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Masquerade [ Ft. Banks & November ]

"I..." he stretched out that I for as long as he reasonably could, looking her over and trying to find some crack in her facial expression. Predictably, he didn't get one. He shook his head. Mercy on whoever tried to interrogate her. "don't believe you."

He'd heard urban legends about Hutts swallowing people whole. But someone (presumably) armed? And her of all people?

"It would have to be a very large and very dedicated and very angry Hutt."

And this had to be an addition to the list of unbelievable things - a Jenet wearing an apron. His relatively sunny appraisal of the food was fading quickly. Seemed like an easy way to get some kind of fur or whiskers in the food.

"But I was expecting a list of... massacres and assassinations and... other nasty business. Your story almost sounds cute. I do give you credit for that."

He looked at a big convex security mirror at the far corner of the bar - it hadn't been cleaned in a few days, but through the smudges, he could see the Dug in the corner, working the comlink and eyeing them suspiciously.

"This might be nothing," he said, keeping his voice low, "but it also might be... something. You know, if I'd thought about it, I would have made you change into... you know. The spacesuit?"

Since they weren't exactly trying to hide from attention.
 
Her bright eyes simply blinked softly when he inspected her face for any sign of fault, tilting her head faintly when he announced he didn't believe her. " Have you ever seen a Hutt in person, that close? They're fucking terrifying. " And absolutely disgusting. Not to mention that as a late bloomer, she wasn't always some towering woman. Clearly though, Phasma wasn't absolutely crushed that he didn't believe her, silently amused that it was just that far fetched for him to see it as possible, shrugging her shoulders softly.

" I killed the Hutt. "

Her own eyes were watching the Jenet return, holding individual plates of their food with another grumble of something before he returned to the bar. Eyes roaming over the plate, at least she could give him the benefit of the doubt and say it looked clean. Edible, and even warm. Taking a small bite just as he noticed the Dug, her eyes were narrowed slightly as though she were trying to gauge something, chewing carefully. Alright, it tasted fine. Better than anything they had on the ship, almost considering getting something for Hux if the situation wasn't what it was.

" It's not a spacesuit. Besides, I'm having lunch with Kylo Ren, who people apparently know even without his mask. I think we'll be fine. "
 
"Heard plenty of stories, but I haven't seen a Hutt in person. But I have seen some very realistic holos. Texture and color and everything. People tell me it's not exactly the same without the smell."

What a weird contradiction this was turning out to be. He didn't entirely believe the story about getting swallowed by the thing, but the image of her coming out of one dripping in filth, that image springed to his mind pretty quickly - and it felt credible. He looked down at the food, grabbing some deep fried (fish?) and dipped it into some white sauce. He had to get some of that - odds were pretty good it would disguise the taste of what he was doing. He pushed it into his mouth, chewing on it sourly. Yeah, that actually... wasn't rancid. A little overseasoned, but he'd almost call it good.

He had a thought in his head about acknowledging that it wasn't a space suit. A jump suit. An... undersuit. Whatever. But then she said something that made his eyebrows jump.

"I've been thinking about that since Lavish said it!" He jabbed the meat-stick in her direction excitedly, still glancing back into that mirror with a much cooler expression in his eyes. "Because I don't think I'm that infamous. I mean, I'd love to think it. But I think someone knew about me, or told him about me. Or maybe expected me. And I've been wrestling with the implications of that."

He poked at some shredded cabbage with his finger, but it looked limp and ash-grey, and he wasn't quite so hungry to take a chance at it.

"Or I was, before all our recent decisions." Best to be ambiguous about that. Really, even in the Trenches, this was still technically an Order aligned planet. He didn't have any problems talking semi-openly about things that aligned with their cover... but some things were best kept to themselves.
 
" No, no, that doesn't count as you being a credible source for them then, now does it. " Phasma knew that even now she wasn't anywhere close to the height of a Hutt, faintly shivering at the memory, the chill spilling over her skin. The few more bites she took of her food, at least she could stay that it was a somewhat welcome sight, creamy colors mixing into reds, layers just as inviting. One couldn't blame them for being suspicious though, turning her head back to him as he stuck the fried stick in her direction, following his gaze to the mirror.

Again she noticed the Dug shift slightly in his seat as though he were somewhat unnerved by something, whatever the conversation he had on the comlink leaving him with a slight fidget of nervousness. Well, that was telling. Laughing softly as he went over all the possibilities, shaking her head and dropping her eyes back down from the mirror, Phasma spoke again, " Yonen knew your name too, " If they had been expecting them it almost seemed as though it were planned in some sense, however she wasn't sure how much to dwell on thinking about it. Lavish had been dealt with and used for what they needed.

" But you might as well let it go to your ego, hm? "

Their conversations went on like this for another forty minutes, easily keeping the appearances up without the thought of what had happened prior. It wasn't important now, watching the Jenet take their emptied plates away from the table and back to the bar, nodding softly toward a Bothan who had entered at least fifteen minutes ago. She hadn't seen him get up and go anywhere near the Dug, instead sitting at the other end. But again she was minding the Bothan's familiar boots, murmuring softly as he stood up from the bar, " I think we've been caught. "
 
"That is such perfect timing." Kylo stuck a thumb inside his mouth and swirled it around, feeling the texture before popping it out. "I never thought they'd be so courteous in the Trenches. I almost want to order desert. I saw someone wandering around here with ice cream." The problem was that the ice cream - just like so many people here knowing his identity - didn't feel exactly right.

Kylo looked around, tried to stretch his senses. Really, it was hard to get a bead on anyone because the room was so... grouchy. So he tried to look for nerves instead. This wasn't the most pleasant of places, but it wasn't a situation that seemed like it was about to explode in danger. At least not unless you planned to be part of that danger.

He sensed it for sure in the Bothan, a little in the Dug. Now there was a speeder pulling up, five armored aliens that felt like a quickly improvised tac team. And within them, there was...

Ah. What an inconvenience.

"I'm going to have problems with the Force for a while," he muttered. Of course, the plan had been for him to use his powers and decimate the Litari when the opportunity presented itself. But now, they'd need to improvise. In fact, chances were good that Phasma would need to rescue him from the ship. Ugh. Speaking of... contingencies.

"In case we screw things up. I should probably say this out loud."

The ysalmiri was on the table like a grenade before he could get any further.

