Raydonia

Vaneli was still not entirely sure why Snoke had put so much faith in her to train Kylo Ren. Ever since she'd been taken in by him, he'd told her of her power and the Force – it was the whole reason she'd ended up here. Snoke had sought her out, a strong Force sensitive individual with unlimited potential, to train like a dog and create a loyal soldier out of. She was nothing more than a pawn to him, and the fact that he called her his daughter was simply a ploy for her to feel more comfortable with him. When she realized that, she vowed she would do anything she could to take him down, even if it meant putting on an act in order to survive in his halls. It wasn't easy, and it took every ounce of energy she had in her to keep him out of her mind, away from her true thoughts. She had to convince him she was on the Dark side, not a shred of doubt, and she'd had to do some…questionable things, including agreeing to an arranged marriage with that man.

As long as it kept her alive another day, she could justify it to herself. She wasn't sure how long she could keep it up, though, and she was sure Snoke was starting to sense what was going on. It had been years, and she knew it could only go on for so long. A feeling of dread was always present in her stomach these days, and she couldn't help but think that the foundation she'd worked so hard to build was about to crack.

While she hadn't exactly been trying to disappoint him, there were some aspects of fighting she just wasn't very good at, and it didn't help her case at all. Sure, she could wield her two sided lightsaber like it was an extension of herself, and was able to use the Force to break into her enemies minds (and, in turn, keep them out of hers) but when it came to other parts of the battle, she wasn't exactly the super soldier Snoke had imagined. She was only ok with a blaster, often needing to use both hands to really get a good shot, which was inefficient. And when it came to piloting…it was laughable how bad at that she was.

Yes, she certainly was not the incredible Force user Snoke had wanted her to become, but for some reason, he still trusted her with Ren. A foolish mistake, in her opinion. Sometimes, she got the feeling that Snoke did care about her, even just a bit – but then she remembered him setting her house on fire with her father still inside, and all those feelings vanished instantly.

Ren and Vaneli had trained together right after Ben Solo had renounced his name, his parents, and his life to the Dark side. Snoke had been training her with his soldiers ever since she could remember, helping train her in the Force, and when he was able to sway the grandson of the Darth Vader to the Dark side, he envisioned them as an unstoppable team. Together, they would be his puppets, taking down the Republic and restoring the Dark side to their rightful place as the ruling entity of the galaxy. Vaneli knew it was her opportunity to stop Ren before he really started, to try and coax him back to the Light and to his parents, but he was not easily swayed. Her focus on him only brought out more anger and disgust, and Snoke's attention focused from her to him, his new shining pupil.

Still, it could not be denied that Vaneli was powerful and a strong Force user, and good in combat. Ren was still pretty terrible in combat, as evidenced by the large scar now adorning his face. As long as Vaneli was still needed around here, she was safe.

Vaneli was not disappointed to see Ren up bright and early, as promised, for his first lesson. On the contrary, she was excited. Last time she had helped him, he was still a young Force user, and she had thought she would still be able to break through to him. She had been unsuccessful. If anything, she blamed herself for his bad temper. Let yourself feel, don't push the feelings away, she'd told him. She'd been attempting to reawaken the Light in him, but that had backfired tremendously. Now, however, she could tell he was plagued with many feelings. Most of those feelings were of regret. There was some semblance of a human being buried in there somewhere, and as unfortunate as it was, perhaps he needed to kill his father to bring that part out. A necessary sacrifice. She hadn't had that before – maybe now was the time.

This time, Vaneli vowed, she would be more successful.

"Morning," she greeted him with a smile. Kylo just glared her without saying a word.

Taking off her jacket to reveal her tight black training tunic and maroon leggings, she turned back to her student, arms crossed.

"I believe the correct response is Good Morning, Master," she teased him. Kylo glared at her again, taking off his own jacket as he readied for training.

"You're not my master," he grumbled.

"No, that would be my father, but still – I am your teacher. Believe me when I say I want to help you, Kylo, to help you break down those walls and truly harness your power," she assured him.

"That's a nice thought, but I can't stop thinking about our last training session when you nearly cut my arm off," he replied, taking his lightsaber out of his hilt and igniting it.

Vaneli rolled her eyes. "Oh, let it go, Ren. That was years ago. A teacher is tough on their students."

"You're younger than me."

"So?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. You're the child here, out of the two of us, she wanted to snap back, but she didn't. She chose another approach. "Don't get all sour because Father chose to focus more energy on me instead of you," she snapped.

