AN: I know we've been following Hux and Lori along on a nice little romance, but this is just a reminder that they're still the villains.

.***.***.***.***.

The time read 1145. Hux walked out of his suite and made for the meeting room. Lori left her room at the same time, bound for control room 285-C. Five minutes later, both reached their destinations.

Captain Cardinal sat at the far end of the table. Phasma sat facing the door, though she didn't react when Hux stepped into the room. On the same side of the room as Cardinal was general Pryde. He sat at the head of the table, much to Hux's annoyance. Armitage took a seat at the other head of the table, leaving Phasma directly to his right.

No one greeted each other, and an uneasy silence blanketed the room. The others began to slowly trickle in, a few with aids in tow. The minutes ticked by, and Hux could feel Cardinal staring at him. The captain wasn't wearing his helmet, but Hux wasn't going to meet his gaze. As far as anyone else in the room was concerned the general had no reason to pay Cardinal any special attention.

Hux wouldn't worriedly check the time, and he wasn't going to let himself nervously fidget.

When 1200 finally came, everyone that would be there had arrived. While Cardinal wasn't part of high command, his ship was hosting the meeting. Purely for protocols sake, he was supposed to open the meeting with a short speech.

Most of the senior officers weren't planning to pay Cardinal or his speech any mind. The captain didn't let their obvious disinterest dissuade him from his plans.

Standing from his seat, Cardinal began to speak.

"Ladies, Gentlemen, Phasma, before we begin today's conference, I believe that general Hux has something he'd like to share with the room."

Thoroughly confused by the odd opening, the rest of high command curiously turned their gaze to look at Hux.

Not surprised that Cardinal was being so brash, Hux didn't flinch. Internally he was cursing the captain and hoping that the handful of minutes had been long enough for Lori to put her plan in motion.

Doing what he could to keep his voice level Hux spoke, "You're mistaken, Cardinal."

The captain quickly glanced at Phasma and then back to Hux, "No I'm not. You have one chance to tell them before I do."

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're referring to." The general sat straight in his chair.

Before Cardinal had the chance to say what was on his mind, captain Canady spoke.

"What's the meaning of this? Cardinal, say what you mean."

The armor-clad man took one last look at Hux. When the young general did nothing but give a disdainful look in reply, the captain felt the last of his patience trickling away. Still determined to hear Hux admit to his crimes himself, the captain spoke to address the room at large.

"General Hux is a murderer. I hoped that he would admit to his crimes, but it seems that he's too cowardly to do even that."

Where the room had been confused, now they were fully invested in the unfolding events. Most of the room held mixed feelings. None of them doubted that Hux was cruel enough to kill in cold blood, but half didn't think that he would ever be one to get his hands dirty. More than anything, no one in the room was particularly distressed over an accusation of murder.

Despite that, at least one of the older officers saw this as a chance to get the younger –and in their opinion annoying- general out of the way.

"A grave accusation, Captain. Have you any proof?" general Enrich Pryde asked from the far end of the table.

Cardinal looked down at Hux, who had remained sitting.

Hux wasn't about to say a single word to Cardinal. He'd been long practiced in keeping his mouth shut, but he wasn't sure he wouldn't say something damning just to spite the captain.

"Well?" Pryde goaded.

"General?" Cardinal didn't look away from Hux.

He can't think I brought the data card with me. Hux thought.

Deciding that Cardinal really was an idiot who was far too idealistic, Hux took a moment to steady himself before speaking. The moment grew long, and more than one of the other officers was about to make a harsh comment.

None got the chance.

"I'm not sure what you're expecting from me, Cardinal. Surely you don't think that I would spontaneously produce evidence for a made up crime."

With a fresh comment, the crowed was willing to watch how the struggle was going to end. The captain wasn't surprised that his first plan had been foiled. He didn't think that Hux would ever be one to own up to the consequences of his actions, but part of him had wanted to believe that the younger Hux had some sense of honor.

Without hesitation, Cardinal pulled a comm from his belt and signaled his newly found friends, "Cardinal to control, send the file to meeting room 385-B."

The room looked to the display in the middle of the table. The moment stretched out before a light clicked on and the control room made its reply.

.***.***.***.***.

The weight of the little blaster tugged heavily on Lori as she walked. After leaving Hux's suite the night before, she had spent an hour practicing pulling it from its hiding spot. She had gotten the technique down by the ten minute mark, but she practiced past that.

Control room 285-C was only one floor down from the conference room. So long as no one tried to transfer a file from its control panel, no one would have any clue that it was even in use.

