The First Order definitely had an aesthetic, and they stuck to it, she'd give them that. Red and black and hexagons fucking everywhere. Snoke's throne room—that's really what it was, a room so grand with a chair featured in the center—was the epitome of the First Order's garish style. The floor was such a shiny black that she could see her reflection in it when she walked into the room, Phasma hesitating at the doorway. Apparently the invitation hadn't extended to the chrome captain.
To go with the varnished floor, eight guards stood in an odd semi-circle formation around Snoke, dressed in glossy red armor. What ostentatious bodyguards. They stood still as statues, drawing attention to the only thing in the room with a different sort of color—Snoke, lounging slightly to one side in his throne, dressed in a golden robe. Ana's boots clicked against the spotless floor; Hux stood in front of Snoke, their conversation nearly over, and Snoke gave a rumbling sort of laugh. Ana paused a ways back from the pair, wondering if she was privy to the conversation, and took in the man whose holographic form had tortured and terrified her.
Shorter than I thought he'd be.
As if he'd sensed her thoughts, Snoke turned his deformed face to her. "Ah, good. Anavexi, isn't it?"
"You've been in my head," she said with a no-nonsense tone. "You could probably tell me my middle name."
Hux's head snapped up to her, looking annoyed that she still had a mind to sass their Supreme Leader, but Snoke chuckled.
"Such bite," said Snoke. "Hux has just finished expounding on the progress you've been making. He claims you were indispensable on Garel. I am eager for a demonstration."
If Hux looked any more surprised, his eyebrows would fly off his face. "Sir, she's only just come from the medbay, surely allowing her a bit more time to recover—"
"I'll take the one with the Bilari whip," Ana interrupted, gesturing to the third guard.
"Ana," Hux snapped at her.
Snoke seemed pleased, however, and she shrugged off Hux's concern. Snoke had his mind set, and he wouldn't have allowed Hux to talk him out of it. At least this way maybe she could control her opponent, and she recognized the weapon in the guard's hands as one that could potentially do less damage than his counterparts.
Plus that helmet is just obnoxious, how can they see out of that thing?
"Do you feel your injury will hinder you?" Snoke asked, though he already knew the answer—or at least, planned on continuing anyway regardless of her answer.
"Is this a fight-to-the-death scenario, are we on a points system, or what?" Just to be safe, Ana tested the strength of her legs by stretching in a casual way while Hux flickered between agitated and concerned. Why should he be concerned? Did he truly think her so delicate? Did he think she'd lose?
"I'll call it off when I am satisfied with your development." Snoke gestured at his guard, who stepped forward and snapped his weapon.
This time there was no fog. Instead, she was hyper-aware of her body, of his; every movement was pinpoint precise, every strike was planned and anticipated. The whispering from her meditation had started up, though, as he struck out at her with the electro-chain, a jumble of voices some male and some female that were both familiar and strange to her. Their fight was like a dance—unlike fighting Kylo, whose movements were full of power and therefore heavy and thundering, or fighting the Resistance militia who operated with a level of inexperience with hand-to-hand combat. They were spinning around each other so much that Ana was starting to get dizzy, and Snoke still hadn't called for them to yield.
She had no weapon to block his strikes with, opting to dodge most of his attacks instead and launch well-placed strikes that, while they caused him to stumble, might not be doing much underneath his armor. His electro-whip stung when it did land, leaving red stripes across her arms. At one point, his whip circled her half-mechanical arm and nearly shorted the freshly-mended circuits. He was pulling her forward, the whip locked around her bicep, and with heavy strain and a planted stance, she tucked her arm close to her, put the whip and the guard at her back, and threw him over her shoulder. He went down with a thud, his grip on the weapon slacking, and she ripped it from his grip. She hesitated before swinging it down, and in that moment of hesitation, the seventh guard had stepped forward and unsnapped his polearm into dual-blades, swiping for her stomach. She hopped back almost a split second too late, sweat dripping down her brow, and looked at Snoke.
