"Kylo? Is that you?" Rey calls out.
No, it's not. It's Armitage Hux. He walks into the open doorway and drawls, "Were you expecting someone else?"
"Oh!" Rey nearly leaps out of her skin. How did he get in here? And why does everyone feel free to break into her apartment? She recovers fast and nods coolly, doing her best Jakku scavenger stare down. Rey uses her most quelling 'don't fuck with me' tone as she greets him. "Chancellor."
"Come, now," Hux cajoles. He's clearly enjoying her dismay. This is a man who relishes making others uncomfortable. "Surely, we know each other better than that."
"Army," she plays along coolly.
"That's better."
Her eyes find the blaster Kylo gave her in Hux's hands. Is that an unspoken threat? "How did you get in here?" she demands.
"I bribed the Palace chauffeur who took you home last night. I must say, I did not expect to find you down here. This is a slum. When I heard your coordinates, I was certain that guy cheated me. I had to investigate for myself. But lo and behold," he tosses her blaster down on the table between them, "this is the last bastion of the Resistance after all. Is that the extent of your arsenal?" He shakes his head in mock reproof. "Gunrunning is not your thing, Senator. Stick to speeches."
Rey frowns at the blaster. It had been hidden in a drawer. Hux has clearly been snooping. Not that there is much to find.
He gestures to her bottled water stacked against the wall. "Apparently, this is a supply depot as well. Are you anticipating a siege? I could bivouac the 101st Legion here."
Defensive Rey bristles, "I like to be prepared."
"A girl scout, eh? That fits. A thirsty girl scout." He's laughing at her. Then again, from what she has seen, Hux laughs at everyone. He has the strangest personality—his quick sarcastic wit would be thoroughly entertaining if it weren't for his pervasive mean-spiritedness.
"How did you get in here?" Rey demands.
"I have my ways. Now, don't get upset," he chides. "I'm not stalking you. I just came to check on you and to satisfy my curiosity. And yes, it really is as bad as everyone says beneath the Upper Levels. I had to break in to wait inside or risk being mugged on the street. I've seen Hellholes in the Rim that were more appealing than this neighborhood," Hux sniffs. He eyes her dingy, timeworn apartment. "Such an interesting choice of residence. Why ever are you skulking down here with the proletariat?"
"Well, thanks for dropping by," Rey makes a not-so-subtle hint to her uninvited guest.
Hux ignores it. He shifts his stance and drops his usual nasty persona. His next words are such a marked contrast to his usual vitriol that they fairly ring with sincerity. "I'm glad you came last night."
Oh.
Well, Rey isn't. But he's being nice, so she makes a neutral comment. "That was quite a party."
He clearly relishes the praise. Army crows, "It was epic. I'm still not fully sober." Then, he cocks his head at her and demands, "What chased you away so early? You ran out of there like a Muun during a bank run."
Rey shrugs. "I don't fit in with your friends. Surely that's not a surprise."
"You need to assimilate. We won. Get over it."
Rey has. But that doesn't mean she's ready to hang out with the First Order for fun. "That's not my crowd."
Hux raises both eyebrows. "Too many Starkiller jokes?"
"Did you actually eat that cake?" Rey frowns.
"No. We exploded it."
She blinks.
"Well, technically, we should have collapsed it."
She blinks again.
"Oh, come on!" he gibes. "I know you can smile. Rey, you have a very pretty smile when you aren't giving me all that stern moral condescension. It's tiresome, you know. Very tiresome. Although," he purses his lips, "you make an excellent straight man. Perhaps Ren is onto something with this foe idea."
Rey shoots him a look. "Enough with the Starkiller jokes."
He looks coy. "Too soon?"
"It's not a laughing matter. Didn't a lot of your own people die on Starkiller Base?"
"Yes, so we're even."
"You are heartless."
He doesn't dispute it. "Our Starkiller dead were martyrs for the glorious cause. Heroes of the First Order. I gave an excellent eulogy for them—did you catch it? It was one of my best speeches. There were clips of it all over the holonet for weeks," he preens.
"It's always about you, isn't it?" Rey narrows her eyes and considers her visitor. "You know I never pictured you as being this animated in real life. From your speeches, you seemed—"
"Eloquent?" he finishes for her.
Rey shakes her head. "Verbose."
"Thrilling?"
"Stiff."
"Brilliant?"
"Arrogant."
"Devastatingly handsome?"
"Yeah," she reluctantly concedes this one, "you're good looking. I'll grant you that."
Hux chuckles. "Admit it. You like me," he goads with a smile. "You hate that you like me."
It's true, but Rey shrugs. "I like you as much as I like any genocidal militant."
He's philosophical about that comment. "One man's genocide is another man's liberation. But grant that I am a man of honor with principles, not some mad dog petty dictator like Ren." Hux is serious again now. "Rey, you really should be careful of Ren. He's a psychopath."
