d never know. Either way, 24 was a good estimate.

~***~

Poe smiled a little at Azra’s own comment about fuel, “Yeah,” he agreed, “but it still needs fuel now and then,” and she’d know where to get it. Plus she’d see what they had on hand for fixing things up, too. "I wouldn’t mind spending some time working on the ship, either,” he said, “a lot of my time is on the ships, anyways.”

He could try to rope Jess into things, too. She was good at that. She’d help make it spiffy…once she got a better impression of Azra, anyways. Then she’d be more than willing to help him fix up Azra’s ship into something, well…less shitty.

At least Azra was more interested in that now.

He eventually got to the nearest storage space and gestured her in, “Most of the storage spaces are organized a bit, this one is more, uh, essential to life things. Or at least, things that make life more comfortable. Hygienic supplies, extra clothes, flasks – things along those lines,” food wasn’t kept here, it had its own area, naturally. “There’s bedding and other things, too. Laundry detergent…those kinds of things.”

Household supplies was probably a better terminology, now that Poe thought of it.

 

[cleopat]

Five years on Korriban. Five years of isolation, though from what Kylo encountered, she was never truly isolated, as she had various people live with her. But as someone who grew up on ships, he couldn’t imagine sticking to one place for very long.

He only did it once, when he was training to be a Jedi.

Myka then announced her age without prompt, and Kylo rose one brow at how young she truly was. She looked her age, but her experiences spoke of someone older. She had lived through so much for someone so young.

Or, well, if she was truly that age, as apparently her Master didn’t know her exact age. Kylo surmised that Myka was around the age she stated.

“Five years younger than myself,” he muttered, as he reciprocated and offered up his own age as a form of light conversation. “Do you know where you were born?” If Phantasm bothered to tell her that bit of information.

~~~

“Somehow, that does not surprise me,” Azra said after Poe mentioned his time spent on ships. He was a flyboy after all, and she knew that they loved their ships. “But I think I would like someone I know working on my ship.” She threw a knowing smile in Poe’s direction.

Another subtle hint of her decision. And it would mean more time spent with Poe. To ensure that he wasn’t breaking her ship. Yeah, that was it.

As he gestured, Azra walked into the storage space and glanced around as Poe started explaining what they had in there. “Life things,” she couldn’t help but chuckle in a lighthearted tease. “You have a way with words.” But there were items necessary for daily life, the very basics. And nothing seemed to be understocked, from what she could see.

“How often does someone go out to make supply runs?” she questioned, turning back to look at Poe. If they ever needed more people to do something like that...Azra could do it. Maybe after her ship received a few upgrades.

 

[Lucyfer]

’29?’ Myka knew she would have pegged him for younger, for plenty of reasons. She wouldn’t say so aloud, of course. He probably wouldn’t take it well to be considered ‘young’. Still, she made a mental note of his actual age. It would be good to know it. She could better assess him that way, too.

Even if she seemed to be doing a good job so far.

The room was boring, so she finally left off her digging around to step back to him, answering his question, “Rion.” A shrug, “That’s what she says, she may have lied. It isn’t as if I have a way of knowing.” Her parents were dead, she had no idea her date of birth, where on Rion she was born, the names of her parents…nothing to go on.

Sure, she might look through articles about a mysterious murder and a missing newborn, but to what end? To what gain? When she was free of Phantasm, she had considered it, a pull to do so that she’d never felt before and she had dismissed it entirely, shutting it down and ignoring it. There was something discomforting about looking back.

Looking for something that wasn’t there, and couldn’t be.

“Is that something that actually matters?” Her voice was teasing as she set a hand on Kylo’s chest, “does your place of birth define you?”

~***~

“Well, for food, usually about once a week,” Poe said, “we could have more in the way of dried goods and whatnot, but we like to have fresh food around, too,” he said, to explain the reason. Obviously, they could be living on things like pasta, beans, and frozen goods, but fresh food should be in rotation, as well.

“Hygienics and such, usually once a month, and usually on the food run. Fuel is done as-needed, which seems to be a little over every week. Sometimes longer, sometimes shorter, missions kind of determine that,” which was to be expected. Having a stock of fuel that lasted a while was hard; fuel was expensive, and they had a lot of ships, and a lot of people doing various things, or swinging by with reports.

He motioned her out, “I’ll show you where the fuel is kept next,” that was still important for her to know, “and then the armory,” they had to keep weapons in-stock, as well as ammunition and armor. Oddly enough, that didn’t run out as fast as everything else. Likely due to the ‘cold war’ situation, and much of their fights ending up as aerial ones.

He hadn’t really had an issue with running out of X-Wing firepower though, either.

 

[cleopat]

It seemed that Myka grew bored of examining the room, which Kylo didn’t blame her. There wasn’t much to see. And as she stepped towards him, the topic turned to her homeworld, or what may be her homeworld.

Rion. Nothing terribly significant about the world, as far as he knew.

He glanced down at the hand on his chest. “Of course it doesn’t,” he responded. He had struggled with his own heritage, and someone born on Chandrila would not be expected to go down the path Kylo did.

But here he was, instead too focused on the legacy of his grandfather and striving to achieve what he couldn’t.

“Your own actions define you.” He easily allowed a hand to rest on Myka’s waist with their closeness.