The hall was empty when Lori turned down it.

The control room, however, held two people. Orin stood to the left, a standard issue blaster strapped to her hip. To the right, and looming over a comm that sat on the control panel, was a man. Lori assumed he was Mako.

"Captain Formi," the squad leader greeted Lori with her fake name. If she had any suspicions, she didn't show them.

"Orin," Lori nodded at her before glancing at the other person in the room, "you must be Mako."

An enlisted man from his uniform, Lori had expected the ring leader on the Absolution to be an officer. She took note of the oddity. Dark hair and eyes, he had a grave look to him. When he spoke his words had a slight shake to them that told just how nervous he was.

"Captain. Orin told me about you. Thanks for coming."

"Couldn't dream of being anywhere else." Lori stayed near the door.

It had been a long time since she had pulled a gun on anyone. Thinking her actions through before moving, she decided that Orin was the bigger priority. Lori didn't think she would react fast enough to grab her own gun, but she wasn't going to risk it.

A chrono on the wall said it was only five minutes until high command would start their meeting. Lori needed to move quickly. She knew any window she might have would be too small for comfort.

Mako stayed at the table. Orin looked to him to say something.

The second she turned her head, Lori slipped a hand into her tunic. Orin caught sight of the movement. Doing a double take out of confusion, Orin finished looking back just in time to see down the barrel of Lori's blaster.

She didn't have the time to comment before Lori pulled the trigger.

A blue ring that signaled a stun shot zapped across the room and crashed over the squad leader. She dropped to the ground with a blue ripple breaking over her skin.

"What the-!"

A second shot cut Mako off from the rest of his words.

The moment her second target hit the ground, Lori took a step towards them. Her blaster was only lethal at very close ranges, and its stun effected only lasted a couple of minutes. Putting her own gun on the table, she immediately took Orin's off her belt. Just after sliding the thing across the ground, Lori pulled her own belt from its place around her waist.

The pliable fabric would work as an impromptu gag. Having two targets, she made quick work of pulling Orin's belt from its place.

Two minutes had passed before she had her prisoners gagged. Only two more remained until the meeting began.

Wishing she had had time to practice her knot tying, Lori puled Mako's belt off of him and shoved his unconscious body around until she worked his tunic off too. Using the sleeves as impromptu rope she tied his legs together.

Time ticked on and the meeting a floor above began. Cardinal would be making his accusation just as Lori finished the last knot around Mako's legs. Her prisoners started coming to, Orin groaning and slowly coming to the realization that she was gagged.

Mako's belt went around one of Orin's feet. Lori was trying to tie the other in place when a voice came over Mako's comm.

"Cardinal to control, send the file to meeting room 385-B."

The voice stirred Orin into action. Becoming more awake with each passing second she shook and kicked. Lori had a loose knot around both of Orins feet, and only barely scrambled away from the woman's wild kicks.

The squad leader still had free hands. She rolled to the side and tried to push her way up. Lori moved first. She didn't try to stop Orin, she knew she wasn't going to win in a hand to hand fight. Instead she stood and took a hasty steps back.

Mako muttered something against this gag, but the sounds made no words. Orin turned around, ready to grab at Lori. When she did, she found the bounty hunter holding her own, high powered, blaster pistol.

"Get back on the ground." Lori took a step back towards the table, lengthening the distance between her and the partially tied resistance agents.

Orin didn't move, anger burning in her eyes. Lori had been right to think that the squad leader was the bigger threat.

There wasn't time to let an uneasy silence settle on the room. Lori kept the blaster and her gaze trained on Orin, but reached back for the comm.

"Either of you move, and you'll get a bolt through the head."

Mako stopped squirming on the floor. Orin stared daggers at Lori. Knowing better than to take her eyes off the squad leader, Lori clicked on the comm by feel.

"Control to Captain Cardinal, which file are you referring too?"

Not even a second passed after Lori's final word before she hit mute on the microphone. A stunned silence came from the other end of the comm, Lori wasn't sure if Cardinal didn't know what to say or if everyone else in the room was just too far away from the microphone. Either way, she made an ultimatum to Orin.

"I don't know if your blaster's set to stun or kill but if you don't get on the ground I'm going to find out."

The squad leader considered her options. Letting the double agent order her around infuriated Orin more than the betrayal did. The rebel never left her blaster on stun. If she hadn't already been shot, she might think that the officer was bluffing. Despite that, Orin now knew that captain Formi was a talented liar and found herself second guessing the captains threat.