"I know."
"I always wondered why Snoke kept that rabid cur in such a place of power. But I suppose Ren was a useful tool when properly manipulated. Certainly, he was useful for hunting Skywalker." Rey is well aware that Kylo and his Chancellor don't like each other, but Army truly looks troubled as he warns, "Ren's violence has only gotten worse since the war ended. Lately, he's always melting down over something or another. His overkill is gratuitous. Last week he slowly dismembered some Admiral who pissed him off." When Rey recoils at this, Hux warns gravely, "Watch yourself."
She nods. "I will."
"Good," Hux looks relieved. "I'm still figuring you out," he reveals now. Looking around to give her entire apartment some serious side eye, Hux informs her, "This humble abode puts a new wrinkle in the mix. You have deepened your mystery, Rey." When she does not react, he continues: "I know you were there when Ren killed Snoke. I just don't know how it played out."
Rey's no fool. She's not about to tell him.
Army walks through the scenario aloud. "You surrendered to Ren to get to Snoke. Just like Skywalker surrendered to Vader to get to the Emperor. Then Vader killed the Emperor to save Skywalker. Tell me," Army Hux's icy blue eyes drill into her. "Did Ren kill Snoke to save you?"
Rey herself doesn't know the answer to that question. She had thought she knew Kylo's motivations, but now she's not so sure. She punts on the question. "You'll have to ask Ren. No one knows why he does half of the things he does."
"Ren let you get away," Hux decides. "Oh, he blamed Snoke's death on you and pretended to be hurt, but I saw through him immediately. Ren had the most to gain by killing Snoke. If you had killed Snoke, you would have killed Ren too. But you didn't. You let Ren live on the Starkiller. He let you live on the Supremacy. Quid pro quo?" Hux looks to her for confirmation. "Have I got that right?"
Not exactly. But close enough. "You know a lot."
"Yes, but I don't know why any of this happened. And that's the most important part. Why, Rey? Tell me."
Again, Army Hux's keenly intelligent eyes bore into hers. She looks away. "Ask Ren."
"I'm asking you. Why does a known fugitive get to flee the Supremacy in Snoke's personal escape craft moments before our fleet is devastated by your rebel friends? Why when you're caught again with the Resistance do you get a pardon when the others get executed? Why do you get a lifetime appointment to the Senate with carte blanche to spout Resistance rhetoric? There has to be a reason," he purrs. "Care to enlighten me?"
Not really. And, truthfully, Rey doesn't understand it all herself. "Ask Ren," she punts again.
Hux walks a few paces forward to stare her down. "Are you Ren's sister?"
Rey blinks at this unexpected question. "What?"
"Don't be coy. That's long been the leading theory. You're his sister. That's why you were Resistance. That's why Han Solo came to rescue you on Starkiller Base. That's why you were loyal to Leia Organa until the end. It's why you saw the map to the Jedi and had the droid. And why you have the Force. You're a Skywalker, aren't you?" he accuses like it's the worst thing possible.
When Rey doesn't immediately answer, Hux steps forward even closer. "Yes," he hisses. "I know who Ren is. Plenty of people do. So . . . are you his sister?"
"No."
"His cousin maybe?"
"No."
Hux still looks unconvinced. "Would you even know if you were? That family has a habit of misplaced relatives on the opposite sides of a war."
"I'm not his sister. I'm not Luke's daughter. I'm nobody," Rey chokes out the truth. "My parents were junk traders on Jakku." There. She said it out loud. In the two years since the revelations of her past occurred, Rey has struggled to accept the humble truth. But now, she's ready to make it her own. Ready to confess it even to this man who she knows will shame her for it. "My parents were itinerant scavengers. L-Like m-me." They must have lived on the edge of society one step ahead disaster until it finally caught up with them. Rey is all that survives of her family.
Hux curls his lip in disdain. Like she knew he would. "How wretched."
"Yes," she immediately agrees. "They were wretched." That's the kindest thing she can say about her faithless family. Rey looks away. "They're dead now." Part of her is glad.
"Let me guess—they were victims of the Empire or of the First Order and that explains your zeal—"
"No," Rey cuts him off sharply. "They were drunkards who died in the desert after they sold me off for drinking money."
"Ouch," Hux's reaction is real. "That's way worse than being a Skywalker." He reconsiders though after a moment, "Well, maybe not." Seeing her obvious distress, Hux drops his interrogation act now and tells her softly, "Rey, I'm sorry. My family was awful, too. Well, my father was awful. My poor mother was a saint. From what I remember of her, that is . . ." He looks as uncomfortable now as she feels.
"So . . . you really are from Jakku," Army abandons his theory of her being some long-lost Skywalker. He sounds disappointed about it. She can't fault him for that. She too had been disappointed to discover she has no romantic fairytale origin story. She's just some random girl with the Force.
