"All these antiques from the Galactic Empire?" Resolder bent over to peer through a transparent artistically twisted pillar of crystal.

"Correct," Lieutenant Commander Ru struggled against a lopsided smile. "The majority were discovered in the princess's personal shuttle. The rest were collected by General Hux throughout the years."

The art piece distorted Resolder's features through its transparent surface with the humor of a funny mirror. Large nose, tiny beady eyes. Massive lips.

Ru covered a chuckle with his fist. "The general keeps the most valuable pieces in a safe in his office and others suited to the princess were carefully selected to decorate her quarters."

With pride, the officer surveyed the room for the hundredth time. "No other ship in the entire fleet contains such a complete inventory of imperial relics, especially those regarding the royal family."

"These are in excellent condition." Resolder stood up to knowingly grin at him, "The general must truly value our Shakal."

The lieutenant commander's smile wavered concerned at the insinuation. "Our imperial princess," he corrected possessively then clarified, "And there is not a soldier within the First Order that does not esteem her highness. The general is no exception to that fact."

Perhaps that was an exaggeration. Some of the younger First Order members were not raised on the stories of the empire. So it might be assumed that they probably do not hold the same worshipful perspective as those born to imperial families.

"Hope not being wasted," Resolder said with a thick accent, "I'm afraid there will be several attempts on her life in the next while."

The lieutenant commander furrowed his brow at the awkward wording he used. Typically, the boy spoke almost perfect Basic, but every once in a while there was this untoward sentence structure.

Ru followed him towards a display of shimmering fabrics. "Is it true that you saw yourself defending her with another Force adept from an older sith Lord?"

Resolder shrugged—not the shrug of a turbulent teenager but the controlled shrug of a career nobleman—and he weaved away from the golden fabric, plucking it with fingers causing the textile to sparkle in the artificial lights. "Unfortunately."

Shifting his weight, Ru debated whether or not to inquire further. Curiosity and concern won out. "Was the older sith this man?" He showed the Hapes noble an image of Snoke on his datapad.

Resolder made a face at the Supreme Leader's scarred appearance and coughed a gagging noise. "Man, he's ugly."

The officer bristled. "He's the Supreme Leader."

Resolder just stared at him. "Doesn't mean he's not ugly."

Despite himself, Ru laughed. He appreciated the boy's candor. It could get him killed, but that doesn't mean it wasn't worthy of admiration.

"But was he the one you saw yourself defending the princess from?"

Resolder shook his head, lips pierced in a grossed line. "No. But someone should put him out of our misery of looking at him."

"Those are incriminating words," Ru warned coldly.

"In the Hapes Consortium," Resolder explained, "someone that hideous would never be allowed to rule. If he's smart, he'd end himself."

"It is not a question of looks," Ru straightened his uniform in a snapping motion, "It is a question of ability."

"Where I come from: A person's appearance," Resolder poked at a gelatinous art piece, "and beauty equate to true leadership ability." The glistening ball lurched and fluctuated in response.

Ru scrunched his brow, "But what if the beautiful person is a complete and utter imbecile—I've witnessed that condition enough to poise an accurate complaint against your assessment."

Resolder blinked at him. A look that all but said, 'you are such a nerd.'

"Within the Hapes Consortium," the noble explained, "the more superior the genetics and intellect, the more outwardly beautiful and symmetrical the person."

"Your culture places too much credence on physical beauty."

"The current and ill-favored Queen Mother," Resolder didn't bother to mask his contempt, "is appalling to look at. Even thick veils cannot cover her unsightly features—And she is insane. Is that not proof enough for you?"

"That's not even a statistic."

"That's an example."

"One," Ru retorted. "One individual example. Scientific studies are quantifiable only through large samples of subjects. One must have concrete, quantitative evidence that is based on subject pools of thousands, not on only one indiv—" He cut himself off mid-word, realizing that Resolder had long since glazed over.

He threw up his hands, "Why am I even discussing this with you? Everyone knows beauty is subjective."

"Not to us," he eyed the sphere, moistening his lips and holding out his hands. The art piece wobbled under his force only slightly.

The transparent sphere folded around his finger then bounced sending a spray of color around the room. "Even a man must be beautiful in order to lead." He lifted his dark eyes to him, "If a man is permitted to lead at all."

