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[KyloGlenn]

Ariel found herself angry as Gnaeus didn’t answer. Not at him, of course. Never at him. But at Kylo. Why did he have to go so hard on Gnaeus? Did he really think that would help him adjust? Ariel understood that they didn’t have all the time in the world, but she felt Kylo could have gone a bit slower. Allowed Gnaeus some time to get a grip on things. The man could barely get his own clothes on, or get a plate of eggs for fuck’s sake!


But Ariel was just now glad that Gnaeus was out of the fight. She hoped he wasn’t too terribly hurt, though. It was then that her stomach growled and she was once again aware of how she herself felt. She felt almost dizzy, likely the cause being a mixture of no food and the wound on her side.


 Her attention turned back to Paquin and Kylo, briefly forgetting the two were still going at it. 


Paquin was pleased that her move had worked, but at the same time felt awful as Kylo coughed. She knew it didn’t feel pleasant. It showed in her next move, as she took a hesitant step forward, nearly pausing completely, but she continued on to thrust her lightsaber towards Kylo. But again, it was just a ploy, this time to get closer to hook her leg around his and dig the heel of her foot into the back of his knee.


She wasn’t sure where she’d go from there if she managed to get him down. She was surprised she’d made it this far and she really didn’t want to hurt him all that much. Not like she’d been slashed, or Ariel had. Or how Gnaeus wasn’t even up anymore. 


-


Hux spotted the nexu as it attempted to swat at Millicent. The General quickly reacted by swatting his own hand at the nexu, pushing the paw away. Hux almost made a comment to August about controlling his beast. They weren’t seeing Millicent misbehaving now were they? But General Hux decided that it was not appropriate in the moment. Maybe not ever.


Millicent simply chirped at the nexu, her paws outstretching towards it.


It seemed decided that Kamino would be investigated, as well as Mustafar. Hux wouldn’t be surprised if there was something on the lava planet. Snoke’s secret layer, something. It had quite the Sith history. Hux snorted at the comment on Terex. He knew August wasn’t serious, but he still added his own comment. “That would all depend on him actually listening to orders.”


If Terex wasn’t so good at doing his job when he chose to listen, he would have been fired long ago. But Hux wondered if Terex would even listen if he were fired. 


“So someone told August about Terex’s little visit earlier?” Adelaide brought it up fleetingly before Hux switched back to the topic of Kamino and Mustafar.


“Agents should be the last thing we send. Probe droids first, then fly-bys, then agents. Snoke will be able to sense an unfamiliar presence before they even enter Kamino.” Hux didn’t think that applied to droids as it did living creatures. “We don’t want to lose troops, nor do we want to give Snoke any.” While Hux couldn’t be certain if Snoke would want any of the Order’s or August’s soldiers, it still wasn’t wise for it to be risked. At the very least, Snoke could get information out of whoever is captured. Probe droids could self-destruct after sending information.


Sometimes Hux thought droids were more useful than the living, wondered why he bothered with them. But he knew better. Learned from the mistakes of the past.


-


‘Even reject Jedi?’ Finn silently questioned the words, the raise of her voice. Finn’s eyes moved to the man Maz had been talking to before him. Finn could’ve sworn there was something familiar about him, but chalked it up to the man being there when Finn was here last. Maybe.


Finn considered that maybe Maz knew Mira. And that’s who she was calling a reject Jedi. But it still didn’t make sense…


“Alright, well I’ll go get her. She’s not feeling too well.” Finn wondered if she’d be able to walk, or if he had to carry her again. Maybe some sleep helped her. “I’ll be right back.” It was as Finn turned that Mace too turned. Only a glimpse of Finn’s face was caught, only a small glimpse of his eyes. But Mace knew. And he cursed to himself.


He watched as Finn left through the door he’d came in, downed the rest of his drink. “I’ll make my leave, then. I’ll see you again, Maz.”


There he went, trying to run again. “I don’t think so,” Maz shook her head. “You haven’t finished putting up the decorations I asked you to!” 


And Finn returned to the ship, not being able to shake that feeling of familiarity. Even as he re-entered the field of uncertainty, some sort of deprivation. And as he spotted the skiff, he also spotted a dick. “What are you doing here, Terex?” Finn questioned as he moved up the ramp.


“Had to come check on the poisoned Admiral after you whisked her away, of course.”


“She’s probably not even poisoned. Just needed to rest.”


“Sixty-forty.” Terex reminded. 


“Whatever.” Finn shook his head, quieting as he entered the ship. BB-8 let out a soft beep in greeting. Finn approached the sleeping figure of Mira, wrapped up in Hux’s jacket.


“They’re a thing, aren’t they?” Terex questioned his voice not lowered at all. “Huxley and the Admiral?” Finn simply shushed the man, eyes rolling as he placed a gentle hand on Mira, to shake her awake.


“Mira? C’mon, we’re on Takodana. I’ve got a friend for you to meet.” Finn spoke softly, his shakes just as gentle.

 

[Lucyfer]

Ariel was staying out of it, which made Kylo’s life easier as he adjusted from the attack from Paquin. He’d have to ask her about that, after this spar. Whatever she’d just done was effective. He’d never tried…jabbing someone with the Force like that. He usually just threw them far from him, got them to the ground, and dealt with them there. But that sort of pinpoint jab seemed like it would be a more effective method on Force sensitives, like himself.


Throwing Force sensitives didn’t have a guarantee of working.


The hesitation was apparent, and it let Kylo have an opportunity to follow her movements. He saw the jab, but also saw what was on its heels. He was quick to turn his body, twisting it so that both the saber’s thrust and the attempt to hook his leg would fail, before he slashed low to strike at the foot that had come at him.


If he missed, sparks would fly from the saber cutting across the floor.


Either way, he’d follow the motion through in a turn, and then turn back to facing Paquin and rush her with the saber, attempt a similar thrust at chest-level, adding the speed of the Force to aid in the effort of getting it through her.


Gnaeus remained immobile.


~***~


The nexu stared at the hands. It shouldn't reach out for them. It had just been swatted away by the ginger-who-was-cool. Now the ginger didn't seem as cool. But the paws...they were so intriguing. So small. The entire thing was so small. It knew that the second it leaned forward to sniff the paws, it would be hit - but damn it, it needed to sniff the paws. So, the nexu leaned forward to try and sniff them, prepared to shift back if Millicent did try to swat at him with those dangerously clawed things.


So Terex wouldn’t be going. ‘Damn.’ Then again, did he really want a Snoke-controlled Terex? ‘Yes.’ August’s attention snapped right to Adelaide when she mentioned his visit. “What?” No, he had not been informed of it, and was about to demand information on it, as if Terex had no right on his planet at all – damn the alliance, Terex wasn’t allowed here.


However, Hux turned the topic back to important, sane, and logical matters. Probe droids, not agents. Even if August trusted people far more than he trusted droids. He had droids, obviously, but he considered them mostly for defensive purposes. His protocol droid was…somewhere. ‘Wilhuff’s area.’ If the droid understood things. Which, being a protocol droid, it did.


Protect the secrets from lost people.


“Very well. Probe droids. I have a few I can send, and a couple of designs I’ve been looking to test as it is.”


“Oh, how are those new DRKs going?” Seig asked, looking a bit excited with the idea of putting probe droids to use. He knew that Yularen had been working on some very interesting new droid models in general – the man was a mad scientist, sometimes.


“I’ll check in with Gunnar to see – Gunnar Yularen,” he told Hux, “My…lead agent, you could say,” August explained. The DRKs, Imperial Repair Droids, supposedly invented by some Sith Lord, were quite handy. Small. The only problem was they were like the old TIEs – they existed for a singular purpose and everything else was scrapped to make sure that purpose was highlighted. So they could spy. Then they could repair. They had absolutely no defenses, though.


“Are there other places we ought to consider, General?” Hux had worked with Snoke, after all. He might recall some places worth checking out. They still had to go over the list provided by the Admiral, but for now…they needed starting points.


~***~


Finn could have been as gentle as a summer breeze, and Mira still would have jolted, like shifting from death to life. The jolt was violent and she sat up straight quick, pulling the coat closer to her as her eyes opened, containing that wild glint as she tried to figure out where she was, and why she didn’t feel any of them. ‘What the hell is…?’


Finn held her gaze, hands up, “Breathe, Mira.”


Pain. Mira winced as it fell on her just as quickly. Still a bit nauseous, she hadn’t slept long enough to slip into the waiting hangover, but it was starting, the pain at the back of her head signaling the inevitable. She lifted a hand to the back of her head, as if that might help get rid of the pain. “We’re on Takodana. Remember? Kevan’s ship is here, and my friend, Maz Kanata.”


Mira was breathing. ‘Leg…twisted or something.’ Not that the rest of her felt much better, and she couldn’t try to pull at the Force to make it easier. ‘Stone.’ It was coming back in bits and pieces. “Okay,” she finally said and forced herself to stand, slipping the coat on.


“You okay?”


“Haven’t decided.” Mira glanced to him and Terex then, "Are you?" Asked, to both.


Finn gave a nod. "Yeah...but you're never drinking again."


"Agreed."


She walked by to find her earlier discarded boots, which she slipped on. ‘Stop by the Finalizer. Get my armor again.’ She needed sane clothes, as well as these dresses. More Jedi tunics. More armor. New armor, one day.



Finn did take note of the way she was walking, gingerly keeping her weight off one foot. He kept the comment to himself. “Did you…did you dream?” Finn asked, hesitantly.


“No,” and that was a good thing. But the thought was rolling in her head to test it, as she reached out to try and pull the purse to her. It didn’t come, of course. “Right.” Grumbled, went to fetch the purse manually, and took out the datapads, lightsabers, Kevan’s communicator and stone. The stone, she held, closing her fist around and feeling how it seemed to be taking everything into it. A miniature blackhole, but for the Force. ‘Later.’ Later, she’d use the communicator. She’d call Snoke.


She’d know then. If he couldn’t reach her through the hologram, she’d know. “Let’s go talk to Maz about my ship.”


~***~


Decorations. Mace’s nose wrinkled at the idea of such labor, but he had agreed, hadn’t he? “Fine, but don’t you go drawing anymore attention to me, Maz.” He stated, holding her gaze without much fear this time. She knew what eyes he had already.


Maz only smiled to him, “I wouldn’t,” she wouldn’t need to, more like. Finn’s friend…she had her ideas. It wasn’t Rey. It wasn’t Poe. No, this was a new, an other, and she was intrigued to see just who it was this lost boy brought. This man without a star – given a star by the Resistance, to follow, to chase.


Mace walked off then to start setting up the tree. Someone walked over to offer their help, but Mace waved them off, and just pushed his hand out to clear away several tables at once from the spot Maz wanted the large tree. That brought some looks, but none lingered. Here, they knew, Jedi weren’t the only Force-sensitives, nor Sith. Here, it wasn’t so odd, even if it was still news on places like Coruscant and Tatooine.


People in places like that assumed everyone was part of one group or another, whether it be the New Republic, the Hutt criminal syndicate, the First Order.


Out here on Takodana, the rogues existed.


It was just as Mace was starting to lift the tree, that things shifted. The Force was suddenly gone from the world around Mace, with no warning. The disorientation he felt was as surprising as it was quick. Someone let out a shout and Mace managed to dive as the tree went crashing to the ground, breaking a few tables on its way down, but fortunately, no one was hurt.


And Maz didn’t seem to react at all. No, she stood where she was, waiting, watching the door, a cryptic smile coming over her lips, as if this development with the Force was good. “And what in all the Corellian Hells, was that, Maz?” As if she would know.

 

[KyloGlenn]

Paquin’s first move had worked, but the following attacks didn’t. She recognized her mistake was hesitating. She wouldn’t learn from that mistake. At least not when it came to fighting Kylo. Or if she ever had to fight Ariel or Gnaeus.


Paquin was caught off guard by the slash to her foot, barely pulling it back in time for the lightsaber to miss. She didn’t have much time to recover and regain her balance as Kylo turned and seemed to come at her at a speed that was not normal. Her reaction was delayed, all she could manage to do was attempt to block, and push Kylo’s lightsaber away from her chest.


She pushed to the side, but not far enough for it to miss her. Instead of going through her chest, it cut right through the side of her arm. “Ah!” Paquin cried out, her hand immediately shot to the wound. That one hurt. It was most certainly deeper than the one her hip. She already felt her hand coated with blood. ‘I don’t like this.’ She swung her lightsaber haphazardly, not too concerned if it would actually hit him or not. It didn’t help the pain in that arm.


Ariel snapped out of her daze at the sound of Paquin’s shout. “Oh, shit.” While she was hurt, Paquin had actually done pretty well for herself. Better than Ariel expected. She thought she’d be knocked on her ass immediately. Though, hurting Paquin seemed like a dick move to Ariel. Like taking candy from a baby. Then again, Kylo was a dick. And while she didn’t think they’d actually win this—as if they ever did—she still wanted Kylo to leave with more than a punch to the face and a jab to the throat.


She knew it would have potential to be disorienting, but Ariel still moved to run at Kylo, backed by the speed of the Force. Maybe slash at him, but her goal was to at least tackle him. Paquin saw Ariel gear up for something, and at that, she decided that she’d been okay at halting things with the Force so far. Not really Force-sensitives, but she could always try with Kylo.


-


Millicent did, in fact, swipe at the nose of the beast, hoping to snag the nose on her claws. But Hux wouldn’t allow her the luxury of that, grabbing her by the scruff and turning her around, facing away from the nexu. Millicent glanced back at the not-quite-cat, swishing her tail in its face. Then she turned to rest her face one her paws, that slowly began to knead at Hux’s leg. She purred as she closed her eyes.


Johann clicked the roof of his tongue to call the nexu back to him, away from the cat. Johann had simply been listening to the adults this entire time, observing. Watching the cat and the nexu mess around.


Adelaide bit the inside of her cheek to keep from chuckling. She’d figured August had known about Terex based on his comment, but apparently not. That would be a fun thing to relay. The sighting of that familiar ride Terex showed up in. Oh, August would not be happy. 


‘Are there any other places we should consider?’ Yes, the rest of the galaxy. Snoke could be anywhere. And Hux really wasn’t sure. Hux could count on one hand how many times Hux had seen Snoke in person, and on the other hand could count how many times he was actually aware of the man’s location. Any other place to look at would likely be those on the list. None of the First Order bases had been compromised, he figured he’d know about that.


So, Hux shook his head. “With probe droids, no.” He thought to reach out to the seven ambassadors. They were much too new to be on the list, surely. But they should know the details of the separation. And he should see if Snoke had attempted to reroute their resources to him. Hux didn’t think they would, willingly, as they seemed to favor the idea of the Jedi. Though Mira had painted the Knights to be like them, for the sake of the deal. 


“Mi-Admiral Vallens,” the name Mira had been on his tongue rather than her new title. 


Alexander snickered at the correction. The man leaned over to his brother, “Admiral my ass.” He earned no reaction.


 A glare was held back on Hux’s part, “—will likely have more of an idea.” He was aware there was a relationship much deeper with Snoke and the Knights than there’d been with the Order. A longer one, too. A very different one.


“We keep banking on the possibility that Admiral Vallens will return from wherever it is you insist is none of our concern.” The comment came from Adelaide, to which Hux had to suppress an eye roll.


“Because she will return.” Hux was confident on that. “And in the off chance she doesn’t we still have the other two Knights.” There’d just be the challenge of getting information out of them. Surely they couldn’t be that loyal to Snoke and Kylo Ren. “And there’s still the list of names she provided that will be looked into.”


-


“And get you something to snack on. And a drink. Non-alcoholic, of course.” Finn offered a small grin. He’d let Mira lead off the ship, keeping close in case her leg decided to give out or she herself decided she wanted some assistance in walking. 


“Y’know, there’s nothing wrong with casual drinking. A nice glass of bourbon whiskey every once in a while when things get too stressful. Just maybe not when you’re planning on stealing from a Hutt.” Terex informed with a smirk on his face.


BB-8 rolled directly into the back of Terex’s legs as a ‘shut up’. Of course, the droid didn’t say that. In fact, it beeped out an equivalent of ‘oops’. Terex knew very well it wasn’t an accident. He glared down at the droid, silently threatening it. BB-8 just stared back up. Terex figured that was it glaring back since it couldn’t really do such a thing. Then the droid’s head swiveled back around and it rolled ahead.


As they neared Maz’s castle once again, Finn noticed that the nothingness hadn’t lifted like it had before when he approached. What was different now? Well, for one, Mira was with him. ‘Oh!’ Just as he started to piece it together, they were in the castle again.


And inside, the effects of the stone vacuum were noticed not only by Mace, Maz, Mira, and Finn but also other patrons. Ones not quite as sensitive as the reject Jedi or the like, but were aware enough to be bothered by it, grumbles coming from quite a few patrons.