"STOP MOVING!" The Bothan yelled, grabbing a rifle out of the air and pointing it at them both. "Put your hands up and throw that blade away!"

Kylo looked around at the arms on display. Concussion grenades, sonic disputors, slug rifles - the room had turned into a convention of anti-Jedi weapons. Pretty impressive. He held his hands up sheepishly. "Do... you want me to stop moving, or throw you my lightsaber?"

Before he could answer, some brave Lasat grabbed the lightsaber from his belt and hauled him out of the booth. Kylo let out an easy-going smile. Which, honestly, was probably more terrifying than he'd intended. "Relax, you ugly lugs. I've got good news for you. We're here to defect."
 
Eyes narrowed in a rather ‘ what are you doing ‘ fashion as she watched him shift his thumb about in his mouth, though Phasma had been mildly surprised by the fact that the food wasn’t absolute trash, she wasn’t going to take the risk into dessert. But. . Kylo Ren eating ice cream. ” And you said my story was cute. “ A little baby faced Vader scooping the frozen treat into his mouth and grinning about it, a soft smile on her face at the mental image before shaking her head out of her thoughts. The soft mumble of Hux coming through the comlink, reaching to tap it carefully just as Ren mentioned he was going to have a bit of issues with the Force. Not enough time to ask why, the blonde murmured softly, ” We’ve been found. How close? “

” Two hours. “

” Think you’ll be fine without it for a few more hours? “

Phasma’s eyes went from Ren to the wide mouthed creature on the table, immediately thankful they had finished eating prior to this interruption, a soft ew slipping out before being yelled at. Well, good thing they weren’t moving. Though again came the reminder that he was having Force difficulties, raising a brow at the creature on the table, not having enough time to decide whether it would be solved by simply getting rid of it, raising her hands and wiggling her fingers gently. A blaster pointing at her head was enough to coax her up and out of her seat, the glances of the aliens sheer disbelief.

" The two of you. . Defected? "

" We had to. "

 
There was a pause, a bit of silence, and then the Bothan shook the rifle back and forth. It had been a very, very long time since Kylo had seen a gun like that - they shot little lead pellets instead of laser beams, and you had to constantly reload them - but they didn't overheat, and there wasn't any risk of a lightsaber battering the beam around.

"We're not the New Republic." He pulled back the hammer - and one of the other aliens immediately held a hand up to stop him. Kylo had to try very hard not to smile.

"Bask!" The Lasat grabbed the barrel of his gun and tilted it towards the ceiling. "You can't do that. Not in front of all these people. We're supposed to be -"

Then there was a bunch of clucking and squealing in languages he didn't understand. They wrestled back and forth with the rifle until Bask wrestled control of it and aimed it at Kylo's chest. He raised his hands.

"Oh, I know you're not Republic. But you are about to make contact with them, aren't you?"

"You don't know anything about what we are or what we're willing to do. What I'm willing to do. Especially with that ysalamir on the table." He pointed the gun at the lazy looking lizard on the table. "That little thing repels the powers of the Force and makes you just another Order lackey. We know exactly what to do with those."

"I thought Bothans were into diplomacy," Kylo said calmly. Bask growled and pointed the gun back in his direction. "You think we'd come all the way to the Trenches of all places - if we weren't looking to make friends?"

"I don't know why you're here. But I'm interested in making friends with you." Kylo sighed as Bask looked around the room for support. "He's one of Snoke's creatures. We all know this."

Funny, the use of that word in a place like this.

"I don't deny that." Everyone seemed to unconsciously tighten their grip on their weapons. Kylo kept his hands up. He needed to make this believable, couldn't just pretend to be a completely different identity. This needed to be him, what HE would say and do in this situation. "I still owe the Supreme Leader a debt. He rescued me from slavery. He saved my life. But he's been using it to manipulate me for years now. I can't live my life for him. I can't... kill for him." He shot a sad, guilty look at Phasma. "Not anymore."

This. This was why people told lies. It felt too good.

"Bask Dal'aivi," the Bothan growled. "Do you know that name?"

"No," Kylo said truthfully.

"That's not what I mean. Not my first name. Aivi. My clan. The chemical research facility on Queyta. Someone destroyed it, along with the people inside. Someone like you."

Kylo shook his head. He did remember Lady Paulik having... something to do with it. But there were so many names and planets and faces.... "Maybe it was. But it wasn't me."

Bask reached for the lightsaber and that started another commotion. Kylo tried to remain stock still. These people were paranoid as it was. A sudden movement would probably get the entire place blown sky high. They finally shoved Bask away, and Kylo held his hands up further.

"I'm just as scared as all of you right now." And as Kylo said it, he didn't feel like he was completely lying. "All of you are leaving this room no matter what happens. I don't have my little magic tricks. And you've all got... too many guns. Seriously, I appreciate preparation, but you're more likely to blow yourselves up with all this -"

"ENOUGH." Every head in the room turned - to the Jenet of all people, still wearing an apron and wiping his hands suspiciously. "I don't know what to make of this... Jedi. They're dark side, they're light side - it changes. It happens all the time. That's what they're like. Not part of the world... consequences don't stick with them."

"What do you want us to do with him?" This was the Lasat.

He took off his apron and gave Kylo a long, level look. "Take both of them to the Corvette. We'll find out what they know and make a choice from there. But first...take that."

Kylo groaned as he pointed at the lightsaber. Was he really going to have to go through this again?

"Take that and cut off his hands. Better safe than sorry."
 
Surrounded and extremely outnumbered, it was again a reminder that this was easily why troopers never surrendered. Fortunately, it wasn't proper knowledge to them who she was other than the reason Kylo Ren had decided to defect. Clearly there was more than enough anger directed toward Ren, it was expected really, having him here so open and vulnerable with no real way to fight back. In a way, it was almost too perfect a scenario, and if they escaped this alive, then she would definitely put better faith in Hux. Without weapons and both appearing as though they were simply here to eat and be on their way, Phasma's mind had begun to dance over the situation carefully, watching for any faint twitches of men ready to fire their blasters prematurely.

All it would take is a wrong shift and there would be more casualties than just the two of them. If they weren't in such a precarious moment, Phasma would have rolled her eyes at him, though it was evident that this was going to be one of those situations. The situation of being a damsel. Inwardly sighing softly, the woman let her mind move over the day's prior events, back to the interruption of her conversation with Hux when Ren had brought himself out to guide her back to the holo feed of the Supreme Leader. There it was, that heavy feeling again that made her chest want to cave in, breathing out softly when she looked up just in time to have the room grow quiet for the Jenet. At least he hadn't tried to poison them.

