(First Order HQ)

"ALL TROOPS! REPORT TO THE TRANSPORTS IMMEDIATELY!" A slightly staticy Captain Phasma called out, the voice reverberating all throughout the halls from the sheer volume of it and in no time at all, the sound of boots stomping against the polished floors soon filled the air. The troopers knew best not to defy Phasma since while it was rare for her to actually lash out against them, they knew that if any single trooper was reported as being a slacker to Commander Ren, there would most certainly be hell to pay.

After having a whole day to get used to everything and with the experience she possessed with the Demons, one would think that the blonde tanned Mez had gotten used to everything by now and in some cases, you were both right AND wrong which was especially evidenced with how the woman found herself being jolted awake by the captain's voice and the moment she was, she couldn't help but feel the massive amounts of aching all throughout her body and especially as she sat up for her joints seemed to constantly be fighting against her the whole way through.

"Does that shiny bitch ever respect beauty sleep?" Mez groggily asked herself, her hand rubbing her face. After a few seconds, she suddenly froze, her eyes widening in realization. Carefully moving her hand towards her heart, she felt the beats coming in at a nice steady pace, telling her that she indeed was alive. For most people, this would be a time of celebration but if she had to be honest, she really was curious as to why this even happened.

Syura and by extension Wild Hunt were some of the most vicious criminals that had ever threatened the Empire with their methods and brutality being so widely known that you could come to recognize it like the back of your hand and with all the stories that had gotten out about this little bunch, only one had actually ended with someone escaping and even then, they were left so horrifically scarred by it all that they ended up killing themselves a few days later and to her, the moment she was knocked off that tree was the first time she truthfully felt like she was going to fall.

Taking a moment to rub the bruise on her cheek, only slightly wincing from the slight soreness of it, she began to recall how in the first few moments of that fight, everything seemed so simple at first. From what she had heard, the psycho while very well-trained was nowhere near the levels of warriors such as Esdeath and Budo who she remembered hearing legends about how they were able to stop entire uprisings without the help of a single army which just goes to show just how mighty the Empire was even with the First Order currently outclassing them at every turn. Their skills were so well-known in fact that it was even rumored that Syura on many occasions had admitted that if he ever came into contact with them without a plan, his death would come with much haste and without hardship which was of course strange given just how pompous he acted moments earlier in his fight with her which she had innocently assumed would lead to an easy victory.

However, in less than a minute after the fight had begun, the psycho had showed her just what exactly it was that people feared about him and it was something that was very widely reported on. Using his Imperial Arms along with a more unorthodox fighting method, Mez quickly found that the son of the prime minister was by far one of the most unpredictable individuals that she had ever had the chance of fighting and considering the team she worked for, that went leaps and bounds in making statement. In what seemed like a flash, Mez went from being the top dog and the aggressor to a lowly defender trying her hardest to hold off his relentless assault which ended when she was, as mentioned earlier, tackled from the tree branch down onto the ground below with Syura's weight combined with the impact of the fall knocking her out in an instant and despite not having a single clue about what went down with the only memory she had being a strange warmth she felt over her breasts along with something hard poking at her lower regions, she didn't care what went down, she just knew by the end of it all if the stories were to be believed, that was going to be the last time anyone heard from her.

That was of course until the very moment she woke up which left her with just one word playing back in her mind.

Why? Why was she still alive? HOW was she still alive? Even through her best attempts to answer this on her own, there was nothing she could find that would point to her survival. Her teammates? Were off on another mission, meaning they certainly weren't anywhere near the area. Phasma? She already seemed as though she was ready to rip her head off so that took her out of the equation almost immediately. The Empire? The group had never had a single shred of care for a single warrior in their entire history with Esdeath and possibly Syura being the only exceptions to the rule. Kylo Ren? The Dark Lord murdered her comrade in cold blood and essentially threatened her into joining up with the Order, the idea he would care was just completely ridiculous. One by one, the options were mentally tossed to the side like wads of crumpled pieces of paper until eventually, she was left with one and shockingly enough, it was the only one that seemed the most plausible which became apparent to her when she looked to the side to see the only other person who kept her company in that small locked room being an armor-clad trooper who despite his face being hidden, she could tell from the bit of blood on his hands who he was and the realization shocked her greatly.

To be fair, Nines was certainly far "nicer" to her than most of the other troopers and especially Phasma but she would hardly call their interactions as being "warm and fuzzy". In fact, the lightest way she could put it was that FN-2199 was pretty much "Phasma Lite" in that while he clearly didn't reach the level of seriousness that she possessed, he was still just as much of a hardass to her about being loyal and serious as she was. Not to mention that with the trooper's often cold remarks along with his recent actions, he certainly was far from being what she would consider her ideal "knight in shining armor" and judging by how he nearly blew her to pieces with that one grenade, it was clear he didn't think of her as his ideal princess either. All in all, Nines was a skilled fighter but just like the rest of the team, his motives were clearly drenched within the darkness, his brutality being a perfect example of the sheer unyielding might that the First Order possessed and it certainly didn't change her opinion of them all.