Looking the blaster wielding women, Orin slowly crouched down.

"All the way down," Lori said from her place near the table, "both of you. Get on your stomachs, hands on the back of your heads."

The resistance agents were slow to move. Mako was in position by the time a second message came over the comm. Orin stopped to listen in on the conversation.

"The file," everyone heard Cardinal's emphasis on the first word. He let the weight of it sink in before speaking again, "The one titled 'Concerning the Death of Brendol Hux'."

Lori had only met the man once, but she could imagine the look on his face and the state of the room after a bomb shell like that.

Keeping the comm on mute, Lori gave the control room a warning.

"Try anything, and I'll shot. I don't care if Cardinal hears it over the comm." Lori's last words were her first bluff of the day.

Mako didn't catch it. Orin thought she heard the captain slip

Flicking mute off but keeping the blaster trained on Orin, Lori spoke, "One moment sir, let me check our records."

She would wait for a minute. She was sure that Hux would want the time to make his own comments. Besides, she wanted time to get her prisoners secured. Lori wasn't just going to make the captain think the report was gone, she was going to destroy the final copy.

Clicking the comm back to mute, Lori spoke down to Orin.

"Last chance. You're face goes on the floor, or I shoot."

The squad leader listened and thought she had the captain figured out.

If she were going to shoot, she would have done it already, Orin thought to herself.

Thinking that the captain must have some motive for keeping them alive, Orin didn't move. She wasn't about to listen to traitorous scum, especially not when she was about to ruin everything the resistance had worked toward on the Absolution. Not after good men and women had died to bring this information to Cardinal.

Taking her chances, Orin began to stand from her crouch.

Her body hit the round with a heavy thud.

Orin's blaster went off in Lori's hand. Room going bright with a sudden red flash, the bolt burned a hole through the squad leaders head. The sound of blaster fire hung in the room, leaving Lori and Mako's ears ringing. The bounty hunter didn't flinch at her deed. Mako tried to shout, his words little more than mutters against the belt in his mouth.

The other resistance agent moved to grab at Orin's body, as if he could still do something to save his dead friend.

Lori was quick to train the blaster on him.

She wanted to take at least one of them alive. Dead men told no tales, and she meant to find the rest of the resistance ring on the Absolution.

Mako clutched Orin. No doubt left in his mind that the captain would kill him, he didn't try to stand. Tears welled in his eyes and he found himself trying to shout over his gag instead.

An irritated voice came over the comm, "Cardinal to control…"

The bounty hunter looked at her only remaining prisoner, "You make a sound, and your next."

Mako wanted to be defiant. To make a last stand. But when he looked up, he didn't see a chance to be a brave man. He only saw down the barrel of a blaster, and the sight left him frozen in place.

As satisfied as she could be, Lori spoke into the comm, "I'm sorry Captain Cardinal, that file doesn't appear to exist on any of our systems."

"What! Look again."

"Yes sir, one moment please."

She hit mute once again and kept an eye on Mako. After this, it was only a matter of waiting until the end of the meeting and then getting a message to Hux.

Lori considered her options. She didn't think that the resistance man would try to charge her like Orin did, but it wouldn't be wise to look away from him long enough to pull out her own communicator.

Her own blaster sat on the table next to her. Realizing that it was still set on stun, Lori put a quick plan together.

As soon as she was finished talking to Cardinal, she would stun Mako again. Orin didn't need tying down now, and the belts would be better used to secure Mako's hands. Once the meeting was done it, all she needed to do was signal Hux.

Leaning against the desk, Lori settled in for her wait.

.***.***.***.***.

"Cardinal to control, send the file to meeting room 385-B."

The room looked to the display in the middle of the table. The moment stretched out for far too long before a light clicked on and the control room made its reply.

Lori's voice crackled over the speaker, "Control to Captain Cardinal, which file are you referring too?"

Hux tried to subdue a sinister smile. For as heavily as relief washed over him, he only managed to half way hide the shift in his features. Doing what he could to hide it, he twisted the grin into a slightly disgusted grimace.

Whatever response Cardinal had expected, that wasn't it. In the moment that he was stunned, Hux couldn't resist taking the chance to poke at the man.

"My, my Cardinal. I hadn't realized that you had conspirators aboard the Absolution. Why don't you get one of them to speak of my supposed crimes?"

Cardinal didn't know how much the general had learned. The captain knew that the report had to have been stolen at some point, but even he wasn't sure who was in on the conspiracy. Trying desperately not to let Hux's words get to him, Cardinal spoke into the comm once again.