~~~

Alright, so supplies came in regularly. That was good to know. There would be no uncertainties in some of the basics for now, although she imagined that something like that could easily change. Someone could get killed on a supply run. The supplier decides to stop selling. Anything was possible

The armory intrigued her though. Azra wanted to know exactly what kind of weaponry they had, to see if it was anything that could easily go against the First Order, should they engage in a full-fledged battle.

“I can see myself getting lost trying to find one of these places,” she chuckled. There were so many new things, places and faces, that already she was developing a headache. “Don’t ever be surprised if you ever get a message from me needing help.”

And for now, Poe would be the first person she turned to for help, until she got to know other people better. Well, him or Suralinda. But she did hope to become familiar with other people soon.

 

[Lucyfer]

Well, Kylo didn’t seem to be as angry with her anymore, despite how she’d left him cold the night before.

She leaned forward with his touch, pressing into him, “I didn’t think so,” she didn’t know where Kylo came from, but she imagined it was some New Republic, Core world. His mother was Leia Organa, after all.

Mostly, Myka just didn’t want to think about it, for herself. She barely even admitted she had curiosities about it; what point was there? She liked herself, and there was nothing to reclaim, nothing she should want to reclaim.

“Your actions, and the future. Those are what are important,” she agreed with him. “And soon that future will be wholly yours to craft,” once Snoke was out of the way. At least that was the pleasant lie he needed to keep hearing, for now. And maybe he’d even think it was true and never notice the illusion.

~***~

Poe smiled but shook his head a bit, “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it. If you got used to walking around Fi—uh, other places, you’ll get this memorized soon enough.” Poe knew it wasn’t that big. Though, admittedly, he didn’t realize the size difference in a First Order ship, compared to a Resistance Base.

He’d be surprised by it.

“But I’ll help you out while you’re getting your bearings,” he promised as he led Azra out of the barracks and that storage space, and on towards the next one. It would be across the way, and actually near the fuel area, which he did make a point to stop at and point inwards, “There’s fuel, and all things ship-related.”

Various spare parts, durasteel, and all sorts of equipment were scattered around that room, before Poe pointed down, “And down there is the armory. Mostly blasters, with some armor, but there’s a few other things there, too.” She would get to see for herself soon.

 

[cleopat]

His mind short circuited as Myka pressed herself up against him. There was still some resentment from the night before, of how she denied him, but Kylo couldn’t think about that at all as pleasant warmth spread throughout his body.

“Yes, it will,” he said surely, with a low growl. Soon he wouldn’t have to answer to Supreme Leader Snoke, and he’ll ascend to his rightful place as the Supreme Leader of the First Order.

