Chapter 43: Transmissions
Omg, who is ready for The Rise of Skywalker? It's officially out, I can't believe it. I sadly have to wait until Christmas Eve to watch it but I can't believe it's finally the end of this saga, sad times! I also can't believe I started this story back on the eve of TLJ coming out and now it's officially the length of a decent novel, like, that's INSANE, It's a novel length story, what? How did that happen? Thank you so much for reading this story and following and favouriting it and leaving your comments, it's super amazing to see that some of the readers have been here since day one and I just want you all to know I appreciate you all so, so much, new readers and the OG ones alike. I hope I'm not disappointing too many people with the directions I've taken this story in, I still have a LOT of plot left in me and i'm sure the story will still surprise a lot of you, and hopefully makes you happy too. As always, enjoy!
When Lyra felt lips touch her cheek the next morning she smiled to herself but kept her eyes shut from denial of what would follow when she did.
"My darling, it's time to go back" a voice whispered.
She made a noise of annoyance and tried to resume sleep.
"I know, I know you don't want to, but we must."
She moaned again and reluctantly opened her eyes. "It's so much better here, we should just stay."
Armitage leaned over her and smiled softly. Of course he wanted to stay. Being at home with Lyra in Naboo had brought her close to him once more and he knew going back to the Finalizer would only make her pine for her Pilot again. But needs must, Ren wouldn't hesitate to kill either of them, despite his need for Hux's mind and hold on the First Order, his temper would always dictate his actions, and they had already risked his wrath for too long.
"I want nothing more than to stay in bed holding you, but we have to go, you know Ren will send armies to our door if we don't comply."
She stroked his cheek gently. "I thought you would protect me from Ren."
His smile turned into a cold stare. "And I meant what I said. I will protect you from Ren as much as I can, but I can't do that if he kills us both and if we stay here, he will kill us."
Lyra should have known better than to doubt Armitage's loyalty to her and his desire to protect her. She nodded slowly before getting up from bed reluctantly to throw some clothes on.
She took Armitage's arm as he led them back to their ship and he noticed her sad expression at the thought of returning back to the Finalizer.
"I know my darling. I know. We'll be back soon enough, permanently, I promise" he told her.
"Let's hope we survive to see that day" she replied. In truth, if the war ended, if she was free, her first desire would be to see Poe again. Naboo was escapism, it was a brief return to the life she shared with her husband before the First Order, before the Resistance, before Poe. Life was so very different now and Poe, Poe was part of her life now, a part she so desperately missed. As soon as they stepped onto the ship to return to the Finalizer memories of him flooded back. His skin soft against hers, the beads of sweat that formed on it as he made love to her. His smile, those little crooked front teeth that made his smile that bit more endearing to her. The feel of his hair when she took hold of it and his laugh, his deep hearty laugh that she would have crossed galaxies to hear right now.
She allowed the memory of Poe to take hold as Armitage flew them back to the Finalizer.
Back on the ship, Armitage could waste no more time in returning to work, and Lyra wasted no time in returning to her usual state of sadness being back in her cage. Armitage had affectionately kissed her head and told her of various comforts he would bring her after work in the form of food and books but it did little to ease her mind.
She decided, perhaps for the worst to try and record a message for Poe. It wasn't hard to hack through the First Order's systems, not when she was right in the centre of one of the main dreadnoughts they used as headquarters. Taking a commlink from one of the storage units out from under the Stormtroopers noses, she made her way to a quiet room away from the rest of the Finalizer's crew and began to record a message for Poe.
"Hello Poe, Lyra here, hope I'm still recognisable, I might not be by the time this message gets to you, if it gets to you. I miss you. So much. Armitage and I went home to Naboo and, and for a while I thought maybe, I could go back to that life, go back to Naboo and back to him but, it's not the same. My life isn't the same now, it isn't what I want anymore. It isn't the Resistance, it isn't the squadron and Beebee, and Armitage, he isn't you. That's it, none of it was you. None of it was your smile or your presence or your jokes, your terrible jokes.
I know seeing each other that day on the ship, after Leia's passing felt strange, like a rift had perhaps built between us but I know in my heart I still belong with you and it was just time and the absence of you that made me feel, strange. It, it must have been that. I'm scared though Poe, Ren's visions grow stronger in my mind, they hit me hardest when I'm on this ship. I'm consumed by sadness staying here and it's getting harder to blur the lines between what's real and what are visions he's planted in my head. I see you in pain, I see Leia in pain, I see everyone I love in pain. I don't know what's real anymore. I can feel myself getting angrier, and when I'm not angry, I'm just, blank. I don't even know if I'm the same woman you fell in love with anymore. I wish I was, I hope I am. You made me a better woman Poe, but I fear the more time I spend away from you the more I feel I'm slipping away. If I carry on this way, I'm scared I won't be able to come back from this pain. I love you Poe, the selfish part of me wants nothing more than to be there with you, to hold you again, to make love to you, to make a home with you in Yavin after all this fighting. But, I want, more than anything else in the world, for you to happy.