“I believe we’re about to find out,” was Maz’s answer to Mace Windu. And although Maz couldn’t sense anything through the Force at all, somehow she was right. As Finn and two others walked through that door. And BB-8. 


“I can’t use the Force, which means I can’t put the decorations up.” Mace was giving an excuse to leave, as he stood from where he dove. But even as he wanted to run, there was confliction. A part that wanted to meet this Finn that had the same eyes as him.


“You can still use your hand, can’t you? A promise is a promise.” Maz wasn’t trying to push Mace and Finn together. No, if they weren’t going to meet then they weren’t going to meet. Not today, anyway. But Maz had a feeling as soon as Finn walked in the door. At the very least, she did want those decorations up. For Chewie. “Finn! This is her?” Maz had no problems yelling across the room to them.


Finn approached. “Yes! Mira, this is Maz. Maz, this is Mira.” Didn’t bother introducing Terex. “We’re here for a ship that was dropped off by the Resistance, but Mira is feeling a little rough. I’m thinking maybe some water, or maybe even tea if you’ve got it.” Maz heard what Finn was saying. She knew the ship he was talking about. Knew who’s possession it had been in before the Resistance had it, too. But first thing’s first…


Maz adjusted her goggles to examine the blonde. There was no Force available, it seemed, but Maz still held much information on people. Not only identities, but she knew some key traits that beings shared. “Oh, here we go,” Finn mumbled, leaning into Mira. “It’s cool, she does this.” At least there was no table for her to crawl on. 


Finn felt like he had eyes on him, though he did not look around to search for the eyes. 

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo would admit to being impressed later with Paquin’s skill. She was able to push his saber aside, and although she still took injury, it was at least not as bad as it would have been. Reactions like that would save her in a real battle. Well, assuming she didn’t immediately try to cover the wound like that. “Dull the pain!” He shouted at her, slashing at her saber when she swung at him to bat it away.



He took a step back to prepare himself for another assault, but caught the blur of Ariel. He could have moved, but he was slowed, and he knew by who. His eyes caught Paquin briefly in a glare. He thought to swing at Ariel as she came closer, but didn’t get the chance to. She was much quicker, thanks to the Force coursing through her veins.


Kylo Ren was barreled into and brought to the ground by her tackle. It hurt, definitely hurt, and his lightsaber fell from his hand as his back hit the ground. He could hear it clatter across the ground and his immediate reaction was to reach out for it to try and pull it back. Then his mind reminded him of his position.


Ariel still had her lightsaber, he was pretty sure. Fisticuffs wasn’t a good idea, and he didn’t have time to pull his lightsaber back to his hand. So, instead, he reached up with the hand he’d started to channel the Force into to wrap around Ariel’s neck and squeeze, strengthening it as best he could to get the upper hand to literally throw her off of him. His eyes watched for the flash of her lightsaber.


~***~


The nexu seemed to let out a huff as it was denied playing with Millicent more. Its claws never connected with its face, but her tail was a tempting target. The nexu started to lift up, wanting to bite this moving object that danced before its eyes. However, the whistle of Young Ginger told it that this was not the path to go down. It lowered, looked to Young Ginger, and then stalked back towards him and Oldest Ginger, brushing up against the Young Ginger’s leg.


Not its favorite. Young Ginger put the ridiculous confining things on it. It’d get rid of those later.


August let out a sigh as Hux offered nothing. The Admiral was the key piece to all of this, then. That was…unfortunate. They were going to have to get her to talk, and talk quite a bit, before her time ran out. Like Pandion’s time had run out. “Very well. If she isn’t back by this time tomorrow, however, we’ll have to resort to interrogating the Knights.”


“Do we even have anyone who can, August?”


“I’m sure I can dig up some old loyalty officers,” he waved it away dismissively, as if it were no problem. He knew it would be. “Or reach out to Serrano.” Not a fan, but…Serrano was often ahead of him in the technology department. Thanks to Dooku’s obsessions, and the Geonosian ideas he’d stolen to implement. Others advanced them. Kept advancing them.


And they were royals.


“The plan is thus, then. We will announce that Pandion was shot and taken to Coruscant. For now, that is the extent of it – he remains a prisoner.” August needed time to think if he’d kill him or not. “We’ll let our armies relax. Those of us with the unfortunate civic duty of being senators will return to the senate tomorrow. General Hux will deal with Senator Sindian. We’ll clean up that mess. Alexander, Caius, Alexander, I need some ships around Lothal. Not a blockade...protection," if they asked. "The First Order and us shall dispatch probe droids out to Kamino and Mustafar.”


“We’re not attacking anything?” Adelaide almost sounded disappointed.


“No, not yet,” Lothal would likely be the first target, if it came to it.


“The Senate is not going to like your protection around Lothal.” Seig noted. They would see it for what it was.


“I really don’t see why not.” The sarcasm was bleeding out of his voice.


~***~


“Really didn’t plan on drinking,” Mira muttered, “Don’t plan on picking it up as a habit, either. I have enough of an addiction to coffee building,” she shook her head at the thought of that. If this sleep issue kept up, she was going to have a coffee problem. To think, it used to just be a drink she had occasionally when she needed to finish a few reports.


Stepping into Maz’s castle revealed a fallen tree, a man Mira was certain looked familiar, and then several other individuals. Mira did not know which one was Maz, until she called out in greeting to Finn. Mira had to lower her gaze quickly to find the alien. ‘Like Yoda.’ Terrible thought.


But when she was introduced, Maz didn’t say anything. Just adjusted her googles. Finn tried to reassure her, but Mira couldn’t say she liked that. Too familiar with having her mind read, with the intense focus. She looked away, immediately, to Finn. “Does what?” Since Maz hadn’t felt like talking.


“She, uh, she gets to know people by looking at them. It’s like her handshake?”


“Really?” Finn heard the disdain in Mira’s voice, wasn’t sure why, and Mira looked right back at Maz, “Seen enough?” The snap in her voice was part-suspicion, part-headache. She knew that Maz wasn’t reading her mind, she’d feel that, but she did not like the look at all.


“Mira, she’s—”


Maz clicked her tongue on the roof of her mouth, interrupting Finn. There was no need for him to try and calm the situation. This one understood the secrets she could give up, instinctively. The green eyes burned bright enough to nearly obscure them - but that was enough to reveal most of it in itself. “Well, well,” she adjusted the googles to normal again, “It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen eyes like yours.” Oh, but she knew it. First Order coat, but standing with Finn? Fancy dress, black boots? She barely needed to see the eyes to see the contradiction, the pull of dissimilar things, to know what this one was. She understood now why Ivan called this one Cora. It had been a long time since a Gray was in her castle.


She didn’t explain right then, but clapped her hands together, then noticed how Mira winced at the sound. “Let’s get you sitting down – you are unwell.” Sick in many ways. Wounded leg. Wounded mind. With the Force absent, she could not be handling much of it well no matter the front she tried to wear. Her eyes flickered over Terex.


Ah, Terex. The main reason she knew of him was his ship. It was legendary, after all. Any pirate would want it. Even her. Of course, she knew the price that would come at – it wasn’t worth it to her. His eyes, though, were expected. The eyes of a venomous snake. She’d seen them plenty of times not to need to adjust her googles. She just, “Hmph. Well I suppose you can come along as well, Terex,” didn’t hide the fact that she knew him. He ought to expect a pirate to know him. They had run in similar circles, once.


"Why does no one like you?" Mira had to ask Terex, part rhetorical. There were probably...too many reasons for why people didn't like him. Just like there were plenty of reasons for people to hate her. She just had the fortune of doing most of her crimes in a mask.


Maz meant to lead them to the table that Mace had claimed, earlier, if only to continue pestering the man who was trying to run in an enclosed space. Trying to hide his curious glances while he looked over at the tree, knowing he wouldn’t figure out how to put it up without the Force.


But Mace was putting the pieces together. He was starting to understand why the man seemed so familiar to him. From his earlier aura upon entering the castle, to pieces of his appearance Mace had once seen in a mirror, and in the appearance of his second fall from grace. ‘Ada.’ A name he hadn’t thought of in a long time. A thought he didn’t want to have, at all. A guilt that was starting to gnaw at him.  

 

[KyloGlenn]

Paquin was miffed they were still doing this. Irked by Kylo’s ‘dull the pain’. Didn’t much care for the glare she received, either. She didn’t feel bad when Kylo was barreled into. Well, almost didn’t feel bad.


Ariel succeeded in tackling Kylo to the ground, with the help of Paquin. But it really didn’t give her that much of an advantage, as she found her head spinning as soon as she stopped. She would have closed her eyes, shaken her head if it weren’t for the new grip on her throat.


Meanwhile, Paquin pulled her hand from her wound, wiping some of the blood off on the already ruined shirt before she held that hand out, using the Force to pull Kylo’s lightsaber to her. She flinched when it came in contact with her hand. And then she had two lightsabers, neither of which she knew what to do with. At least he didn’t have it, though she was sure he could just rip it out of her hand. 


Being choked would be enjoyable for Ariel in a different scenario, but not in this one. Not as her stomach growled and she struggled for breath. The lack of air certainly wasn’t helping her dizziness. ‘A burger and a glass of wine would be wonderful right now.’ Again, Ariel would have shaken her head if she could. It was not the right time to think of food and alcohol.


Ariel instead searched for a way to get Kylo to release her before he either choked her unconscious or threw her around. She decided in this position to go for a low blow. Literally. She moved her leg to knee him in the crotch. And she didn’t have her lightsaber, she had a vibroblade, which she would simultaneously lift between them to attempt a jab at his shoulder.


-


Millicent let out a tiny chirp as the nexu went away, almost sound disappointed that the thing was no longer around to mess with. Oh well. She still had Hux to entertain her. Or the Colonel that was smitten with her doctor.


Johann leaned down slightly to pat the nexu on the head as it rubbed up against his leg. He would have been sad if he knew he wasn’t the nexu’s favorite.


Alexander’s enthusiasm came and shattered as August had started out with ships around Lothal, but then said no one would be killed. ‘Protection’. Did know one realize that killing things before they became a problem was very effective? Whatever, it would be done. No one said Alexander couldn’t complain about it, though.


Hux was at least relieved that Lothal and its people would go unharmed. For now. He knew that was subject to change. Hopefully, something that could be discussed rather than something that would come from a rash decision. 


“The Senate’s already displeased with August, what’s one more thing?” Alexander rolled his eyes.


“Well—“ Caius began but was cut off by his brother saying that he didn’t care. And it was Caius’s turn to roll his eyes. “Do you ever think, brother?”


The twins bickered and Hux simply scooped Millicent up and placed her back in her carrier. He sure hoped Mira would return before tomorrow. But in the meantime, he had work to do. He’d have Phasma send out the droids and he’d review the list. Come up with plans of action. He had to check to see if Carise had responded to his message, Mira as well. He hadn’t checked his messages in a long while, actually.


And then he could only hope he’d have a chance to get some sleep in an actual bed.


“The protection, children.” Adelaide snapped at the Mottis to break up their fighting. The two grumbled out ‘yeah’s. “August, you can have the honors of telling Pandion’s army about his injury.” He was the most believable for it to come from anyway.


-


Terex was not at all surprised that he was known by Maz. Same circles. His kind ran around these parts. Criminals. And it wasn’t his first rodeo on Takodana, either. Not to mention he was quite infamous in general.


Mira asked a question, albeit rhetorical, and Terex answered. “You know, I’m not sure. I think I’m pretty likable, wouldn’t you say?” Terex knew very well why people didn’t like him. And he knew that he was not at all likable. “Maybe it’s the whole First Order thing.” Partly.


Finn had to snort at the likable part. As if. And it very much so could’ve been the Order. But most likely the fact that Terex was an asshole. Why did Terex have to be a contender? Was he really worth it?


No matter. Finn followed after Maz, to the table that he knew that man Maz had been talking to had occupied before them. Speaking of that mystery man, where had he gone? Finn had gotten such an odd feeling from him. Of course, Finn didn’t feel that now. Didn’t feel much of anything now.


Finn first pulled a chair out for Mira to sit in, before taking a seat of his own. His eyes moved to scan the joint, curious about the man now. He probably left, Finn figured as Maz spoke. “I’ll get some drinks. I’ll mix something special for you,” Maz spoke to Mira, something in mind to ease the woman. Finn was on the right path with the tea from earlier. That could do her some good. 


It had to be a much needed break from Mira’s coffee marathon with the special guest of alcohol. Something with the opposite effect of those. Calm.


“And then we’ll talk.” And as Maz turned and left them for the moment, a small smile graced her face as she caught Finn looking beyond her.  Finn’s eyes landed upon that man, who had not in fact left yet. No longer was he turned away from Finn. And she saw something flash in his gaze. Familiarity.


Yet Finn couldn’t quite grasp at it. He shook his head as Maz left and Terex pulled up a chair, BB-8 sitting itself between Finn and the chair he’d pulled out for Mira. “That guy over there…” Finn mumbled, half tempted to go over there and talk to the guy. “I think I know him.” 


Now would be a great time for Master Qui-Gon to pop in, share some knowledge with Mira. He could simply tell her the significance of the man. But alas, there was that stone she decided to bring along.

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo could sense Ariel’s weakness, heard it in the growl of her stomach. He just had to hold on a bit more. Ariel wasn’t even trying to fight back with the Force, which fueled his anger. If she wanted to break this, why not pull his hand away with the Force? Why not try to push back? Lightning? Anything!


Why were they all failing to use the Force effectively?


Kylo Ren had truly failed them.


Ariel shifted in her struggle, and Kylo realized when one leg managed to position itself between his, what her intention was. The lift of her arm, as well. This was going to hurt. He didn’t plan to let it play out that way, though. Paquin had his saber, so that was out. ‘Take the pain, channel it.’ That was exactly what he did. The knee to the groin was somehow more painful than the vibrosaber as it stabbed into his shoulder, but he took it all in. A grunt slipped his lips and his eyes did shut as he tried not to curse. His grip on Ariel's throat momentarily tightened, rather than release.



It was still nothing compared to the bowcaster.


But Kylo did released it, like a breath, after his hand briefly tightened on her throat and then, lit with electricity. He’d try to use that to shock her into a brief paralysis to throw her off, and keep her weapon within himself. Then he’d have one to use, though he wouldn’t.


If he was successful he’d grab the saber and throw it to the ground to signal his own end to the fight. He was irked with all of them, as it seemed he was only confronted by one at a time, when Gnaeus fell. They didn’t play aggressively enough – or rather, fight. It was as if they didn’t care to win at all.


~***~


August listened to the Mottis, who seemed to believe his words about protection. ‘Children indeed.’ Well, no matter. He’d send a Nexu pilot along. True, there would be no attacking, but it wasn’t meant to be merely protection. It was going to be a blockade in all but name, but if he said that, there’d be issues. Lothal would understand protection. Snoke would understand the move of protection.


Snoke might guess the real intent.


“Thank you, Adelaide,” he smirked, “I was hoping to take those honors so some officer could try to shoot me again,” today was not his day.


“August….” Julia didn’t like these jokes.


“I’ll be fine,” he consoled, glanced to the First Order as they picked up to leave. “Adelaide, please get in touch with Gunnar while I deliver the news, let him know we need droids sent out, and do tell him not to do anything stupid like go to Mustafar or Kamino himself.” And that August actually meant it this time.


“August, you still need to go to a bacta tank.”


“I will, after I deliver the news,” he promised, nodded to Hux, “I do not know your plans for the evening, but you and the First Order are invited to stay near or upon the planet. There will be celebrations.” They won a battle, after all. They were entering into a war. There were going to be celebrations for morale, if nothing else.


~***~


‘Could be.’ Much like Finn, Mira did not believe that was all there was to it. Perhaps she was biased, though – being First Order. Preferring the Order, still. Though, the Resistance was still a curiosity, especially with Finn pulling a chair for her. She nodded her gratitude before accepting it. She immediately wanted to go back to sleep once she was sitting.


Maz left them alone again quickly, promising Mira some sort of mixed drink. Mira groaned at the thought, thinking cocktails rather than tea. “I’m not drinking anything alcoholic again.” Finn’s comment distracted her, though. She followed his gaze to the strange man near the fallen tree.


Finn’s instincts were usually pretty good. “How so?”


“I’m not sure, but…,” of course that was when Mira started to stand, “What are you doing?!” Mira just gave him a dull look.


“You’re not going to find anything out sitting here.” She was restless, it seemed. Standing still, doing nothing – she couldn’t stand it right then. The alarm in her head was still ringing, telling her that time was limited, that the sleep earlier was just a fluke, that everything needed to be done immediately. Wasting time pondering over the identity of someone seemed…inane.


