The next few days were spent in a flurry of sleep and planning. Despite all I the time I had watched my mother plan her campaigns, the reality of planning one myself took all of my considerable skills that I had learned and fine tuned under Schneizel's command. First came the resources, what the Resistance was willing to give us in terms of personnel and equipment. Apparently once word got around that I was with the Black Knights, all the generals seemed very agreeable to giving whatever I asked for. Next came what the Black Knights were willing to give the Resistance in return for their help. Everyone quickly agreed that while my plan of ensuring Lelouch's eventual rise to the throne was the best option, they also agreed that it was better that as few as possible knew of the plan, to protect it and Lelouch's identity. It was determined that the Black Knights would offer their technology, including knightmare frames, and also help them set of other avenues to acquire resources until it was determined time to reveal the secondary intention of creating another Republic.
Though I knew it was necessary, there were times when I wished I'd been able to ask my mother about the whole plan. Her experience with the Empire would have been invaluable in the initial moves that Zero began to make in preparation for the final strike. But I couldn't speak with my mother again, let alone a conversation alone. Nor did we speak to anyone else from the Resistance. It was safer to communicate through subspace channels so our locations couldn't be traced. We couldn't risk it, not with the First Order surrounding the Britannian system.
Although no one mention my upset several days before, each of them had made it a point to say that they wouldn't be asking for the help of my uncle, at least not officially, not yet. That made me grateful, especially when my mother sent me a personal note. I managed to get halfway through it before she mention that Luke had returned to the resistance and was training a new apprentice that I threw the letter back at Li, telling him he could do whatever he wanted with it. At night I slept just barely enough to keep me going, any longer in unconsciousness, and I feared I might slip back into Kylo's mind, and there was part of me that wondered if that might not be better. Despite the tense peace I'd managed to create with the members of the Black Knights, they didn't trust me. They were wary of me. I felt their fear every time I stepped into the room. I suppose if I was in a less precarious position I might even be amused by how much they actually feared me. At the moment it just made my head hurt.
It was the day that my mother was scheduled to arrive with her delegates from the resistance, and I was buzzing with unrestrained energy. I'd even spent several hours inside the cavern to no avail. Kallen and I were waiting in the conference room. She was lounging on one of the leather chairs, her red covered feet resting on the table, munching on red round fruit with tiny little tendrils. It was quite sweet, but my stomach was so sour, just the smell sent my stomach roiling.
"It's going to be fine Larissa," Kallen mumbled out between bites, "The resistance went dark an hour ago, which means they should be contacting us in the next fifteen minutes." She glanced around, her brow wrinkling in annoyance. "Where is Lelouch? He should have been back with that woman already."
"You really don't like CC do you?" I asked, smiling. I'd learned the name of the green-haired woman a few days after I'd been here. According to Lelouch, her name was CC, and she'd been with him since Lelouch had created Zero. I hadn't seen her since she'd checked through my mind, but from the bits and pieces I was able to glean from the others' minds that she was very old, and very odd. Not really anyone could say that they like the woman. She had a tendency to get on many people's nerves, but they seemed to respect her position with Lelouch enough to give her a wide berth.
"She's weird," Kallen muttered. I saw the blush run across her face.
"And it has nothing to do with the fact that you've got a crush Lelouch," I said, chuckling as Kallen froze in surprise and then tried to extricate herself from the precarious position she was in, only to topple to the ground.
"Ow," She said, rubbing her bottom as she got up from floor. I couldn't help it, I started laughing, the tension dissolving from my body as I bent over with laughter.
"It's not funny Larissa," Kallen grumbled.
"It is a little bit," I managed after a few deep breaths. As I straightened, intending to go to Kallen and help her set the chairs that she'd knocked about in her flailing. When I suddenly felt a disturbance in the Force around the base, I stopped suddenly, and dove into the Force, searching for the disturbance I had felt.
"….must find Zero before Larissa….almost there, spread out Knights…"
I knew that presence, that mind, and if he was here, something was very wrong.
"Kallen, get up," I said quickly. She noticed the change in my voice immediately and scrambled to attention.
"Larissa, what is it?" Kallen asked quickly.
"Assassins," I hissed. "They're going after Zero. We need to go, now!" Kallen didn't question me, instead she took my arm and went to the wall behind us, hitting a quick key into a keypad and the wall slid open, revealing a barely lit, cramped passageway.
"It's an escape hatch built into the mountain, we'll get around faster. Do you know where they are?"