Right now he didn’t know how Myka would fit into those plans, if she was still around. But he would keep a watchful eye on her, to gauge where she could be.

Thinking of her, and having her scent invade his senses, Kylo leaned down to press his lips against hers, the hand on her waist tightening as the other sought to tangle in her hair.

~~~

Azra shot Poe a look after he almost slipped up, but fortunately, he quickly corrected himself. “Oh yes, I have no doubt about that. From what I can tell, this is only a fraction of the size of where I used to be.”

And that was what worried her about the Resistance’s potential. The star destroyers were huge and equipped with the latest weaponry, and she knew of at least several other ships designed the same way. But Azra never actually saw the entirety of the star destroyer, only the section she worked and lived in.

Her eyes followed the direction Poe pointed to, making note of where the fuel was. That would be important. Then in the direction of the armory. She didn’t imagine herself ever needing what was in there, but if she did stick around, battle may be unavoidable. Sure, she had her own blaster, but more weapons may be necessary.

“What are some of the other things in the armory?” she decided to ask, instead of simply waiting until she saw it for herself.

 

[Lucyfer]

That brief tension that shot through Kylo was somehow more delicious than his giving in and kissing her. Myka enjoyed that tension and the struggle it suggested, the way he wasn’t as comfortable with this as he could be. There was still something there, something at the back of his mind that wanted to resist.

One day, it wouldn’t be there. And then this would all be too easy.

Too boring.

But for the moment, Myka was able to savor these moments in knowing that Kylo remained conflicted and not wholly beholden to her just yet. This remained a game that she intended to win, and a delicious one at that as she melted into that embrace, that kiss, and closed her hand around that annoyingly heavy cloth that rested over him.

Only after a moment, she didn’t tug on it, or step backwards with considerations for the bed. There was time to waste, of course, and while she enjoyed his strength and that odd feeling of sensing how much smaller she was, she was also quite the fan of bringing people to their knees. Literally, and figuratively.

So her hand released the cloth, to weave its way into his hair, and fist around it. She wanted to play with the tension. She wanted to play with him, and intended to break the kiss with that pressure to pull his head back – even if that meant using a bit of the Force to help if he felt like resisting the pull.

~***~

Poe was curious about the size of the bases she had been on, but he wouldn’t ask that right away. For one, he’d already almost slipped. Two, this wasn’t the kind of place to have those discussions. Those were probably still better reserved for moments behind doors that actually locked, not in hallways.

Poe did take a turn towards the armory so that Azra would be able to see for herself what was there, but he had no problems telling her what things they did have available on the way towards the armory.

“We have the standard blaster in a few different designs, a lot grenades – mostly thermal detonators, concussion grenades, stun grenades, some ion grenades, and flashbangs, where those are concerned,” there were a lot of different possibilities. Thermal detonators oddly enough got the most use, despite their requirements.

“We don’t have much in the way of melee weaponry, but there are some electro-weapons and daggers.” It would all soon be in front of her to see the stockpiles of weapons and ammunition available to the Resistance.

 

[cleopat]

Myka responded to the kiss, and Kylo tightened his grip on her, clenching the fabric of his shirt that draped over her frame. That made her seem so small, and so inviting. He wanted to pull her closer, and wrap his arms tighter around her, before guiding her over to the bed a few feet away.

He let out a soft moan as her hand weaved its way into his hair, and when they clenched, Kylo only tightened his grip further on Myka as heat soared through his body. Now that had been delectable.

Then she tugged, which allowed him to slip further into his building desires as tingles spread across every inch of his body. Only with the push of the Force did the kiss break, and Kylo took in deep breaths that the kiss did not allow.

With the pull on his hair, he did his best to look down at Myka, who may seem so much smaller, but held so much control over Kylo in the moment. It wasn’t fair, but he couldn’t find it in himself to complain or bite back just that moment.

~~~

Azra was less than impressed with what Poe listed off, but at least grenades could make for a fun time. If one played their cards right, grenades could cripple an entire base. But, this also depended on how many they had exactly.