“Mira!”


But Mira was walking to where the man was puzzling over just how to get the tree up. “Excuse me.”


He turned, looked right at her, noted the coat. First Order. Just another Empire. He made sure to show his distaste in his expression. “What do you want?”


“My friend thinks he knows you,” she gestured to their table. “Finn Windu.” The man before her slipped in his stoic expression – surprise. “Maybe you knew him as FN-2187, though.”


“A Stormtrooper? There’s no way…,” he stopped himself, before he said too much, caught under the scrutinizing gaze of the First Order woman, with a Stormtrooper calling himself Windu, and some asshole he was pretty sure he’d seen on a Wanted poster from once upon a time. And a droid. Of course a droid.


“So you know him.”


“No. No, I try not to associate with the First Order or the Empire or anything similar.” He stated. “I just know their systems. TKs and FNs – its despicable.”


“Then you should be happy to know he isn’t a part of the First Order any longer.” She stated. Heard her datapad chirp with a message notification, but didn’t check it right then. “What’s your name?” Perhaps he didn’t know Finn, but Finn might know him.


“None of your business. Who are you?”


It was on the tip of her tongue to say Admiral. She changed it at the last second. She wasn’t here on First Order business, she reminded herself. “Master Vallens.” Screw it – she had nothing better than Master just yet. This made things simple.


“Master, huh?” That seemed to amuse him, as if it were a joke that she herself didn’t understand. “Master of what? The First Order?”


“The Gray Jedi.” Didn’t really have the patience for his jokes. Her leg hurt standing up like this for so long. Her head was throbbing more and more. “Now, who are you? My friend might know you, even if you don’t know him….”



Maz, meanwhile, had gone to fetch the drinks. She only got Terex water, and Finn a juice – something tasty, something for energy. For Mira, a calming and warm blend of herbs. She frowned when she returned to the table with the drinks though, but looked to Finn to see where Mira had gone.


She didn’t need to ask. She followed his gaze to see her, with Mace Windu.


Maz chuckled. ‘Familiar, but not quite.’ Every set of eyes matched something she had seen, but they were still their own variants of it. Those ‘Stars Over Coruscant’ she knew so well, were just that – stars, never to be seen over Coruscant. The night life would always prevent it. The light pollution.


But those lights were all gone now, save one. The last one.


This Star seemed to want to take point. To move. It was a simple action to approach a person, but most would not approach Mace – even without the Force’s intuition to warn someone that he was dangerous. Volatile. “I like her already, Finn.” Maz told him. “But she’d better get back here before her drink gets cold.” She situated herself in a chair.

 

[KyloGlenn]

Ariel was both frustrated and satisfied. Frustrated that Kylo hadn’t released her, but satisfied she had both kneed him in the crotch and got him in the shoulder. Though she didn’t have much time to wallow in either of them. And she certainly didn’t have time to feel bad for him before the lightning. It shocked her. Literally. And she froze up with no time to react to being thrown off of him.


She landed on her back with a thud and a groan. She didn’t hold back from cursing, ‘fuck’ slipping from her mouth. She moved to get up but saw Kylo throw the vibroblade down. That was the end of that then. She didn’t continue with sitting up, just laid back down, throwing an arm over her eyes. She’d only woken up a little while ago but already wanted to go back to sleep. Eat, drink, sleep. That would be nice.


And Paquin was simply confused as to what happened. No one was going at each other anymore, so she took that as a sign that things were over. She turned her own lightsaber off, and set Kylo’s on the ground—she didn’t know how to turn it off—instead of handing it to him. 


She hurried over to Ariel to check on her, but the redhead didn’t let her get far before she waved her hand to dismiss Paquin. She would be fine. So Paquin moved on to Gnaeus. With a wave of her hand, she pushed the dummies aside with the Force to get to the unconscious man. She didn’t know what had actually knocked him out, so it was better to wake him up than leave him. “Gnaeus,” she spoke gently as she moved to situate him into a sitting position. 


-


“If their aim is anything like Pandion’s, you’ll be fine.” Adelaide joked. Of course, she hadn’t witnessed Pandion shooting August. Just knew he missed. Enough basis for a joke. “I’ll go speak with Gunnar.” Adelaide wasn’t much of one for PDA, but she still snuck a kiss to her husband’s cheek before turning back to August. “Good luck. And you should ask your wife about Terex,” and then she turned to make her leave. Julia had seen the Carrion Spike, too.


Terex. The man who seemed to keep popping up into conversations.


Hux nodded right back to August, “That’s much appreciated, thank you.” And it was. It would be easier that way, than having to load everyone back onto the Finalizer. And Hux wasn’t sure what he’d be doing that night, if he’d be leaving for his star destroyer or if he’d just sleep in his ship. He was leaning toward the latter, so he’d be more in touch with what was going on here, and in case Mira showed up. 


But that would mean no bed for Hux. His old ship had a bed…


And then celebrations? Hux already knew he wasn’t going to participate in those, he had too much work to do. But he supposed he’d allow the Stormtroopers to enjoy an easy night. The officers that had come along, too. 


Hux rose then, gathering his cat. He’d let her out on the ship so she could roam free a bit. Tucked his datapad under his arm, too. “I’ll get back to you with the Sindian details. She’ll withdraw her statements regarding both August and Ransolm.” Hux knew very well that in Casterfo’s case there were more than just ‘statements’ that would need to be cleared, but he simplified it. And Carise would go along if she was smart. “If there’s anything else that arises, I’ll be on my ship.” He gestured for his companions to rise.


Millicent let out a meow when she caught sight of the nexu again, sad they couldn’t play anymore.


The Motti twins rose, too. “I suppose we should get this over with,” Alexander rolled his eyes. “If we can’t kill anyone, then I at least want to be free for the celebrations.”


“Was an entire day worth of slaughter not enough for you?” Caius questioned, knowing the answer, as the two slipped out.


-


Terex could tell how much thought was put into him when the drinks came to the table, his being water while the other two had specialty drinks. He didn’t mind. Simply sipped at the plain drink as he watched the Admiral confront the man. Who, as Terex looked on, seemed to look strangely like Finn. Terex looked between the two dark-skinned men but said nothing.


Finn mumbled a thank you for the drink, smiled when Maz said she liked Mira already. He was happy about that. He liked Mira too. And he’d certainly be around her more often. “I’ll go grab her. Be right back.” Finn stood, but then his smile faltered and he hesitated when he remember what Mira was doing. Who she was with. He hesitated, but continue on. What was he so scared of anyway? He couldn’t even recall this person, just felt like they were familiar in some way.


With that to ease his thoughts, he caught up with Mira. 


Finn showed up just as Mace was torn between laughing and being stunned. ‘Master of the Gray Jedi.’ The master bit is what he would have laughed at but he was surprised by this woman for claiming such a thing. For knowing of such a thing. He hadn’t heard someone else mutter the term in a very long time. His thoughts wander to Qui-Gon, briefly, before his attention turned to the younger man. 


“Excuse me,” Finn apologized to briefly interrupting the conversation. “Mira, your drink’s gonna get cold,” lowered his voice, “It’s not alcohol, don’t worry.”


And Mace stared for a moment. ‘Finn Windu…’ Thought of Ada again. Could this really be…? He hadn’t thought of her in a long time, but he still remembered her vividly. And as he further observed Finn, he saw so much of the woman in this young man before him. Except… ‘Same eyes…different people.’


But he’d been a Stormtrooper. Ada would never let her child join the First Order. Mace tried to tell himself that anyway but knew full well that wasn’t how the First Order worked.


“Mace Windu.” He finally answered the question that came from ‘Master Vallens’ or Mira, as this Finn seemed to call her. All the while, his eyes didn’t leave the other man. 


“Excuse me?” Finn’s eyebrows furrowed. Was this man calling him by what Finn now knew to be his father’s name? How did he even know that name? What had he and Mira been talking about before Finn showed up? “Mira…?” He looked to her for some explanation. 

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo Ren walked over to where Ariel was, and in spite of his own pain, he offered her a hand to help pull her up. “C’mon. You can go get food,” he said, as if that might be incentive for her to get up. Even though she’d failed so miserably – she had done the best of them all. He could see how some solo training with her might improve her skills quickest.


Gnaeus and Paquin needed more Force-heavy training, before he stepped them back into combat situations so intensely, it seemed. So he’d have to keep either himself, or Ariel, with them at all times…once he got Ariel’s skills to improve more. But, there was hope here, with her, at least. Unlike Gnaeus and Paquin…they had a ways to go, now that Gnaeus was handicapped.


Gnaeus did stir once his position changed, and blood started to rush faster down through him. He groaned, shifted, opened his eyes almost as if he was just waking up. He started to put his handless arm down, as if to support his weight on the hand…then remembered. He tensed, straightened, and pulled away from Paquin, using his other hand to balance his weight on a bit.


He looked around, tried to figure out what happened.


Ariel was being offered a hand.


Paquin was at his side. Kylo was bleeding, but that probably didn’t mean anything. It never did. “So we didn’t do well, did we?” He asked Paquin, as if this were…completely normal. Completely expected. Of course, it was – even to Gnaeus. Kylo hadn’t done anything out of the ordinary. Hopefully he had figured out some ideas to help them all.


~***~


August did smile at Adelaide’s joke, and gave a nod to dismiss her. He saw the way Seig seemed to shine at the bit of affection, before he spoke, “I’ll see what I can do so far as damage control with the Senate goes,” he had his job, as Adelaide had hers. The Mottis. They were a well-oiled machine, if nothing else. They had their places.


And out Seig went, to get to his communications in his ship and start running damage control and what PR he could.


He was out before Hux, out before he saw the nexu jump up on the table at Millicent’s meow. It let out a chirp of its own, then lowered itself to watch them leave, laid down. August offered a, “Thank you,” to Hux, and gave his acknowledging dismissal to Phasma and Mitaka as they got up to follow Hux out. Mitaka, hesitantly, reached out to the nexu, but when it batted at his hand with claws, he drew it fast enough away to avoid being harmed, and followed right after Hux and Phasma. Quickly.


Eventually, they were all out, except Johann, Julia, and Ransolm.


August clicked his tongue and the nexu came right to him. He picked up the beast in his arms. “Terex?”


“I wasn’t able to shoot him.” Julia sighed, “I didn’t notice him until he uncloaked to go into lightspeed.”


Taunting son of a bitch. “I’m going to go speak to Pandion’s army. Ransolm, you should get checked out by a medic,” he said to them, “Julia, do see that the Spiked is well covered. No one is buying drinks tonight,” he said, letting a smile touch his lips, “Johann, would you arrange pick-up for your debate team on Cimarosa?” Time to bring them home.


~***~


“So, if I’m hearing you correctly,” and the dark-haired woman was pretty sure she was, it was just a bit baffling to hear it all from the Commandant of Arkanis, “You are wanting me to assist in your little coup of our General, by playing the Senate against August Tarkin,” which she was doing without his orders, “because our General has made an alliance with August,” that no one told her about, “and forsaken Snoke.”


“Yes. What is so difficult to understand about that?” The Commandant snapped at her, and she sniffed, tilted her chin up a bit. As much respect as she had for the Commandant, he was an asshole, and she really wasn’t in a mood to deal with his shit right then.


At least General Hux could fake being nice. Or polite, anyway. “Nothing, except why we want to go back to Snoke, of course. I don’t like August, but only because he was our enemy.” Past-tense. Was. And he was too damn clever for her good. Not to mention that sometimes when he smiled, she was pretty sure he was imagining blowing off someone’s head.


It was so much easier to defame him when he wasn’t there. She’d even set up the opera to play that opera he hated so much – the one about Wilhuff.


The Commandant looked frustrated, and was about to explain, when her datapad beeped. “Second,” she looked away from him, and saw the message from General Hux. No, General Brendol Hux. Full name. Serious, then. The message didn’t contain his intentions only a meeting. She pursed her lips, and quickly sent back an agreement, signing it with her name and her own First Order title, rather than her public face.


“He aligned with General Organa, as well,” Brendol said, when her attention turned back to him.


That caused enough of a shift. Her gaze darkened, eyes narrowed. “Well. If he’s gotten that stupid, I suppose it can’t be helped,” she shrugged, “Leia is against everything we stand for,” not to mention Leia just needed to die. Painfully. “I’ll help. I shouldn’t have any issues on the August front, until his allies start showing up en masse.” Seig had been his main defender, until the senate broke and Seig went running.


Actually…she ought to use how clear Coruscant was to her advantage. Fuck things up even more for August.  


~***~


Mira wanted to throw up her hands and walk away when he said his name. Mace Windu. She wasn’t sure if she was just that lucky today, or that unlucky. She wasn’t sure about much of her fortune right then – the stone, Mace, the Jedi Guide – nothing. It all seemed on the right path, but it was overwhelming. If she’d known…if she could have known years ago….


“Finn,” Mira put a hand on his back, as she took a step away, “Meet Mace Windu. Apparently I’m doing a fantastic job at helping you find your parents,” she met Mace’s gaze, “Master Windu,” he deserved that much. He was a true Jedi, gone into hiding and everything, it seemed, “This is Finn Windu, your son, and my padawan. Finn, I won’t stop you from punching him in the face for your mom.” To Mace, “She slapped me.” She patted Finn’s back then, and left him to deal with Mace.


Mace stared down at Finn. He wasn’t sure what to make of it, but he was briefly grateful this ‘Master Vallens’ gave him some privacy. So, his son was going to be a Gray Jedi too, then? He wasn’t sure how to feel. A former Stormtrooper. Now a Gray Jedi. Should he apologize? Should he….


‘What.’ Finn had taken the first action once it was said, stepping forward and pulling the other man into a tight embrace. Too tight. “Finn….”


“I’m angry with you,” he said, perhaps understanding the tightness of Mace’s voice, “but I’m very happy to meet you. I knew there was something familiar about you.”


Mira, meanwhile, returned to the table of criminals and took her seat, took her drink, and noted Terex only had water. ‘No one likes you.’ Somehow they liked her better. Didn’t quite understand this. Assumed she would later. She took up the mug and brought it to her lips, sipped at it.


Tart. Tart, but like a fruit, and warm…calming, almost immediately. “Thank you,” she spoke to Maz, who was chuckling then, watching.


“I knew I had seen his eyes before,” she said, “I knew there was something more to him when he walked in, but he’s like his father.”


“I hope not too much.” She didn’t need another Jedi who ran off when things got tough. She tried to shift the topic, "I'm here about the ship, Maz. The Nymph. It belonged to Kevan Ren."

 

[KyloGlenn]

“Yay.” Food was enough incentive for Ariel to get up, as she took Kylo’s hand to pull herself up. Though, just because she took his hand didn’t mean she was happy with him. 


As she stood she felt the ache of her side wound, but it wasn’t that deep. Nothing was going to stop her from reuniting with food. The canteen was probably serving lunch now.


Paquin was glad that Gnaeus woke with little trouble, even though she did catch him trying to lean on the hand that no longer existed. Sympathy shot through her, but at least he was getting his cybernetic the following day. ‘Maybe once he has it he’ll give up on me restoring a biological hand.’ Paquin felt bad for thinking that. He just wanted his actual hand back.


“No, we didn’t,” Paquin answered his question, though it seemed more like an unsurprising observation. “Does anything hurt? We should get you to the medbay,” she glanced back to Kylo and Ariel, “You guys, too.” They all needed some sort of attention. 


“I’m getting food first. I have low blood sugar, I need it.”


“Really?”


“No, but I still need it. Either way, I don’t care what you guys do,” the three of them got hit the most, even if Ariel still technically wasn’t a winner. “I’m hungry.” 


-


General Hux led his people out of the conference room, making turns down hallways. He knew where he came in, so he backtracked from where the droideka led him, to the basement entrance, to the Senate room, and to the door. Once they were out of the Tarkin’s home, is when he addressed the two with him.


“Phasma,” he’d use her rank, but Force was it long, “please organize probe droids to be sent and then you may take the rest of the day off.” Whatever she wanted to do with that time was up to her, if she wanted to join the celebrations. He couldn’t recall Phasma ever doing anything that wasn’t work related. She was too good of a worker. Lieutenant-General was a well-earned title.


“Colonel, I have nothing left for you to do. You may return to the Finalizer or remain here for the celebrations.” Again, he’d never seen Mitaka not working. Hux did wonder what Mitaka did in his free time… “And thank you for bringing Millicent.” He said as he felt the cat shift in the carrier. She really was therapeutic. He was glad he’d brought her back from Jakku. He could thank Mira for convincing him to bring her. Otherwise, the ginger kitty would’ve been left.


He was certainly not going to look for an alternative home for her.


It was then that his datapad beeped, and he hoped it was a message from Mira.