From there, things seemed to happen rapidly.

The sharp hum of the lightsaber coming to life, the panic on her face, and the sudden outburst, wells of her eyes filling up and their color hazing as she replayed being verbally punched into the ground over and over in her head. " Don't! " The attention shifted to her now, guns aimed when she took one step forward, several glares turning into raised brows at the near crying woman. " Please, don't cut off his hands, this is my fault. I said we should come here to get away from the Order. " The Jenet's eyes narrowed slightly, the short rodent looking man clenching his jaw as he eyed her expression, taking in the tears in her eyes. Women.

" Fine. Separate them. And if either one of them lashes out, then we'll cut off both their hands. "

Though there was fear in the threat, Phasma knew easily that there wouldn't be time for that to happen. There wouldn't be opportunities given, feeling the sharp push of a blaster against her back as she was lead out to the speeder.
 
"And you come this way."

Here was one of the reliefs. Sometimes, he didn't have to act. He felt that way as they marched Phasma into the speeder and marched him into a dark alley. Hed gotten most of the attention, so now it was just Bask and two others guarding him. And of course, one with the ysalamir a few feet away. What was the range of those things? 50 feet or so? Enough that they could gun him down if he tried to make a run for it.

Not that there'd be much sense in that.

"We're going to the same place. I don't know if breaking us up was all that useful."

"How about you let me decide strategy?" Bask said with a huff.

"What's a chemical research facility? I mean, chemicals. That's a very broad category."

Nobody responded. The alley seemed to get more and more tense. The kid with the ysalamir was on the comlink and talking in code. Yeah, this was still Ord mantell. Better safe than sorry.

"I already feel guilty about everything else," Kylo said with a sad sigh. "We might as well add this to the list."

There was a pause. "They weren't just... chemicals. They were medicines - it was a research facility that specialized in non-human treatment. With so many humans running around the galaxy -"

"They get the majority of the funding," Kylo said, completing the thought. "Certainly from the Order and the old Empire."

"And the Republic, too." Bask sneered, butting him in the back with the rifle. "It ends up being every race and every species for themselves. Rare illnesses go untreated. Many members of my clan were... what's the point."

"What do you mean?" Kylo said placidly.

"It's just the same story getting told over and over again. Death for no reason. Revenge. JEDI with reasons the rest of us don't understand. Over and over. I doubt you even care."

"I'm trying," Kylo heard his voice crack as he turned halfway to the skeptical Bothan. "I don't know... what that's worth, but I'm trying by best to... care about what happens here. Let's... exchange. I'll tell you my story. How I ended up in the Trenches, running from the Order. And you tell me about your clan."

"I don't want your story. I only want -"

Before they could finish, another speeder came through the alley - a bigger one that was absolutely covered with rust, where there weren't worn out vinyl seats. A human (!) filed out of the speeder and walked into the restaurant, giving Kylo the barest of suspicious glances before sliding away. Another tap with the rifle, and they were all piled in, heading for captured Litari corvette.
 
" What is your business with the Order? "
Again Phasma was faced with a simple question, one that she could have lied about, though for a moment, there was an instance of why bother. They would be dead soon enough, counting the time in her head. The corvette was easily recognizable, similar to all the other Order corvettes, they hadn't bothered covering her eyes as it was clear she would know where they had gotten this ship.

" I was a Commander. "

" So then it's Commander Phasma. "

Shaking her head softly, she made it clear that they were defecting, titles like that no longer being held after all. " Just Phasma. "

" Is that a first name or. . You know what, nevermind. " The Twi'lek didn't have time to go over details like that, shaking her head lightly as she glared down at the sitting human. Phasma watched the expressions shift over her face now, her own remaining calm and steady as the woman began.

" What is your business with Kylo Ren? "

There it was again, acting as the blush crept up over her cheeks, eyes dropping down now as though she were hiding some secret when it was all quite simple. " I. . I- " A pale green hand slapped the table hard, amber eyes shooting up at the impatient Twi'lek, " Spit it out! "

" I love him. "

The Twi'lek's head lowered now, getting to be eye level with the woman as though she were searching her face for any sign of a lie or some sort of Jedi reconditioning mind trick. " We love each other, but we couldn't be happy killing for Snoke, risking our lives for a cause we can't believe in. "

" So you decided to run away like cowards? Figures, some half assed Jedi and his girlfriend. Jedi always switching sides whenever they feel like it."

Oh Phasma was definitely going to fuck her up when the opportunity came available.
 
“She did tell me her first name a couple of times.”

Kylo had expected to be held in some rank dungeon. His mind had constructed a horrible cell with slime on the walls and torture droids looming at every corner.

But as it was, this was a brig. A little less roomy than the quarters for enlisted and yet…

“But it was hard to pronounce? I gave up after a while.”

Kylo tried to smoke, as if that was a struggle all of them had gone through. Nobody seemed sympathetic.

Bask pulled up a seat directly across from him. “What was so special about her? That you'd go against Snoke?”

“Nothing!” Kylo barked. Then he looked each of them in the eye sheepishly. “It's just with my background. Ah -”

“We were about to get to that. What's your name, huh? Don't tell us you can't pronounce it.”

Kylo shook his head and looked off into the distance. The real story of his identity was too fantastical to believe, of course. Not to mention the attention it would draw. He'd plumbed the depth of his imagination here. Something insane, something ridiculous… but that still hit all the notes. The kind of mythology worthy of a master of the dark side.

“My name is... Kyp Durron. My parents were political dissidents. Murdered by the Empire as their planet slid into chaos. I was orphaned and sold into slavery. Worked in the spice mines of Kessel, right next to the black hole cluster. They killed us when we spoke up. Never gave us enough food. I went years and years without seeing the Sun. I worked during the day and wept at night, my back was… tangled and knotted and throbbing. And if we ever came in under our daily quota they'd… lash us. Or worse. My only salvation was… Ashara Paulik. She’d been captured and sold just like me. But she had… premonitions, visions, could do amazing things. Said I could do amazing things too. If I tried hard enough. If I believed.”