Vaneli knew she had struck a chord with him. So far, so good. She was digging deep into him. She knew she could lord that over him as much as she wanted. She knew Ren was always a little jealous of that, wishing that Snoke was his father instead. If only he knew just how badly Vaneli wished that were true as well…

"First things first – we need to fix that," she told him, pointing to his lightsaber. His dark eyebrows furrowed and he glanced at her.

"Why?" he asked, waving it to show her that the weapon was still in fine working order.

"Look at it, Ren – it's no wonder you were beat by an inexperienced young girl. This weapon looks like it's going to detonate at any minute," she told him, pointing out the jagged edges of the saber beam, which would be sleek and smooth.

"It's not finished," he told her.

"I know – and you're going to finish it. If I'm going to train you properly, you need a proper weapon. I'd prefer not to die during training because you hit something too hard and the whole thing exploded," she told him. She walked over to one of the storage sheds in the hanger and pulled out a toolbox, setting it down on the floor next to him.

"Once you fix your saber, then we can truly begin," she told him. Kylo just stared at her in horror.

"You must be joking."

"I am completely serious."

"How is this going to help me?"

Vaneli rolled her eyes. "Did you not hear me say I don't want the bloody thing to explode? Once your weapon is in proper working order, we can truly fight and work on your skills. Unless you want to fight with mine," she added, taking the saber out of her belt and twisting the middle, so it unscrewed in to two separate weapons. She held out one end for him, and after a moment of thinking, he turned away.

"No. I suppose you're right. An unstable weapon is dangerous."

Smirking with satisfaction, she nodded. "A weapon is a part of you, and you have to take care of it like it's your own limb. Now I can't imagine it'll take you more than a day. While you're working on it, use the time to reflect. What do you really want out of this training? What do you want to do now that your father is gone? What's next for you, Kylo Ren?" she asked. She hoped she would plant the seeds of regret in his brain, and giving him a day to do nothing but manual work was a great way to assure he'd dwell on it a lot. She knew there was sadness from the death of his father buried inside there – she hoped she could bring it to the surface. She had to do this now, while the wound was still fresh, or she'd lose her chance.

Kylo rolled his eyes. "You women and all your thinking and feelings," he grumbled. Vaneli could already see his mind racing, though, and felt a sense of pride at her manipulation. If only she was a senator – she'd be able to sway anyone to her way of thinking, even without the Force. Perhaps some day…

No, focus. Focus on Ren. Make him obsess over it, really feel the regret, have it bring out the Light…

And so she left him there. Her red lips, permanently tattooed on the request on Snoke to make her seem more menacing, curled into a smirk as she left the hanger. True, she was determined to try and help him and bring him home to his mother – but she couldn't help but have a little fun with him.

Suddenly, an arm reached out and grabbed her, and pulled her into a dark corner. Before she could register what was happening, hungry lips pushed into hers. She should have known who it was – she should have sensed him. She had been too damn distracted by Ren to notice him creeping in the shadows.

Hux pulled away and grinned. "It's good to see you again, Vaneli," he told her before capturing her lips in another rough kiss. She was glad that he had his eyes closed and wouldn't be able to see her roll her own, but she kissed him back anyways. Like a good little puppet.

"I was wondering when Father was going to call me into the fight. I haven't seen a real skirmish in far too long," she told him. The only fights she'd ever been a part of had been brief raiding missions – something difficult enough to really test her powers, but not so difficult that Snoke had to worry about losing her.

"He should just make you his sole pupil and be done with that fool," Hux grumbled, looking over his shoulder at Ren for just a second. "Plus, that would mean I'd get to spend a lot more time with you," he added, taking her hips and grinding his into hers, a slight bulge pressing against her.

"Well, I'm here now – we have all the time in the world, fiancé," she whispered in his ear. Despite the fact that Hux made her want to vomit every time he spoke, she was a perfect doll and knew what part she had to play in this game to keep him unaware of her intentions.

"I love hearing you call me that," he grumbled, his voice full of want. Knowing where this went, Vaneli pulled back and smiled at him. She often gave herself in to his wants to appease him, but not today. She had too much to focus on.

"I should get back to Ren. I'd be a rubbish teacher if I abandoned my student during his first task," she said with a wink. Hux gave her a sly grin and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Right, I suppose…we should be professional. I'll see you tonight, then?" he asked, trying to sound cool but coming off as slightly desperate. It was getting hard and harder to not gag in his presence.

Valeni nodded. "Of course. Anything for you," she said before kissing him on the cheek and turning to go back to the hanger, even though she didn't want to be anywhere near Ren right now. She could feel the annoyance radiating off of him from here.

If it was between dealing with a moody Kylo Ren and a horny General Hux, she'd pick Ren every single time.