-


Ah, Terex. Johann knew he had the Carrion Spike. And he’d heard something about him and Wilhuff at some point. He couldn’t recall what, but it involved the two of them somehow…


He snapped his attention back to his father at the mention of having Spiked well covered. He wondered if he could get away with sneaking something to drink if he didn’t have to pay. Probably not from the bartenders, since they knew him. But no one would complain if their drink went missing because it was free… ‘Oh, right. The debate team.’ They were still on Cimarosa. They’d be disappointed when they learned they’d missed so much action.


“I’ll get right on it!” Johann scratched the head of the nexu before disappearing through the doors.


“And I’ll see a medic when you do, August.” Even if the man already agreed to see one, Ransolm was simply cementing it. They’d both live. But Ransolm knew getting medical attention could always be pushed and pushed aside. But wasn’t he doing that now? While he’d wait for August? Oh, whatever.


-


Brendol smirked at her agreement. “Good.” He should’ve mentioned Leia earlier, he could have saved himself some frustration. “You’ve made a smart decision.” The Commandant figured it was a general agreement amongst many that Carise Sindian was beyond annoying, she’d done something to just grate everyone. But she was smart. And that was one thing his son didn’t seem to realize.


From the beginning, his son had called her a useless ally. That she was simply a nuisance. But he never thought of her influence within the Senate. What she could do from the inside. The General was too concerned with destroying the New Republic, the Senate, to see that it could be done from within. 


“Continue defaming August for now. I’ll contact the Supreme Leader.” Brendol figured Snoke would be pleased with him. The thought made him grin. “I’ll give you further updates when the time comes, but for now, do not give my son any hint of what we’re doing here, if he speaks with you.” One thing Brendol was aggravated about was that he found a difficulty in calling his son Brendol or even Hux for that matter. He’d made a mistake in naming the boy after himself.


Then again, he thought the bastard would amount to something.


“As far as I know, he’s too caught up in Eriadu. Not even aware that the two Knights of Ren he’d captured are no longer in his possession.” The Commandant was most definitely boasting. 


-


Finn held the man in an embrace for a few more moments, the last few having an awkward single pat to his back. When Finn released his father, who he’d found on the same day as his own mother—he had no explanation for that, other than Mira seeming to be the one to help—he said, “I’m going to let my mom do the punching. It seems to make her feel better.” He had a feeling Ada would want to, even if she claimed otherwise.


“Your mom?” Mace questioned. Was she here? He didn’t feel her. Then again, he didn’t feel anything with the Force.


“Yeah! She’s gonna wanna see you again!” And Finn had to admit, he wanted all of them to be together. A family all his own, whole. Something he hadn’t experienced before. “She’s going to be angry with you, too, though. With good reason.” Mace did leave her. From what Finn heard, it didn’t seem to be a mutual break up. 


Mace shook his head. No way was he going to see Ada again. He couldn’t. “Finn—“


“Just…we’ll talk about it later.” Finn nodded, deciding it to be so. “Right now, I think we have some catching up to do,” Finn had the urge to call Mace ‘Dad’, but didn’t think he’d be as eager to accept the parent title as Ada had, “Mace.”


-


“Ah,” Maz turned to face the woman, “Kevan Ren. I knew him as Ivan. He passed through here many times. I liked that boy, very much.” Maz knew of his death. Not by the Resistance delivering his ship, but she felt it, much later. Through the Force. It was something she felt often, knowing as many people as she did. With the lives they all lived. “And the Nymph. A beautiful ship.”


‘May he rest in peace’ was on the tip of Terex’s tongue. He’d heard of Kevan’s death when it was reported through the First Order. But he refrained from saying so, thinking it wasn’t the best idea in front of the Admiral.


“Ivan spoke of you. Quite a bit, in fact.” Maz smiled but waved her hand. “Nevermind that. I knew there was a reason to keep that ship. I had a feeling.” She knew there was going to be a certain someone to come for it. That’s why it wasn’t pulled apart and sold. And Maz was absolutely certain that particular someone was Mira. “You may have it, of course. Rightfully, I’d say it belongs to you now.”


If Ivan had a will, it would probably go to her. 


“After your tea, I’ll find the keys.” Maz turned back to watch the father and son. 


“That seems too easy coming from Maz,” Terex commented.


“I heard that.” 


“It’s no secret.” And it really was no secret why no one liked him.


Though, some things were omitted.

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo made sure Ariel was steady enough on her feet before he would let go of her hand. Yes, she needed food, and they all needed medical attention, and he needed to figure out what the hell to do about Paquin and Gnaeus. They couldn’t fight at his level, but they needed to, or Mira and the First Order would rip them to shreds the next time they came across them.


Gnaeus managed a nod at Paquin’s question. “Everything.” Because it did. So much of him had been struck by those dummies before he slipped, that now he was sore all over. Pretty sure he would have bruises all over, too. Nothing serious. At least, he didn’t think so. “Nothing a quick step in bacta won’t fix, I hope.” Except his hand.


He tried to stand, but halfway up, a rush of dizziness swept over him and he slipped back to the ground, wincing and moving his existent hand up to his head. Kylo walked right over to him now that Ariel was up, and was debating with Paquin. He grabbed Gnaeus’s bad arm and pulled him up, wrapping one arm around Gnaeus’s waist, “Medbay first, Ariel. Then food. We need to discuss how to improve as a team as it is.” He stated.


She could wait a little longer to eat. She had already waited the little bit of time for the spar.


Gnaeus pushed off of Kylo once he took a step to move, not pleased with him, either. He took a breath to stabilize himself once Kylo was away, let it out, then gave a nod, and started to walk on his own. He ignored the dull sensations of pain.


~***~


“Ah, thank you, General,” Mitaka inclined his head, “I think I will stay here and return to the Finalizer in the morning,” he wasn’t sure about celebrations, but he just didn’t want to go back to the Finalizer right then.


“I will begin immediately, General,” Phasma said. She noted that Hux’s datapad beeped, and shared the same hope – that it was Mira. She had been silent too long. Not that Phasma’s own message left much room for Mira to respond to it. It was just an order of sorts about Snoke and the knowledge she had.


“I could help, if you need it?” Mitaka immediately offered. He didn’t want to be alone, either. He wasn’t sure who else was here. At least hanging around Phasma would help him to figure that out, and then he could go decide what he wanted to do here. “Oh, and you’re welcome, Hux! It didn’t feel right leaving her there, to bring you your pad.” Millicent would have been so lonely.


Phasma nodded, “This way,” her own ship would be the one she organized the probe droids from. Mitaka immediately followed after the chrome-plated trooper.


~***~


Johann was off. Julia was off to cover the tab. “Ugh,” August jokingly complained as Ransolm refused to leave his side to go get his treatment. “You know, if you hurried it up, you could have gotten your hair bleached before the festivities, as well.” He pushed himself up and towards the door, lowering the nexu so it could walk at his side.


Ransolm fell in step. “There will still be enough time if I want to do that,” he glanced up at the sky as they exited the Tarkin manor, “The day is still young.” Barely noon, yet it had felt like such a long day. He hadn’t had this much excitement since, well, his mission with Leia all those years ago. “Do you truly think that Hux will have things set right?”


“I believe he will try,” August answered. “Most of it is in the hands of Riosa and the Senate.” August was moving towards the familiar signs of Pandion’s world. The familiar flags. The officers of his army, waiting. One immediately turned towards August and quickly broke out of her conversation to approach him.


“Where is Senator Pandion?” She snapped.


August held his hands out, open, “Senator Pandion was shot. We’ve had him lifted to Coruscant to receive medical treatment,” he indicated to her. “Things are done here, though. I’m sending some of my fleet to look after Lothal. You should go back and report to Pandion’s family.” He said it all easily, with enough concern tinting his voice to seem sincere.


And August had reason to be concerned, even if it wasn’t about Pandion. There were several people with weapons nearby, that all belonged to Lothal. For all he knew, Snoke’s influence reached them, here. They weren’t acting like puppets…they didn’t have the glazed look…but August was worried all the same.


~***~


Carise gave a nod to the direction, though she did fold her arms over her chest as he said he would provide ‘updates’. “I hope these won’t be weeks and weeks in between as they have been,” from his son, obviously. Carise was so sick of being out of the loop of things. She had caught wind of things from the holonews, rather than Hux himself.


It was like she was forgotten out here, all alone on Coruscant, defending the First Order’s interests. Perhaps it was better if Hux was out of the picture, if Brendol would be better about providing her with updates and how things were going. Yes, she could see how this could work out to their advantage.


It seemed Hux was far too scattered to be aware of anything. Prisoners gone. Father betraying him. Foolish boy. They’d been fools to make someone so young and untested their general. “Anyway,” she leaned forward, “I need to return to work here. I know August will be showing up tomorrow. I should have everything set in motion before then. Do keep me informed, though.”


Going to have to tap others to do her work, probably. If Hux was now aligned with August, it couldn’t appear that she was doing anything on her own. She’d have to tap other Centrists that August had annoyed. Other Populists. The neutral ones who just had a grudge against the Tarkins. For as many allies as Tarkin did have, he had plenty of enemies as well. The name provided fame and infamy both.


~***~


Mace sighed.


He supposed he couldn’t run from this now, could he? He had a son. He’d truly fucked things up by slipping, developing emotions for the woman who tended to him, and then betraying all that he thought he had known. Once. In some ways, he knew he was still betraying it by not rising up and making an example out of the Empire. Out of the First Order. But then again – no one else did.


No, just Luke Skywalker. Who now, vanished, as well.


“All right,” Finn deserved this much. He glanced to Maz’s table, and then decided that wasn’t where he wanted to go. He took Finn towards a booth, and Finn slid onto the other side. “So you’re a…Gray Jedi, huh?”


“Going to be. I only just figured out this Force thing.” Finn agreed. “But you were…you were a Jedi Master?”


“On the Council,” Mace had once felt pride over it. Now, he wasn’t so sure. “How did you end up a Stormtrooper? Ada never would have—”


“It wasn’t willingly,” Finn interrupted, eyes narrowing, hardening, just a bit. “She was left alone with me, and they sought me out. Took me away from her.” He then had to ask, “Why did you leave her?” Why did he leave them? Sure, maybe he didn’t know…but he still left.


~***~


Ivan. The name stung, if only because to Mira, that meant Maz had been one of Kevan’s good friends, to know him by that name. To have the honor of calling him it, even after he became a Knight. Mira managed a nod at the comment on the Nymph. Of course it was beautiful – she had helped him with it. Knew the ship almost as well as Kevan himself.


The ship would easily be handed over. After the day Mira had, she was grateful, and sipped more of the concoction, “Thank you,” she said, and smirked at Terex’s comment. “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”


Except she really should do that, with the stone.


Curse or gift?


Well, she still needed to find that out. She pulled her datapad out as it beeped again, remembering she had a message from someone. The new one, however, had Hux’s name. She read it first.


‘I can’t….’


She didn’t want to endanger him. ‘Unless that stone….’ Damn it. Damn it. Damn it.



“One last stupid thing,” she muttered, pushing away from the table, barely aware she’d spoken until BB-8 beeped at her, demanding to know what she was doing. “I have someone to call,” she told the droid, and flashed Phasma’s name – that message was still unread. “I’ll be right back,” she was absolutely not calling Phasma. “You can come,” she told BB-8.


Damn right the droid was coming, and it let her know that. Warned Maz to keep an eye on Terex as it planned to exit with Mira to make sure whatever this stupid thing was, she still came back all right. BB-8 would also then be able to fill Poe in completely about just how difficult this task had been, and how much it missed the missions with Poe.

 

[KyloGlenn]

“But you said I could have food!” Ariel figured that would be effective immediately. She groaned, “I hate this family!” No, she didn’t. To add to the effect, she stomped ahead, catching up with Gnaeus.


Upon joining him, she looped her arm through his good one, gently. Not to hold him up or stabilize him, though that wouldn’t be something bad to come of it. But rather to just be near him. She was tempted to turn around and stick her tongue out at Kylo but didn’t. Instead, she let go of Gnaeus and softly nudged him. He was probably getting annoyed with everyone being all over him. “Hey, I’m sorry I didn’t do enough to protect you.” She spoke just as soft as her touches.


Whether she was talking about during training or back on Cimarosa, Ariel didn’t specify. Both, she felt. It seemed to be a pattern now.


Maybe she did need to improve…


And Paquin stood from where she’d been seated next to Gnaeus, to trail behind them. A hand reached out to tap on Kylo’s arm. “What about you?”  No, Paquin wasn’t pleased with Kylo either. Not with the aches in her arm and side. But it was her job to take care of people. ‘Not anymore.’ No, now it was her simply caring about Kylo. She still didn’t want him hurt, even if she was bothered by him. 


-


The chrome-clad woman and Mitaka departed from Hux, and it was then that Hux made the trek back to his ship with Millicent. It was still parked just outside of Eriadu City. He’d move that closer after he finished with his work.


The first thing he did upon entering his ship was shut the door and release Millicent. The cat purred as she stepped out of the cage, turning to Hux and meowing. Second thing Hux did was pull off his gloves and his brand new coat littered with orange hairs and place them on the copilot’s seat. Millicent immediately hopped onto that same seat just afterward. There was going to be so much hair on the thing.


And then he sat at the table in the ship—still not as big as his old ship—and unlocked his datapad. 


First came the message from Carise and Hux was sorely disappointed that it was not Mira. It made him a bit anxious. But Carise had agreed to the meeting and he couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the First Order title. Who gave that to her? ‘You did.’ Whatever.


With that, he moved on to other messages. The one following was certainly a curious one. Attached to the message were images. Of Finn and Mira. Doing poses. In new outfits? Finn in a suit and Mira in a new dress. Admittedly, his eyes were drawn to Mira. ‘Nice dress. Red looks good.’ The pictures brought an amused smirk to Hux’s face. He checked the time it was sent. Before Carise, before he sent his own, but after the list was sent. Was that good? Hux hoped.


On the subject of the list, Hux moved onto it as Millicent napped in the copilot’s seat.


-


August had good reasons to be concerned. But his concerns wouldn’t become reality. Not at the moment, anyway.


Pandion’s army was not under Snoke’s influence. Again, not at the moment. The glaze was absent from the woman’s eyes as they narrowed at August, studying him. After a moment she grumbled, “Hmph.” She would much rather hear the words from Pandion himself. She had seen ships come and go, Pandion may or may not have been on any of them. But if he was shot and airlifted to a hospital on Coruscant, that would be a little difficult to obtain.


And she knew that August’s fleet wasn’t necessarily welcomed. And the Senator’s family should be informed.


“Fine. But I want the name of the hospital he’s admitted into.” There were many on the city-planet. If August’s people took him, then August would have access to that information. “Then we can take it from there. I’ll keep in touch.” A soft glare was shot before she turned back to the army, the people she was speaking with. 


“Pack it up!” Her voice boomed. “Senator Pandion’s been shot and airlifted to Coruscant! We must return to Lothal!” And with that, the woman returned to her previous conversation, leaving Pandion’s army murmuring questions to each other.


-


There was a surge of guilt. Mace knew that if he hadn’t left, Finn wouldn’t have been taken away. It wouldn’t have happened with him around. But Mace couldn’t say he would’ve stayed, even if he knew Ada was pregnant. Which he honestly didn’t know when he left.


And on that thought, Mace should’ve seen Finn’s question coming. He shifted. “Your mother was-is, I’m sure—a wonderful woman. She showed me great kindness.” Really great, he would admit. Mace was careful with the way he worded things, “But I shouldn’t have been with her in the first place. And it was time to move on.” Also known as realizing a huge mistake. “I didn’t know about you.”


Finn’s eyebrows furrowed. Time to move on? Did he bother to tell Ada about that? “Was that all my mom was? A mistake? I mean…did you love her? At all?” His mother gave off the vibe that she certainly cared for Mace.


And Mace felt very uncomfortable with that question. He didn’t want to think about the answer. He already didn’t like to admit he’d grown attached to Ada at the time, directly going against the Jedi code. But at that point, and at this point, did it really matter? As Maz had called him, he was a ‘reject Jedi’.


-


Terex rolled his eyes at the droid’s warning. “I’m not gonna do anything to Maz! That would be stupid.” 


Maz pulled her eyes away from the reunited father and son. “Yes, yes it would be. Terex knows better.” Maz patted the top of BB-8’s round head, avoiding its antenna.


“What she said.” Terex agreed, taking a sip of his water. “Have fun, Admiral.” He called as the droid rolled off after her. 


And once outside of the castle, the droid beeped out its question. Asking what this final ‘stupid thing’ was because it knew that simply calling Phasma was not stupid. Although, the droid would admit that the woman was intimidating. So not stupid enough. 