Kylo shook his head, tears beginning to flow from his eyes. “It was the first time anyone had ever told me anything like that. She got in trouble with a foreman and had to go to the deepest part of the mine. The Core. People left and never came back because of the… energy spiders.”

Kylo shivered. “I went with her and… we found a secret passage to the surface. Staged a riot and escaped, I've never had… so much sun in my eyes. We got away free. And that's when she told me about Leader Snoke.”

“I suppose she left out the fact that he was a genocidal monster.”

“She told me,” Kylo said, scratching his nose. “that Snoke had sensed me from lightyears away. And sent her to save me.”

“You weren't at all skeptical of this?”

“I was… I don't know. She told me that there were powerful people across the galaxy that owed their life to Snoke. That they formed a… a family that supposed his will. Supported each other. That's how Kylo Ren was born.”

“I thought you were the leader.”

“That's not true. Snoke is the leader. I named myself after the order. I wanted Ren to be my heart, my identity.”

“And not Kyp Durron? You had a family.”

“Kyp Durron was weak,” Kylo snapped. “He let himself be captured. Let his will be controlled by everyone and everything around him. No achievements of his own, nothing to contribute to history just… a family name. I needed power. Kyp Durron was a symbol of how powerless I had been.”

"I know that name."

"Kyp Durron?" Kylo screamed internally. There was no way he'd made up the name and life story of a real person, was there?

I mean it was an excellent t story, but a bit too silly to pass for real. Right?

"Paulik. Lady Paulik." Bask stood up, shock and disgust on his face. "That's the woman that destroyed my clan."
 
" So you both stole an Order ship. "

Really the way she was asking her questions, if they were even questions, was just a bit rude. Even for Phasma, eyes following her pace around the room before contact was made and the conversation was sparked again.

" Why come to Ord Mantell? "

" . . . It's perfect for what we're doing. "

Throughout the questions there were times when Phasma noted the woman attempting to catch a slip up in the story, waiting for little details to change or for her expressions to be any more telling to what she was saying. Telling bold faced lies was clearly an amusing situation to be placed in, whatever dragged the time out long enough for things to get underway. Hux was listening intently from their own stolen ship, his expression clearly amused from what was happening on either end of their stories. He'd actually heard Phasma use the 'L' word, even if it was acting, and. . Kyp Durron. Brilliant.

" Why should we even bother taking you to the Republic? We should just send you both back to the Order and let them have at you. " Well, that was one thing.

" You mean, you'd fly back to the First Order in one of their stolen ships to bring us back? " They'd get blasted out of system by a Star Destroyer in no time.

Clearly the Twi'lek woman hadn't thought of that, forgetting that this ship was stolen property with a weapon to change the tides floating on it. That was a risk that none of them were willing to take. Watching her begin to pace again, she clearly didn't want to allude to them having anything that important on the ship, Phasma lightly tapping her nails on the table, a habit that could be considered a nervous tick.

" Less than forty five minutes. "

Hux's muffled voice emerged, the blonde cursing inwardly as he had clearly taken the silence as her being alone, the alien turning sharply and glaring. " What was that? " Before Phasma had time to answer, the distance between them was cleared and she was being glared down upon, nails again tapping the table. " I don't know what you're- "

The closed fist that landed into her cheek, resulting in an immediate bitten lip, caused her jaw to clench out of habit, nails no longer tapping when the frustrated Litari spoke again, " Don't lie. "

Tasting the blood form in her mouth, the metallic taste caused her to close her eyes softly, sighing as though she had been found out. Turning her head, her amber eyes were clearly no longer soft and pleading, over it the second she felt her hand come into contact with her face.

" Did you just punch me in my fucking face. "

 
"I didn't know," Kylo said. "I'm sorry."

Kind of a stupid mistake. He'd been thinking about making things sound "credible", not too wild and far away from the truth. If he'd just invented some other fictional rescuer, he wouldn't have been in this situation. What were the chances that the Litari knew each and every one of the Knights of Ren, or wouldn't trust him as an authority on the topic?

Now he was introducing instability and emotion into a situation that had too much of both.

And Bask Dal'aivi didn't seen interested in apologies.

"You're going to tell me everything!" He smashed his head right above him, rammed a fist into the little bunk Kylo was sitting on. "All about her."

"You... you probably know as much as I do." The Lasat was already running out of the cell in a panic. As if he was going for help. That wasn't a good sign.

"That's not what I came here for, Bask." The Bothan showed his teeth, and Kylo put his hands up. "But if that's what you want, that's what we'll do. We'll talk all about her."

Kylo glanced right outside the cell. These people had managed to get access to two ysalamiri, which was just... incredible, given how fragile the creatures were. The two of them together meant he couldn't do anything special in the cell, or maybe this entire floor.

Not that he could anyway. He needed to stall for time. And if he could do that by telling a bunch of stories about Ashara or Snoke or Phasma or even that one particular story with Hux, he'd be happy to do it.

"Tell us this, then." Bask reared back and jabbed him hard across the throat. "Are the two of you close? Would she weep if someone took your life?"

Kylo fell from the bunk and sprawled onto the floor, his eyes watering. Damn. That rank, overgrown sloth had left him alone with someone who was likely to murder him. Kylo staggered to his feet, smiling despite the anger rising in him - he couldn't let this spiral out of control. Couldn't get killed here of all places.

"We didn't," he said, coughing, "have that kind of relationship."

Bask left the cell in a huff, but he returned a second later with the lightsaber in his hand.

"No. No no no."

"NO MORE LIES!" He powered the lightsaber on and slashed downwards, sending cotton and burning metal flying across the cell and almost into Kylo's eyes. He staggered backwards, pedaling away until he was against the wall of the cell. By now the Lasat was back with a couple others, yelling at Bask to stop.

One of them was howling platitudes about the futility of revenge. Kylo didn't think they rang true for either of them in that moment.
 
Well, the conversation had ended relatively quickly after the Twi'lek had asked what Phasma was going to do about it.

" You're really fucking rude, you know that? "

It was like she had set herself up for the next few minutes of being slammed around. The fight between the two women muffled by the closed door, though that was probably for the best. The initial shuffle would be seen as catty, if only for a moment, however it wasn't long at all before the Twi'lek was slumped against the floor, Phasma pulling her blaster from its holster. Licking her lips carefully, the blood had stopped in her mouth at least, though clearly she was still not amused by the situation, standing near the door as she heard the attempted whisper from Hux again.

