Trihorn opened the door to his office but before he entered, he turned to Phasma with a smirk.
"After you, m'lady." He bowed slightly while motioning for her to enter which she did.
He entered a minute later and closed the door behind him, making sure to lock it so that no one would disturb them for the week. He hoped it would be a week, otherwise he would have to change his plans and he hated adapting to the unforeseen circumstances. He already had a plan in case they ran into a nebula or a star cluster but otherwise, he was screwed. Out of habit, he took out his communicator and contacted Mart.
"Mart, still alive?" He asked.
"~Yeah.~" Came the tired reply followed by a yawn. "~Sorry, sir.~"
Trihorn let out a chuckle before smiling, "You can take a break, Mart. Ask someone else to take over for the day. Also, do not contact any of us until we arrive at Csilla or encounter a very important problem, understood?"
"~Crystal.~" Mart agreed before Trihorn cut the link.
"I see a problem, Admiral." Phasma spoke up and Trihorn looked at her with one raised eyebrow.
"Problem?"
"There is no bed." She said and Trihorn let out a laugh.
"Seriously Phasma? You are in the presence of this universe's smartest man who can sing - sadly not dance -, command a vessel with great efficiency, successfully smuggle the most illegal items and improve any weapon or shuttle to the best of its ability and this is what you ask?" Trihorn wiped a tear away before he slammed a button that was to the left of the door.
Everything in the room started shifting, from the desk to the ceiling light and Phasma found herself having to move to Trihorn so that she didn't get trapped by one of them. She was in awe at the transformation because an ISD was actually very compact and the fact that Trihorn managed to do this without hindering any other work, it was incredible to say the least. Trihorn enjoyed her reaction to probably the best masterpiece he had ever thought of other than the rail guns.
"I'll be honest, this is my favorite and most hated project ever." He admitted once the room stopped shifting.
The desk and chair was now replaced by a queen-sized bed, the memoirs of his academy and smuggling days were displayed to the left, a small desk and chair to the right and some other ornaments to make the room homier. Trihorn gently took out Phasma's helmet and let out a chuckle when he saw that her jaw had dropped during the whole display. He also took away her blaster and placed the both of them on the desk that had a few holopads. Then, he gingerly grabbed her hand and led her to the bed where he proceeded to slowly take off her armor, piece by piece.
"How did you do it?" Phasma asked when Trihorn took off one of her boots.
"A lot of planning and trying. I was stuck in the black hole so I managed to complete this task." He replied with a smile.
"It must have been annoying." She commented.
"It was. I had to work with limited space and it didn't help that I was doing it alone after all my favorite engineers were sent off." Trihorn huffed before standing up and took off his jacket.
"I have asked your siblings how they know about this and they gave interesting answers… What about you?" Phasma questioned and Trihorn fake coughed.
"Oh, geez. I did it during my free time when I had no other missions." He replied and saw rage cross over her features so he quickly added. "I didn't get any one of them pregnant… At least not that I know of but I swear to you, after I joined the Empire, I stopped doing that work."
"You're a scoundrel." Phasma scowled before getting pushed onto the bed with Trihorn on top of her.
"Admit it, it's what makes you attracted to me." He purred and Phasma gave a smile.
"So, how does this work?" She asked innocently causing him to chuckle.
"Just lie back and I'll make this work."
##
"This is where it began." Lynx muttered, bringing Hux into her office.
Nothing much changed in her office. There was the painting still on the right side of the wall, the transparisteel windows showing the hangar bay and the desk with the comfortable looking chair. Hux looked at Lynx questioningly and she only placed her blaster on the display before pushing it down twice to open up a secret door. She looked back at Hux with a smile before entering the room and Hux followed, feeling rather anxious about what's coming. He was distracted though at the sight of the room which was slightly more colorful than the office. There was a green colored carpet on the floor, a study table with a few stacks of holopads to the right, the bed to the left and another door which he believed to be the bathroom up ahead.
"My private quarters, when I say that I don't want to be disturbed." Lynx explained Hux's quizzical look.
"Why do you have the holopads here?" Hux asked, taking one of them from the top of the stack.
"It makes my office look cleaner. In here, I can be as messy as I want." She smiled before tapping a control on the right side of the desk. "I can also choose between wanting to view the hangar or wanting no distractions as this is a one-way window."
"Don't you think this defeats the purpose of trusting others?" Hux frowned when Lynx chuckled.
"There are just some secrets not worth sharing." She smirked before pulling Hux to the bed. "In this case, I'm willing to share all my secrets with you."
Hux gulped and tugged at his collar when he felt himself drowning in the feeling of lust. He was nervous but Lynx's feelings overpowered his own and soon, he found himself with his back on the bed and Lynx on top of him with a smirk. She still had her armor on but at least she had placed her helmet on the bedside table. When she trailed the left side of his face with the back of her left hand, that was when Hux gave in to the feeling and pulled her into a kiss.