If the droid could sense the Force and how the stone caused a lack of it, it probably could have pieced things together. What, with Mira’s affinity for good ideas. Like robbing a rich criminal. Great idea, truly. Not. But the droid was really was just playing everything by ear. 


Oh, yes. BB-8 really missed the old, easy missions. Flying around in Poe’s X-wing. It grew attached to Mira and Finn, but these damn Force-sensitives always seemed to get into some sort of next level trouble. Poe got into a moderate amount of trouble.


The droid made a comment, saying it didn’t get paid enough to look after Mira and Finn. Or have to deal with Terex.

 

[Lucyfer]

Family.


The word brought a slight smile to Kylo’s lips, although he hoped it was hidden as he followed after the others, bringing up the rear at first. Ariel went right to Gnaeus, of course. Apologized to him, as the man walked towards the medbay they all knew the path to.


“It’s all right,” Gnaeus murmured, barely loud enough for Kylo to hear. The man stayed upright, but he didn’t push Ariel away. He accepted her hold. “I’ve got to get better so we don’t need to protect each other.” So they could protect themselves, without worrying too much about the other. She shouldn’t be worrying about him.


Though, he’d worry about her. He knew that, as they reached the medbay doors.


Kylo was briefly distracted by a stab of anger. Snoke.


‘Why?’


He discarded it, glanced to Paquin as she actually came to his side and spoke to him. He looked down to her, and gave a sharp nod. “I’m all right,” sure, his wounds hurt. Hers had to hurt worse. He was used to dealing with the pain, turning it into something more, even as his shoulder bled and he had to fight to ignore the still-throbbing pain between his legs.


He was good at fighting, though. Pain, people. “Are you…okay?” She was okay. Obviously. She was able to walk. She had checked on Gnaeus.


He slipped into the medbay then, blissfully empty of an audience.


~***~


 “Just as soon as I know which one,” August agreed. He was sure it was one that would suffice. He would figure out a hospital later, get someone to lie for him. He’d have to give a call. ‘After the bacta.’ Or else he’d keep putting that off, and then Ransolm would keep putting it off, and he’d be consumed by guilt.


Fortunately, that seemed to work. They all started to pack up, which meant they were free. For now. The Mottis would have them under observation. If they thought to do anything foolish, the Mottis would know. And then, August would know. They would be able to prepare and counter it.


He put a hand to Ransolm’s back to turn him around, to lead him back towards the manor. “You didn’t get shot.”


“Don’t jinx it.”


August had a nurse on staff. He didn’t trust droids with that. When they entered, he found him among all the others, and was forced to disrobe so the nurse could take a look at August’s arm, and head. Ransolm sat peacefully as August was looked over, before he was also looked at. A few things were manually done. August’s head was stitched up before he was allowed near the bacta, but then, they were both allowed to let the substance work its magic.


~***~


Finn’s gaze was unrelenting. If they had the same eyes, then they were not a coward’s eyes. He had once considered that was what Maz meant, but now he wasn’t so certain. He never really asked her to clarify. She gave him a direction to run in. Now, he had to face this. He couldn’t run from it. The problem was, of course, that there were many things he hadn’t let himself explore. Love was one such thing.


“I don’t know,” he told Finn, and he looked at him. A man his age, and he didn’t know. The Jedi were forbidden it, of course. Attachment was forbidden. “I cared deeply for her,” that much he knew. He had cared for her more than many things in his life, for a while, “But I don’t know if I loved her, Finn. I don’t know if I’ve ever loved anyone.”


He had feared loving her.


Feared slipping. ‘And fear is the path to the dark side.’ But he had followed it and run far from her.


“How can’t you know?” Finn found himself asking.


Mace managed a quirk of a smirk, “My whole life I was told not to love. So I didn’t. I was a Master of the Jedi Council, Finn. I should have never met your mother, I should have never…done anything that I did with her. It went against everything I was taught.”


“Maybe you were taught wrong.”


‘Gray Jedi.’ He reminded himself, when he felt himself instinctively bristle at the comment. At the idea that the Jedi could be wrong. “I’ve wondered that myself.” Years and years, with the fall of the Jedi and the rise of the Sith. Now they were back in this mess again.


“I think she’d like to see you again,” Finn urged, “You know…when she…calms down.”


~***~


Mira was slow on the steps to let BB-8 roll its round body down each one, hearing the droid’s query. “I’ll tell you when we get to the docks,” she would just lean up against one of the ships. Mask where she was through that. Snoke wouldn’t know where one random ship in particular was docked at that specific moment.


Right?


“Hux wants me to come back,” she told the droid as the docks did come into sight. “But I can’t. Not until I know it’s safe. And I think…I think that the stone I got from Grakkus has made it safe.” She showed the droid the stone. She still hadn’t set it aside.


BB-8 questioned it.


“I can’t feel the Force at all. I think it…might not be just blocking me from using it like a containment field, but I think it is actually preventing the Force from existing around the stone.”


BB-8 didn’t like the sound of it. Didn’t like where this was going. Of course by then, she had found the skiff and leaned her back against it. “Stay out of sight,” she said as she took out Kevan’s communications device and strapped it around her wrist. Familiar. “I’m calling Snoke.”


BB-8 raged immediately, but quieted as it realized she actually was doing just that. Calling. It didn’t take another empathic creature to see that she was also panicking. She had gone paler in what seemed seconds, and there was a slight shake to her now. If this failed…if the theory was wrong…she was dead.


There was an answer. The familiar small hologram, and Mira could make out enough from Snoke’s expression to know, even before either of them spoke, that she wasn’t wrong. There was the surge of anger there, and then…confusion. Just a moment of it, but no doubt Snoke had tried to reach out to her. A half-smile touched her lips, though the panic was still there, heart still racing. “Something the matter?” Higher pitched.


He shouldn’t be able to make her so afraid, but he did. His eyes narrowed upon her, “What did you do?”


“A good number of things,” she answered, “Haven’t you seen the new book?” That wasn’t what he was referring to and she knew it.

 

[KyloGlenn]

It almost felt like they were starting over. Like they had to relearn every bit of training they’d done before. “There’s nothing wrong with protecting each other.” But they shouldn’t need to…But, “No matter how good you get, I’m gonna have your back.” She shot him a wink. She’d worry about him, even if he became the best damn warrior in all of the galaxy.


She was thankful the medbay came around. She was getting too mushy. “Need help taking a dip in a bacta tank?” Ariel had offered to help Paquin when she came in with her leg, so she could say it wasn’t totally because of Gnaeus’s new handicap. Fairness. Yeah.


Kylo asked Paquin if she was okay and she nodded, “I’m fine.” Yes, her wounds hurt. But she could handle it. But she appreciated Kylo asking, She showed the by giving his arm a gentle squeeze. “I can take a look at your shoulder if you want.” Despite her words, it wasn’t a choice. Even if he said he was alright, she knew that whatever he said didn’t really offer any insight, so in the end, it didn’t matter. She’d always give him the option to speak up, though.


The medbay was empty. ‘Does anyone work here?’ No one had been around when she and Ariel had come in the day before. “Does anyone know where some bacta patches are?” She asked as she broke away to look for them. Those would do well for her stomach and Ariel’s side. Paquin’s arm would need stitches, but it would be useful for after that fact. She still had yet to see Kylo’s shoulder.


-


Again with meeting Ada. ‘When she calms down.’ Mace almost chuckled at that. It didn’t matter at what point in time he reunited with Ada, he knew what would happen. Finn really would let his mother do the punching because she’d do just that. That woman could hold one hell of a grudge. But at the same time, incredibly kind. He supposed he’d deserve a punch. That is if he ever saw her again.


On one hand, he wanted to. Felt the need to. If it wasn’t for that attachment formed all those years ago, probably over twenty now—how old was Finn?—it was because of guilt. 


Mace sighed, barely audible. “I don’t know,” another thing he didn’t know. “I don’t think that’s quite true, Finn.”


“No, it is. She said it herself. She wanted us to meet and she’d love to see you again. I mean, she’s going to be mad. That’s a given. And she deserves that. But once she calms down, she’ll be glad to see you. She didn’t like Mira at first, slapped her, but warmed up to her in no time.”


Well, shit. Now what was he going to say, other than he didn’t want to see her again? Now that wasn’t quite true. But he shouldn’t. He wouldn’t even be sure what to say. ‘Sorry I left in the middle of the night over two decades ago?’ Maybe, ‘didn’t know you were pregnant, still probably would have left?’ Or perhaps, ‘thanks for all you did for me, but I had to split for Jedi reasons even though I forsook all of that for a while?’


“I-okay.” One time. That was it. For Finn. His new son that he had just met and wasn’t even positive what kind of relationship would stem from this. Sure. 


“Okay?” Finn beamed. He could deal with that.


It was then that the Force-depriving veil was lifted. Finn looked back towards the table Mira and the others had occupied, only to see her and BB-8 gone now. And Mace wondered what in the galaxy that woman was carrying for the Force to just…not exist in an area.


-


BB-8 would tell Mira how dumb she was later. She was smart but so dumb…


And Snoke had heard about the Jedi Guides. He deemed them unimportant, then. Useless to him now that it was information for the masses. Useful to others, though, and he imagined that’s what Mira wanted. No matter. He had that holocron Kylo Ren and Paquin brought back. The Three Sisters, once he learned who, where, or what that was. The prophecy. Then her book would truly by useless, to everyone.


What he was more angry about was the fact that he couldn’t touch her.


“Where are you?” He growled, as if she would actually give up her location. Was she on some sort of Force planet? But that would just amplify his abilities. Hers too, but she wasn’t as strong as him. Why couldn’t he reach her? With his power, he should be able to, no matter where she was. He’d done it before. Her surroundings gave away nothing. No sounds, no shapes. And he couldn’t track the communicator. He never needed to, until lately.


“What is this?” Confusion turned into seething quickly.


Whatever her answer was, he’d find out soon enough. Grakkus was still recovering from the damage Mira and her fellow assailants had caused and had the intent to call Snoke in his mind. He wanted the mess fixed.


BB-8 didn’t beep anything and did as Mira said by staying out of sight. It did listen, however, and it felt hopeful. Nothing had happened to Mira yet, as frightened as she seemed. But it still waited for her beads to turn orange.

 

[Lucyfer]

The bacta tanks were so commonly used that Kylo tended to forget patches were a thing. Gnaeus spoke up, fortunately, “Yeah, I know,” he said, and he did walk from Ariel to where a small white box was on the wall. He opened it and let the patches fall into his hand, at least ten, and then offered them out to Paquin.



She was the medic, after all. “I probably don’t need any,” he wasn’t sure if he needed to slip into a bacta tank. Wasn’t sure how bad anything internal was. It had hurt enough when it happened, and it still hurt, but it could just be lots of bruising. He glanced around, and then decided to sit down. “You can make sure we’re all good,” he told Paquin.


Kylo frowned, taking one of the patches as he started to remove his top. He figured he could just put the patch over the wound and carry on. Of course, that might be his ego talking, as well. The wound from the blade was deep, jagged, but Kylo was so used to wounds that he took it as nothing. Or pretended to. Without a thought, Kylo did just slap the bacta pad on it, even though Gnaeus had wanted Paquin to check them out.


Gnaeus gave him an irritated look, which Kylo ignored by going to get some water out of the sink faucet and into a cup, to drink. Didn’t put the shirt back on yet, perhaps because he knew Paquin was going to come look at him regardless of his actions and it would just be pointless to hinder her efforts.  


~***~


“What does Master Vallens have that keeps sapping the Force from an area?” Mace asked Finn, deciding he might know and be willing to tell him. It was unnerving. Finn looked back to Mace, with just as much confusion.


“Is that what the feeling is? Huh,” he hadn’t connected it.


Mace frowned, “Don’t you know?” He was a Gray Jedi, too, wasn’t he?


“I only just figured this Force thing out like…a couple of days ago,” he admitted, a bit sheepish, considering who he was speaking to had once been a master on the Jedi Council, if he understood things right. He was sure he’d seen his name in that guide, too. Or maybe he just imagined it. “I’m not sure. There was a stone at Grakkus’s casino she liked and took, and…,” after she’d taken it, she stopped using the Force.


He could remember that. He’d accused her of being drunk. Perhaps that had also been the cause of her sudden decline of health. Finn frowned and looked back at Mace, “How…I don’t really understand it just yet, but the Force, is it…necessary?” Like, for living. He’d heard that the ‘Force was life’, but he wasn’t sure if he bought that.


~***~


That tone, coming from Snoke, would have usually been accompanied by pain. Invasion. Violation. Yet, nothing came of it, and Mira wasn’t sure if she should laugh or just thrown the communicator far, far away, while she had the chance. She did neither, caught by the truth that this stone was a gift. A double-edged one, but a gift. Snoke couldn’t touch her.


“It doesn’t matter,” Mira told him, voice shaking just a bit. She tried to fight it. Tried to pull on that excitement, rather than the anxiety that she’d just shown a card to Snoke, in a way. He didn’t know what it was, but he knew she had done something. He wouldn’t be able to track her well, now. “I know where you are. Kamino.” She said. “And I will be coming to see you,” didn’t say when.


But she would.


Snoke was nothing to her without the Force. Kylo was the only real threat, then. Well, and the clone troopers, but who said she’d go alone? She was an Admiral.


She had Finn. “And for the record, Snoke – fuck you.” She could have gone on a spiel of how much she hated him. How free she finally felt, but no. This was good. Concise, and good. She turned the communicator off immediately, hanging up, lest he find a way to track the signal, and only then did she laugh. Slid down the ship she had pressed her back to, and laughed.


The droid, naturally, told her she was very, very stupid right then. “I know,” she said through the laughter. Agreed with it 100%, “but I can go back now.” She wasn’t a threat any longer.

 

[KyloGlenn]

Paquin had seen Kylo without a shirt how many times now? A few times now. But every time she found herself flustered, eyes widening the slightest bit. Those wide eyes always seemed to admire his physique. She didn’t know what was wrong with her. It wasn’t like it was anything new. ‘It’s the eight pack.’


Blinking, she hoped she wasn’t looking too long. Frowning when Kylo slapped a bacta patch on his wound. ‘That won’t work.’ She took the rest from Gnaeus. “Thank you.” She moved to hand one to Ariel as the redhead sprawled herself on one of the beds. “Put this on your side.” Ariel nodded, lifting her shirt to do exactly that.


Paquin moved to search the medbay, to gather the supplies needed. As she grabbed a stool and rolled it to a counter, crawling on top of it, she missed her medbay. She knew exactly where everything was. The Force would have been so useful in that setting.


Eventually, after moving the stool and rummaging through multiple cabinets, she found the things she needed. Things for stitching, towels, pain medication. She began by handing out the pain meds. One for Ariel and two for Kylo and Gnaeus. Upon offering them to Kylo, she said, “Take them.” She didn’t want to hear anything about dulling the pain with the Force or whatever.


“How come they get two and I only get one?” Ariel complained.


“Because they haven’t had alcohol in the last twenty-four hours. It’s risky even giving you one.” Paquin said as she grabbed a pair of gloves, which weren’t hard to find. “Gnaeus, if you would lift your shirt a bit.” She’d be able to tell by bruising if he broke or bruised any ribs or if he had some sort of internal bleeding. Though, she didn’t think it was that serious.


-


So far Vallens was doing a good job at being a ‘master’. Not really. What had she explained to Finn at this point? Even if it had only been a few days since he discovered his Force-sensitivity. That was something he’d ask. After giving Finn an answer, of course.


“Well, depends on who you ask.” Every Force-sensitive had some sort of opinion or belief. Some theory over how the Force worked. Then others who didn’t even believe in the Force, which was almost humorous all things considered. How simple did you have to be to not believe in something represented so clearly? “And at what point in time you ask. But since you’re asking me, yes and no.”


“Yes and no?”


“On one hand, the Force doesn’t determine health, per se. It certainly assists, in cases such as healing and repressing.” And apparently creating life in the form of Anakin, which did cause some conflict, but Mace would get to that. “But the Force binds everything together, through the flow of time. Prophecies, for example. So in that sense, we wouldn’t exist without it. That’s what I’ve believed so far, anyway.” Over the many decades, he’d had time to reflect. Rethink. Still, he didn’t want to wrap his head around the Order being wrong. Or questioning it.


Again, he thought briefly of Qui-Gon. Someone he’d been vexed by for questioning the Jedi, going against the code. Now he wasn’t much better, was he?


Speaking of Qui-Gon. While he usually followed around Mira, his Gray prodigy, he couldn’t seem to manifest anywhere near her. And so, once the opportunity arose, he picked the next best thing. Finn. And Mace. And observed their conversation. If only Finn could listen to Jinn. 


“Vallens might think something different.” Mace waved his hand.