However, there was something about the trooper that prevented her from completely sharing the same opinion of him. At that moment, the woman began to lightly grasp at her chin right as she began to think back to a moment that was still rather fresh in her mind, most likely due to how soon it had happened and also when exactly it did. Considering this was the same trooper who shot a pregnant woman dead with not a shred of remorse, it was hard to imagine that he would also possess a hint of chivalry such as what he showcased in his defense of her from the psycho which was similar to that of a parent trying to defend their child which considering how it was so unfitting of Nines, she couldn't help but let out a slight chuckle when thinking back to it though she ceased it almost immediately when she saw the armored body wiggling a slight bit, light groans being let out in the few seconds that he did so.

"Still, even after I've been like, such a massive bitch to him, he saved me?" She thought to herself though really, that question paled in importance when compared to the next thought that came into her mind.

If Nines had saved her then how exactly was he able to take out Syura if he even took him out at all? She remembered the start of that fight as clear as day, his focus was completely locked on the boy who was just pelting him with wave after wave of ferocious slashes which were all carefully blocked by the metal baton he swung around. Not only that but as far as she knew, the man never possessed any sort of superhuman ability nor did he possess anything akin to an Imperial Arms. Highly conditioned and trained? Indeed he was and most likely, given how he responded to most of Syura's jeers, he certainly was no stranger to enemies with abilities as ridiculous and/or unorthodox as his were but she was absolutely certain that if he had gone onto fight Syura as intended, he would not have lasted long in any way, shape or form against the psychopath.

Granted his ranged weapons provided him a major advantage against the warrior and from what she could tell, he certainly had a knack for catching opponents off-guard as shown by how he was able to ward the man off in a manner of seconds and his reflexes were certainly as sharp as a recently forged sword or Suzuka's nails but when compared to the immense focus on unorthodox fighting tactics that Syura possessed combined with how he wasn't a hot broad like she was, she would've assumed that he would be a goner.

Regardless, just the thought alone of Nines valiantly fighting both the psychopath and the young boy to a standstill sounded like a feat incredibly worthy of the Demons' praise and it filled her with an interest like no other. After about another minute or two of staring, the woman slowly raised herself from the bed, wincing slightly at the pain in her joints that continued to linger, and began to make her way towards the trooper before dropping to her knees by his side, watching as the brutal warrior was letting out deep controlled breaths in a natural rhythm.

"You know, I don't think I will ever get you." Mez thought to herself, her gaze locked on the helmet which possessed only the lightest of scuffs. "One moment, you threaten to kill me for wanting to ignore Danger Beasts and the next, you're suddenly acting like you're my older brother and are trying to defend me." A few seconds later, her face developed into a smirk. "Still, that was brave what you did back there, it's definitely something I will have to provide repayment for at one point or another." With the mention of the word "repayment", the blonde's eyes widened a bit right as one particularly odd question came into her mind.

Had Nines ever... well... kissed a girl? The reason why this admittedly very strange, random question popped into mind was simple. With all the time she had spent with him, not once has the trooper ever taken off his helmet. In fact, at no point has she ever seen a Stormtrooper actually go maskless, even when there was no battle to be had which just left her confused. In addition to that, no trooper seemed to ever lower or sheathe their weapons and even if they did, it was usually to switch to another tool whether it be small blaster pistols or even the massive batons they possessed like what Nines wielded. It was all rather strange to someone like her who had a team that due to their prior conditioning to combat Imperial Arms users, felt no need to actually take everything so seriously with the obvious exception being of course when the going got rough. Hell, not even the Empire seemed this on-edge before and were often very calm with the only exceptions being those that went outside the Capital's walls which was to be expected given the current dangers present with the Danger Beasts, Wild Hunt and the Revolutionary Army.

Of course, that wasn't to say she didn't like the armor and if she had to be honest, it certainly looked as though it would do its job in striking fear into the hearts of enemies with the blackened "frowns" present on the face and the striking combination of the shimmering white armor and the matte black undersuit. But in spite of all that, the curiosity was still present. What exactly were the troopers so worried about that they had to constantly be on their toes? This was especially something to ask when considering that in comparison to the Empire and all who inhabited the planet currently with a few exceptions here and there, the First Order looked as though they could take them all on and come out on top in a matter of minutes. Was it a rule? Did they have something to hide? All this and more was moving at a consistent pace until finally after one minute too many, her curiosity got the better of her.

Raising herself up slightly, making sure that her movements weren't sudden enough to wake him, Mez found herself being slightly closer to eye-level with the trooper helmet which from what she could tell, was not able to showcase his eyes in anyway to the extremely dark visor. Regardless, she slowly moved her hands inch by inch towards the dome until her fingertips were at the very least grazing the white shell. The smooth surface was surprisingly very cold despite the suit looking as though it was made more from plastic rather than metal which only became even more apparent when she eventually rested her palms against it. Just before she was ready to do it however, her "Spider-Sense" immediately went on the alert. From her experience with the team so far, if they were just as on edge as she thought they were then the results that could come of this would be catastrophic, as evidenced by the various different scenarios that flooded her mind. However, the warrior was no coward as a few seconds later, she took in a nice long breath which worked wonders in relaxing her body the moment she exhaled. Then, her grip tightened around the dome when suddenly she both watched and felt as one arm jerked upward and gripped one of her hands, the amount of pressure being exerted on them being firm but definitely not intended to break anything.