Naboo

"We received word that Rey made it safely to Ahch-To," Leia informed Poe as he unpacked his X-Wing at their new base. "She's made contact with Luke, and they're going to spend the next two weeks training in the Force before heading back to us," she added.

Poe stopped and his eyes widened. THE Luke Skywalker was really going to be coming here?! Honestly, with the transfer of bases, and worrying about his new friend in his coma, he hadn't even been thinking about Rey and Luke. He'd only ever glimpsed the girl, but he could tell just by looking at her that she was someone special – he didn't need the Force to see that.

"That's amazing! So, is she…going to be a Jedi then?" he asked.

Leia shook her head. "No, I do think the days of the Jedi are truly behind us, Dameron. Trying to force people into those old laws has only ever been a disaster."

"Well – if Vader, I mean…sorry…Anakin had never broken the Jedi laws, you wouldn't be here," Poe pointed out with a grin. Leia smirked at him, and Poe was glad in that moment that he could joke with the general like that and not get reprimanded for it. If he'd made a crack like that in the Republic army, he'd have been sent to run laps for an hour.

Leia let out a deep sigh and straightened her purple cargo vest. "Well, I just wanted to give you an update, Dameron. I fully intend for us to come up with a plan to do something by the time she comes back. We'll be having a meeting tomorrow with the Admiral and the rest of our commanders to figure out our next move," she explained to him. Poe nodded, and with that, she left him to continue unpacking.

When she was gone, BB-8 unhooked himself from his charging station and rolled over to him. The droid beeped at him, asking about Rey and if she would be missing him on Ahch-To. Poe chuckled and nodded.

"I'm sure she misses you, buddy. You're a loveable little droid, I know I certainly missed you when we were separated," he assured the droid. BB-8 let out a little squeal of delight, and then Poe heard someone approach him from behind.

"You know, I think you love that droid more than you love your new boyfriend," Jessika came up behind him and playfully punched him in the arm, and Poe felt himself blush. He was suddenly glad that the hanger was empty except for the two of them.

"Come on, Jess. Finn isn't my boyfriend," he assured her.

"You want him to be, though," she told him slyly. Not many people on the base knew about Poe's sexuality – but Jess was one of them. She was one of his closest friends, and they'd had a few wild nights together of their own, purely for pleasure and nothing else. She was the first one he'd told about his bisexuality on the base, and while he wasn't ashamed of it, he didn't exactly want it broadcasted. No matter who he liked to spend his nights with, his main mission in life was piloting – and that was all it was going to be. He didn't want people getting distracted by trivial details.

He never saw himself as someone who would settle down. His love in life was his X-Wing.

"He's in love with Rey. It's sooo obvious. Pretty adorable too…like a little puppy," he said with a grin. Jess chuckled and nodded in agreement.

"He is. The guy has it bad. I'm sorry, Poe," she added as a serious afterthought. He shook his head, feeling her dark eyes staring at him intently for any signs of emotion – but he was not going to give her any.

"Don't feel sorry for me. It's fine, really. Just because I like everyone doesn't mean everyone else does," he joked, putting on a smile for her. It sucked, yeah, when someone didn't return his affections, but that just meant he could move along to the next person. Maybe Jess, if she was feeling up for it later. It had been a while.

"I just went to visit him," Jess informed him, which Poe had expected. Jess had a little bit of training in medics – not a lot, but enough to try and help out with Finn. Piloting was still her main passion, but she had been spending extra time in the med bay to try and figure out a way to wake him up.

"Any luck?" he asked, even though he knew the answer. She shook her head.

"His vitals are all the same – he's just still unconscious," she sighed. Poe bit his lip and sighed as well. It was starting to worry him how long he had been in the coma…he knew it was possible that he could be in the coma for a long, long time. The longer it lasted, the more worried he became.

Just as Poe was going to try and steer the conversation towards something happier – perhaps inviting her to his quarters later, to try and get his mind off things – Leia's voice sounded over the intercom system.

"Commander Dameron to General Organa's office," she stated. That meant she wanted to talk strategy. UGH. Poe hated talking strategy. Did the woman do anything else with her time? He groaned and rested his head against the X-Wing dramatically. Jess chuckled.

"Go on, I'll finish up here," Jess told him, referring to the cargo that Poe had yet to finish unpacking with all the distractions around him. Poe smiled and clapped her shoulder in thanks.

"As soon as he wakes up, you'll be the first to know," she assured him before he walked off, and in thanks, Poe gave the young girl a big squeeze of appreciation before heading off to Organa's office.