The lieutenant commander uncoiled his shoulders to a militaristic position, but twisted his mouth irritatedly. One, the Hapes Consortium's feminism was hypocritical and two… Hapes men were uncomfortably too liberal for his taste in discussing whether or not another man was handsome or 'beautiful'.

"Here men lead," Ru stated the obvious, avoiding the more awkward subject of men's aesthetic assessments of each other.

Resolder poked the sphere again, "I'm not entirely against masculine leadership," he jostled it from both sides, causing the ball to bobble and dance like jelly, "as long as the Shakal is in accordance with it."

"She is a feminine loyalist," Ru explained, clasping his hands behind his back.

"She's too nice," Resolder commented then grinned at the sphere as it bounced and undulated. He slapped its sides. "The Hapes noblewomen will try to eat her alive."

"They will die first."

"I know." Resolder smacked the sphere around a little more. It flopped and waggled, nearly rebounding into the boys' chin. "Ech'ol, this orb is diverting."

Ru watched the spherical art piece jiggle for a moment then returned to their previous discussion. "But are you sure the Supreme Leader is not the sith you saw attacking the princess?"

"The man I saw had gray hair," Resolder looked at him directly, "—a full head of it. And a beard. He may have been plain, but he wasn't nearly as misshapen as that ugly…" his face contorted with distaste. But his political training took over, causing him to censor his words, "your leader."

Ru knit his brow and scratched behind his ear. "Are you positive?"

"Yes." A worried expression fluttered on his face at Ru's scratching, "You're not re-infected are you?" He practically jumped back, nearly knocking over a line of Coruscantean beadwork.

The oblique objects jostled.

Ru bounded forward to steady the menagerie. He glared at the kid, "No." He sneered irritated at the insinuation, "I never was infected. Your people brought the vermin aboard our ship."

With a sigh of relief, Resolder helped him rearrange the artifacts. "You'll never know the agony of space lice."

"I don't want to know," Ru curled his lips in disgust.

He followed the younger man's exploration of the items, half wary the teen was going to break something. "Then whom was the other Force adept helping you protect her?"

Resolder picked up a golden ornate hair pin. Tiny metal flowers dangled from its thin gold chains, while the bulk of the pin was decorated with colored jewels in the sculpture of a beautiful winged insect. "Not Lord Ren," he answered Ru's unspoken question.

"He had blond or silver hair." Resolder glanced up at the lieutenant commander's hairline. "Not unlike your shade."

"Would you be able to identify him, if you saw an image of him?"

The regal shrug again. "I didn't see his features that well—The scenery was too dark."

"Was he young or old?"

Resolder gave him a slit eyed look. "He wasn't wrinkled or ugly if that's what you are asking."

Ru's eyebrow twitched then he broke out into an amused grin. "Hardly."

Resolder met his grin with a white-toothed one of his own.

Opening his mouth to comment, he swung his dark eyes to the door instead. Taking a retreating step, the teenager trembled, his olive skin paled considerably.

"The Shakal brought him?"

About to ask, the lieutenant commander found he didn't have to. That angry, powerful presence was unmistakable… And for some reason, the dark lord felt more foreboding as if he was finally unleashed from a Force harness.

Ru swallowed the large knot of apprehension forming in his throat. "I can sense him?"

"Who couldn't?" Resolder commented, tilting his upper body away from the door with a grimace. "It's like sensing a black cloud of death." Fear etched in his features. "A chaotic… hateful… poisonous…black cloud of death."

"The Supreme Leader is said to be more erroneous." Ru straightened his uniform out of habit and smoothed the fabric on his sleeves. "Much more erroneous."

"Is he truthfully?" Resolder asked, but from the expression on his face, it was evident that instead of poising a question, he challenged the concept. "Or is that your current assessment of the situation?"

The boy knew something. Something dangerous.

Yet, Ru didn't comment on the telepathic hint. Instead, he was distracted by his own increase in the mysterious thing called by the superstitious as the… sixth sense.

And it was peculiar how by just recognizing the fact that he had the Force, Ru could feel his sensory abilities increase by the parsec. His cheek twitched. Yet, increasing in Force powers was not necessarily a beneficial thing… especially in the First Order.

****I have tried to publish this chapter several times over the past week but kept getting an error message. So I'm breaking it down into small parts. Hopsfully, I will be able to publish it that way.****