-


Kamino was compromised. Snoke didn’t know when Mira would show up, but it was compromised. He’d move. Clones and Kaminoans would remain, to stand their ground. Was Snoke afraid of Mira? No. But whatever it was she had, it was unnerving. Angering. And at the same time, he wanted it. Whatever it was.


And that fuck you before she hung up. That earned another spike of fury. Right before Grakkus reached out. And what Grakkus conveyed only further aggravated the alien. 


But now he knew what to do with the Knights. He’d give them a mission, something simple that they couldn’t possibly fail. After retrieving Gnaeus Ren’s hand, and in-between further training. They needed it. Especially now.


And BB-8 commented on that fuck you. Said it was a nice touch. Also said that Hux would be happy that she could return. If the droid could wink and nudge, it would. But instead, it rolled over and bumped into her sitting form. As if to give her a hug. But it didn’t have warm arms to wrap around her.


It was happy for her. It beeped, saying that meant she could sleep a full night’s sleep again.


But then when it rolled away, it warned her. Maybe she shouldn’t share what the stone was with too many people, though she’d said nothing about sharing the stone with anyone. And when it said too many people, it meant Terex. The droid didn’t trust the man, even if they all were technically on the same side. Terex played dirty and for his own gain. Of course, BB-8 didn’t name the man

 

[Lucyfer]

Gnaeus took his two pills without complaint and downed them without so much as a cup of water, though Kylo took the water he had already poured and used it to swallow the pills once they were offered to him. He could complain. Could talk about using the Force. However, Paquin’s tone allowed for no arguments, and so he wouldn’t argue with her. He’d just take the pill and make himself feel better by knowing he didn’t need it.


“This is why you should stop drinking,” Gnaeus told Ariel, then added, “just don’t become a pill popper instead,” he’d guess drinking was better than popping pills. His attention shifted to Paquin as she ordered him to lift his shirt. He’d seen the way she was eying Kylo, even if Kylo didn’t notice.


Oh Kylo. Always ignorant. Gnaeus did miss one thing about Kevan – his ability to get right under Kylo’s skin without fear, and tease him about his lack of experience in these things. He would have pointed it right out. Made Paquin and Kylo both red. Gnaeus didn’t have that kind of courage, though, and so he bit back that sort of comment. Just said, “Why doesn’t Ariel have to lift her shirt up more?” As a complaint, though he followed the instructions.


Kylo just rolled his eyes. Clearly didn’t get it, “Her wound isn’t that high up,” damn it, Kylo. Though, perhaps he could understand why. Snoke’s anger spiked again, and even Gnaeus felt a bit disturbed.



“How much do you wanna bet we have new orders soon?”


Kylo just shook his head. This did not seem like a laughing matter.


~***~


“She does.” Qui-Gon interjected, just to watch how Mace jumped, and looked around, before remembering.


“Still invisible, Jinn?” Master Yoda had told Mace once about hearing Qui-Gon Jinn. He had stayed low after they all passed. Hadn’t seen Yoda, Obi-Wan, or even Anakin. Hadn’t heard Jinn before, either, but he knew that Master Jinn hadn’t been able to bring about a Ghost of himself, like others.


Not quite perfected. “You can hear him, too?”


“Yeah,” Mace sounded a bit annoyed with it, “So what’s up with the Force, Jinn?”


“I haven’t been able to put my finger on it. I’m expelled from the area.”


“That settles it,” Mace rose from his seat. “Whatever she has is dangerous.”


Finn couldn’t really argue that. Mira probably had plenty of dangerous things. She stole from Grakkus, after all, and he didn’t know how to use any of it. Finn rose quickly, too, “She’ll be back. Just wait for her!”


Maz took note of the excitement, and waved over at them, “You two all caught up now?” Cheeky grin, “That wasn’t so bad now, was it?” To Mace, “Running doesn’t ever solve the problem, Mace.” Lessons he ought to take to heart. Finn, as well – running was just going to make things worse. “Even Terex knows that.”


~***~


 Mira reached out to lay her hand on the droid as it rolled over to bump into her, pleased by its gesture. By its approval, at the end, especially of the little fuck you. “I’m dead the next time I see him,” dead was better than anything else, though. “I’m going to sleep a week before then,” joked. Not sure if she was really joking.


BB-8 rolled away, though, and her hand fell to the ground. She looked at the stone. Black. Like a meteorite from its appearance, but still just…jet black. “No, I shouldn’t,” she agreed. “It’s double-edged,” which meant revealing it was bad for her, too. “I don’t know what to do about it,” she lifted her eyes to the droid.


It knew her issues, too well. It was how they met. “If I keep it around, I can’t use the Force, either. I can’t be hurt by it, but I can’t use it…and I’m starting to learn how much I rely on it. But,” looked from droid to stone, “I could be normal.” Keep it around, “Sleep.” A sigh parted her lips.


It had to have a range. Perhaps she could just keep it when she slept? “Always hated the Force,” she complained as she stood. Half-truth. She slipped the communicator off to put it back in her purse. The stone, she put into an interior pocket. "I'm calling it Forcekiller." She told BB-8 as she started to walk back towards Maz Kanata's castle. She dug out her datapad to type a quick message back to Hux.


I'll be back soon. I'm at Takodana.


-Mira

 

[KyloGlenn]

“Snoke can kiss my ass if he tries to give us a new mission before I eat.” Ariel groaned. Of course, Ariel would never say that in front of Snoke. Typically she wouldn’t have even thought about it. But she figured she was safe with her people. “This is why I’m still an alcoholic.” If only she could blame Snoke for her alcoholism. Speaking of alcohol. She just swallowed that pill, but pain pills did nothing compared to alcohol…if only she had some.


Paquin didn’t touch the subject of Snoke or a new mission. They never get a moment to breathe, do they? 


The dark haired woman had no such similar reaction to Gnaeus’s bare torso as she did Kylo’s. It wasn’t like Gnaeus was unattractive. Paquin lightly shook her head as she felt around Gnaeus’s rib cage for signs of swelling. She could already see red splotches around his body, what would be bruises. “I believe your ribs might be bruised. Which isn’t too serious. You can step into a bacta tank, but it’s not necessary. An ice pack and rest is the next best thing." A look was sent to Kylo. Not a glare, just...pointed. "If you have trouble or feel pain while breathing, let me know.”  She patted his arm gently.


Paquin certainly felt at home in the medbay, easily slipping into medic mode. As if she wasn’t in medic mode at all times.


“Kylo,” Paquin gestured Kylo to sit, so she could address his wound. The first thing she’d do is pull that bacta patch off and throw it directly in the trash.


-


“Just wait for her to come back, we can ask her about it when she returns. I’m sure whatever she has, she has no intention of putting anyone in danger with it.” Finn defended. Again. He was taking it up as a hobby now. Or was it a job.


“Listen to your son, Mace.” If he could manifest a ghostly body, he’d be smirking. But the playful tone was obvious, at least.


Finn then moved to join Max and Terex.


“I’m going to take that as a compliment.” Terex said.


“Take it as whatever you want.” Maz’s voice was dry when speaking to the First Order agent. But it instantly pepped up when Finn approached. “Finn’s not so bad, is he, Mace?” Maz called to the man’s father as he too approached.


“Hey, Maz. Where’d Mira and BB-8 go?” Finn asked.


“The Admiral said she had one last stupid thing to do.” But it wasn’t Maz that answered, but Terex.


“Did I ask you?”


“No, but I gave you an answer.”


It was then that patrons in Maz’s began to complain once again, signaling their loss of connection with the Force. “I’m taking my leave, then.” Qui-Gon could feel himself being expelled from the area as Mira drew closer to the castle.


-


BB-8 beeped, suggesting she could use it when she slept, and then put it in some sort of containment like Grakkus had. It couldn’t feel the Force, but it knew that Mira’s decline in health started after the glass was broken into. 


Well, whatever would come of the stone, the droid was sure everyone would be happy that they had a solution for Mira’s sleep issue, whether they knew what it was or not. Even if it ended up being temporary. They’d figure something out. They always did.


The BB unit had to make a comment about ‘Forcekiller’. For one, how creative. At least there’d be no question about what it would do. A lot like Starkiller. Which was BB-8’s second point. Sounded a lot like Starkiller.


Speaking of Starkiller, the spearhead of that didn’t take long at all to respond to Mira’s message. Even the cat’s head lifted up at the sound of Hux’s datapad dinging, signifying a new message. And Hux couldn’t help the relief he felt when he read Mira’s name. The relief was followed by a smirk. He almost wanted to rub it in the faces of those who’d spoke of her possibly not returning.


Wouldn’t do that, of course. He’d let her presence speak for itself.


Hux quickly sent off a reply, not concerned if it came off as sentimental in some way. Luckily, text never really conveyed that like speaking did.


Be careful.


-Hux


The First Order wasn’t well liked on Takodana, he’d imagine. And if she was wearing her coat, he wanted her to be wary.


BB-8 pulled itself up the stairs, rolling into Maz’s castle. “There she is now.” Maz called across the place, the group turning to face the blonde and the droid, “I’ll go find the keys to the Nymph!” She informed, walking off. She’d let whatever wanted to be discussed be discussed. And she didn’t bother questioning what Mira had done. Not her business.

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo eyed Ariel with annoyance as she spoke so candidly about what Snoke could do, and why she drank. As if it were Snoke’s fault. ‘He gave you a chance.’ Meaning. Purpose. He gave it to all of them. They were just not serving it well. They were disappointing him, failing him, constantly. Ariel had no reason to complain. Snoke was being generous. Patient, with all of them. They had understood that once, when they came before Snoke and submitted to him. Sometimes, Kylo thought he was the only one who didn’t forget from where he came. From what he came. And where he was going.


He would need to be stricter with them – but that didn’t mean leaving them wounded or hungry. He had seen what they could do in combat. They would improve, and they would all make Snoke proud again. Reclaim the universe. Keep the Jedi from causing havoc again, and destroy the New Republic and the First Order, both. Create a true order that would work. A true balance, at last.


His attention shifted back to Gnaeus as Paquin went to examine him, and he couldn’t help the pinprick of guilt as Paquin’s hands ran over Gnaeus’s chest. He could clearly see why – the man’s chest was heavily bruised. ‘She doesn’t need to feel him to know that.’ No, but she did to know if they were broken, which by her assessment, they weren’t.


Gnaeus smirked, “Rest, here?” As if. “I’ll take the bacta,” if that was the doctor’s orders to getting better, faster, then he could do that. It wasn’t like he’d really get time to lay down with ice on his chest. Besides, that would start to feel uncomfortable, fast. He stood then, and went to one of those tanks along the wall to start preparing it. There were handholds along the side for him to sink into it, a mask to make sure he wouldn’t drown in it.


Meanwhile, Kylo took his seat to let Paquin examine him – and watched as the bacta pad was thrown right away. “What was wrong with that?” He almost sounded offended by her action, clearly unable to believe the bacta pad wasn’t helping him as it should. He couldn’t help but be surprised, though. He was sure that was a good idea….


~***~


Mira sighed at the droid’s comments. Almost hated the fact the droid was Poe’s and not hers. It had good ideas. It didn’t seem to hate her, either, or judge her. Didn’t understand the Force, but was…trying. “Maybe,” just when she slept. Other thoughts manifested. Staying normal, if this could be called normal. She did…feel small without the Force.



Even if she’d just done the stupidest thing yet. One of the boldest things, besides saving Kevan.


Her attention was drawn from her musings by the sound of the text, which she opened quickly to find two simple words and a name. A smile came to her lips again. BB-8 had to ask of it, of course. “Just be careful,” she said, slipping the pad back into the coat and thinking back to how she got it. How she’d nearly harmed Hux with the Force.


‘Maybe.’ Normal wouldn’t be so bad. But there was something she wanted more than that – for Hux to never be at risk to it. She could fight it at least, but Hux? Well…perhaps he could keep the stone in the day, or most of the time. Protect himself, when she wasn’t there.


The smile faltered as she realized they were in the castle and Maz was calling out to her. Apparently she had been the topic again. “I want to go back to Wild Space where things were quiet,” she confessed to the droid, not completely insincere, as she approached the group and the droid followed along.


“Mira, what did you go do?” Finn asked, trying to keep his tone as free of accusation as possible. Not difficult, but a ‘stupid thing’ didn’t bode well.


BB-8 beeped low, suggesting it might not be good to talk of it right there.


“You’re keeping secrets from me now, too?”


The droid denied it, but just claimed the public environment. And Terex. It didn’t say Terex, though.


“Let’s just say I know that I can sleep now,” Mira told Finn with a smile, “And General Hux wants us to return. He’s on Eriadu.” Glanced to Terex then, to let him know that was including him in this.


Finn looked a bit relieved, “That must mean they won.”


“Yeah, good for them,” Mace decided to interject then, before the subject turned far from what he wanted. Finn shot him an annoyed look, “How, exactly, are you removing the Force from this area, Master Vallens?” Mace didn’t bother beating around the bush on this topic.


“Forcekiller.” Mira was not creative with that name. She meant it to imitate Starkiller. The Admiral ought to have something like that, right? Besides, the reaction from Mace was priceless. The expression of irritation and confusion mingling as one was good enough.


~***~


August did not leave the room of bacta tanks, but took a seat on the cool floor, stripped of most of his attire, with a datapad in hand while Ransolm dressed. He kept his back to a metal wall, letting the coolness of it calm him while the nexu stayed at his feet. “Are you sure you don’t want to come?” Ransolm asked, only because he knew the answer.


August was going to hide in the bacta room to write his journal. This was the only way August was getting any peace that day.


“No,” August lifted his gaze from the writing, “but if you show up at the Spiked with any color of hair besides blond, I am disowning you.”


Ransolm snickered, “I didn’t know you had such a thing for blonds,” smirked.


“I’ve always had a thing for blonds,” coy smile, “Just happened to remember it again.”


“The Admiral?” Ransolm still didn’t like her. Vader.


“The Grey Jedi,” he preferred. The Admiral was of no use to him. A Grey Jedi was of…immense use. He shouldn’t think in those terms, but he did. Assuming she could be kept out of Snoke’s clutches, she represented much potential for change in this galaxy, and August wanted to see it put to use.


“Good luck with that,” August fostered plenty of potentials in many areas. Ransolm knew he was one of them. “I’ll see you at the Spiked with blue hair.”


August made a face, and Ransolm left before he could say anything. August let out a long sigh then, shut his eyes, and let the pad fall into his lap. The nexu nudged his arm with its nose, and August let his eyes open once more and glanced down at it, as it tried to gain space in his lap. He moved the pad up, and let the creature have the space as he began to write again.


Stumbled on the fact he still hadn’t named the beast. ‘It isn’t normal.’ Instinct. No nexu would have sanely followed him out of their territory, unless it was sick or…abnormal. It was not sick, though. Abnormal, then, but in a way August could accept. It had been protective. It knew who to attack, and who not to attack, as if the Carrion itself were in it.


He ceased his writing for a bit to simply stroke the fur of the creature, and see how it played or reacted to him in a calm environment. It seemed just as calm then, played, but hardly aggressively. More, as if it were a chore, grabbing his arm and then just holding it down so he wouldn’t move it to tease the nexu again.


Yes, abnormal.


And a part of August worried not over it, but what it meant for something like it to come out of the Carrion. “Lares,” the word slipped from his lips, an old one he’d long forgotten the meaning of. It was upon the memorial in the Carrion, above the names of every dead Tarkin. Lares. A word long out of use, but he remembered it had religious importance before they knew or understood the Force.


The nexu perked as if that were its name. As if surprised. August let one half of his lips turn upwards. “Hello, Lares,” he repeated it, and would have sworn the beast smiled as it chirped at him. He decided he did not like this, but he liked the beast.  

 

[KyloGlenn]

“You didn’t think that would actually adequately treat your wound, did you?” Paquin almost felt bad. He seemed like he genuinely thought he did something right. “To someone without knowledge of the healing process, I could see where you’d think so.” She tried to make him feel better as she filled a cup of water, returning to Kylo’s side to flush out the gash in his shoulder.


She used the towel to dry the water and wipe away the blood. As she got to work, she continued. “Bacta prompts regeneration of cells and nerves and the like, but it doesn’t cut away the dead ones. Naturally deeps wounds do reconnect and heal, but not properly. You could lose functionality of muscle and nerves. And if the wound happens to heal from bottom to top, it puts you at risk for anaerobic infection, which more often ends in fatality.” Paquin was being a little extreme with the last bit.


“Can someone please translate what Paquin just said? I don’t speak nerd.” Ariel perked up from her seat on a cot, her head turning to find Gnaeus along the wall.


‘As if I haven’t heard that before.’ Paquin just shook her head. “What I’m saying is, is that it wasn’t a bad idea, just not the right idea.” Stitching was almost a second nature to Paquin, having been lacing together Kylo’s wound as she spoke. It is what she started out doing. “Maybe I should teach you three some basic first aid.” For when she wasn’t around, whatever circumstance that may be. “It’ll give me some peace of mind. And do you all some good.”