In the span of a few seconds and before she could react, the trooper thrust his free arm outward, his grip loosening on her right as the fist made contact with her stomach which sent her stumbling back into the bed. Without any further hesitation, the trooper jumped out of bed and was about to reach for his blaster when he heard her cry out.

"IT'S ME YOU DUMBASS!" Upon realizing his mistake, Nines immediately began to take a look around him. While a few details were definitely a little fuzzy right after experiencing the hard impact from before and while this didn't look ANYTHING like the First Order Star Destroyers he trained on before with the much more bland color scheme of beige and brown bearing no resemblance. He made the smart guess that this was their new sickbay for this particular HQ though certainly, that wasn't his main focus as evidenced by his rough change in tone.

"At what point did you think that was a good idea?" Nines questioned.

"Wait a second, so like checking up on my friends is not a good idea? I'm supposed to just let them d-"

"To be quite clear, we're NOT friends." Nines interjected, hands at his hips. "With how you are, I'd sooner try to join up with the Resistance than I would become friends with you." Mez's head cocked to the side.

"Resistance?" Mez said right as she stood up. "What in the hell is the Resistance?"

"Nothing you ever need to know. It's strictly..."

"Classified, I know." The woman said with a groan. "I've got you all figured out Shiny." Nines immediately tensed up.

"Excuse me?"

"What's the matter?" Mez asked, smirking. "Don't like the nickname I gave you, I just think it works given that shining armor of yo-" Frustrated, the trooper held up one finger.

"First of all, shiny was an outdated term used only for rookie troopers back during the Clone Wars and second..." Right at that moment, Nines used that same hand to poke into that girl's chest "You WILL show me respect!"

"Clone Wars?" Mez said with disbelief, taking a moment to push the trooper's hand down. "You seriously waged a war with clones?" Nines nodded. "Tell me, how did that come about? Were the soldiers all based off you and were fighting an impossible battle to get your hardass to smile?"

"That information is on a need-to-know bas-"

"FUCK your need-to-know basis!" Mez growled. "I want to at least go one day with at least something about your army."

"You want that?" Nines asked. "Here's an idea, why don't you actually earn my trust and be serious?" The warrior set her hands at her hips.

"If you want me to be serious then why don't you pull the stick out of your ass?"

"Because then I would be incompetent like you!"

"At least you would be living!"

"You call slacking off living? It's no wonder why the captain sent you off with me."

"Your captain didn't stay with me because she's an intolerant bitch!" Despite him having the helmet, Mez could feel the heat of Nines's glare, so much so that she feared it may actually succeed in burning through the visor.

"Bite your tongue or el-"

"Or else what?!" Mez yelled. "You're going to beat me? Kill me? That may have worked on me back then but after what happened last night, I think you're full of shit." Nines tensed up once more.

"What do you mean?" Mez rolled her eyes.

"Like I think you know exactly what I mean."

"Actually, I really don't." Letting out a frustrated sigh, Mez looked into the trooper's eyes, using every ounce of her willpower to keep from trying to shake the man.

"Really? You've already forgotten about your little scuffle with Syura?" At first, Nines seemed just as clueless as he was before until a few seconds later when he froze, the vision of him purposefully knocking Tatsumi straight into the psycho filling his mind. Of course, the idea of her actually knowing about this little moment seemed more than a little far-fetched since after all, he clearly recalled her being out cold when the fondling began. Knowing that she had him at long last, the blonde gave him her usual cocky smirk.

"So you do know?" Nines nodded and at that moment, her voice softened some. "Then let me ask you. Just... why?" Despite his best efforts, the trooper was drawing several blanks. It was quite a good question albeit if only because of what he thought of Mez which was more annoyance rather than hatred though some could easily make that mistake. For all intensive purposes, Mez was someone he was more disappointed by rather than angered. Compared to the other recruits he had to work with, she was by far one of the most competent, well-trained individuals that he had ever met with her showcase of various melee combat styles being one of the biggest treats that he had received, rivaled only by the few times he had seen Phasma in action. Hell, if it wasn't for her, he wouldn't have been able to retrieve that Imperial Arms of Syura's though it was nowhere to be found at that moment, most likely it was scavenged from his body during the pick-up.

However, that certainly did not make up for the constant amounts of Mez just, to put it rather bluntly, outright not giving a damn. Whereas her skills showcased the promise and sharpness of a hardened veteran like him, her attitude matched that of a spoiled child much more closely. From the way she casually tossed around expletives to the complete disrespect of his commanding officer and more, it seemed to him as though he was just as occupied trying to figure out why he hadn't killed her yet as he was on his training these days. He had no issues with the idea sure since he would not dare to challenge Phasma's rule especially after what happened on Starkiller but even after hitting her two times with the stun baton, she still continued to bicker with him like they were a married couple.

After a few more minutes, it seemed as though he at long last had the answer and he was ready to voice it when he heard the door open with a low beep.

"I can tell you're kind of wanting to leave a girl hanging right now so I'm just going to bounce." Mez said with a slight teasing edge to her voice before she proceeded to make her way down the hall. Being left in the dust, Nines just let out a frustrated sigh and after a few more seconds of thought, he began to make his way towards the training room, ready to sharpen the skills of the next generation of the First Order though there was one thought that filled his mind.