Instead of stopping it, Snoke gestured at his guard expectantly.
Torture-den, she thought. It's not enough to get inside my head, he's gotta make me run like a hamster on a wheel—
"Is this because of the short comment?" she asked, watching the seventh guard begin to circle her. "I honestly just thought, with how large you made your hologram—it's your fault really, for planting those expectations in the first place, you know—" The seventh guard swiped at her again with his blades. She ducked, bent backwards. "Should really just keep the hologram going, not even show your face in person ever, makes you a lot more spooky—" Using the whip to bat away her opponent's strikes, she felt herself starting to lose ground. "Would probably keep you safer too, why aren't you big dictator types more careful about your personal security? You're harder to kill if no one's ever seen you—"
"Stop talking and fight," Snoke boomed.
"Alright, alright." She flicked the whip, plucking one of the blades from the guard's hand, and when he lunged for her again, she dropped to one knee, struck at the soft spot of his underarm and heard bones crack—she spun in a tight pirouette, wrapped the whip under the juncture of his helmet to curve around his neck—
"There it is!" Snoke announced, and she dropped the guard with a grimace. "Well done."
But Snoke wasn't looking at her; he was looking at Hux. "You were right, general, she is voracious. You have groomed her nicely. Perhaps she was wasted on my apprentice."
Her spine snapped pin-straight. Was that what this had all been about? The guards picked themselves up and moved back to their posts, while Ana's brain was still trying to catch up. Had Hux brought her here to brag? Like he was showing off a successful office project? As her resentment began to boil—used, again—the door behind them opened.
"Come in, my protégé," said Snoke. "You've missed quite a show."
Ren's eyes settled on Ana almost immediately. She met his gaze, scowling, and wiped blood from her lip.
"What are they doing here?" His unmasked face glanced to Hux and away, the other man smirking.
Snoke looked mildly irritated with Ren, but the expression smoothed. "Demonstrating that Hux has succeeded where you failed. The girl is a marvel."
Ren bristled immediately at the taunt. "I was the one who unlocked her memories, I saw her potential—"
"And yet she had not truly reached it until she was out from under you."
The insinuation made Ana's cheeks burn. "I've had enough of this." She chucked away the Bilari whip, turning to leave.
Hux called after her. "We haven't been dismissed by the Supreme Leader—"
"Stuff it, Hux," she snapped.
Ren grabbed her arm as she passed him. "Why?" he asked.
"I don't owe you an explanation. I don't owe you anything."
"Let her go, Ren," said Snoke, dismissing Hux with a wave of his hand. "You've had enough time with her today, don't you think? I have something else we must discuss."
"The fuck was that, Hux?" Ana hissed when they were in the hall. "Did you just take credit for me, as if I were a military plan or a new type of gun?"
"You are a weapon—"
"You used me. You're treating me like some kind of pawn so that, what, you can get a promotion? Snoke's approval? Did daddy not love you enough or something?"
"Watch your tone," he snarled.
"I am not a tool to take down Ren."
"Of course you're not—"
"Don't lie to me, Hux, I'm so sick of being lied to! Now for once, would someone on this goddamn ship tell me the truth."
"You're not just a pawn, Ana." He stepped closer to her. "I need you."
"Need me," she scoffed. "I bet all the girls fall for that cheap line—"
"You've fallen for worse, haven't you?" he said derisively. "What did Snoke mean by what he said to Ren? Did he go to see you?"
"He came by the medbay, what does that matter? You're deflecting!"
"He's manipulating you, Ana. He's undeserving of you. Your power, your affection. I need you. He doesn't. Imagine what we could do, the order we could bring to the galaxy, with me fully at the helm and Ren gone, with you at the head of my army. We will demolish the Resistance, bring them to their knees—"
"I don't care about the fucking Resistance! I don't care about your plans, or Snoke's plans, or the First fucking Order. I've got my own plans, Hux, and I won't let a bunch of childish, power-hungry blowhards keep me from them!"
