A/N: Oh, hello again. Quick note: The Resistance that occurred on Parnassus (which assassinated a corrupt royal family a decade ago) is completely unaffiliated the Rebel Alliance we all know and love. Don't get it twisted.
Also thank you, you blessed few, who have favorited/followed so far. I see you.
On Hosnian Prime the First Order base of operations was technically the grand Coruscant embassy office. Here Kylo Ren ruminated by the window while Vand Breiner preoccupied himself at his desk. The Senator began flipping through holograms in the dossiers. He stopped at an unusual one. It was short, silent, and played on a loop. The image focused on a girl no older than fifteen and armed to the teeth. She posed triumphantly with a blaster rifle low in one hand and a broken slave collar raised high in the other. Her boot pressed defiantly against the face of what the audience can only assume was a (now former) slaver. Powerful words alternated above her; "Freedom is worth killing for!" "Justice is worth dying for!"
Kylo Ren recognized this person.
"Chell Niobe," observed Breiner. "Operated under the pseudonym 'Justice' while working with the Parnassan Resistance. This hologram must be nearly a decade old by now." Vand paused and thoughtfully stroked his chin, "Say what you will about the politics, but even the New Empire didn't have a propaganda campaign this compelling. Justice caused quite a stir in the Mid Rim." During and well after their successful revolution, Parnassan propaganda spread through neutral space like wildfire. It caused a lot of trouble for corporate interests who failed to quell rebellions.
Ren lingered on the hologram a while longer. He wondered if the quiet senator from earlier and 'Justice' actually shared much in common.
Dusk was nigh and the Stormtroopers, disguised as drug cartel, will soon have completed their task of assassinating nine senators and capturing three. There hadn't been an update in almost twenty minutes. The silence was beginning to draw suspicion.
As if on cue their head Stormtrooper radioed in some bad news.
"Sir!" The communications hissed. "We were able to track down and eliminate seven of the nine targets but-" He hesitated. "Many were already packing by the time we got there. We think our objective has been compromised. Also… Senators Basu, Starstrand, and Niobe are nowhere to be found…"
Suddenly all Kylo Ren could see was red. Niobe had sensed they were in danger earlier, he felt it.
"…Our intelligence says they were last seen…"
Why didn't he trust his initial instincts and capture her right then? They could be anywhere in the galaxy by now. He failed the Supreme Leader's objective.
"…leaving the planet an hour ago…"
Kylo Ren violently reached for his lightsaber and everyone fled to the other side of the room. As he poised for destruction an epiphany prevented him from hitting the activator. He flashed back to Niobe's private exchange under the pillar. The way the three interacted... They weren't all planning to leave together. Starstrand and Basu were saying goodbye to their friend.
"The girl is still here," Ren realized, weapon still in hand. "Search the Parnassus Embassy office."
One fool within force-choke distance interjected, "But, Sir, we already-" His words were squelched by a gagging sound.
"Search. It. Again."
The communications hissed again. "Sir, FN-2003 is still in that vicinity. He'll return to the Parnassus Embassy right away."
It wouldn't be enough. Without wasting another second he set off towards the embassy.
The sun was beginning to set as he strode past several monstrous senate buildings to his destination. All of them displayed the flags of the planets they were hosting. Finally he reached the one with the stripes of Parnassus out front. At least Ren didn't have to guess which window belonged to the embassy in question. A second story window was evidently shattered. On the ferrocrete directly below was a severely injured FN-2003; eyes open and sprawled motionless on his back. Alive, but worse for wear. As the knight approached he also noticed a shiv sticking straight through the trooper's foot. Curious.
Kylo Ren soon found himself cautiously approaching Senator Niobe's office. The girl was in there; he could already sense her energy. He helped himself through the door that was already ajar. The place was ransacked. General Hux's prized Stormtroopers tore the place apart yet they were still too incompetent to find one person. He paused a moment to take in his surroundings.
It was too quiet, until he heard a soft shuffle from the next room.
There she is.
Storming into the next room he almost didn't hear a little metal ball hit the floor and roll innocuously towards him. The first thing he saw was Chell Niobe armed to the teeth standing on the ledge of the shattered window; a small red button in hand. With instant clarity Ren had already retreated, force shut the door, and braced for impact.
Boom.
Staggered by the deafening blast Ren didn't wait to recompose himself before hastily pushing down the charred door. He couldn't believe what just happened. What kind of senator just "has" a thermal detonator? Naturally she had already fled the scene, but she wasn't far. There weren't many places she could go from that ledge without breaking her ankles. Niobe would try to reenter the building from an open window.
Kylo Ren went back out into the hall and blasted through it with a vengeance, force opening doors to locate the nearest entry point. The moment he first saw her on that ledge; she was smiling. She was toying with him. The mere thought slighted him. But, not for much longer. He sensed her again towards the end of the hall and this time she didn't have any more spectacular tricks to save her.
He entered the room where he felt her presence and was met with the same stifled silence as before. The moment came and he ignited his lightsaber. That same moment Niobe revealed her position to flank him with a blaster rifle on the left. The crossguard blade deflected every one of her predictable shots. It was almost cute how she thought that would work. She staggered back from her cover as he got closer. The blaster barrel fizzled and jammed. Her back was now against the wall, fear rising. In a last ditch effort to save herself she produced a knife and flung it at him. Niobe gasped when the knife mysteriously boomeranged back and impaled the wall inches from her head.
Enough was enough, Ren thought. Before she could even raise her fists he was already upon her. The last thing she saw was a black hand reaching towards her face; then everything went dark.