Especially Kylo. She wasn’t sure what it was, his ego or his faith in the Force that made him the way he was.


-


“Forcekiller? What the hell is Forcekiller?” Mace had never heard of it. And he liked to think he was familiar with many Jedi and Sith artifacts, none of them being called Forcekiller. So it must have been new or she made it up. Then again, he’d never knew anything or anyone to suck the Force out of an area before. 


“Yeah, what Daddy Finn said,” Terex spoke up, wanting to know what this thing was that apparently zapped the Force away? That could be fun.


BB-8 beeped, basically saying ‘what she just said’.


Finn too was curious. He thought he pieced things enough together. This Forcekiller had something to do with Mira’s ability to sleep now, somehow. And he understood what BB-8 said about it being the wrong place, the wrong company. And yes, Mace was Finn’s father. And a former Jedi Master. But that didn’t mean that Mace was quite trustworthy yet. Finn didn’t really know him.


“It’s not dangerous, is it Mira?” Finn questioned, hoping it would quell Mace’s own suspicion enough. Forcekiller was not a good name for it. Not when Finn was trying to defend her.


And Maz seemed to show up at the right time. Or the wrong time, depending on who you asked. Maz interrupted by walking right through the group, holding the keys above her head and jingling them. They keys didn’t even reach eye level with anybody, that’s how small Maz was. Except for BB-8, of course. “Come! Follow me around to the back.” Maz had kept the Nymph safe, away from pirates who might not have been so trustworthy, 


Most knew not to mess with anything, but there were always some newbies who didn’t quite know the ropes.


They always learned, though.


-


It took Hux a while to go through the lists of his allies, Snoke’s allies, and the ones that were shared. He made lists of his own, of those allies that the Order could afford to drop, if need be and ones to try and save. And then the ones he didn’t share with Snoke, he’d arrange some sort of surveillance, to try and get as much insight as possible. Find Snoke’s bases that he didn’t know about. Something.


And he made calls to many of his allies, never hinting to the list Mira had found. Just that there was a change in hierarchy. The First Order no long worked with or for Snoke. He called the shared allies, too, even more careful with those ones. And then he could see what move they played. Whether any of them would side with him, Snoke, or try to walk the line between them. 


Hux wouldn’t get to all of them that day, not in a few hours. And so he allowed himself a break.


Exhaustion was catching up with him. From not sleeping the day before, in the Carrion, and going most of the day without closing his eyes. He laid down on the bench seat at his little work table, again wishing for his old ship. He’d have a new one constructed, he decided. Millicent came and laid next to his head, licking and chewing on his red hair. Having heard from Mira, his anxiety was oddly at a minimum. He almost allowed himself to be lulled into sleep.


Almost.


He still had work to do. And he remembered his vow to himself that the next time he slept, it would be in his bed. A bed. And so he stood, deciding to relay the information of the meeting with Carise to August. And Ransolm if he was around. He set out to leave Millicent in the ship, but when she meowed at him when he tried to close the door, he wanted to test something.


So he let the door open, and walked a few steps away, looking back to see Millicent following him. And so he continued on the trek back to August’s home, looking back every once in a while to see Millicent still following him. She’d stop, sniff things. Wander away for a minute. But she always caught back up.

 

[Lucyfer]

‘Yes.’ Kylo didn’t say that aloud, though, it was obvious by the fact he used it that he thought it would be enough to heal the wound. Apparently, it was not. He let out a sigh, and listened as Paquin explained. He shivered when the cold water was poured over the wound to flush it, and stiffened afterwards, trying to brace against more discomfort. Apparently, what he’d done could have had long-term effects on his ability to move his arm, if he was understanding right.


He did feel a bit like Ariel. A translation would be appreciated. ‘Lack of function in arm. Infection. Fatality.’ That was the gist of it. Wasn’t how Paquin translated it, though, just said he had a good idea. A good, wrong idea. Kylo wasn’t bothered half as much by the stitching as he had been by the cold water. Used to pain, far more than he was used to sudden temperature changes, after all. So he endured that.


“And what is ‘basic first aid’, according to you?” According to Kylo, he knew the basics. Extreme basics. Like, put a bandaid over an open wound. And lightsabers can cauterize wounds. Oh, and he should probably disinfect them. He probably should have disinfected the shoulder wound that she was now treating.


The rush of the bacta caught his attention, and he looked up to see Gnaeus starting to strip out of his clothes to get into it, of course, keeping his underwear on. The mask for the tank was pulled out for him, and Kylo could see some bruising starting, though it still did not seem like anything all that bad. He probably should feel bad…but he didn’t.


Gnaeus had to learn.


They all had to learn.


And maybe first aid needed to be on that list…but more important than that was still learning how to take a hit and continue on. Like Ariel and himself. He would still give her that much credit.


~***~


Mira just grinned at the questions of ‘what the hell is Forcekiller’. As if she was going to tell him that easily, or Terex for that matter. Neither had proven themselves worthy to know of it, not yet. “Mine.” She glanced back to Terex, “You’re good at this information thing, aren’t you?” Prove it, in other words. Besides, it should be easier for him to figure it out – he was with her when she acquired it. “As for dangerous…depends.”


‘If Kylo Ren shows up, we’re all fucked.’ So yes, it was dangerous. ‘But if Snoke….’ She still hadn’t seen much in the way of martial skills. Thought she could take Snoke without the Force. Was still very tempted to. Take a ship to Kamino. He wouldn’t sense her. He’d see the ship, though. She’d be shot out of the sky before she could ever land.


Bad idea. Stealth ship. Terex had one, didn’t he? Perhaps she’d run the idea by him, later, when she was pretty sure she was sober and not suffering a headache.


Maz returned before she could humor another stupid idea, though, with the keys. The keys weren’t offered – just jingled, and Mira agreed to follow, “Coming.”


Finn glanced to Mace then, “You coming along?” There was a lot to go over, “If not, I need a way to get a hold of you.” So he could arrange things with Ada, for one. And then, just so he didn’t lose touch with him. His father…after so long. He’d found both of his parents. For all the horror Tatooine, this was a good day.


BB-8 was quickly rolling after Mira, telling Finn to hurry up.


Mira would fall in step with Terex, “We’re going to split up after Takodana,” told him. “Finn has to deliver some things to Coruscant,” the items picked up from the base. “Everything from Grakkus,” except Forcekiller. “I need to possibly smuggle a ship off of Hoth.” Nymph could drag it.


Hopefully she could just buy it using one of Kevan’s accounts, though. Which she then needed to hand over to Hux so he could get the funds he needed safely back into his control, and not hers, since she did not at all know how to use these except to indiscriminately buy things. “So, you’re coming with me. Then we’ll all reunite on Eriadu.” Drag the ship there so Hux had it back. She was tempted to go to Coruscant to find the handcuffs, just for the joke, but she wouldn't.


~***~


It was on his way out that Ransolm’s path touched Hux’s. He had left August before the message came through, so he didn’t know the details of the meeting with Carise. He stepped out of the home, and aside, so Hux could pass. “If you’re looking for August, he’s in his medbay,” sure, August would not at all like an interruption, but he’d deal with it.


Glanced down at the cat that was following Hux, bemused at the sight of a cat actually following someone. A ginger cat. Well, there was a first time for everything, wasn’t there? “He has the nexu with him.” Just so he could consider that, with his own cat following along. They…seemed to get along.


But the nexu’s idea of play could also end up with it biting off Millicent’s head.


“I’ll see you around, I’m sure,” he said then, intent to continue on. He wasn’t going to dye his hair blue, but he was bleaching the hell out of it now. Returning to himself. He missed being blond after so long of not being it, not recognizing the face in the mirror. If this all went well, he could step back up to his position in the senate.


~***~


August let the message on his datapad disturb him from the diary entry, and opened it. Hux’s information on the meeting with Carise. He wondered briefly if he could make that match the time of a senate meeting…lock Carise out just because she had other business. He made a mental note to try and play that game, get her out of his hair for one meeting at least.


‘Still need to ask Hux if I can borrow the Jedi.’ When she returned.


Others doubted it, but August was in the party that ‘Hux would know’. Force sensitive or not. Caius would know if Alexander died. August would know if Julia died. So, in some way, he was almost certain Hux would know if anything happened to Mira. Whether that was the Force or intuition, August didn’t know.



He responded with a quick few words of gratitude for the information, and then went right back to writing, still on the floor of the medbay, with the nexu now outstretched besides his own stretched out leg, on his stomach like some lazy and trusting cat. Occasionally, August would let his hand fall onto the claw trap, and play with the creature as it woke up to attack the intruding arm.


Yes, he just got it healed.


And this was probably the last thing Julia would want to see…but, well…it was fun.

 

[KyloGlenn]

Paquin heard Kylo’s query but was first drawn by the sound of the bacta. Her eyes roamed over his bruises once again. She sighed, keeping it inaudible. On one hand, she wanted to express her frustration, but on the other, she didn’t. Kylo had been doing so well the day before. Patient. Today was quite the opposite of that.


Even if this was normal, even if Gnaeus wanted to keep up with Kylo and Ariel’s pace, he shouldn’t have. She didn’t know much about fighting, but she did know about the healing process. Not just the body, as she’d expressed to Kylo and Ariel, but she’d watched as Stormtroopers adjusted to losing limbs. It took a lot of adjusting and time. 


She supposed they couldn’t afford that here.


She just wondered what switched in Kylo’s mind. She turned back to the man to finish stitching his arm. And the redhead just continued watching Gnaeus, bored with Paquin since she couldn’t understand what she was trying to say. She was torn between feeling guilty, that she should have done better, and being pissed off with Kylo for being too harsh on the other man.


“Maybe a step above what others consider basic. At least a few steps above what you consider basic. Disinfecting, stitching, stopping blood flow. And how to do all of that in a bind.” Paquin knew not many resources were ever available to the Knights outside of their bases. Her leg was proof of that. But she knew how to get creative. She needed the three of them to be creative, too.


She finished tending to Kylo, finally placing a new bacta patch on his shoulder. “There,” she stripped her hands of the gloves and threw away all that she used on Kylo, replacing them to tend to her own wounds. She put a bacta patch on her stomach wound before hopping onto a counter to deal with her arm. At least it was a cleaner of a cut than Kylo’s.


-


‘Mine? Is she fucking serious?’ Mace couldn’t help but wonder at her answer. That combined with calling herself Master Vallens had him thinking. Arrogant much? But then again, was he really one to talk about arrogance? Were any Jedi Masters able to talk about arrogance? Vallens would’ve fit right in.


And Terex pondered. She wanted him to figure it out is what he understood. That meant it must’ve been obvious then. This Forcekiller hadn’t been brought up before Grakkus…so it was something she grabbed. Terex himself had grabbed quite a bit. Finn did, BB-8 did. But he hadn’t seen Mira grab much…What was it that was in the display she was hovering over? 


She really wanted it, if she was willing to break that glass for it…It was on the tip of his tongue as Mira slipped into step beside him.


He’d have to hand over the things he’d grabbed, for Dark Chocolate to take to Coruscant. Fair enough, he figured. But what really intrigued him was the ship smuggling. “You picked the right smuggling buddy, Admiral.” And he could sure prove it, too. There’d be a lot of ships flying around. Speaking of ships, reuniting on Eriadu reminded him, “You’re aware of who’s ship I have, right? Well, it’s mine now, but it used to belong to Wilhuff Tarkin.” He was sure he’d already pissed enough people off when visiting Phasma.


And he honestly couldn’t wait to do it again.


Meanwhile, Mace gave Finn an answer. “I’m definitely coming.” Maybe he wasn’t thinking about his son or Ada in that moment. Moreso of the ‘Forcekiller’ that Mira possessed. Her answer of ‘depends’ didn’t sit well with him. But when he looked to Finn, as the boy spoke of needing a way to contact him, he softened. A slight bit. “We’ll need to work on that.” Mace didn’t possess a datapad or anything of the sort.


Didn’t need one.


He supposed now…


-


Hux nodded in thanks at the mention of August’s location. That narrowed things down. Now he just needed to find it. Quite the house it was if it had its own damn medbay. 


Hux glanced to his kitty companion at the mention of the nexu being with Tarkin. Hux would scoop her up when they neared. He actually wasn’t too terribly alarmed about the nexu interacting with Millicent. The beast hadn’t shown any aggression towards the feline. Hux just didn’t think it was accustomed to playing…soft. He doubted that was something the nexu taught their cubs.


Ransolm spoke of seeing him around, and before the man had a chance to leave, Hux spoke up, “At the very least, tomorrow morning. For the meeting with Sindian.” In case Ransolm hadn’t heard the news. Incredibly convenient, their timing was.


If only Hux knew the man was about to bleach the devil out of his artificial brown locks. Then he’d probably laugh at the look Carise’s face would have. He probably still could have a laugh, when he brought up the actual subject of the meeting.


With another nod, an instinctual dismissal, he turned to continue on. Millicent paused to sniff at Ransolm before trotting after her ginger owner.

 

[Lucyfer]

Gnaeus was quick to put the mask on, after setting a timer for the bacta to drain, and then he slipped into the green liquid and shut his eyes. He didn’t like the feel of bacta, but he had gotten used to it. He shut his eyes, and worked on daydreaming to avoid thinking about how much he hated the feeling of bacta on him. Engulfing him. ‘Well at least my hair will look better than Kylo’s.’ He was pretty sure Kylo used bacta in his hair. It was always flawless.


“Stitching is basic?” Kylo didn’t think it was, he had figured that was a step above. Not that he ever had stitching materials around in tight situations like combat, which was probably why it seemed a step above. Disinfectant wasn’t, but, “and are we just supposed to carry that stuff with us out on missions at all times?”


Probably, according to Paquin. It was like rope – necessary whenever it wasn’t packed, somehow. The odd rules of the universe, except to Paquin those rules involved stitching and disinfectant. Perhaps they could carry more of it in their ships. They could usually find ways to get to them in emergencies.


Though she just slapped a bacta patch on her stomach once she was done with him. He reached for his shirt then, “If you’re going to teach us, you need to teach us what we can do with very limited supplies,” he said as he slipped the shirt back on. He was a bit annoyed that she was able to just put a bacta patch over her wounds and be fine.


“Or tell us what to put in our ships,” when they got new ships. None of them had ships anymore, did they? Voids, “and then how to use those things,” it would probably be boring, but it was necessary if they kept getting…injured this much. Though, Kylo wanted to fix that part. Make them all better fighters so this wouldn’t be happening again.


~***~


“That’s right,” Mira said it more to herself as Terex explained his ship, “I knew it was familiar – my first ship, Echo, took some ideas from it.” She just remembered it because Kylo had gone on and on about the Grand Moff when she was working on it, almost as infatuated with him as Vader. Or so it had seemed, anyway. “Mostly the cloaking.” Now Echo was gone and she had Nymph. A smuggler’s delight, but not for cloaking.


She did wonder if Kevan ever got around to adding some of the upgrades she suggested for it. Mostly to make it fantastic at hopping in and out of hyperspace. It was hard to follow a ship that bounced in and out of real space. “We’ll try and buy the ship first, but…,” Mira shrugged. If it came to it, they’d steal the ship, “It’s Hux’s ship. I might have traded it for the skiff.” Should get it back. She didn’t even consider the information or anything within it, though Hux didn’t seem all that concerned. Couldn’t be much in it.


“Wait, you’re doing what?” Finn had caught up then, with Mace. “You did the last stupid thing!” He complained, since that was how it had been put earlier.


“This isn’t stupid, this is just getting a ship back from Hoth.” If it was still there. “Then we’re going to meet back at Eriadu.”


“Meet?”


“I need you go to Coruscant to take Ada what we found, from Kevan’s artefacts to those we took from Grakkus.” Mira had what she needed. The rest could go to Ada and the world at large. It was time to get it all out in the open, all researched, all known. “Then we’re meeting back up at Eriadu – and no, you’re not coming with me, Finn, and BB-8 is going with you as well. I’m not going to get anywhere figuring out the smuggler here,” gestured, “with you two around.” Biased as they were.


She took Kevan’s datapad out and offered it to Finn, “You can keep in touch with that if you need to.”



Maz seemed to be tuning them out, or at the very least, giving them privacy to talk. She was listening, though. She was glad that Mace was going along with Finn, though a part of her shared in Finn’s worry about Mira and Terex. First Order, both of them, but Terex had a bad habit of doing only what was convenient for himself. Maz was rather surprised he lasted this long in the First Order. And, a part of her wondered, how long Mira might stay. It seemed she wanted to wear two roles as well.