"That girl's an enigma. So disrespectful and yet she's so unbelievably talented. I'm not sure if I want to kill her now which means that maybe..." Nines immediately froze right as a shiver came trickling down his spine. Even though it was the first time this idea had came up, he already dreaded the inevitable amount of times it would reappear and how it would lead to some truthfully embarrassing moments.

"Maybe I'm starting to like her."

(First Order Troop Transport)

Whereas Mez was still not feeling any sort of love for the First Order, the complete opposite could be said for her teammates.

Standing at the back of the dim, flickering transport there was the tall masculine Ibara and who many troopers had described as being the mistress of death, the highly sadistic Suzuka and if that doesn't give away exactly why they considered the unification between them and the First Order to be just fine, you would not be the only one. For Mez especially, it was unclear why they exactly trusted their new "allies" as much as they did. Was it out of fear? Would Honest have killed them for failing to save Bolic? Did Sten's death REALLY set that much of an example for them to follow? The only guess that seemed remotely viable mainly came down to the personalities of the two users themselves.

To say that these two were some of the most sadistic killers in the Empire would be a complete understatement as the only ones who could truthfully rival them would be Esdeath and Wild Hunt who shockingly enough, they didn't really take much of a liking to them with maybe one exception as evidenced by the discussion that was going on in the back.

"I'm kinda disappointed that I wasn't the one to kill Syura." Ibara mentioned, arms crossed and cocky smirk present.

"And why is that?" Suzuka questioned as she began to examine her main method of attack, her extremely long nails which earned her more than a few extended stares by the troopers who most likely were just praying that she didn't kill them all.

"I kinda felt the guy was taking my style." The warrior gave him a look of disbelief.

"You must be joking." Seeing that she knew him so well, he just let out a chuckle.

"I'm serious! Before he started trying to pull up his big boy pants, I was the only tall creepy man around and the moment this clown comes in, BAM! He completely steals my thunder and everyone forgets about the mighty Ibara."

"It's just human nature." Suzuka replied with a smirk. "At the very least he was punished, the lucky bastard." Smirking himself, the man looked his comrade in the eye.

"You kind of wish you were the one getting choked with that magic?" Ibara asked to which the woman nodded.

"If Esdeath was pleased by it then yes, yes I do wish that was the case."

"Just without the dying?" Suzuka shot him a look.

"Of course it would be without the dying what do you think I am, stupid?"

"I always thought crazy better suited you," The man replied. "after all, it's not often I meet a chick where chains and whips excite her so much only to have that taste move into lasers and magic."

"I take what I can get, remember it's as our training taught us. The more pain we experience..."

"The less we feel." Ibara finished with a grin. "Yep, I've memorized that down to the last letter." A few seconds later, he calmly raised his hand up to his face and tightened it into a fist before proceeding to examine his knuckles. "Though now I have a new goal."

"And what would that be?" After a little bit more, Ibara turned back towards Suzuka, his face being that of a sadistic grin.

"I want to see how many times my knuckles crack just by bashing Wild Hunt's skulls in." Suzuka returned the smile and turned towards the front, her arms crossing.

"That will be fun, though I will kind of miss hanging out with Dorothea." Ibara cocked an eyebrow.

"The blonde? I always thought ours were hotter."

"Good luck with that," Suzuka chuckled. "because you'll have to go through her 'knight' in order to get a piece of her."

"Knight?" Putting on the best false surprise she could, Suzuka faced her comrade with hands on her hips.

"Oh don't tell me you haven't heard, she's currently working with that one Stormtrooper, the one that killed Sten." His internal gears turning, it took him a grand total of three seconds for the answer to pop into his head.

"Wait, him?!" The woman nodded. "I thought she was with the other trooper. You know, the chromed one."

"Phasma? Apparently she found our girl, as she put it, 'a disrespectful whelp who needed more lashes and slaps when she was younger.'"

"Wow," Ibara began with a chuckle. "she pissed her off THAT much?"

"That's how the story goes."

"Oh how I would kill to see that." The conversation between this two continued on and on, much to the chagrin of the other troopers who by that point, were just itching for someone to just shoot them.

(Kylo Ren's Shuttle)

When Esdeath first took notice of the command shuttle, she instantly fell in love with the design. The massive wingspan, the striking red cockpit, the way it perfectly blended in with the night with the only thing that could be seen being the few lights that lined the wings and undercarriage, everything that the First Order embodied was present on this one single ship. Mysterious, dangerous... deadly. For the general, this was her personal little early Christmas.

Standing right next to her with arms crossed, Kylo Ren was feeling more than a little distressed. Not with the mission and/or Esdeath since if he had to be honest, the general was everything he was hoping for a loyal follower of him to be like and after that torture session, he was already feeling quite confident in her abilities.

What WAS bothering him however was the small little holoprojection of a certain other general that he has now come to accept as being someone he just couldn't stand though he was certain that the latter shared the same thoughts.

"Ren, you've got to be kidding me!" Hux began, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I'd think that with how you've known me for years and years now, you would actually know already that I'm not." Kylo replied, trying his hardest not to show his annoyance, annoyance that Esdeath simply let him express despite her desire to join in on the conversation.