Rey takes a deep breath and says it again. Louder and firmer this time. "I'm nobody." She's fine with it. Really, she is. The bigger let down was that her parents had betrayed her into her circumstances, not that her parents were unremarkable.
Hux looks concerned. "You don't believe that, do you?" His handsome face is so expressive when he loses his mask-like perpetual sneer. It's like he's a different person entirely. "Tell me you don't really believe that."
Rey nods her head. "I'm just a scavenger. After the war, I was a mechanic in a droid factory," she reveals.
"And now you're a Senator of the Empire," Hux finishes with a somewhat forced brightness.
It grates. "Do you know why a nineteen-year-old runs away to war?" she asks bitterly. "Because she has nothing to lose." Rey had everything to gain with the Resistance. They fed her regular meals and housed her with running water. They offered her belonging and friendship. Even some degree of prestige once she was entrusted to bring the lightsaber to the missing Jedi Master. And, yes, she agreed with their principles. But that wasn't the real motivating factor. Young girls from intact, stable, and happy families don't run away to war. They have people to talk them out of it and futures to jeopardize. But not Rey of Jakku. The only she has going for her is the Force.
Army Hux knows it, too. "You have the magic Force and that makes you somebody. You're a wildcard, Rey," he says with true respect. Then he flashes a smile that is disarmingly endearing. "You are a most unusual Senator."
Yes, and that's the problem. Rey's mind reverts back to the question Kylo had asked her earlier: does she want to go back to Dantooine? That's really another way of asking does she want to be a Senator? One week into the job, Rey still isn't sure. There are pros and cons. It's a mixed bag. The pay is far better than the droid factory and the job definitely improves her standing in life's pecking order. But Coruscant is very expensive and Rey is still getting used to it.
More importantly, the job seems to require Rey to be a figure of fun, like some token gadfly to the First Order's tyranny. That's not a position she would choose outright. It seems stupid to continue in that role unless she can actually make a positive difference. Kylo says he wants her to have an impact, but it's hard to see how that's possible as one Senator out of a thousand. Rey fears that she is too far out of step from the other First Order aligned politicians. They are beholden to the regime and to their voters, unlike Rey who answers only to her conscience and to Kylo.
Is she a sell out if she stays in the Senate and acquiesces to Kylo? Or is she honoring the memory and the cause of the Resistance? Rey isn't sure. But if she is going to do this Senate thing, she wants to do it well. With dignity and grace and true impact. And if that's not possible, then she wants to go back to anonymity on Dantooine.
There were dissenting Senators in the old Imperial Senate. Leaders like Bail Organa, Mon Mothma, and Leia Organa. For years before the Alliance was formed, they tried to work within the system to reform it. That's the role Rey would have to play to be successful. And those are very big shoes to fill. Rey worries she is not up to the task. It's not that Rey feels she isn't capable, it's just that giving speeches, attending meetings, and schmoozing are skills way out of her comfort zone. She needs a mentor.
The logical choice is also the most bizarre one, but he happens to be standing right in front of her just now: Chancellor Armitage Hux.
So, Rey sucks up her pride and asks for help. "Army, I need more than help writing my introductory speech. I need someone to teach me how to be a Senator. What to do, what to say, where to go, how to look, how to act. Ren put me in this role and I feel like I'm being set up to fail."
"Shall I assign an aide to you as a consultant?" he offers.
"Do you think that would be enough help? I need a lot of help," she admits. "Would you do it yourself?" she boldly blurts out.
"You're saying you want to be my protege?" Army looks as shocked that she's asking as Rey is. He feels the need to confirm. "That is what you are suggesting, is it not?"
"Well, yes," Rey blushes, feeling a bit sheepish. "I guess so . . . If you want to, that is . . ."
He looks pleased now. She has stroked his ego. But then, self-important Hux informs her, "That is a much coveted role, you know. Many would love to have my tutelage. I can make or break someone's career."
It's true. He's not bragging. Armitage Hux is a very powerful and influential figure.
"Normally, if I were to provide career guidance, it would be for someone with impeccable academic and professional credentials. Someone whose rise could be useful to me in the long run. You are none of those things," he observes bluntly.
"That's why I need your help," she counters.
He cocks his head at Rey now and challenges, "Why should I help you?"
"You did it once before."
"That was a one-off."
"Do it to suck up to Leader Ren."
"I'm no sycophant." Army takes offense.
"Then do it to punk Ren. Help me oppose him more effectively."
"That opposes me, too," he points out.
"You were using my appointment to discredit Ren to your friends at your party," she reminds him. When he doesn't deny it, Rey shoots him a look. "It wasn't very subtle."
He is unrepentant. "I am not a subtle man. These are not subtle times."