" Um. . Commander? "

" She punched me in my face. "

Hux spent the next minute or so keeping the subject from focusing on the fact that it was technically his fault she had gotten punched, the blonde woman shaking her head softly as she looked over the clearly modified blaster. Firing it appeared simple enough, typical trigger and switches along the side venturing between 'Stun and Kill', the blonde raised a brow softly at the added word 'Push', turning the switch carefully. No reason not to try it out, hm.

" They're getting closer Phasma, just. . Find Ren, and the weapon. "

Simple enough.

Listening carefully to the quick shuffle of feet walking by, chatter about Hurry before he. . before they got far enough away, her head peeked out the door carefully, stepping out into the empty hallway and following them silently. The trumpeted opening of the weapon reminded her of that massive thing from the bait ship, thinking over it just in time for two dug to round the corner. Well, no time like the present. Without proper aim at the quick situation, the woman fired the long barreled weapon immediately, watching the force bring them up and smash them into the wall behind them.

" Beautiful! "

Another sharp adjustment and the blaster fired into both of their stomachs, Phasma moved in the direction of commotion, again hearing that familiar sound and almost drawing some sign of joy from it. . Until she realized it was just someone else playing with the lightsaber again. Sighing gently into the air, the woman cleared the space quickly, hearing the Lasat get out an attempt to yell before she fired into his head. And as rapidly as it had happened, the aliens who had come to keep Bask from slicing his head off, were dead on the ground.

" What the fu- "

" Put it down. "

Her request was simple enough, but obviously this infuriated him to the point of stepping toward her, shot immediately fired through his leg, dropping the saber when he fell in pain. Ignoring his screaming, Phasma's bright eyes immediately shifted to Ren with an important matter at hand.

" I feel if we're supposed to be a couple who is in love, you should be saving me in all this. Specifically, from getting punched in my fucking face. "
 
He'd expected to have to talk Bask down, or have to sit still and make sad faces. More calmness in the face of loud, angry idiots who just happened to have a little temporary power. Even Fedorre on his worst day hadn't started pummeling him, threatening him, ranting at him out of the blue. His cheeks were burning from the heat of the saber when a little noise occurred down the hallway, and then -

It was if a hurricane had it. Bodies flying, laser blasts searing people center mass, a room full of dead within a couple of seconds. Oh, well that could only be one person. But was it supposed to be so soon? By then, Bask was on the ground - and his own lightsaber was on the ground in front of him. Kylo narrowed his eyes and snatched it off the ground. He was just incredibly sick of the level playing field, sick of his work getting crammed into other people's undeserving hands.

Kylo straddled the Bothan's chest, feeling the cool ridges of his familiar piece in his hand. They were familiar, but this wasn't exactly what he wanted. "Commander," he said slowly, not bothering to look behind him. "there are a couple of those ysalamiri on the counter right there, do me a kindness and dispose of them."

Bask instinctively muttered a low, desperate, "Don't," but his words carried a lot less weight than they had a few seconds ago. Kylo glanced backwards, and Phasma was already stepping on both of them with an eerie calm. It didn't take long for a rush of familiar sensations to come pouring back inside of him, with an almost overwhelming volume - it was like being exposed to light again after years in a cave.

Or so he imagined.

"Before I kill you," Kylo growled, placing the lightsaber under his chin. "I want you to know that you were right to mistrust me. To fear me. That sliver of weakness that held you back from killing me when you had the chance - the righteousness of your cause, not wanting your friends to treat you like a madman, whatever it was that you thought would redeem you in the end, make you better than me... it was wrong. It always was. I wasn't there to watch your first family die. But this one, Bask Dal'aivi, is going to die screaming by my hand."

"You -"

Kylo felt a tide of hatred roll through his body, heavy and irresistible, as he turned the saber on, flash-boiling Bask's skull from the inside out. Eyes that held a resigned fear were instantly - burning, deformed, a window into horror. He ripped the weapon away and looked at Phasma, his face twisted in rage.

"Stand to the side, then. Let's get to saving you."
 
One hand had placed itself on her hip, and though her scold hadn't been entirely truthful, she didn't expect him to say anything about it at all. It wasn't difficult at all to kill the lizards, neither of them making much of an effort to get away from her as she killed them both, carefully wiping the bottom of her boot off on the torn piece of bedding. Watching the way he seemed to shift now, it was almost as though the confident stride was back in him, raising a brow lightly as she watched the altercation.

Sure, she should be paying more attention to the door, listening in case she heard any foot steps as she stepped toward it, tipping around the bodies as though she were avoiding getting something on her dress. Whether it was the chill that snaked up her back or Hux attempting to contact her again that caused her to shiver and snap from her trance, her arms folded over her chest now at the look on his face. Well. That was new, wasn't it. Again with this shit Phasma. Finally responding to the chattering man at the other end of the comlink, Phasma followed along behind baby Vader, eyes watching as the chaos began.

" What. .Where is Ren, is everything alright? "

" Oh. . He's. . He's fine. "
 
"Yarzek to bridge - hit the alarm!"

Kylo was on top of him before he could say anything else - working himself into a full sprint and killing him with a couple of slashes. Whether the alarm was triggered or not, they'd all know about him very soon - he had no intentions of hiding.

That was one of their mistakes - they'd stolen a ship they couldn't properly staff and were running a skeleton crew. The pirates barely had the manpower to keep the ship running, let alone fend off a threat like this.

That was their second mistake. They'd tried to hold back Kylo Ren with a couple of creatures smaller than his forearm, had entrusted their lives to one grieving, temperamental bothan. And now, they'd all pay for it. Starting with this one.

Someone with a slugthrower - he recognized him from the ambush at the saloon. With that rifle, he had an expression Kylo didn't like - a certain amount of courage.

He cocked the hammer back, and Kylo reached for the metal that formed the gun, twisting it backwards and making it useless. Now he dropped the gun in shock and fell to his knees, pushing himself backwards with his hands. That was the kind of courage he expected from a dying man. Kylo screamed and flicked his wrist, throwing the lightsaber across the room underhanded and splitting the human’s chin open and calling it back to his hand.

A human rounded the corner, clearly expecting them to be further away. He took a step back, only to find that his body wouldn't move. Kylo frowned coldly, bringing the lightsaber across his chest with a loud slash before flinging him across the opposite end of the hallway.