"This is completely stupid, not only have you killed a possible ally to the cause but you also decided to bring on someone completely random without any consideration for the consequences."

"First of all, the man or what's left of him was found near the unconscious bodies of FN-2199 and one of my new strike-force members which seems to indicate that he was not at all friendly with our troops. Secon-"

"Wait, new member?!" Hux interjected. "You mean to tell me that you brought on another new member without my knowing about it?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I brought on three." Kylo said with a nod to which Hux couldn't help but facepalm.

"By the Force you are by far the most insufferable excuse of a leader."

"I share the same sentiment towards you."

"There you go again trying to play the comedian." Hux replied, rolling his eyes. "You know, I wonder what Snoke is thinking right n-" Kylo immediately cut him off.

"Moving on, Esdeath is by far one of the most skilled warriors I've ever seen, to the point where I feel she may even rival the greatest of Jedi and Sith and she doesn't use the Force at all, she uses Imperial Arms."

"I'll believe it when I se-wait, did you say Imperial Arms?" The Dark Lord nodded, slightly taken aback by Hux's own surprise.

"I did, what about it?" After taking a few moments to think and gather his thoughts and clear his throat, the general began once more.

"The Supreme Leader told me a bit about this. Apparently thousands upon thousands of years back, the original Sith Empire was rather frustrated with how due to the high amount of Force-sensitives there were fighting in the war, they felt severely under-prepared and wanted some new weapons to combat this. Hearing their call, the one known as Malgus decided to answer this directly by using his skills in alchemy to create a set of weapons that had some links back to the Force. Their official title were Teigu though they were more commonly called Imperial Arms." Filled with disbelief, the general stepped into view.

"Impossible!" Esdeath called out. "The Imperial Arms were found on Earth with some even being created on this planet."

"That portion of the story I am unsure of," Hux began, hand on his chin. "possibly the Sith had discovered Earth before we did. After all, someone had to have traveled to this planet in order for there to be a Star Map but as I was saying. At first, the soldiers were seemingly pleased by their new 'toys'... that was, until they actually tried to use them. As a nasty little punishment for them even thinking of this, Malgus and the other Sith intentionally filled the weapons with a little prerequisite, that being the troopers had to withstand the massive amount of Dark Side energy that emanated from them. After about three days of weapons testing, they were deemed far too dangerous to wield comfortably and were therefore dumped on a nearby world." Kylo cocked his head to the side.

"And you know this how?"

"The Supreme Leader trusts me just as much as he does you Ren, as hard as that is to believe." The general replied.

"Snoke trusts loudmouths?" Before Hux could retort, the general stepped in once more.

"My apologies for butting in but who exactly is this Snoke?" Esdeath questioned. Not trusting her, Hux was just about to turn her down when Kylo stepped in.

"He's my master, Supreme Leader is his full title, he's the one that started the First Order." Before Hux could vent his frustrations, Ren turned his gaze back towards the angry little hologram. "Anyways, I understand your concerns but you will have to get used to seeing Esdeath around, I feel she might be one of the keys necessary to finding our girls."

"Oh you've got to be kidding me. First we head to a planet that we have no idea about and now you expect me to just openly trust someone that I've never met in my life to assist us in the operation? Ren, I find it quite marvelous that you find so many new ways of getting under my skin."

"It must be my gift in the Force, like how your troopers have the gift of being able to commit high treason." Hux facepalmed once more.

"For the last time Ren, I refuse to have you question my meth-"

"But that's not important." Kylo cut in. "What IS on the other hand is a simple request I have for you." Despite his severe hatred for the Dark Lord, the man knew better than to mess with Kylo Ren when it came to his plans. Also, considering his frustration with the warrior, he knew that this would provide at least some relief.

"What is it that you desire?" Hux questioned with a sigh. With timing that seemed as perfect as ever, the troopers turned toward him.

"Sir, our scanners picked up a few individuals just ten feet ahead." The pilot began "It's very hard to tell though it seems as though one is wielding a sword, one is quite round and another is female."

"That means we've found them." Esdeath cut in. Nodding, Kylo turned his attention back towards the holoprojection.

"You high above our coordinates?" Hux nodded.

"Considering I have to play along with this stupid plan yes I am."

"Tell the staff to set up for an orbital strike and send us a few TIE squadrons." The general's eyes widened.

"An orbital strike?! What the hell are you thinking?!"

"Just that there's no way the girls will be there and I want the planet to know the power we possess."

"But the orbital cannons have just recently been upgraded, they've never been tested on any other planet yet and we don't know how durable this one i-"

"When you detect our ships leaving the area, you will fire upon everything. Do I make myself clear?" Not buying it, after a few seconds of silence, the general let out an exasperated gasp.

"You... you MORON! You immature, bratty halfw-"

"Goodbye Hux." And just like that, the general's voice along with the hologram disappeared into nothingness with just the simple press of a button. Setting his hands behind his back, he shifted his gaze towards Esdeath who looked to be filled to the brim with curiosity. Opening her lips slightly, Ren immediately cut her off, having already guessed her question through the Force.

"Hux and I are always like that." Kylo explained with a sigh. "As a matter of fact, he and I have NEVER got along."