I halted for a moment. "Give me a moment," I said quickly, and Kallen waited patiently as I close my eyes and widened my senses as far as they would go, all over the base, touching fast on every mind in the base until I finally managed to find Lelouch in one of the older hanger bays that wasn't used any longer due it's disrepair. They'd managed to land an unmarked ship in the hangar and were currently in the process of dragging a mostly unconscious Lelouch back to the hangar. There were at least eight of them, including Adrain, and for a moment, I tried to touch their minds, but found them completely blocked. I wouldn't be able to get into their mind without close contact.
I opened my eyes and narrowed my focus. "They're in the abandoned hangar."
Kallen paused for a moment, before nodding quickly, saying, "I can get us there. Let's go!"
Kallen took the lead, and I followed after her, keeping up with her fast jog. We turned through tunnel after tunnel until we reached another door. Kallen only had to press against the door before it slide open silently onto a large metal walkway about forty feet above the hangar floor. I tapped on Kallen's shoulder and she moved out of the way so I could creep forward silently. Kallen followed me and we just managed to get to the middle of the walkway when the doors burst open and two men dress completely in black dragging Lelouch behind, Zero's mask no longer on his face. He was moving around a bit, though, and I reached out to his mind.
"Lelouch, Lelouch I'm here. Don't react. I'm going to get you out of this."
"...hurry.." His halting mental voice. "...get...Li-Tohdoh…"
"I'll send Kallen. Hold on." I looked back at Kallen. "Go use the tunnels and get Li and Tohdoh, now." I whispered to her. "No one else."
"What about you?" she hissed.
"I'm going to take care of this," I hissed back. "Now go."
"Good luck," she said and turned around, running back to the secret passageway. I looked down at the hangar and knelt down and watch silently as the group of eight people all dressed in black walk beneath me on the hangar. Oddly enough as I looked closer at the figures, I noticed they were all wearing similar configurations of Kylo Ren's design, right down to the variations of the helmet. The only one who hadn't donned a helmet was Adrian, and it was easy to spot his light blond hair tucked beneath the black cloak. They also held various weapons that looked like staffs, but I was sure they most likely had more punch to pack that they appeared to. I would have to surprise them. I knew Adrian wasn't powerful enough to cross me, but if I had to protect Lelouch, Adrian might have the numbers to have a serious chance at keeping me at bay.
I looked down at the drop. It was forty feet, enough to break my ankles, but if I used the Force to slow myself down, like I had used it to push myself faster in the battle a few days before. I needed to time it right though, get Lelouch away from the group.
"Lelouch, I need you to start struggling when I tell you…" This time there were no words, but simply a feeling of desperate agreement and fear.
I waited until six of the men in black were close to the ship, while Adrian had moved back with the two other guards and Lelouch.
"What's wrong?" Adrian snapped. He sounded much older than I remembered, and his voice was sharper too.
"He's waking up," One of the shorter cloaked figures said.
"Then makes sure he doesn't. We're still too close."
"Lelouch, I need you to struggle now!"
Lelouch immediately began to struggle violently in his captors hands, and though he was not terribly strong, his fear and the men's surprise allowed for a momentary distraction, and that was enough. Without thinking too hard about what I was doing, I hoped over the edge of the walkway. For a moment, all I felt was rushing air and the too fast pumping of my heart. Then I reached out to the Force and the air suddenly became gelatinous and thick, and I rolled in front of a surprised Adrian. He didn't even have time to draw his weapon before I slammed him out of the way, using the Force to throw him back toward the ship. The other two guards made for me, but I wasn't in the mood for games. I raised my hand and froze everyone in the room except for Lelouch, who managed to extricated himself from the two frozen men.
"Are you alright?" I asked him.
"Fine," he managed after a of heavy breathing. Satisfied with the answer I turned back to Adrian, who was frozen in the position he had been in trying to get up, half his body raised on up, his legs still sprawled on the ground. His white blond hair was falling out his familiar braid and he was looking up at me warily. I raised my hand, and Adrian flew forward until he was on his knees in front of me. I allowed his head to move, and he glanced up at me.
"Larissa," Adrian managed after a moment. "It's been a while."
"What are you doing here, Adrian?" I asked as calmly as I could, despite the rush of fear I felt at how close he'd to Lelouch. "I thought I made to perfectly clear that anyone my brother sent after me or mine I'd send back in pieces. Do you really have that much of a death wish?"