"Where do we need to -"

He stopped himself. Laboratory. He'd been on enough Corvettes to know the general layout of the place, even if it looked like a dark reflection of its normal self now with some of the lights out and areas unoccupied. It was like a ghost ship, illuminated by the alarm chyron and the blaring light of his blade.

It gave a menacing, comforting hum as he walked down the corridor and towards the elevator.

Two Twi'lek had barricaded themselves in front of the elevator, basically confirming where he wanted to go. They looked similar, even from this distance. Brothers. Or twins. Wouldn't that have been funny?

These two were better prepared - one had a sonic disruptor and was already firing it from behind a huge container. The second was more conservative, firing from a rifle and hoping for reinforcements. Phasma hadn't bothered shooting for some reason.

Not that it mattered. All the frustration of this entire mission came pouring out of him, searing everything in sight. His mind ripped the container out of the floor, smashed in against the wall, turned the creature's thin legs to a green pulp.

The second one had just enough time to realize what had happened, to trigger that horror in his mind before every part of him was on fire, his throat closed, his heart collapsing, his brain getting torn to pieces like a wet paper as he fell to the floor. In a place like this, no one had anywhere to hide from him.

Kylo wordlessly got into the elevator and pressed a button for where he thought the lab would be. He paused, fully aware of how bothersome it could get trying to get there. Would the Litari be trying to protect the bridge or -

Before he could finish, the elevator doors opened, and a familiar yellow lightsaber blared to life in front of him, rushing into the cramped corridor. Now that Kylo was looking closely, it was those eyes - they were almost human, but there was something lacking there. He barely had time to think about this before the HRD was slashing at him, pinning him and Phasma down in the elevator.

It faintly registered how dangerous this was - the Commander was already shrinking back into a corner, but she'd be dead if he lost control of the fight for a split second.

The droid caught an overhead slash and pinned him back into a corner, sparks from the dueling sabers flying overhead. Kylo groaned and pushed him back, the two of them whirling and slashing with tight, controlled attacks in the confines of the elevator.

Kylo caught his blade on the crossguard and pivoted around, trying to push him out of the elevator so that Phasma could get out of the way. But the droid - the clever fucking thing sensed what he was trying to do and threw a hand back, planning to attack him with -

The on-board grav-cannon. Kylo gritted his teeth - losing control of his body for a second or getting throw backwards would totally destroy his momentum and likely get both of them killed.

He reached for the force, pushing at the same time the HRD did...

And nothing happened - well, the HRD flew backwards a few feet. Kylo charged and pressed the advantage, hacking the droid backward with strike after strike, all finesse gone from his style now. That machine was one of a kind. A true work of art, just in being able to survive this long. And that... that was perfect.

He was in the mood to destroy something beautiful. Kylo feinted another heavy smash and twirled on his back foot with unexpected grace, cutting the droid's right hand off cleanly, snatching the yellow lightsaber out of the air, and decapitating it between the two with an explosive scissor motion and a shower of sparks and metal parts.

That rush, that feeling of victory... he hadn't felt it in ages. Kylo hacked at the downed machine, slashing it again and again as if in an uncontrollable trance....
 
" What. . Why do you sound like that? What's going on? "

If she was truly concerned, it would have taken her a bit of thought to explain to Hux what was going on, instead the woman tapped her fingers against the gun lightly, holding the comlink carefully to allow the male on the other end to hear the familiar crackle as it split another alien like he was some piece of candy. Though one part of her remained on her own defensive, knowing that despite their limited numbers, there could just as easily be one or two to slip up behind her. Thankfully, it had only happened once, doubling another Bothan over as the blast spit through his stomach, just in time for her to catch the sight of another body crumpling to the ground.

It was becoming a blood bath and. . Well, it was almost comforting.

Not necessarily because she was being rescued from this situation, but because this was another environment that didn't feel out of place. She would let him stretch out his rage, use his force, to send splatters of blood along the walls and floor, moving to stand in the elevator and get her last glimpse of the destruction. It felt good, a warmth on her skin, though she wasn't entirely fond of being in the small space of this elevator. Rightfully so, her body reacting and immediately pressing against the wall when the yellow glare dragged over the light above, the sparks raining down on them, she knew taking the risk of shooting that thing in here was all too dangerous, one step toward the door only to be pushed back by the potential sear of the saber.

Shit.

Though just as she had thought such a thing, Phasma watched as the dueling to pushed out of the confined space, her own eyes scanning about to find if anyone else was left. No, just this dr-

Nope, not the droid.

The head rolling off beneath some of controls, the woman watched him carve pieces out of the machine with vicious blows, subconsciously letting her hand settle against her chest. Oh he's daddy alright. Fingers toying with the material now, finally the woman spoke up, breathing out softly when she realized she'd been holding it in in the first place, " Hey. . Hey! " Catching his attention, the warm cheeked blonde spoke again, " It's not getting back up. " It was almost as though he hadn't realized it, watching the weapon disappear in itself as she stepped forward, the itch not going away as she reached forward, fingers snaking into his hair and lips pressing against his.

" I appreciate being saved. "

Moving away from him now, her eyes had settled onto the table in the center of the lab, eyes roaming over the weapon that had caused so much of this mess, the weapon that would do great work for the Order.
 
Wow. Phasma had used the A-word. From someone like her, she'd might as well have stripped to her underwear right on the spot and begged him to take her.

Frowning, Kylo clipped his lightsaber to his belt, stepping around the smoking hull of the droid he'd fought. The damned thing was still... twitching, moving joints in a vaguely agressive way, as if the mind hadn't quite shut off the body, or it was executing orders that had long since been useless.

And he looked at the HRD's yellow one, weighing it in his hand. The thing was very well made - not authentic though. The thing had been expensively made in a small factory, all the pieces made somewhere else. But the blade worked properly, and something about that frustrated him.

He'd gotten the designs from his own piece from a Jedi holocron, how could it be that... Kylo grumbled and clipped the thing to his belt. It wouldn't be the first lightsaber he'd pulled apart, and maybe this one being so divorced from the Jedi would have some kind of use for him.

Kylo watched the Commander for a few seconds as she inspected the lab, and brushed his own hair behind his ear. He'd known she was there during the aftermath of his fight - knew that she would say something eventually to stop him.