"Why is that?" The general questioned.

"He believes that my approach will only ruin the Order. It's rather typical of people like him." At that point, Esdeath began to think back to some of the people she had worked with over the years and sure enough, she could recall how there were more than a few warriors who weren't exactly keen about her ideas. Being able to relate, the general began to unknowingly wrap her arm around Kylo though he never seemed to make any attempt to shake it off.

"I feel he might just be jealous of your power." She said.

"Personally I think he's just an uninformed idiot."

"That too." Esdeath replied in agreement.

"Sir, we're approaching the landing zone and TIEs are coming in fast." The pilot alerted. At long last, Kylo gently shook the general's arms from him and unbeknownst to him, she was blushing the whole way through.

"Alert all transports nearby," Kylo ordered. "and make the drop right now."

"Sir yes sir!" He said with a salute before proceeding to hit a few buttons on his keypad with Esdeath and Kylo giving each other a knowing look of what was about to happen with the general even taking the time to crack her knuckles. After a little while longer, they turned to face the door as quiet filled the metal room, the low whirring and mechanical buzzes of the door lowering finally filling the air after about a minute of waiting. As soon as they took their first steps onto the soil below, only one thought filled the general's mind.

They had absolutely no idea what was about to hit them.

(Wild Hunt HQ)

The air was filled with unrest and concern, every face in the room possessing some form of worry. It had been a few hours now since Syura went out to have his "playtime" and it had been about two more since he was supposed to return so naturally, the fear started to raise which is very odd given the group itself and their track record.

Starting out as the Empire's secret police force, everyone knew something was off when even the police's actions actually caught heat with the very group that created them. For those who thought the Empire was brutal, Wild Hunt was that and many more, their actions making the entire organization look like a bunch of cuddly teddy bears for they didn't just embark on the usual killing sprees. In fact, possibly the most infamous part about the group was their massive tendency to... violate those they came across. Of course, not every member was like that and there were at least a few that were semi-honorable such as the swordsman Izou but those were few and far between.

As with Syura, every member looked rather... odd to say the least with their ranks consisting of a rotund "clown", a singer with a bunny-girl outfit, a pirate that looked oddly feminine, the aforementioned swordsman and finally, a very young blonde girl who was dressed in an outfit very reminiscent of a certain other woman that fell down a rabbit hole. To many who first saw them, they all expressed how they looked like a walking circus and initially laughed them off...

Until they were straddled to the ground, screaming and begging for mercy while they were being mercilessly gutted before having their last moments of life being filled to the brim with the aforementioned "clown" showcasing his little "joke" by doing... unspeakable things to their children. Needless to say, the laughing was short-lived and Wild Hunt quickly became known as being one of the most dangerous groups to ever walk the face of the Earth though luckily for everyone, today just happened to be the time they decided to all kick back and unwind, at the very least until Syura came back.

"What's taking Syura so long?" The fat man began with a frustrated sigh. "He better be bringing us a gift if he's willing to keep us waiting like this."

"Lighten up a little will ya Champie?" The singer called from across the room. "Syura hasn't let us down just yet."

"Cosmina is right." Called a male voice, causing Champ's attention to be redirected towards the slim male pirate. "After all, it ain't easy moving around anymore what with the Empire declaring us fugitives." That his friend was most certainly right about. After their first case was a complete success, Wild Hunt set their sights on a small group who had tangled with them before and had wanted revenge for one member of their family, that group in particular being practitioners of the famous martial art known as the Imperial Fist. As expected, the group fought valiantly and ultimately wasn't enough to take them down but that wasn't what got them in trouble exactly.

One of their allies, a shirtless muscular man who was masked and happened to be a member of the Jaegers was ordered to assist them in the quelling of this resistance and during the fight, they decided to have a little "fun" with one of the female members and just so happened to have a chat about two women, a mother and a daughter who they expressed a massive desire to "toy" with. Unfortunately for them, the man they worked with also just so happened to be the husband and father and when also considering that some of the masters were only trying to defend their students and weren't at all trying to rebel against the Empire, that was all it took for the Empire to start gunning for them regardless of what Honest said on the matter. The news spread so wide in fact that even Esdeath had apparently sworn to kill them all if she reached them. With that in mind, the group went from village to village, constantly searching for a possible place to stay when finally, the western reaches had provided them with a home that they believed to be isolated enough to where they were safe... which made the air of unease even more odd. With this in mind, Champ let out a sigh.

"I know but it wasn't our fault that man had an adorable little daughter. Now I don't think I'll ever be able to have my 'time' with her." He said with displeasure.

"That we all agree with you on." replied Izou. "It was quite a shame, I was really looking forward to some good fights, it's times like this where I wish something would just swoop from the sky and challenge us." With eerie timing, a faint screech was suddenly heard, causing the group to immediately tense up.

"What the hell was th-" Champ quickly shoved his hand over the singer's mouth all while getting into his battle stance while the other members were just trying to figure out just what exactly the sound was. It couldn't have possibly been the Empire since they were too far out for them to be tracked and the screeching was unnaturally mechanical sounding. It couldn't be a Danger Beast since there has been no recorded evidence that one had the vocal strength to do that and finally, it absolutely couldn't be Night Raid who again, had no clue where they are and couldn't replicate that exact screeching noise which left them with only one option, an option that made itself clear once Cosmina's senses kicked in.