Poe, I, I don't know when I'll see you again. With Ren in control of the First Order I feel this war becomes more and more dangerous with every passing moment, and without Leia, I fear for the Resistance's future too. I keep having these thoughts that this war will claim my life, and if it doesn't, Ren or being confined to this, fucking ship will. If that happens, and I know you don't want to hear this, but if that happens, I need you to be happy.
I need you to go on. I need you to live your life, you didn't do all this fighting for a free galaxy to not enjoy it when you have it. Anyone would be lucky to have you Poe, more than lucky, blessed. I know Kaydel likes you, she's always had a soft spot for you. Whoever it is, just be happy. And don't forgot Beebee, I still feel guilty sometimes for taking your attention away from him, just, just give him hugs from me from time to time."
She paused, breathing in heavily to try to keep from crying.
"Stars, I don't even know what I'm saying, I love you, I wouldn't give you up for the world, not the entire world. But we are in a war, and I've seen too many people suffer to want that fate for you. I love you so much, and I hope I find my way back to you soon, and you can tell me off for even suggesting a life without one another, but if not, if I don't make it to you, please just be happy Poe, because you'll never know how happy you make me."
She paused, knowing if Poe heard the message it might send him into a state of panic and force him to do something stupid to get to her. But she needed him to know, in case of Ren, in case of war, in case of her own misery. She needed him to know she loved him and wanted him to be happy.
When Lyra sent the message off to Poe's last known location, she was met with absent radio links. He was gone, and her tracker seemed to display the same location she had sent the message too. The resistance must have taken extra precaution against being found by anyone and blocked their radiolinks. Poe could be anywhere now, in any condition and for the first time in a while, she truly feared for his life, especially with Leia not there to protect him from reckless decisions.
She sent the message out to the galaxy, hoping somewhere, Poe would pick it up.
When Armitage retuned from work that evening, he was met with the sight of Lyra sat on the couch looking down sadly.
As he approached, he saw her looking down at her tracker.
"Darling? Are you alright?"
She looked up at him sadly. "The resistance, they blocked their communication channels, the tracker is useless now, I don't know where he is, or how he is."
Armitage pushed her hair back softly. "I'm sorry my darling, I'm sorry."
She nodded. "Perhaps, perhaps it's for the best, would you, could you get rid of this for me please, I have a feeling I'll go mad if I keep trying to focus too hard on it?"
He nodded, taking the tracker from her hand.
Not wanting her to to return to her usual state of sadness and threw her some black pants and a vest top.
She looked up at him from the couch in confusion. "What's this?"
"Gym wear, I thought we might train some more, I have some new toys to show you, it might help take your mind off things" he winked.
She smiled, grateful Armitage was there to take her mind off the absence of Poe and her worry for him and practically sprinted to the closet to change.
As they made their way to the training hall, she chuckled softly.
"When you met me I bet you never thought we would combat and weapons training together."
He smiled down at her. "What makes you say that?"
"Well, me in my pretty dresses and parading around at balls and discussing diplomacy and books I read, it just, can't have seemed likely I would be interested in weapons and combat?"
He raised an eyebrow. "You conveneinly left out your not so traditional hacking abilities?"
"Well yes, but still, not quite as badass as combat training."
He shook his head. "You underestimate yourself my darling, you have always been badass."
She blushed, happy for husband's encouragement and pride when she was missing Poe giving her that same support.
In the training hall, Armitage wasted no time in trying out some hand-to-hand combat training with her, revelling in the intimacy it provided, even if the aim was to hurt one another. He was amazed at how agile she was, at how good she was at evading his movements. At one point, she managed to dash through his legs and trip him up with ease when he tried to turn to her. He groaned from the floor, causing her to apologise perfusely as she helped him up.
He did get the upper hand a few times though and as they finished up, he even managed to trap her arms against one of his own as he pulled her close.
"Very good darling, I think we're perfectly matched" he told her.
She inclined her head towards him as she smiled. "How long before I can take Ren down?"
He kissed her cheek softly before removing his arm from hers. "After last time I think we should refrain from killing him, for now at least."
She sighed before nodding in agreement. "Alright, so where are these new toys you wanted to show me?"
He went to the weapons display and took down two metal hilts. She looked at them in confusion before he pressed a button on either side of them and beams of white flowing light shot from them to form the shape of whips.
She gasped and took a step back, remembering weapons very similar to them cutting her back open when Snoke first brought her aboard his ship after she was recaptured by the First Order.
His eyes widened at her fear and he restracted the blades straight away.
"I'm so sorry darling, I completely forgot, I'm sorry" he said, realising what those blades meant to her.
She took a deep breath in and shook her head. "It's fine, better to have an idea of my enemies and the weapons they use then go in blind not knowing what to expect. Show me, it's fine, I can handle it, it just took me by surprise is all."