"You really know how to do this." He murmured while Lynx smiled.
"There are just some things that you cannot control."
##
It took a while for Ren and Mia to reach their destination and when they arrived, he took the time to study her office. Unlike Trihorn or Lynx, Mia's office was relatively empty save for the cryo tank and the desk. He looked at Mia who was knocking on the wall, trying to find a secret door. After two minutes, a hollow echo caused Mia's face to light up before she pushed down a hidden button. It opened up the door and she motioned for Ren to follow. The Knight did so, already understanding where this was going but he didn't really care. He was instead, quite curious of this strange little feeling that Mia was trying very hard not to surface.
"Mia, why are you, depressed?" He asked when they arrived at the room.
Mia didn't answer while taking off her boots and putting them neatly at the foot of the bed. Ren took off his helmet and placed on the desk before letting out a sigh. He needed to get her to talk as the silence was killing him on the inside.
"Mia, answer me."
"The force within you is strong, Ren but you still choose to ignore one side. Is there a reason to it?" She asked quietly.
"The light side is weak! How many times must I tell you this?" Ren hissed before putting up his mental barriers as Mia did the same. "You still don't trust me."
"Not when you have sunken deep in the dark side." Mia retorted before grabbing her lightsaber and lit it up. "Try not to damage anything."
"Mia…" Ren said but had to block a blow from the small adult.
Ren found himself fearful of her as she was being too quiet and focused for something that should be playful. He blocked her overhead swing and force pushed her but Mia put up a shield that prevented her from flying. She hopped back before doing a horizontal swing which Ren blocked again. He could feel the anger and disappointment from Mia but he could also see how the force swirled around in her which caused him to blink. It was like the wind except the dark side and light side were not flowing against each other. They were flowing past in a smooth motion that made it look seamless in his eyes. The longer he stared, the more he felt like that there was no difference at all in the flow which caused him to tilt his head slightly to the left.
"Think of the power, Ren." Mia said softly over the sound of the lightsabers. "Think of what you could achieve when you have balance."
"Is this how you bed someone?" He asked instead of the burning question in his mind which caused Mia to jump back with an annoyed look on her features.
"Special case." She muttered and kept her lightsaber. "Now that you have seen the true power of the force that not many have achieved, will you join me in the bed?"
"I'm not sure I want to after that feat." Ren smirked when Mia rolled her eyes and gave him a look.
"Okay, fine. You may sleep outside." Mia grinned before jumping onto the bed, Ren following suit and the two snuggled closer together at first.
"So, who's leading?"
~~6 days later~~
'Beep beep! Beep beep! Beep beep!'
"Who in the universe?" Trihorn let out a yawn before grabbing his communicator on the bedside table. "This better be important."
"~It is sir… It's the Resistance.~" At that, Trihorn immediately stood up to find himself freezing due to his nude form.
"Ah cold! What do you mean the Resistance?" Trihorn asked while running to grab his uniform and a pair of underpants from the closet.
"~They've found us. We haven't engaged with them yet but we are about to.~" Mart elaborated, slightly tremulous.
"Eta?"
"~5 minutes.~" Trihorn let out a string of curses but was lucky enough not to wake the Captain with those words.
"Contact General Hux and Lord Ren, tell them of the predicament and to also let the ladies continue their rest." Trihorn ordered while running out of the room after making sure he had zipped his pants, buttoned up his shirt and put on his boots.
"~Won't the X-factor shake when we get hit which in turn will wake them up?~"
"I've improved the shields before the weapons system so we shouldn't be affected. Besides, Lynx and Mia can get way too cranky when disturbed out of their sleep."
"~Alright, sir.~" Mart ended the comms just as Trihorn entered the bridge.
He gave a quick glance towards the others before standing at his designated spot in the bridge. He narrowed his eyes when he saw the Mon Calamari cruisers heading their way. It was odd as the Resistance shouldn't be able to track them this far out in the Unknown Regions.
"Have we scanned for a tracker on all vessels?" Trihorn asked Vix while Mart was in the background, contacting his other superiors.
"Yes sir, but reports come up as none." Vix replied.
"Blast. It was luck then." Trihorn hissed, knowing full well how it worked. "Is the Finalizer ready?"
"~Yes, sir.~" Mitaka materialized beside Trihorn in his holoform and the Grand Admiral gave a nod to his presence as well as the other Captains' holoforms.
"All vessels, stay behind and just below the X-factor. We have a stronger shield that can withstand more hits. I will tell you when to move forward." Trihorn glanced at Mitaka and the other vessels which were beside the X-factor before looking back forward again, ordering. "Deploy all TIE fighters."
