Prologue- 3 years ago
Admiral Keros' smile was warm as the poison entered his blood stream. All it had taken was a handshake goodbye. He hadn't felt the pinpoint injection, the micro needle on the tip of her finger was too small to feel.
It wasn't her usual sort of job, more a favour for a friend of a friend. Most importantly, it had paid well and it had been fun; Unexpectedly fun. She let her eyes linger on the man standing across the manicured lawn as turned to leave.
One memory to keep. Stroking her finger over his angular cheekbone as their lips had met that first time. An unexpected pang of regret that there would be no goodbye.
No. It had been one night; They would not meet again. She could feel his eyes on her as she walked deeper into the garden and away.
30 minutes later the Admiral of the First Order exploded.
Chapter One
The massive curved arc of the Supremacy's bridge windows provided a spectacular view of deep space, but it was not that image that had brought the rare smile to his face. General Hux broke the com link with the Supremacy's Head of Security. This was turning into very good day.
By rights he should have been exhausted, bruised by the previous hours. The destruction of the dreadnaught by Resistance bombers and the painful displeasure of Supreme Leader Snoke had taken their toll. But the tide was turning and with it his spirits. One did not rise to the top without a healthy confidence that order would always prevail against disorder and rebellion.
Not only would they annihilate the pathetic remnants of the Resistance once and for all when the Raddus gave up its doomed attempt to escape the fleet, but they had caught three Rebels attempting to infiltrate Snoke's command star destroyer. According to reports, they had been attempting to access and deactivate the hyperspace tracker that was keeping the Raddus on the end of a very short string. His short string. They had failed.
That one of the Rebels had already been identified as the mutineer stormtrooper FN-2187 only compounded his good mood. It would give him an excellent opportunity to demonstrate to the rank and file of the First Order the penalty for breaking the oath they had pledged as children; The shame and cost of betraying the organisation that had brought structure and stability into their lives. Hux was unsurprised that another of the prisoners had already offered to betray the Resistance in return for a few credits and their freedom. Well, he smirked, quite a few credits, but if the information they had offered up proved reliable it would be worth it. Another indication of a weak moral character, but to his advantage.
The Supremacy was the ultimate testament to the might of the First Order, and a monument to the power of the Supreme Leader. Its size was almost impossible to comprehend, only the rows of massive AT-ATs lined along the main hangar walls belied its true scale. Hux felt a tinge of jealousy that this was not his flagship, but instantly suppressed the thought, all too conscious that Snoke could detect even a shadow of discord in the minds around him.
Exiting the turbolift lines of white armoured stormtroopers and darkly uniformed officers flanked his path to where two prisoners were kneeling. Dressed in stolen First Order officer uniforms their faces were taut with anger and on the face of the woman at least, fear. Ignoring her, Hux paused in front of FN-2187, taking full opportunity to bask in the man's subjection. He was hiding his panic well, his young face defiant at being at the complete mercy of the First Order that he had deserted. Hux prided himself on controlling his anger and emotions, but in this case he allowed himself one small display. He slapped the stormtrooper across the face, gratified by the man's grunt of pain as his gloved hand made contact, the sound echoing across the open space.
"Well done Phasma!" Hux turned, eyes bright with praise. The chrome plated stormtrooper to his side, black cape denoting her position as Captain, gave a curt nod.
"Do we have any update on the information provided by the informant?" Hux asked, calculating the probability that the Rebel informant had been bargaining with the truth rather than simply delaying the inevitable.
A tech hurried up to him, datapad in hand, "General, Sir, on the basis of the data provided we ran a decloaking scan and they were right, a flotilla of small ships is leaving the Raddus, probably bound for some nearby planet." Hux's smile returned, the Resistance were now doomed. This was just the news the fleet needed, Snoke needed, after suffering the lost of the Fulminatrix.
"They were telling the truth? Well, wonders will never cease eh Phasma? Excellent work." Hux turned to leave to return to the bridge and oversee preparations for the destructions of the escape shuttles.
"Your ship and payment as agreed" Phasma turned to a uniformed figure who walked towards her, out of his direct eye line, the dark shape only a blur. As the informant passed the female prisoner, her face a mask of hatred struggled at her bonds as she realised how the Resistance had been betrayed. Hux laughed to himself as he began to walk back to the turbolift, the naivety of some people never ceased to amaze him. His experience had always been that people in their natural state would only be loyal until it cost them their liberty or their life - that's why he trained his soldiers and officers to fight that instinct of self preservation and place their trust in a higher power - the Order.
"You lying snake!" the female Resistance fighter's voice was shrill, but the voice that he heard respond as walked away was calm, almost apologetic. A woman's voice.
"We got caught, I cut a deal." Hux paused and turned, glancing at the retreating back of the turncoat as she walked towards a ship at the front of the hangar, past the lined troops. Without warning he found himself unable to breathe. Something in the way she walked perhaps, the easy roll of the hips. Maybe the line of her neck, something was familiar.
"Guards, stop her" he shouted, suddenly sure. Two stormtroopers immediately stepped out of line into her path, blocked her exit. The figure halted. Waited, silent and still.
"Turn around," he ordered, his hand moving to the blaster at his belt, in case she considered running. No one could be that foolish though, not in a hangar filled with a legion of stormtroopers, fully armed and combat ready. It would be suicide.
The woman turned slowly, her reluctance visible in the set of her head as she raised her hands above her head. Hux swallowed. It was her. The hair was different, blonder than he remembered, the eyes that met his no longer brown but a hazel green. Even her appearance had been a lie.
"Hello Hux" her voice was quiet, the soft Core Worlds accent rounding her vowels. Hux found himself frozen for a moment, trying to take in the reality of her presence. Three years. It had been three years since he had seen her.
Phasma's helmet hide a questioning look, her eyes narrowing as she analysed Hux's unexpected reaction.
"Shall I terminate her with the other prisoners Sir?" she asked, hefting her quicksilver baton, the modulator in her helmet not quite concealing the anticipation in her voice.
Hux shook his head. He had to think.
Any other prisoner he would have sent back to the holding cells. Escape from a star destroyer was so impossible that the cells didn't even have bars. If you got out, there was simply nowhere to run. Escape was simply impossible. With her though, it was a chance he was not willing to take the chance.
A holding cell also meant paperwork and questions; Questions he did not wish to be asked. An idea came to him which he discounted immediately, but he returned to it as he realised that as unpalatable as it was, it was the only one that would serve. At least for the moment until he could think of something better. Something more final.
"Captain Opan," he said turning to one of his private staff, hoping his face didn't betray the turmoil underneath, "Take the prisoner back the Finalizer, put her in my private quarters. Post guards outside and lock her in. Understood?" Opan nodded, too well trained to allow his expression to display surprise. This was not standard procedure, but he wasn't going to question his orders. Opan started to towards the prisoner, only to find his uniform sleeve in Hux's tight grip.
"Do not speak to her, do not allow anyone else to speak to her either" Hux hissed. Hux released him, and straightened, smoothing down his coat in an attempt to tame his shock. Stalking out of the hangar he could sense his crew and the woman staring at his back as he retreated back to the bridge, too consumed with his inner thoughts to give a damn what they might have been thinking, leaving the other Rebels to their fate.