~***~


Ransolm did arch a brow. Meeting with Sindian? Was he invited to a meeting with Sindian? He would address that later, he suspected. After the brown locks were once again his beautiful blonde. He missed it so much.


Fortunately for Hux, there would be enough people moving around to direct him to the medbay where August was. The older man hadn’t moved from the floor, one leg crossed over the other, writing and writing, before he forgot it all. It was all for his future benefit, after all, as well as the present. It was cathartic.


Here, he could call people whatever he wanted. Describe their actions as subjectively as he wanted. And they’d never know.


Like Luke Skyrunner. It didn’t matter if it wasn’t clever in the diary – it was his personal resource.


And it was clever. Luke ran away.


He was a bit disturbed when the door did open and he looked up from the pad to see Hux and the cat. The nexu – Lares, he reminded – perked up immediately, but then relaxed itself against August’s leg again, not rushing to go meet the ginger with the cat. August canted his head, turned the pad’s screen off, “Yes?” he inquired.


He didn’t bother hiding some of his agitation. Hux had to know he wasn’t in any mood to see people right then, or else he’d be somewhere besides hiding in the medbay, sitting on a floor.

 

[KyloGlenn]

“Like I said, a step above basic.” But it definitely needed to be basic for these particular people. “It’s not like it’s hard to carry around any of this stuff.” Bandages, disinfectant were already a part of a first aid kit, just add suture materials. All of which take up little room. 


But she was also very aware that they could forget it, or think they didn’t need it. Lose it. They could all get into any situation where they didn’t have proper thread and needles. “I’ll do all of that. Tell you what you need, how to do it. And how to stitch with limited supplies. I’m a bit more resourceful than I come off as,” she wasn’t just all about medical grade treatment.


Paquin didn’t start off closing wounds with a curved needle and dissolvable thread. She started off with a toothpick and floss at a very young age. Yes, she jammed many toothpicks into cuts she didn’t need to. Looking back on it, she did more harm than good. Toothpicks weren’t even strong enough to break the skin. Took her a few tries…


“You can stitch a wound shut with a few threads from a shirt and a broken hairpin.” A little better than toothpicks and floss. And would do fine in an emergency. 


“Oh, hairpins. Kylo always has some of those on him.” Ariel tore her eyes away from the bacta tanks and the man inside of one. 


Paquin went to work on her arm wound, but she had an idea. She needed to teach them how to stitch, and here she had a wound in need of stitching. And if they were to learn on anyone, she’d probably be the best test subject. “First lesson is now. Come here,” she beckoned the two of them with her fingers. She grabbed a pair of gloves and held them out to Kylo. He seemed to get the most deep wounds out of all of them. Probably because he was so careless. Ariel could watch and still learn. "You're going to clean and stitch my arm." Fair, since he was the one her gave it to her.


-


“You want to smuggle Hux’s ship?” Terex phrased the question like he was asking if she was serious. That’s what she wanted to smuggle? If Hux had wanted that ship or anything on it, he would’ve had had it retrieved from Hoth by now, wouldn’t he? Not to mention, “I know you’re new to this whole Admiral thing, but you can’t be new to how wealthy the First Order is. Hux could make himself a brand new, improved ship five times over if he really wanted.”


And the man barely used the ship anyway. Terex could count only a handful of times Hux actually used his ship. Mostly to travel between Starkiller and the Finalizer, and to a diplomatic meeting here and there.


Well, it was whatever the Admiral wanted. And if the Admiral wanted to waste his time, he’d go along with it. Maybe it was some sort of loving favor or something.


Finn took the datapad with hesitance. He didn’t really want to split from Mira. He wanted to see her safely to Eriadu. And he certainly didn’t want her going anywhere with only Terex. And without the Force at that. He wasn’t sure how much of a fighter she was with the Force. What about without it? “You’re sure you don’t want to bring BB-8 with you, at least?” He tried to push. The droid could be useful both to assist Mira and keep an eye on her. Watch her back. 


The man took in a deep breath and released it, turning to his newly found father. “I guess this means you’ll be meeting Ada sooner rather than later.” Finn was at least hopeful with that.


Whereas Mace stiffened.


Maz took that moment to hold up the keys again, jingling them before offering them to the blonde. “The Nymph belongs to you know, as it should.” Mira was its new rightful owner, with Ivan gone. 


-


Hux noticed the nexu didn’t run to greet them, or rather didn’t run to greet Millicent. Hux, albeit still cautious, figured it would be okay to let Millicent down. As long as the nexu didn’t show signs of being aggressive or too rough, he’d let her roam free. And so he did set the cat down and she immediately trotted to the nexu, flicking her tail in its face before running off to explore the rest of the medbay.


Hux arched an eyebrow at the notable irritation in August’s voice. “Sorry for interrupting,” not really. To be fair, Hux hadn’t figured August would be lounging about the medbay doing something on his datapad. The General rather thought he’d be getting treated for wounds or something of the like. No matter.


Despite the agitation, Hux continued on leisurely. “The meeting with Carise is set,” not that it wasn’t before she officially confirmed it. He hadn’t allowed any room for objection. “I assume Ransolm would be brought along, but if not, he is now.” He figured it was…right for Ransolm to be keyed into what was happening with his execution situation. Hux would admit his fault in that, he should’ve kept a closer eye on what was going on in his Order.


Maybe his leniency on that issue is what gave Carise the confidence to seemingly operate freely, feel she could work without the need of speaking to Hux first. He’d say himself or his father, but at this point, everything would be brought to Hux’s attention instead. Anything to belittle his father.


“And Admiral Vallens is returning. She contacted me not long ago.” Hux was a little hesitant on revealing that bit of information. He was still wary of August around Mira. Though now, having revealed that bit about Mira and her dreams, he wasn’t so worried about intentions as he was her safety…and August’s intentions. 


And Hux still wanted to rub Mira’s return in everyone’s faces. But August was not the person for that. “And that’s the extent of the updates.”

 

[Lucyfer]

No, it wasn’t hard to carry around the supplies. It was hard to remember it, though, and have it at the moment that they needed it. After all, Kylo wasn’t going to keep a first aid kit on him at all times, and his ship wasn’t always near. Usually close, but sometimes close was still several miles away.


But, Paquin was willing to teach. He should be willing to learn. Yet, he canted his head when Paquin told them that a wound could be stitched with hairpins and shirt thread. His concern wasn’t the hairpins, but the thread. ‘Is it that simple to get a thread from a shirt?’ His mind wasn’t thinking of loose threads that could be pulled, but of dismantling a shirt. Which, of course, his mind considered to only be possible by tearing it to shreds.


The shreds were still too large to be thread.


“Might need to think a bit harder on that…,” he didn’t wear hairpins. Was pretty sure Gnaeus didn’t, either. Ariel made a point, even if it came out derisively. He wasn’t sure what he really had on him that could be useful as an impromptu needle, though. Well, with the Force, he might be able to turn some things into needles.


His train of thought was distracted when Paquin motioned them forward, and then offered gloves to him. “Really?” He still took them, slipped his own pair off, and put on the medical gloves, “We’re not going to have these on the field,” he noted as he set his pair on the nearby counter. He tried not to show hesitance at Paquin’s words. He wanted to ask if she was really sure about this. He hadn’t stitched anyone before. “Aren’t there…medical dummies we could get to practice on?”



He didn’t want to make her wound any worse, though if the needle was offered, he would still take it. He was afraid of causing her more harm than he already had. The battle was over – it wasn’t necessary. Yet, she did have a wound…a real one. He did need to learn, and Ariel hadn’t eaten…her hands would shake. ‘Can’t you just show us?’ He wanted to ask that as well, but didn’t.


He refused to show too much hesitance in this. He had to act somewhat confident, even if he wasn’t. Dainty and fragile things, delicate work, was not what he was good at. Unless it was a ship – he was good with it then. He could fine tune anything on a ship. Perhaps if he just thought of Paquin as a broken ship… ‘That is the stupidest idea.’ He dismissed it quickly. No, she was human. Needed more care than a simple broken down ship. He had to be even more delicate.


And not think of how many ships he’d broken when he was young, before he figured out how to fix them and not just take them to pieces.


~***~


“Yes, he could, not the point,” Mira stated. Waste of resources and funds. Even if Hux did still have a new one made, the other ship could be scrapped and recycled, or actually sold. It was a loss to the First Order. And, more importantly, she did feel bad about what she’d done. She should get it back, if only to make up for losing it in the first place. “It shouldn’t take that long,” nor end up half as bad as things with Grakkus did. Hopefully.


Besides, this was one of the few ways she was getting Terex alone, and she needed to see what kind of man he was without Finn and BB-8’s bias. “Yes, I’m sure,” she told Finn when he offered the droid. “If anything happens you know who to blame, and you know where I went,” an BB-8 knew where Snoke was. Her bases were covered.


BB-8 still beeped out a soft protest, but didn’t push it, as Maz dangled the keys. Mira walked to take hold of them then, smiling, “Thank you, Maz.”


“No problem, no problem – this ship was just waiting for you anyway, taking up space in my docks, and not a paying customer in sight,” she said. “Don’t be a stranger, Mira. I want to see you again.” Without that stone, even if she knew already the eyes Mira had. Who Mira could become. “I need more stories of Ivan.”


“I’ll try.”


“You will.” Maz smirked then to Mace, “Good luck back home, Master Windu,” she addressed him then, a bit of a tease. Failed Jedi indeed…but there were paths open to him, as well. Those who ran always found new doors to enter. New opportunities. Finn had found several, and would always find more, just like Mace. It was what they were good at – finding and providing opportunities.


“Yeah…thanks,” he wasn’t thrilled with this. Why did he agree to go along? He didn’t think he’d be seeing Ada this soon. He thought he’d get more time with Mira, to figure out this Forcekiller thing, and the Gray Jedi. “We’re talking on Eriadu, Master.” He told Mira, no questions.


Mira just smiled, offered no definitive answer to it. No agreement or disagreement. “Terex, give Finn what you took from Grakkus.” They needed to get on the way. “And I’ll see you on Hoth.” Wasn’t going to wait, lest they all take too long. And in case BB-8 tried to slip onto her ship. “I’ll see you again, Maz,” added, before she turned away and pressed the familiar button to open up Kevan’s ship.


Ivan’s.


~***~


Lares rose after Millicent ran off, giving chase immediately. It might have easily been able to catch her, but it chose to follow, staying behind to see what things interested Millicent. It had already explored the area while August was getting treated, so there wasn’t much more exciting to him…except Millicent, and what might surprise her.


August, meanwhile, listened to Hux reported and wondered idly if he should take this as Hux reporting to a superior, or an equal? Either way, it was not the report of to someone he thought inferior to himself. That was a good step, “I’ll be certain Ransolm is informed of it,” he said. “Though I will have to step out early for the senate. If you keep Sindian occupied for the senate, it would certainly be appreciated.”


Though he doubted it would take Hux that long to deal with her. They might even be finished with her with time to spare.


Then, word of Admiral Vallens. “Ah,” a bit of a touchy subject, he knew. Now, more than before. “I suppose it would be taken as a negative act if I were to have her handcuffed on arrival, wouldn’t it?” Not really a question, but more of a statement, “Are you certain she is…herself?”


August did like Mira.


August did not want a possibly brainwashed Force-sensitive on his planet. He would lose so many soldiers that way.

 

[KyloGlenn]

Paquin almost sighed. The two weren’t getting the point of her hairpin comment. “What I’m saying is, anything small and sharp enough to be a needle and anything string like and strong enough to hold your skin together will do fine. Whatever those happen to be in your circumstance.” Paquin elaborated as Ariel joined her and Kylo, the redhead hoping onto the counter on the other side of Paquin.


Paquin could tell Kylo was hesitant. The corner of her lip quirked up at his question on medical dummies. “Sure,” there was a number of things they could practice on. Dead people, dead animals, dummies. “But I have an actual wound here that needs to be stitched. It’s not as hard as you think. And you’ll get the most authentic feel for stitching a wound.” Paquin wasn’t too worried about Kylo making the wound worse, or stitching it perfectly. Everyone needed to start somewhere.


“Start in the middle of the wound and work your way out. Push the needle through the wound one half of the wound at a time. Pull the thread through, pull the skin together, and double knot it,” she wasn’t giving him forceps and she wasn’t going to explain surgical knots. That would overcomplicate things, especially when they might not be able to do such a thing ‘on the field’. That was the simplest way. “But not too tight, you can cause tissue damage that way. Then cut off the excess thread and repeat, keeping some space between the stitches.”


“You’re a liar, this sounds hard,” Ariel whined. 


“It’s not, trust me. You’ll do it next time.” Next time someone needed stitches, which probably wouldn’t be too long. And she’d teach Gnaeus, once he had his prosthetic. She turned back to Kylo. “Take your time. The worst thing to do is panic and try to rush through it.” Paquin could do it quickly now, after doing it so regularly and for so long. She was a well-oiled machine. They were not.


-


“I’ll see you later, Mira!” Finn offered a goodbye. He hoped he would see her again. Hoped he wouldn’t have to know where Mira had gone or know who’s fault it would be if something happened to her. He hoped she was well enough to take care of herself. BB-8 shared the same feelings but beeped only a wish for the best.


“I’ll see you there, Admiral.” Terex turned to Finn, “The artifacts are back on my ship, follow me.” A glance to Mace and the droid, he was ready to go without saying any goodbye to Maz.


“What I said to Mira goes for you, too,” Maz spoke to Finn and Mace, rather than Terex. “Both of you. Visit me again, there’s always rooms for you two. Don’t be too long either. And tell Chewbacca to come by as well. I decorated for him.” Well, she was the mastermind behind it. Mace helped. She still needed to get the tree up and decorated, but other patrons can help. “Not so much you, Terex.” And with that, the woman turned to make her way back to her castle.


“Good seeing you too, Maz.” Terex suppressed an eye roll. “C’mon,” he gestured for the father and son to follow him. He landed a ways away.


The trek to the Carrion Spike was a quiet one. Finn expected some snide comments, but nothing came from Terex nor him. The mutual dislike that was shared was certainly palpable. A chore for the both of them to talk to each other. 


Terex was relieved to find his beloved ship where he left it, intact. “Wait here,” he didn’t want any of them on his ship while he gathered the artifacts. It was a shame, he hadn’t had a chance to look through all of them. Neither had Mira, Finn, or BB, so maybe if one or two things went missing, no one would notice…


He brought the artifacts out to the men and the droid. Finn split the artifacts between the three, might as well make Mace useful. “Tell your mommy I said hi, I’ve got to get to work.” Terex winked, not spending nearly any time with goodbyes. He didn’t care.


“She doesn’t even know who you are,” Finn grumbled before turning around. “I’ll lead the way back to the ship.” Finn wasn’t sure if he should shoot his mom a warning that he was coming and that he was coming with Mace. Either way, he had a feeling his father would not receive a warm welcome at first. It was just a matter if she’d be surprised or if she’d be waiting to slap him…


And Mace knew very well he deserved it. He felt…nervous. Ada did have that effect on him, in more ways than one now.


-


Millicent led Lares around what it had already explored, sniffing at places that had remnants of scents, stories behind them. Her eyes wandered, the medbay alone felt like a whole new world to the little kitten. But it seemed everything fun was up top, on the counters. She chose a spot, wiggled her body as she geared up for a jump. She leaped, clinging onto the countertop, pulling herself up.


She looked back to Lares, expecting him to follow after her. She even let her tail hang off the side of the counter, like an invitation.


It would be silly for August to think Hux was reporting to a superior. No, Hux was done with that. Maybe an equal was closer. They both had similar goals, and the information Hux had pertained to that.


“Most definitely.” Even if August wasn’t asking if it would be taken negatively, Hux decided to emphasize. The comment did nothing to ease Hux’s concern over Mira’s safety upon her arrival.


Then came the question of if she was herself. 


“No, I’m not certain.” Honesty was key, right? Maybe if Mira had been right in front of him, or if he had heard her speak, anything. He liked to think he recognized her mannerisms by now. But he had no clue if she was herself. He felt like he’d know if she died, but not if Snoke decided to take over her mind. Would he? With four other Force-sensitives. Well, he supposed he did have half of those four. And Snoke likely wouldn’t get them back. 


“I strongly believe she’s herself. But we won’t know for sure until she’s here.” He probably didn’t ease August, either. “Mira’s…tough.” He let her name slip. “Snoke’s tried to get in her head multiple times but hasn’t taken control yet. If he did, I’m sure she’d put up a fight.” Mira had a bit of an advantage, being Force sensitive. Right? If not that, she did say and had proven that head games were her niche...


August had to have some faith in her. He did compare her to Vader, after all. 


“And if that’s not the case, she’ll be dealt with.” However he may have to do that, as much as it may pain him.