What he hadn't expected was the impact it would have on him in that moment. As cliche as it sounded, it did... redirect him and make him feel a bit calmer. And now he could look over the gun in the center of the lab with a fresh pair of eyes.

The thing was on a big, raised roundtable with two or three bigger subplatforms - it was almost like four round stairs leading up to the gun. The thing was clearly designed to be screwed onto a traditional cannon. Kylo ran his hands around the black steel.

"That's not just powerful, it's compact. At least relevant to a big fucking shipboard gun." He wasn't an engineer but at least to the naked eye this looked like something that could be mass produced.

"Do you think the insides are... weird somehow? And do you think this is the only one?"

Kylo felt to his knees, squinting at the base of the gun as if it would reveal some kind of secret.
 
If it remained quiet, Phasma could hear the soft humming of the HRD's system starting to fail, gears stuttering as though it were trying to piece itself back together. The damage was done, eyes twitching and lips quivering, in a way Phasma saw it as weird, carefully scooting the head into a dim corner to keep herself from subconsciously glancing at it. Other than the parts of metal and 'skin' that had flown off the body, she couldn't see anything else out of place, clearly there wasn't enough time during the assault for anyone other than the HRD to be up here, an act of them putting the strongest defense they had near the weapon.

The odds were against them and it had still resulted in an absolute slaughter.

Watching him move around it as though she halfway expected him to reconsider and go back to hacking away at it, her eyes turned back to the cannon now, Hux's voice filling the air.

" You both. . Still alive? "

He knew they were, but some acknowledgment that he still existed would have been comforting for the man, hearing him cough softly before speaking again. The ISD Majestic would be there soon to meet at the rendezvous point to take them back to the Gauntlet with the Corvette in tow, having forwarded the news that the crew on the ship had been confirmed as dead. " I'll be flying the- "

" Hux you can't fly a ship. "

Immediate huffing from the other end of the comlink, and she could almost feel him straightening out any wrinkles in his clothing.

" I've done simulations and I've watched you! Anyway- "

Kill yourself then, whatever.

Hux went on to explain any intricate details of the plan, even attempting to go further into what would happen when they arrived on the Gauntlet. All would be clear and explained with the new weapon they had kept from getting into the wrong hands, more or less. " Rigged, you mean? " Phasma asked, watching Kylo settle down in front of the cannon like he was working on some challenging puzzle, looking over the steel instrument before shaking her head softly. " I don't think they would have had the time to make another one of this size. "
 
Hmph.

Kylo sprang to his feet and looked around conspiratorially before sneaking up behind her, pressing his nose into her neck and wrapping his hands around her stomach. He looked down and, frowned, hurriedly shaking a little blood off his hands before squeezing her back into him, just barely dragging her off the floor.

He pressed his lips into her neck before quickly remembering... ugh, this was already awkward enough without...

He tapped her ear and made an X with his fingers, returning to her neck, but this time with his teeth, his hands still smearing faint traces of residue onto her.
 
From an outsider's perspective, this was sick.

However, both seemed to grow deaf to Hux talking on the other end of the comlink, closing her eyes when his lips settled against her skin, the chill rolling up her spine. She hadn't necessarily planned for anything to happen next to the finally still husk of the HRD, but-

" I just told you both the ISD is coming! Whatever you're doing, at least wait! "

Son of a bitch.

Hux's arrival, after demanding that she help coach him through flying the ship to them, was hurried, as though he had expected them to be defiling the cannon. " Oh, good. " Phasma rolling her eyes at him lightly, she watched him nervously examine the HRD parts as though he expected them to surge back to life, " You. . Took its saber didn't you? "

The awkward shuffling it had taken to move the weapon to the bay, Hux halfway into another speech about how much better he felt, almost silently hinting about no one mentioning his little drug incident, before another set of sirens rang out.

" That's. . That's not good. "

Phasma turning to watch Hux initiate the holoprojector against the wall, the familiar suite of a trooper appeared. " Sir, there seems to also be a Republic ship intercepting. Stand by. "
 
"That's just nervewracking." Hux sighed and looked down at his fingernails. "They tell you a Republic ship is incoming and then tell you to... stand by? Seems like a way to make one nervous."

Now that Hux had broken up their... whatever it was he was going for a few minutes ago, he'd decided to devote his mind to purer aspects, like the logistics of this gun. Except Hux's sudden worry about the Republic was distracting him all over again.

"You don't have to worry about the Republic anymore. Number one... they've got a treaty. I don't think they're in a rush to engage." Kylo wanted to spend an entire weekend with a case of liquor, just laughing at the comedy of errors the Republic's political system was. As soon as they got back into power, it was like they wanted to prove why there was an Empire in the first place.

"Number two, they don't have any grounds. It's the Order recovering an Order ship in neutral space. What are they going to do, accuse us of interrupting their illicit arms deal? Idiocy."

Kylo looked at the bottom of the gun - the thing was bolted on tightly. He thought he could maybe pull the thing off the bolts if he focused, but that wasn't going to be much good - even the prospect of carrying something this big with the Force was making his brain hurt. It was a job for a team of engineers and a squadron of soldiers with thick legs and wide backs.

Before he could think beyond that, the holo-trooper flared back to life. His helmet was off (NOT regulation) and he was sweating. That could have just been the helmet, but his eyes.

"What is it," Hux snapped impatiently.

"I... you aren't going to believe this. I should -"

"Believe WHAT?"

"I should just show you."

The holotrooper hit a button, and another video took up the space. This was... this was not a Republic background. They insignia behind the captain was of the Rebel Alliance, which of course meant...

"This is General Garm Bel Iblis, my ship's the Peregrine, and at the moment, I'm working on behalf of the Resistance. Gentlemen, you are interrupting my illicit arms deal."

Hux covered his cheeks with both hands, almost letting out an audible scream. He had the self restraint for it only to come out as a squeaking noise. He turned to Phasma, snapping his fingers and pointing at her as if she needed to leave the room. He was wondering if this was just an attempt to look busy, but then Hux was pointing at him too.

But Kylo's eyes were glued to the projector by now.

"Now, I know most of your little Order is composed of kids whose nuts haven't descended yet, so maybe you haven't heard of me. I'm the man that co-founded the Rebel Alliance. I'm the greatest military genius of two different generations - if I'm being humble. And most importantly, I'm the man with three-Dreadnought class star cruisers that are itching to kill anything that needs dyin'. So let's make a deal."