Without warning, the singer immediately used all her might to kick Champ to the side right as a piercing green ray of light came crashing through the building and straight into her head, causing her lifeless body to be sent helplessly hurdling through the wall, much to the disbelief of her comrades.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!" Enshin cried out, his voice sounding more than a little concerned. No response being given, Champ began to slowly walk towards the hole in the wall, his gaze being set on something that was extremely terrifying. Four box-shaped ships made their landing alongside the "screeching demons" which whipped right past them, their horrifying screeches being exactly as what the newspaper described. While everyone else was just busy staring at their fates, Izou looked at it with a smirk.

"Finally," He began to himself. "some real action." With that said, he immediately drew his sword and began to charge towards the invaders just as the doors dropped down, revealing several platoons of white armor-clad soldiers who wasted no time in opening fire towards him. Using his skills in laido among others, the swordsman began to easily make his way through the battlefield, narrowly getting by the several red beams of light that flew at such a breakneck pace. Seeing his skills in action, Champ shook himself from his frightened state almost immediately and took up the mantle of leader right then and there.

"Everyone! ATTACK!" He shouted with the other members immediately charging their way out onto the battlefield with the clown ready to do the same when he saw something truthfully shocking. While everyone was still working on dodging the weapon-fire, Izou was already making progress, using his martial arts to disarm and knock around as many troopers as he could, sometimes going as far as to even turn their own weapons against them. After a few minutes however, things took a turn when he felt a piercing sensation in his chest, causing his eyes to shoot open as what felt flames began to nip at his heart though that could be due to the masked man who perfectly matched the description of a similar figure from a report of a village attack. At the same time as Champ's jaw dropped, the swordsman slowly shifted his gaze down to see a piercing red blade, sparking and crackling with energy as it began to slowly embed itself deeper and deeper into its fleshy slot.

After a few more seconds, the hooded warrior lightly gripped Izou's chin and cocked his head to the side and after the ensuing few seconds of this were up, the man without as much as a breath, withdrew his sword with his grip still being kept on his chin as he dropped to his knees. Looking at him just a bit more, he then turned his attention back towards Champ and in that small moment where his fury cleared, he felt as though he could see the gears turning in his head. Suddenly, with all his might, the masked figure flipped Izou's corpse through the air, an action that immediately caught the attention of Enshin. Seeing their opportunity, the troopers immediately opened fire and just like that, the pirate was gunned down before the clown's very eyes.

"YOU BASTARDS!" Champ shouted right as six orbs came floating into the air much to the surprise and interest of the man who immediately began to make his approach. Suddenly, the clown tossed one of the orbs towards the man and the moment it hit the ground, his reflexes kicked in as he immediately dashed away from the massive burst of lightning that came spraying from it. Seeing that her ally was in trouble, Dorothea wasted no time and leaped towards the man, fangs extended and ready to chomp down. Without a single hint of care, the figure held his hand out and almost immediately, the girl found herself flying straight towards the hand throat first, the grip tightening as soon as it made contact. After a few moments of struggling and gagging and just as he happened to stop an orb in midair much to the shock of Champ, the man effortlessly tossed Dorothea to the side and almost immediately after he did so, a giant icicle came flying through the air, impaling her against what remained of the building by her stomach much to the clown's displeasure.

A few seconds later, the figure tossed the orb he had suspended to the side and immediately went to flick his weapon on, the three red blades hissing to life. His fear slowly settling in, the clown tossed another orb towards the man to which he responded to it by lifting his saber, forcing him to watch as the weapon came splitting down the middle, the two halves making a huge explosion right as they hit the ground. Seeing that he was just a few feet away, the clown was just about to fight back when suddenly, his roars of anger became cries of pain right as the man jerked his hand outward and just like that, a hot piercing streak of lightning came pouring from his fingers with a force so great that it sent the fat one flying backward into where Dorothea was, his mass causing the thing to be pushed so far through the girl that her bottom half completely separated from her top and slid down to the ground in a bloody mess. As he continued to lay on the ground writhing pain from the continuous bolts that rippled through his system, he watched as the masked man turned towards a trooper that looked very similar to the rest with the main difference being they had a cape and their armor was chromed. After a few seconds of staring, they both gave each other a nod and almost immediately after the man's gaze returned to him, the trooper raised their blaster and called out an order in an oddly feminine voice.

"FIRE!" In just a few seconds and just as a massive triangular ship faintly appeared above the clouds, rows upon rows of red blasts came hurtling into Champ's body, inciting several screams of pain which was unusual given his insane durability. One laser blast after another came after what seemed like two milliseconds, ripping through his flesh like no other, to the point where even muscle and hints of bone were starting to be exposed. Despite this, it wasn't hitting his vitals though the worst part was that meant he had to endure the excruciating pain the whole way through. After a few more minutes, the blasts finally stopped right as the man raised the clown high into the air before proceeding to pull him forward and as soon as he was inches away, he swung upward with his weapon and from the horrific unnatural hiss it gave off along with the two bloodied halves of meat that hit the ground, that signaled the end of Wild Hunt much to the disappointment of Ibara and Suzuka with the former vocalizing this.