Melee weapons shouldn’t matter too much, but it was always nice to have for those just in case scenarios. Those riot control batons were nasty, from what she’s seen of them in a brief glimpse into the stormtroopers’ training.

“What is your navy like?” she asked next as they turned into the armory. Azra still knew next to nothing of what their squadrons were like, aside from brief mentions of Poe’s Black Squadron, or if they had anything that stood a chance against a star destroyer. Theoretically, they did. They would have to.

And as they entered the armory, Azra would glance over the stock, trying to make note of how much they had, and how new, or old, the weapons were. She still wasn’t wholly impressed, but admittedly, it was better than she had expected.

 

[Lucyfer]

The look Kylo offered as they parted was far more in line with what Myka wanted. It burned in his denial, but anticipation. The tension sung in every nerve of him, the want, the curiosity, all at odds within him. “Good boy,” she couldn’t help it, even if he might take some offense at such language.

She lifted herself up on her tip toes to place a kiss on his jawline, and follow it, while her free hand moved up to his shoulder. Both for balance, and to start pressing him back, bit by bit. She didn’t want the bed. She wanted to give him the wall to lean against.

She intended for him to need that shortly.

Myka pressed one more hard kiss to his neck before she’d return to his lips, letting to of his hair more by necessity than anything else. Walking, kissing, pulling – it was all a bit much with this damned height difference. However, she didn’t think Kylo would notice too much until he had his back against the wall, now that it’d begun.

~***~

“Mostly X-Wing single fighters, along with a few capital ships, frigates, transports, and corvettes,” Poe answered with a shrug, “There are still a lot of Mon Cala types of starships, which I’m not too used to, but also Kuat Drive ships, which I’m more used to.” So far as the larger models went, anyways.

Of course, Leia was hoping for more backing from the New Republic. They were still working on that, though.

“Oh, and a few bombers,” he added, realizing he forgot them. He didn’t think of them too much since they were pretty specialized and only used in a few scenarios, really. Still, their pilots for it were well-trained, and deserved that recognition. He knew they were capable of taking down things like dreadnaughts.

“You’re pretty interested in what we have going on for weapons,” he noted, given her asking more directly about these things, and not what kinds of soaps they had lingering about the base. Not that he could blame her. Weapons and arms were the more important part of their set-up, and all of their future plans.

 

[cleopat]

His jaw clenched at the small praise she had to offer, initially hating the words and the tone, but he couldn’t deny the shiver that ran down his spine, how he actually enjoyed the words despite how condescending they may be.

Kylo all too readily leaned in to her touch, adjusting his head slightly as Myka kissed along his jaw. He hardly acknowledged that she was pushing him backwards, not when he was too focused on how nice her lips felt.

His back hit the wall, and Kylo leaned against it for stability, as her lips connected with his again. One hand traveled to her hip and squeezed, while the other moved to her hair and entangled his fingers in her strands, which he tugged on softly in an experiment to see what kind of sounds she would emit, like he did.

“You must be using the Force on me,” he said lowly, as if that was the only explanation as to how Myka was able to ensnare Kylo so easily into her grasp so soon after bringing her into the First Order.

~~~

So they had some weaponry, but Azra knew it wasn’t enough, and she still wouldn’t count the New Republic military in with that. The one thing that had stuck with her over the months was her lack of faith in them to do anything for the greater galaxy.

At Poe’s comment, she hummed and shrugged her shoulders. “Well, why wouldn’t I? It seems like a pretty crucial piece of information for new recruits.” They needed to know how their firepower compared, how the odds looked for them. Azra still had her doubts. A lot of doubts.

“And I already know what the other guys have.” She wouldn’t explicitly state that she was talking about the First Order, not where someone could overhear and ask her how she knew what the Order had. “I needed to know what you guys have.”

But what she had seen over the past few days painfully reminded her of what she didn’t know of the First Order. “Or, well, I thought I knew what they had.”