Hux was already shaking his head. "We have to leave."

"You clear out, leave our friends alone, give us access to that Corvette... or you can toast marshmellows with your hunchback hero in hell. Doesn't make a difference to me, but I'll give you sixty seconds to decide whether life as one of Snoke's useful idiots is really worth living. Peregrine out."

"No," Hux groaned. "He's DEAD. Everyone knows he's dead. Right?"

Well, everyone "knew" it. But who else had Dreadnoughts lying around anymore? And this was an awfully specific message for a hologram...
 
Things had gotten tricky all over again and Phasma could only close her eyes and rub her forehead, fingertips lightly massaging her skin. It was as if Kylo, instead of saying things could be worse, had talked up the situation they were currently in, sighing audibly as she ignored the fluttering Hux. " This can not be real. " But it was, and unfortunately sixty seconds was no good amount of time to think, with sirens blaring and emergency lights flashing. There was no need to tell the dear General that there were no survivors here to make such a deal, however now came the true reason they were here.

" We can't just leave that thing here for them. "

" What do you mean we can't just leave it? We don't have time to just get this ship out of here, Phasma that's not- "

The fiery look she gave him caused his words to falter into a mumble, soon laying down into silence as she spoke again, shaking her head. " Do you want to be the one to explain to your father that you were on a ship with the weapon that could destroy every last one of the Order's ships and did nothing about it? "

The expression in his wide eyes clearly gave her an answer, turning to Ren now, they all knew they had worked way too hard to simply destroy the machine, but they were running out of time and options. " Be ready for us. " The hologram had switched back to the sweating trooper, hearing the faint sound of someone who sounded alarmed in the background. Ignoring how tense Hux became, even if it did surprise her that it was even possible, the woman shifted her attention to the lab, eyes shifting over the platforms and down across the tables. Plenty of chemicals, easily a few were going to be flammable. Simple enough.

" You can't. . Pick this thing up and put it on the ship!? "

Hux voice rang out now, pulling a tank toward the weapon now as though he had answered his own question. Obviously if he could, he would have used the Force to do so when he landed in the bay. Another heavy tank pulled to the canon, there was a sense of silent assurance that this had to work, this thing had to be destroyed before it fell into Resistance hands, firing the blaster at one of the lab consoles and watching it spark up. The time they had to immediately get back into their ship wasn't counted, Hux avoiding the pilot seat as Phasma brought the smaller ship into the air. The flames had spread through the rest of the lab quickly, licking out to the tanks and chemicals, changing colors before finally roaring up in the explosion, another soft sound from Hux as they flew toward Order space.

" I can't. . Even. "

Phasma was at a loss for emotions, unable to settle on which one as the three stood in the ad-junction room of the Gauntlet, each looking a different variety of exhausted. Hux with his hair all over her head, Phasma with splotches of someone else's blood on her dress, and Ren. . Well, where to start with that. It was painful to stand here and wait for Snoke's image to project out, even more so to look at the expression on Fedorre's face.

" You three made quite a mess. "
 
There was a long pause.

Fedorre pinched his lips together and raised his eyebrows. "This was where I'd expect one of you to defend yourselves."

Hux looked a bit chastened, Phasma just looked exhausted. He was the one who could talk about this while facing the fewest consequences, so Kylo spoke up first.

"There's nothing to defend," he said smoothly. "Hux's task force was put together to solve the pirate problem. It has been indisputably solved. The Litari's been crippled, you know the identity of one of their leaders, we recaptured the Order's Corvette -"

"You destroyed it. Did it yourselves, without any authorization. In a time when all three of you know how stretched our resources are."

Kylo shook his head. Those were three Dreadnoughts. They were wildly outdated ships, but three of them together would have easily swamped the Star Destroyer, especially if Bel Iblis had them retrofitted with the latest weapons.

And with the Republic scrapping so many onboard weapons, that would have been a near guarantee. "We prevented a weapon the Order hadn't even heard of from falling into the hands of the Resistance. If not for us, the first you would have heard about this was live, in battle. And being wielded by Garm Bel Iblis, of all people." Kylo leaned back in the seat and spread his legs. "You should be thanking the three of us. Drinks, commendations."

Fedorre touched his ear and tuned them out for a few moments before breaking into a smile. "Leader Snoke would like to speak to you. This should be instructive."

"When making our... determinations on the outcome, we should ask ourselves if we're in a better position now than we were before this happened." Snoke raised his hand, and Kylo clenched his fist in victory. "And we are. We had a crisis of confidence in Carida that would have rippled elsewhere. One Corvette is a fair price to pay for an end to our piracy problem. Our old enemy Bel Iblis revealing himself can be counted as another victory, of a sort. An enemy that is known can be accounted for."

"Leader Snoke," Kylo said with a faint smile.

"But things could have also gone much better. Your recklessness on board the ship left no survivors. Whatever intelligence there was to gain, whatever we could have learned from the surviving Litari members, has been lost now. They've been driven further underground, and they may already be in contact with the Resistance."

"But, Supreme Leader -"

"The Black Sun is going to take your assault on one of their affiliates as a personal message from me. I have worked carefully to keep them on our side in the conflict to come through a policy of tolerance. Renegades and scoundrels had a large role in the defeat of the Emperor, as you well know, and I don't wish to repeat his mistakes."

"I understand, Supreme Leader."

"And the HRD. If you had simply disabled it and brought it to the Gauntlet intact, we could have had it reverse engineered. I can't exaggerate the benefit a tool such as that would had for our espionage efforts. You avoided many disasters today, Kylo Ren, but you avoided opportunities with the same dogged insistence. None of you should feel proud of your performance."

"I understand."

"Supreme Leader, if I may." Kylo's jaw opened a bit. This was... Hux of all people? "I think this incident has left a number of loose ends. The origin of the replica droids, the whereabouts of Garm Bel Iblis and his fleet. The remnants of the Litari. With the piracy problem broken, I would like to dedicate my efforts to tying these loose ends on your behalf."

Wow. Amazing. What a climber. Hux had volunteered to solve three almost impossible problems for Snoke. The man was a lot of things, but he had ambition and courage. Snoke looked somewhat surprised by the intrusion, but nodded his head in a way that indicated that he might be receptive to the idea.

"This will be discussed in time," he said, before abruply shutting off the holo. Now Hux's power play was over, and it was just the four of them in the adjunction room.
 
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