He paused. "You're, you're sure, after Ren's torture I don't want to hurt you anymore than what's already been done."
She shook her head. "It's fine, I need to master my fears, that's one thing Ren is right about, I'll tell you if it's too much."
He nodded, lighting the blades up once more. "They are vibro-whips, difficult to master, but if you do, they are one of the most lethal ranged weapons going. I thought with how quickly you took to the bow and arrows, ranged weapons might be your forte?"
She nodded, staring at the whips, listening to the sinister hum of them as they shone. He retracted them once more.
"Do you want to try them?"
She nodded slowly and he passed the hilts to her before stepping back to give her room to practise. They shook in her hands for a moment as she nervously handled them before she held them out and turned them on. She felt the power of wielding such lethal weapons pulse through her straight away, making her feel as if her heart was in her throat it was beating so loudly.
"Best thing about them, they work with the weilder, learning your handling techniques so well, the blades can even avoid your own flesh when fighting at close quarters. Lethal for everyone else, safer for the one holding them."
She couldn't help but smile at the impressiveness of the weapons, her only wish was that the impressive tech was in the hands of the Resistance and not with the First Order.
He trained with her, showing her how to weild the blades and strike targets with them, making sure her safety was cared for but not smothering her as he had once done when he believed her to be more fragile than she really was.
It was only after two hours of training did Armitage insist she stopped for the day to rest.
"My darling, I don't want you to overdo it, we can practise again tomorrow. Listen, I have some business to attend to in my office, go back to our rooms, I'll bring food back for us."
She nodded, watching as he left for his office before retuning to their chambers and feeding Millicent.
In Armitage's office, he sat at his desk, filing through some work. Ren had already ensured he had plenty of work to return to after his little trip to Naboo with Lyra. He put his head in his hands as he read through Ren's plans for the First Order. The man was naïve and so governed by personal vendettas. Armitage knew he could make a better leader than Ren, he was twice the man Ren was, and could be ten times the leader if only given the chance.
As the General plowed through his work, his private office comms link alerted him to an incoming message. He didn't recognise the source and reluctantly accepted the message.
"Hux? General Hux is that you?"
He frowned, recognising that voice. The Pilot.
"Yes. What do you want?"
Poe paused. "Hux, please, I just need to talk to her, I just need to hear her voice please. I can't, the tracker signal on her end is blocked, I couldn't find her. I didn't know if she was safe, I've been trying to find your signal for days now. I, please, I know you owe me less than nothing but I miss her so much. I just need to hear her, hear she's ok."
Hux took a deep breath in. He was getting somewhere with Lyra, he could feel her faultering, growing closer to him, and everytime the dammned Pilot had to come along and ruin it. Not this time. He was so close to winning Lyra back, the Pilot wouldn't ruin this for him again. He blurted out a response.
"Haven't you heard? Lyra, she, she passed away."
Poe's breathing hitched on the other side of the line. "You're lying. I saw her a few weeks ago, she was fine, she was… she was fine."
Hux sighed, he was already regretting the lie, but he had started it now, he would finish it.
"It's true. Leia's passing, spending time away from you, it was all too much for her, she was refusing to eat, she got sick and then she just gave up, she told me she didn't want to fight anymore, she had lost everything and everyone she loved, I'm sorry to inform you of the terrible news. I know you loved her as much as I do."
"If that's true, why didn't you help her? Why didn't you try to heal her?"
Hux frowned, thinking on the spot. "Leia's passing and the effect it had on her due to their force connection could not be remedied. The doctors, they said her heart was failing, giving out. It was almost like she died of a broken heart, she didn't have the strength or resolve to cling onto life anymore."
Poe paused, Hux could tell from his breathing he was in disbelief. Then, before Hux could weave a more elaborate lie, Poe hung up.
Hux sighed as he looked at the commslink before swallowing a breath. What a stupid thing to have done, if the Pilot wasn't already on his way to their location to prove his words were a lie he would beyond depressed at the thought of Lyra dead.
And Lyra. She would never forgive him if anything happened to her Pilot as a result of her husband's words. Lying alone would give her cause to hate him.
But he was so close, so close to having her back now, so close to her loving him once more, so close to having them both return to life as it was before she ran away. The dammned Pilot would ruin it all. Perhaps now he would leave them alone once and for all. Hux ran a hand through his hair, feeling guilty about what he had just done. He quickly finished his work before returning back to Lyra.
In their rooms, she was sprawled out on the sofa, a book in her hand and Millicent dutifully on her lap. He smiled at her in the doorway before she looked over at him.
"What? What is it?"
He shook his head. "Nothing, I'm just happy to have you back my darling."
She managed a small smile, leaving Hux borderline breathless. Just one smile from that woman and he was reminded of why nothing else in the world mattered. Not even the fate of anyone else who claimed her as their own.