While moving into position given by Trihorn, the TIE fighters flew out of the Finalizer as well as the other ISDs and into battle. X-wing fighters were also deployed from the Resistance ships and a battle ensued. Trihorn didn't bother glancing behind him when he heard footsteps running up to him. He was more focused on wondering when to take out the rail gun to end the fight.
"Trihorn, what is going on?" Hux questioned.
"We were somehow found by the Resistance and I'm guessing it is by luck." Trihorn answered before looking at Mart. "Is the rail gun ready?"
"Almost, sir." Mart replied, flipping some levers on.
"Isn't the rail gun better in atmosphere?" Hux asked and Trihorn let a smile form on his lips.
"It has different modes for a reason, General." Trihorn said before looking at Mart. "Change mode to rocket turret and target the X-wings. Collateral damage will strike fear into their hearts."
Mart did as he was told and soon, a volley of rockets trailed out of the rail guns which had transformed into rocket turrets. One by one, the X-wings started exploding in the soundless void and Trihorn found himself closing his eyes, allowing the little blasts of light to fill his darkness like lightning. After a while, he reopened his eyes to notice most of the X-wings destroyed while the ones left were predictably moving back to the capital ship to defend it. He gave a smirk before nodding towards Mitaka who called all TIEs back.
"Hoppins, establish a connection with the capital ship."
"Yes, sir." Hoppins pressed some button before the holoform of a Mon Calamari appeared in front of Trihorn.
"Am I right to assume that you are Admiral Gial Ackbar?" Trihorn said with an impassive look on his face.
"~Who are you?~" The Calamari asked, moving his head to the right so that his left eye could study Trihorn better.
"Should I keep you guessing? Hm... How about this, you surrender and I will tell you my name. Fair?" Trihorn said, his eyes glowing slightly while he made the offer.
"~Never!~"
"Very well." Trihorn nodded towards Ackbar's holoform which slowly sizzled out. "Mart, prepare the rail gun at half power. All vessels, move forward after laser show. I want him captured."
"~Yes sir.~" The other Captains nodded.
"Laser show?" Ren asked slightly amused and Trihorn gave a smirk.
"Rail gun charged, sir." Mart said.
"Fire at will." Trihorn said while Hux and Ren stood by his side as the other holoforms fizzled out.
Mart flipped on a few more switches before pulling the lever half-way and pressed the button causing a ball of light to form in the mouth of the rail gun. It was slightly smaller than before as it was half power but even then, Trihorn knew it could still be devastating. The whole X-factor vibrated when the rail guns fired streams of lasers which slowly parted into smaller and smaller lasers that soon turned into an electric net of sorts. Trihorn saw Hux's jaw drop in surprise once again from the feat of display and he smiled as the lasers made contact with the vessels. The light display in the Mon Calamari vessels could clearly be seen before it started drifting slowly.
"Power is taken out, sir." Vix said.
"The others are going in, we can hang back." Trihorn replied with a proud look on his face while the Finalizer and the other ISD's flew forward for boarding. "If only we were on the Finalizer. Oh well, we better head back to our ladies before they wake up."
"Did you really wake us up just for that?" Hux tilted his head slightly at Trihorn who chuckled.
"Mart, take over please. I'm also promoting all of you one rank up."
"Yes, sir. Thank you." Lieutenant Mart spoke on behalf of his fellow officers while Trihorn, Hux and Ren entered the turbolift which promptly closed and they started heading down.
"I woke you up so that you two along with Lynx and Mia can go to the Finalizer to interrogate our prisoner." Trihorn said.
"About what? I doubt Ackbar is going to say anything." Hux let out a huff.
"Really, what about the Resistance base? We still don't know where that is specifically. We only know that it is in the Illenium system." Trihorn pointed out and Hux was about to retort but then he clamped his mouth shut.
The turbolift arrived at Trihorn's level so he stepped out but not before giving a warning, "Even though you guys are connected, I would still be careful waking them up. I do not want to see either one of you in a bacta tank."
##
Hux thought about the warning that Trihorn gave. He glanced at Ren who seemed perfectly calm but he was slightly nervous. Trihorn doesn't give warnings without a reason and in this case, he had to be prepared with what's coming.
"General, there is no need to be nervous." Ren said although Hux could hear the smug tone in his voice.
"Right, I don't even know what's going to happen, whether my nose is going to break or not."
"If it's any consolation, Mia hit my nose with a brick on the Finalizer when I woke her up." Ren shrugged nonchalantly while Hux looked at him weirdly.
"I suppose you deserved that?"
"I did. She was dreaming of something so peaceful, I disturbed that dream." Ren said and Hux let out a sigh as the turbolift opened to his level. "I would say good luck but you don't need it."
"I don't believe in luck." Hux scoffed, walking out of the turbolift with confident strides that soon faltered as he neared Lynx's office.
He wasn't that worried. Lynx couldn't harm him even if she tried. They were to protect each other now that they've... Connected.