"Ah shit! I told the pilot he should've landed faster!" Ibara whined, much to the amusement of his comrade who was chuckling repeatedly. Flicking his saber off, Kylo Ren began to stare at the carnage all around him for a few seconds, reflecting on what he did. Back when he first started his training and even when he attacked Jakku, pulling off something like this and making an embarrassment of some of the most skilled fighters in history was something he never thought he would be able to accomplish and yet just a few minutes earlier, he was hacking weapons apart, tossing them to the side, overall he tackled that battle with such confidence that Vader himself would be proud of and as much as he hated to admit it, this did also bring some credibility to his family name since his father also tackled some missions like this. Looking towards his gloved hand, a thought played back in his mind.

"When I met Snoke I was but a learner..." A few moments later he balled up that opened palm into a fist right as he shifted his gaze back towards what was left of the clown.

"Now I am the master." A few seconds later, he turned his attention back towards the forest he came from and began to make his way towards it, casually turning his saber off after the first three steps with Phasma following close behind.

"That was too easy." Phasma expressed with disappointment.

"Maybe so," Kylo replied. "but what did you expect?" With that said, he immediately raised his communicator up and right then and there, the familiar crackling image of Hux came into view, his face clearly showing that of surprise.

"Didn't expect to see you so soon." Hux said.

"You mean you didn't want to see me so soon." Kylo corrected to which the general let out a sigh.

"After cutting me off for the second time since we got here, yes I was not quite looking forward to seeing your masked mug." replied Hux. "But no matter, I take it the opposition was easy to take down?"

"They were most pathetic." said Kylo, looking back at the wreckage. "Most likely due to us catching them off-guard, it's all yours now."

"Excellent," The general said, arms behind his back. "I shall begin the moment you step aboard your shuttle."

"You've definitely been listening, farewell general."

"Farewell Kylo." With that, the Dark Lord shut off his communicator and set in a small little compartment on his belt just as he was beginning to pass by Esdeath and the two Demons.

"Hey you!" Ibara called out. "What the hell man?! Why'd you have to disappoint us like that?!"

"There was no disappointment, you were just too slow and at the rate you're going, you're most likely going to miss the 'fireworks'." Immediately, the man's eyes widened with delight and curiosity. As the two made their way back towards their transport, Kylo, Phasma and Esdeath were left walking back to the shuttle, feeling VERY satisfied.

"Nice work though I do have one question." Kylo began, turning his attention towards Esdeath. "How did you know that I was going to be tossing the girl?" Paying no mind to the low faint hisses and whirs of the Finalizer and the fading screeches of returning TIE Fighters, the general looked back towards the Dark Lord with a faint blush gracing her face, clearly showcasing her pleasure in how he noticed her talents.

"I just had a feeling that you were going to be doing that," She explained. "like a little voice in the back of my mind." Hearing it described in that exact context, Ren's interest perked up a bit but before he could continue on, the captain cut him off.

"I have a feeling that one girl and FN-2199 should be awake by this time." Phasma said.

"It's a shame they couldn't come out and take part in this." Kylo replied to which the captain nodded.

"They earned that rest, especially FN-2199 considering he had to put up with taking down that one man." Right as their feet touched down on the cold metal of the shuttle, the Dark Lord nodded.

"I agree, he's one of the few normal troopers I trust these days aside from you."

"It's an honor to serve under you." Phasma said with a nod right as the door closed.

"I'm glad to hear you have that sentiment." With that all said and done, he walked up to the cockpit and crossed his arms.

"Take us up to the Finalizer," He ordered. "I think our new guest has earned her chance to set foot on it." Answering with only a simple salute, the men immediately prepped the ship for take off but before he could, Kylo set one hand on his shoulder.

"And send at least one of the transports back to pick up FN-2199 and Mez." With all that said and done, the massive behemoth's wings extended outward and flew off into the skies and towards the massive warship with the transports following close behind. With the sweeping view they had, Kylo immediately called Esdeath up to where he was and through the red tinted windows, they both watched as gigantic green lasers came pouring down towards what remained of Wild Hunt's base and before they knew it, what at first seemed like a combination of stone and wood soon went up in one massive fireball, a fireball that from what Esdeath could see, scattered various body parts and pieces of structure across the land and needless to say, it was the most beautiful sight that she had ever seen, so much so that it literally almost brought a tear to her eye, something that was almost unheard of.

At this point, the general truthfully could claim to have seen it all and overall, she couldn't have been any happier. The depression from losing Tatsumi now becoming a fading memory with every passing second and in its place came several thoughts about what the future could entail and by this point, she could care less about how she pretty much deserted the Jaegers and the Empire. Setting her hands behind her back and as the fireball began to dissipate, one thought filled her mind.

"The age of the Empire is over and from its ashes..." Right as her thought completed, her face developed into a small smile.

"The First Order will rise."

Author's Addendum:

So that I don't get any comments about this, yes, I do know what the actual reason was for Wild Hunt being called fugitives. I understand some people may not like how I'm playing a bit with canon but honestly, this was the only way I could have it where they're far away from the Empire and are put out of commission.

Either way, thank you so much for reading this and please, do leave your thoughts in the reviews.