A/N: As always, thank you for the follows, favorites, and reviews! For those of you that are Hux fans, I think you'll enjoy this chapter. And for those of you who like Kylo, please check out my new story "The Cruel Path Home". It is quite a bit different than this story for many reasons, with Kylo Ren angering Snoke and trying to get his revenge on the Supreme Leader through a tenuous alliance with his mother—but as you can imagine, things get a lot more complicated!

Thanks again, and please let me know your thoughts!

Jec Terris heard the footsteps coming up from the starboard crew pit, but chose to continue staring through the forward viewport rather than acknowledge the approaching officer. "Captain Terris," the tall, slender ensign said as he came up next to his commanding officer. "I noticed something in the hangar logs that is unusual."

Slowly the older man turned to the ensign. "Explain."

"Well, the logs are normally kept automatically and the computer will flag anything unusual or that needs attention from the bridge, but Major Keerne encourages us to always manually review the logs at least once per shift and that is how—"

"Explain what you found, not how you found it," Terris said tersely.

"Yes sir, of course. An Upsilon class command shuttle departed just over an hour ago on what was logged as a training mission. That's why we never saw anything up here: Training missions don't get reported to the bridge; docking control handles all that. But I thought it was odd to have a training mission on the schedule, given our current situation."

"It is indeed," Terris said thoughtfully. "I presume you called docking control to confirm the vessel actually departed?"

"Yes sir," the ensign replied, his tone more confident now that the Captain had taken an interest in what he had to report. "And had the departure report transmitted up as well." He handed a datapad to the Captain. "The crew manifest did not match anyone listed aboard the Finalizer."

Captain Terris took the datapad from the ensign and reviewed it carefully. He immediately realized why the ensign had not found any records for the crew: the two pilots listed were assigned not actually assigned to the Finalizer. They were members of the Master of the Knights of Ren's personal staff, assigned directly to Kylo Ren. Very few officers aboard the Finalizer knew their names or had the security clearance to pull up their personnel files.

"This is everything? Only two crew?"

"Yes sir. At least, that is all they sent."

Terris could not bury the hunch that a third person was on that shuttle. If the illustrious Kylo Ren had wanted to sneak away unobserved, feigning a training mission would be his best option. If not for the young officers vigilance, no one would have noticed the missing shuttle for hours.

"Thank you Ensign, you may resume your post," the Captain said. He turned back to the viewport, contemplating if he should notify General Hux of the situation. As he thought through various possibilities, he noticed the massive arrowhead shape of the Firestorm begin pivoting away from the Finalizer. The flicker of its main engines coming online was visible from the bridge.

"General Hux to the bridge please," Terris called out, "Helm, bring engines online."

Hux emerged from his office only moments later and immediately noticed the other vessel's maneuvering. "Where is he headed?"

Terris didn't need to look at the tactical display to see what was happening. "It looks like he is preparing for a hyperspace jump. His course will take him out of the star's gravity well."

"Raise shields, weapons online," Hux ordered. "Set an intercept course."

"You intend to engage them?" Terris asked.

"Not if it can be avoided," the General responded. "But I shall like an explanation as to why he is leaving our discussions unannounced."

Terris glanced down at his screen. The helm officer was trying to figure a way to catch the smaller Star Destroyer, continually recalculating the course to try and take advantage of local gravitational variations. But it was of no use. He turned to Hux and swallowed deeply. "General, it appears we are unable to match their acceleration."

Hux had already drawn a similar conclusion. "Launch Gamma squadron," he commanded.

Terris keyed in the order, wondering if this meant Hux had decided against pursuing peaceful resolution. If he intended to attack… the idea that Kylo Ren was on the other ship was largely speculation, but it was something Hux needed to know. "General, there is the possibility individuals from the Finalizer are onboard that ship."

The General snapped around and narrowed his eyes. "Explain."

"A command shuttle left the Finalizer approximately one hour ago and is no longer on sensors. It either jumped to hyperspace or docked with the other Star Destroyer. The pilots were assigned to Kylo Ren personally."

Hux's face trembled with barely contained rage. "You are telling me Kylo Ren is on that ship?"

"I don't know," Terris admitted, "but it certainly seems likely."

"Gamma squadron away, requesting orders sir," an officer called from the crew pit.

"The other ship has raised shields," a second man reported.

Hux swore under his breath, then tapped the control panel in front of him. "Gamma Leader, this is General Hux. I want you to reconfigure all your concussion missiles to mode Bravo Six except with negative polarity on the primary charges."

"Acknowledged sir," the pilot replied, sounding slightly confused. It was rare for his instructions to come directly from the General, and even rarer to have the officer coordinating the battle dictate minutia like the settings of his missile warheads.

Hux knew what came next would confuse him even more. "Position yourself in front of the Star Destroyer, within 5 degrees of their longitudinal access and release your missiles two klicks from the bow."

"Ah… Acknowledged General," the pilot said again.

"I'm afraid I don't understand, General," Terris said.

"A byproduct of a Bravo Six detonation is the production of concussive tachyon particles. Those can penetrate the shield," he paused for emphasis, "And are detectable in hyperspace."

"So we can track them at light speed? And inverting the polarity will make the tachyon's from the missile stand out better from background radiation."

"So I hope," Hux said candidly. "The tachyons should leave a trail behind the ship as it moves through hyperspace. As long as it is dense enough, our hyperspectral array should be able to pick it up, over a much longer range than Cronau Radiation." Hux smiled smugly. "I doubt the Grand Admiral even knows the technology exists."

"I did not know the array had that level of sensitivity."

"We will likely need to modify power distribution to avoid any interference, but we will find them." Hux looked at the tactical display, watching as the lead Tie Fighter lined up for a head-on approach with the Firestorm. It was almost comical, the tiny fighter playing a game of chicken with the immense warship. As instructed, the pilot fired off a salvo of missiles than broke sharply away, clearing the area before the concussion warheads detonated against the Star Destroyer's forward shields in a brilliant explosion that was visible from the Finalizer's bridge with the naked eye.

Fortunately for the Tie pilot, the Firestorm seemed unconcerned about the attack and maintained course. Seconds later, it made the jump to hyperspace, disappearing from view.

Hux starred out the viewport, focusing on the spot in space where the dagger-shaped destroyer had been moments before. "Our negotiations just got much more interesting."