Hm, that's weird to think about. Hux released a shaky breath before entering the office and then the hidden doorway that was now open. He entered the room, hoping to find Lynx awake but she was still asleep so he thought of a way to wake her up gently. He decided to slide back into the bed, being careful with the covers. His gloved hand trailed her form which caused her to shiver at the touch. He knew she was awake now as he could feel emotions through the touch.
"Morning, Lynx." He whispered in her ear and Lynx stirred.
"I'm freezing." She said while pushing her back closer to Hux's chest and he shared his coat with her.
"It's time to get up. We have to head to the Finalizer." Hux said.
"On who's accord?" Lynx asked, yawning slightly.
"Your brother's." Hux replied which caused Lynx to huff.
"If it was yours, I would have gladly stayed here." Lynx smirked while Hux rolled his eyes and left the room.
He entered her office and decided to look at the pictures on display to pass the time. He began studying them and was quite surprised to find one of the pictures where she stood beside his father, Brendol Hux. He shouldn't be surprised actually considering his father had told him stories of the trio but in this picture, his father looked different. He couldn't put a finger on it though so he moved on. The next picture showed her standing in between two other men. One of them he recognized as Firmus Piett, the man who was promoted to Admiral by Lord Vader himself.
"I'm ready." Lynx spoke up and Hux turned to look at her.
She had worn back her Mandalorian armor which made her look menacing and he smiled at that thought. No one would want to take her away from him because of how she looked. She was a figure that you did not want to mess with… Except that abomination. He quickly pulled himself out of that rabbit hole and looked back at Lynx who wore her helmet and grabbed her blaster from the display. Hux held out his hand which Lynx grabbed and the two started walking out of the room.
##
Ren was calm because he had already contacted Mia using the force beforehand. It was the safest way compared to meeting with her face to face and having to get his butt kicked by the smaller adult. He let out a chuckle at the thought of Hux getting his nose broken by Lynx. However, he pushed that thought aside as he arrived at Mia's office. He entered and saw Mia already dressed up, just tying her robe and her long violet hair before turning on her heel to face him.
"That was fast." Ren commented in slight disbelief.
"Well, I am the fastest among my siblings." Mia shrugged. "Received first place and the best time ever in the academy when we did a parkour test. I don't even know why that was there."
Ren only nodded before grabbing her hand and started leading her to the hangar where Hux and Lynx were already waiting. The stormtrooper corps which Lynx decided to name Black Hearts – considering that was what they were going to be -, also entered the shuttle which surprisingly fit everyone. The shuttle took off and headed back to the Finalizer that was currently docked with the disabled Mon Calamari cruiser. Hux rolled his shoulders before looking at Lynx and Mia.
"The both of you will be cleaning out any leftovers on the cruiser. Ren and I will interrogate Ackbar." Hux said.
"Why don't Mia interrogate him instead? Clearly she is stronger at mind probing than me." Ren suggested.
"Ackbar doesn't know that we have a much more powerful force user on board which is why she will be running through his memories while you break down his wall by physically being there. Lynx can protect her if need be. We also need to make that everyone on board is captured." Hux explained and Ren reluctantly nodded before looking at Mia who gave two thumbs up.
"I'll be fine Ren. We also have the mental link." She said, tapping her temple to prove her point.
"Very well." Ren said acquiescence.
When the shuttle landed, the Black Hearts were the first to leave before the others. Hux and Ren were greeted back by Mitaka while Lynx and Mia took a different route with the special squad to enter the cruiser. Ren looked at Mia before following Hux and Mitaka to the prison cells where a depressed Mon Calamari currently resided. Ren entered the room and pulled in the dark side of the force for the interrogation.
Remember Ren, use the balance of the force. Mia suddenly spoke up and Ren found himself frowning behind the mask.
He stopped and let out a sigh before closing his eyes to focus. He reopened them when he felt the pull of the light and on instinct, pulled himself out of it but then he stopped. Mia had shown him how powerful he could become when he allowed the dark side and light side to work together. So, instead of closing himself from the light, he forced himself to open up and felt a sense of energy course through his veins. He felt new but at the same time, he felt like he hadn't changed.
Don't waste time. Start mind probing him. Mia said and Ren did so, putting his right hand up to start attacking the shield.
He could see the Admiral's memories flashing by but he wasn't the one looking through them. He knew Mia was at work and he was just holding down the walls, allowing her to view all of the Admiral's memories. He could feel Ackbar's consciousness slowly slipping and that caused him to break out of the probe but luckily, Mia had finished her work.
The Resistance base is in D'Qar… I'll keep that in mind. Mia said before Ren left the room, leaving an unconscious Mon Calamari behind.
"D'Qar is our answer." Ren told Hux who nodded.
"We will deal with them once we settle the shipyard facility."