Hux's eyes flashed fire, his face twisted and ugly. "I don't appreciate being lumped in with Ren—"
"I don't appreciate being manipulated. You should work on your acting, Hux." She kept her tone hard, refusing to soften even when something close to hurt flashed across his expression.
"Does he really have such a hold on you?" he asked lowly.
She groaned in response, throwing her arms up. "This has nothing to do with Ren! Can I not be autonomous?"
"Remember, Ana," Hux said, his gaze powerful. "I've come for you when he hasn't, and I will continue to do so. Be careful where your loyalties lie. He will always undervalue you. I see your worth." He brushed past her, their shoulders bumping. "Our shuttle leaves for Corellia in two hours."
Ana wanted to scream in frustration. Used, always used. Ghrrik, Ren, Snoke, Hux. Hux was acting like he was somehow better, despite manipulating her just as thoroughly as any of them, playing just as low and dirty—Hux may even be worse, she thought, aiming to trick her with niceties and false tenderness.
You knew, she thought. You suspected he wasn't genuine. Why should it matter? Why should it hurt?
Because it means there really is no one who truly cares about you.
"What am I supposed to do on this ship for two hours?" she muttered, trying to shrug off her own thoughts.
Don't move, Ana. Ren's voice split through so strongly that it gave her a sharp jolt of pain.
No. She broadcasted that word, large and heavy, to him.
His confusion echoed back at her. No?
No, I'm not waiting, no, I'm not dealing with your tantrum, and no, I'm not sorry for the stunt I pulled in the med bay. She was mocking him, throwing his own words at him from when he had denied her the trip to Coruscant and started this whole arc in motion—
Are you going back with him? His disgust was evident.
Shouldn't you be paying attention to Snoke? Ana rolled her eyes, leaning against the wall of the hallway. He's probably listening in.
What was the point of all that in the medbay if you were still going to choose him?
Are you serious? I'm not choosing Hux. I'm just not choosing you.
I don't accept that.
Of course you don't. Gonna give up on the scavenger then? I don't do second fiddle.
If I can turn her, think of what an asset she'd be—
Yeah, sure, that's why you're obsessed with her.
You keep insisting on my obsession, but who is truly obsessed? I'm not the one disappearing with another man—
"Well I didn't kick you off the ship with nowhere to go, did I?" Her voice rang out; she barely realized her outburst was aloud. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves, telling herself she wouldn't let him get to her again, she was stronger than that—
"I'm not aimless anymore," she said, mostly to herself. She thought of her dreams, of Ossus, of something waiting for her that she couldn't quite describe.
You still want to escape. Ren's voice returned. I thought you had accepted this.
Is that what you want, Kylo? Acceptance? For the barest of moments, she could feel his vulnerability. Do you believe the girl will give that to you?
She has nothing—
She doesn't accept you. She wants to change you. She wants to strip you down, not to get at who you really are, but to get at who you used to be. The scavenger wants Ben back in the Light. Wants the boy who never went to the Dark Side in the first place instead of figuring out the man who went through it and came out with the scars. That's not acceptance.
She received no response, a headache tugging at her from behind her eyes, and set off down the hall away from Snoke's throne room. There had to be a better way to spend two hours.
"Something is calling me," she whispered, knowing he was still listening. "While you and Hux fuck around with the Resistance, something much bigger is calling me, and I aim to find out what it is."
She'd go back to the base with Hux, and from there, Ossus. Two could play at the manipulation game; she was going to find out what was on Ossus, why Arden had been appearing to her, even if she had to go through Hux to do so.
I won't be fooled again.
A/N: Ana's got big plans, Hux was planning to surpass Kylo, and Kylo...Kylo's just worried about his ego.
Tune in next time! Thanks in advance for reviews/favorites/follows! The next chapter is going to have a slightly sweeter moment (won't say yet with who!) as well as some more action!