Huxloween: The Thirty Night Trial
Day One Pumpkin Spice Lattes
"Why am I here?" Hux griped.
"I told you," Kylo sighed. "Mission from Supreme Leader. We've got to meet my contact here-"
"That's why you're here, Kylo; but why am I here?" Hux corrected.
"Because it's easier if I have someone to watch my back, okay?" Kylo sniped.
"What about your Knights?"
"Believe it or not, they have their own missions." Kylo paused, seeing Hux's decidedly unimpressed look. "This is happening in seven different places," he admitted. "The others also had to get backup."
"And you had to pick me," Hux grumbled.
"You like spending time with me. Why are you making such a fuss?" Kylo demanded.
"I don't like leaving the Finalizer and Starkiller, you know that."
"You said it was being left in safe hands."
"Yes, but not the best hands."
"Whose would those be?"
"Mine!"
Kylo sighed. "Colonel Datoo can manage just fine," he said soothingly. "And if it's really an emergency, Supreme Leader will recall us."
Hux 'hmph'ed, stopped arguing. They were entering a large settlement, and their civilian clothes would only deflect so much attention.
Kylo led the way easily to a small teahouse. Hux paused to look at the name before following his co-commander inside. Café Star-Costa. He snorted. Commercial garbage.
Kylo was already at the counter. "Two pumpkin spice lattes," he demanded.
Hux frowned; he'd never heard of the beverage, and would have preferred a plain, strong caf.
"Yes, sir; and what's your name?" the girl serving asked.
Kylo seemed to be resisting the urge to growl. "Bail," he snapped.
"That'll be four creds," the girl said.
Kylo handed over a five-cred chip. "Keep the change."
"Thank you sir."
Kylo tugged Hux away as a pack of young wastrels poured in. "The corner booth," he murmured. "I'll bring the drinks."
Hux made himself comfortable, and Kylo soon rejoined him. The two cups were labelled 'Bayle'. "What are these supposed to be?" he asked, sipping his drink.
"Caf with milk, spice, flavouring and whipped cream," Kylo asked. "It's how our contact is going to recognise us. Sorry; I know you like your caf black as your father's heart."
Hux snorted. He would have taken offense had anyone else made that joke, simply to defend the family honour, but Kylo had earned the right to insult Hux Sr after a nasty incident involving a rather angry missive being sent uncoded to the Finalizer for all to read.
"Well, I would ask which of you's the Knight," a new voice announced, "But Gingersnap's clearly military."
Hux snapped his head up. The newcomer had a bright red scarf wrapped tightly around his neck, in contrast to his light green shirt and trousers. Kylo shuffled aside to allow him to join them.
"So you Dark Knights want to do the Thirty Night Trial," the man said.
"Obviously," Kylo snapped.
"Hey, calm down," the man replied. "Have you even explained what this is about to your army friend?"
Kylo stared sullenly at his cup. "No, he hasn't," Hux answered.
"It's a sort of test for Dark Force users," the man explained. "I was one of Emperor Palpatine's researchers, I found information on old rituals of the Sith and other non-Jedi Force users. 'Course, he didn't know I was memorising as much as possible, but Sith generally don't have good life expectancies and I wanted to have something to offer Vader when he killed the Emperor. Call it a pension plan. Anyway, the Thirty Night Trial is meant to be a sort of evaluation. The Force user and his companion are exposed to thirty nights of horror and terror, and how they deal with it kinda shows how Dark they really are."
Hux raised an eyebrow. "Sounds rather pointless."
"Oh, in the time before the Rule of Two it was a common test for potential apprentices," the researcher said dismissively. "Since then, it's been used as a way of isolating and eliminating Light weaknesses. Never actually worked, though…"
"I…don't understand," Kylo said, looking up at last.
"If you've got a weakness, a vulnerability to the Light, the Trial will show you it," the researcher explained. "Some Sith would have their apprentices do it, then use the knowledge in an attempt to remove those vulnerabilities. But some people just aren't capable of some things. And there's very few who are really Dark, with no Light at all. There was one apprentice who had a very Light affection for a forest near his home. The master tried ordering his apprentice to burn the forest, but the apprentice couldn't do it. Turned on his master."
"He was weak," Kylo said harshly.
"Listen, boy, I might not know this Force, but I know what the records say," the researcher growled. "You will learn the places where the Light side holds you. These are lines you cannot cross without destroying yourself. Keep away from 'em, and you can be Dark as you like."
"It doesn't work like that," Kylo snapped.
Hux put a hand on his arm. "Hush; you're making a scene," he whispered.
Kylo calmed himself, but kept glowering.
The researcher sighed deeply. "I'm sorry, but that's what the texts say. There's several commentaries on the Trial, and that's the conclusion reached in all of them."
"Do you have copies of these commentaries?" Hux asked, watching Kylo closely.
"I'm afraid not. I lost all my research material when I had to flee Imperial Centre." The researcher laid a datapad on the table. "This has the details for the Trials you, your Knights and their companions will undergo. Well, where to go, and as much as I can remember about the Thirty Night Trial. Good luck."
The researcher got up, nodded to Hux and Kylo, and left.
Hux snagged the datapad. "Let's get going. We can review this on the way."