"No," Adrian said quietly. He wasn't moving, he wasn't even bothering to struggle. He was hiding something. This was too dangerous a situation to be left to unknowns. As much as I hated to, I would have to go into Adrian's mind and find out what he was keeping from me. I opened my mind out, but as I turned my focus, I touched on the presence of one of the men who'd been holding Lelouch up, the one who hadn't spoken. It didn't take more than a brush for the familiarity to hit me so sharply that my sudden intake of breath stuttered and stopped.
No, he couldn't be here, he wouldn't dare be that bold.
But there was no mistaking who it was. He seemed to realize I'd found him at the same moment I realized he was there. For less than a fraction of second we both stood frozen in place. Time stood still between us, and neither of us had the strength to move.
Then, the second passed, time snapped forward, and I moved, sliding my lightsaber from my belt and lighting it as I swung around, meeting the red, cracking lightsaber of my brother. The saber was far more unstable in person, the beam seemingly seconds away from disappearing entirely as it pushed against my saber. It fit him perfectly. Without the block around him, it was easy now to see the familiar worn black mask. I was so close I could see the scratches and dents across the metal surface.
"Hello brother," I hissed, anger flooding through me at the sight of him. When it had been just us two sitting on the beach, and he had looked like he had before, it had been easy to forget the memory of him, of me, driving that red beam through our father. Now, however, in this room, him garbed in back, it took all my control not to give into my rage and fight him now, bring him to his knees. Make him hurt just like I was hurting, and if I'd been the only one here, I might have been tempted to do it. But Lelouch was more important than my hatred, at least that was what I was trying to tell myself as my entire being vibrated with rage.
"Your feelings are betraying you, sister," Kylo said, his voice icy and mechanical through the mask.
"So is yours," I snapped back, and before he could react, I used how close he was and caught the snag of the heavy black cloak and slammed my knee into his, and he stumbled enough for the his red saber to release its pressure on my saber for me to flip around and grab my second saber in the process, so when the red lightsaber came at me again, I had the advantage against him. "Don't test me Kylo." I warned, and for a moment, there was silence between us. Even though the mask prevented me from seeing his face, his emotions were betraying him too. I could feel his reluctance. He didn't want to fight me.
Finally he backed off, stepping back, but not disengaging his lightsaber, and neither did I, because I could sense Kallen only a few yards away, Li and Tohdoh in tow. Kallen was smart; she'd chosen to come from the front doors of the hangar, and made a rather grand entrance, the doors swinging open, slamming against the walls with a loud bang. Kallen had her gun, and so did Tohdoh, but they both froze, unsure of the situation in front of them.
"Kallen," I said, keeping my eyes on Kylo Ren's motionless figure. "Meet my brother."
Kallen, to get credit, didn't cower when Kylo turned his masked gaze on her. "Hi," she said shortly. "I'm taking my commander back." It was a statement, not a question.
"I see no reason why not," Kylo said after a moment. "As long as Larissa and I can come to an agreement."
"So you try and kidnap him? So I would have to negotiate?" I asked incredulously, my surprise overriding my anger momentarily.
"You told me to make a move, sister," Kylo said calmly, and his entire demeanour only infuriated me more.
"This ill-conceived attempt is not what I meant," I hissed. "I've spent too much time building this place up, and I'm not about to let you and your little acolytes mess it up now."
"Protecting your master, are you, Larissa?" The jab hurt, more than I cared to admit.
"He is not my master," I said firmly, my grasp tightening on my lightsabers. "And you're one to talk. Did your master approve this little trip, or did you have sneak out like an errant child?" I felt a similar rage floor through him, and I felt a little pleased that I could still hit him where it hurt, that I wasn't the only one losing control.
"The Supreme Leader is wise, and he is aware I've come to fetch you," Kylo said stiffly.
"Fetch me?" I hissed, "What, am I possession to be bought now?"
"You are so much more than that to me," Kylo said darkly, and despite the mask, the heat in his voice was unmistakable, and my heart stirred despite myself. No, no I wouldn't go there, not when he'd done so much, killed so many.
"Am I?" I asked, slightly hysterical, "Because being your family is a dangerous occupation these days." I didn't miss the small flinch go through Kylo's frame, and took the chance to dig the jibe deeper. "Are you going to kill me too when I'm no longer useful, no longer necessary? When your precious master says I'm a weakness to you?"
"I would never do that you," Kylo swore, taking a step forward.
"Why?!" I shouted, all my anger and grief pouring into the single word. "Why I am so different?!"
"Because you're my wife!" Kylo snarled back.
There was a series of sharp intakes of breath, and I suddenly remembered we weren't the only ones in the hangar.