"The file," he looked around the room. Everyone else had gone silent, waiting to see who would come out on top of the conversation before picking a side.

Cardinal wasn't one to shy away from confrontation, nor was he about to leave here without Hux getting the punishment he deserved.

He continued speaking, "the one titled 'Concerning the Death of Brendol Hux'."

A ripple of mutters flowed across the room. An admiral looked to the captain, wondering if he was bluffing. General Pryde watched Hux for a reaction, but only found the same look of disdainful annoyance that the younger man seemed to always wear. Two younger officers whispered to each other, wondering if now was the time to pick sides.

Lori's voice crackled over the speaker once again, "One moment sir, let me check our records."

Hux took a moment to give another smug comment, "I'm disappointed Cardinal. If you were going to frame me for murder, you could have picked a more believable story than my own father."

Cardinal opened his mouth to rebut, but was cut off by Captain Canady, "Quite, you two. I'll wait for this file to come to light, but I won't listen to any bickering."

Canady had voiced exactly what the other former imperials were thinking, but he earned a venomous glare from Hux in the process.

Cardinal was more willing to yield to the older man's request, "My apologies, Captain Canady."

The older man huffed, but remained silent. He didn't mind Cardinal, but he loathed general Hux. He didn't doubt for a second that the younger Hux was monstrous enough to kill his own father, but he did doubt that he had the nerve to actually do it. Canady also didn't think that Hux was smart enough to have covered up the crime for so long.

Admiral Jindoh had a similar mindset, but she was less willing to patiently wait for Cardinals report to come to light. Hux had been a thorn in her side for as long as she could remember. Never mind that he was overseeing the research for experimental light-speed tech, and she wanted to head the project.

"I, for one, think that we should let Cardinal speak."

A new voice chimed in, "This is a sham. We shouldn't waist our valuable time on an impromptu trial."

The words belong to admiral Dahl. He saw now as the perfect time to get into Hux's good graces. While he was pretty sure the general was guilty, he was also sure that Hux would find a way out of trouble. Dahl wanted to be part of the winning team.

Before the admirals had time to start a fight of their own, Cardinal looked back to the communicator.

"Cardinal to control…" he desperately needed good news.

Another beat of time went by. The divide in high command growing deeper and more visible by the second. After what felt like an eternity, Lori's voice crackled over the speaker once again.

"I'm sorry Captain Cardinal, that file doesn't appear to exist on any of our systems."

"What!" Cardinal didn't even try to hide his shock, "Look again."

Hux wasn't interested in appeasing Canady through silence. He also wasn't one to let Cardinal work through his surprise undisturbed.

"I always suspected that you were an idiot, Cardinal, but I never thought you were stupid enough to falsely accuse me of murder without even trying to fabricate proof."

The red armored man looked down the table to Hux, "You did something! The report exists, you've seen it yourself. Just admit that you're a killer."

General Pryde had had enough of the two younger men. He was as ready as anyone to get rid of general Hux, doubly so if he really had killed Brendol. What Pryde wouldn't condone was more power plays and failed attempts at character assassination. He'd seen plenty of both during his days in the Imperial army, and he wasn't about to let the younger generation pull the First Order into the same habits.

"That's enough of that Cardinal. We have important matters to discus and we haven't time for baseless accusations."

Cardinal wasn't about to let this go. Hux had done something, he knew it.

"But General-"

"You heard the man," Hux cut him off, a sneer on his words, "Take a seat Cardinal, you're done."

The captain looked down at Hux. Silence settled on the room. Phasma felt the tension rise and put a hand over the grip of her blaster.

Before she had a reason to fire, Cardinal looked away. He sat back down in a huff.

The rest of high command didn't pay him any mind. They saw that the moment had passed, and none were willing to bring it back. Even those that wanted Hux gone knew better than to force it, especially when they didn't have any evidence to justify their actions. The meeting went on. Cardinal stayed silent through it.

He watched the red haired general the entire time. Cardinal knew he had to have done something. Hux had killed Brendol and now he was getting away with it. The captain had told High Command about Hux's deeds and they were too quick to brush him off. Cardinal had always known the First Order was rotten. Before now he thought its strength outweighed it weakness, but the revelation that they wouldn't even question having a murderer in high command ate at him.

The room took on a new light for Captain Cardinal. He sat in silence for the rest of the meeting.

He wouldn't be a puppet for the First Order any longer.