Yes, she knows. "We all are learned that from the Starkiller."
"Are we back to that again?" Hux complains. "Give me a real reason why I should help you and maybe I'll do it."
Rey considers a long moment before she speaks up. "Do it because you like me and because I like you."
"I hate that I like you," he grumbles.
"I hate that I like you, too," she agrees.
Hux deliberates. "You are woefully unqualified to be a Senator, but you have promise. If you were more effective, I could call publicly for your dismissal. Make Ren look even more foolish for appointing you in the first place."
"So, you'll do it?" Rey asks hopefully.
"I would teach you the way I myself was taught," Hux thinks aloud, "and that is very sink or swim. I have high standards."
"So, that's a yes?"
"I shall consider it further," Hux defers judgement. "Well, carry on," he orders as though he were her commanding officer. Then, he makes to leave.
"Army," she says sternly as he approaches the door. "Don't break in here again."
He raises an eyebrow. "Because I might run into Ren?"
"Yes." She instinctively knows nothing good will come of that.
The next morning, that friendly woman from Army's staff can't wait to intercept Rey as she arrives at the office. "Oh, good. There you are. Have you seen these?" She pushes a datapad towards Rey. "They went up yesterday. Four million hits already. And counting. Army was very pleased."
Rey starts swiping through a collection of images from the birthday party. It's a who's who of the First Order looking glamorous, relaxed, and happy. This is the in-crowd of the fascist elite.
"Army and our press secretary went over the snaps to pick the very best. They did some editing. Look—they got your good side."
"Oh. Okay." Sure enough, Rey is in one of the photographs released to the press. Wow. Does she really look like that? Rey is pictured standing with that young major fellow who she had met at the beginning of the party. Rey reads the caption 'ultra left wing' next to her name and cringes inwardly. Exactly when did she become the crazy extremist?
"It's a nice follow-up on your media debut last week. Plus, it makes Army look so tolerant, don't you think? Reaching across the aisle to the lone dissident. So magnanimous," the aide approves.
"Right," Rey grumbles.
As if on cue, Chancellor Hux now appears. This man has a habit of turning up unannounced, Rey thinks. He marches blithely into her office with a larger than usual entourage trailing in his wake.
"Chancellor," she greets him formally. Around the Senate offices, there is a lot of pomp and circumstance, she's noticed. Trying to fit in, Rey mimics it herself.
"Senator," Army begins, "I bring you distinguished guests." He waves a careless hand behind him at his throng. "These scholars from Coruscant University are the foremost experts in poverty and economic development. There were my nine o'clock, but now they are your nine o'clock instead." Hux is his usual presumptuous self as he unloads his inconvenient visitors on Rey. "They are here to brief the Senate on strategies to help the deplorables become more self-sufficient and less of a drain on public resources. I told them you were fan of this sort of thing, so their time would be better spent with you. I know you are a receptive ear for this sort of whining, Senator."
Feeling very maneuvered and a bit bewildered, Rey nods slowly. Is this what Army meant by sink or swim?
The Chancellor now shakes his head with true regret. "It's a pity the war is over, or we could just put the young ones in the stormtrooper program and be done with it. These days, the orphanages are full to the brim."
"Chancellor, the poor will always be with us," a woman in the group intones gravely.
"Yes. And, unfortunately, the stupid are as endemic as the poor. Plus, they procreate just as readily." Hux turns back to Rey. "Senator, you will be my personal representative in this matter. This is your area of expertise, after all. And you are our at-large representative for the Rim where this sort of thing runs rampant." Hux turns to the group of academics, many of whom look none too pleased to lose their coveted audience with the Chancellor only to be fobbed off on Rey. "Tell the Senator here everything you wish me to know. She will be briefing me later."
"Forgive me, but isn't this Senator very new?" the woman who spoke up before eyes Rey without enthusiasm.
Hux flashes his most charming smile. "The Senator has a deep and longstanding knowledge of the underprivileged. Her words may occasionally be intemperate, but her heart is in the right place so we indulge her lapses. We can all respect that she is passionate in her views." Army shoots her a covert wink as he proclaims, "I have complete confidence in her judgement. As does our Leader."
"Yes, of course," the woman replies stiffly, looking resigned to be brushed off.
"I will have one of my staffers sit in as well," Army adds to Rey's great relief.
"Thank you, Chancellor," Rey says with as much professionalism as she can muster.
As Army sweeps regally from the room, Rey summons one of her new and very idle legislative assistants to sit in. She figures she should have an entourage of her own since everyone else seems to. Determined to convene her very first policy meeting and to make Leia Organa proud, Rey invites her unexpected guests to sit. It's time to start this Senator gig for real, she decides.
And so, with a deep breath and a friendly smile, Rey perches on the edge of her giant desk and begins, "Tell me your ideas."
