AN: Hello again, and thanks for reading. This chapters a bit slow, but it has it's moments, hope you enjoy. I have shenanigans planned for next week, so consider this a calm before the storm.
.***.***.***.***.
Ardis had just finished her morning meal by the time Armitage came to the table, two bowls of Anoat oats in hand. He had already brewed a pot of caf, and the steaming bowls came to a rest next to mugs that had only just stopped wafting vapor into the air.
Lori tucked Ardis back into the hovercrib, hoping that she would drift into a post meal nap. The sun had only just risen, there wasn't much time before Armitage would have to sneak back to the palace, and then leave the planet all together.
But for now, the couple was content to enjoy the morning.
Until one of them checked the morning news.
Hux skimmed over a news fed via a data pad. It was mostly mundane, weather reports, a fluff piece about local theatre, an opinion article about the Pentastar Alignment. What caught his eye was an investigative piece pulled from an anonymous source in the palace.
The title read: 'The Fall of Emperor Fel - A Coup!'
Incredulous at the title alone, Hux opened the article and began reading. His mood soured with each additional word, so much so that Lori could see it happening in real time.
"That can't be good," the observation left her to abandon the caf that she had hald way raised for a drink.
He was only half way through the article, but Hux had seen enough to know where it was going. Rather than take the time pick and choose what he would say, Hux simply read a particularly damning passage aloud.
"Foreign military officials have entered the inner most sanctum of the palace. Why are they here? To invade, of course! Our brave investigator spoke to one of these so-called diplomats, and he said that the 'First Order' was here to 'join forces' with us against the Alignment. But don't be fooled! The First Order has invaded peaceful planets before, and they will do it again. They are here to break us apart from the inside, our investigator has already found fissions in the high command, and a coup is sure to follow."
The writing sounded familiar to Lori, "Which paper published that?"
Hux looked to the top of the article, "The Bastion Sun."
Lori thought as much. With a weight lifting from her shoulders, she told Armitage, "I wouldn't worry too much. They're a tabloid paper, most people don't trust them as far as they could throw them."
"Perhaps, but that doesn't change the fact that they know who we are and roughly why we're here."
"True enough. Luckily the people here are diehard imperial loyalists. As long as we can convince them that the First Order is the legitimate heir to the Empire, they'll turn on the Fels all on their own."
Hux gave Lori a meaningful look while sparing a hand to slide the data pad away.
She caught his message, "I'll be quiet while I'm working on our propaganda. Trust me, I won't be going out and crawling through alleyways, or doing anything else too exciting."
"Be very careful." He had a dozen other comments in mind, but he knew that once Lori had her mind made up, there wasn't much he could do to change it. Besides, having competent help in swaying public opinion towards the First Order could prove invaluable.
Lori could see the honest concern on Armitage's features, and she decided that now wasn't the time for even a softly sarcastic reply. She meant it when she said, "I promise you I will be."
Hux knew that she had only ever been genuine with him, but he still had to force himself to drop the topic. The future loomed over them, and while he could table their discussion about spies and propaganda, he couldn't ignore the rest of the day's plans altogether.
"Lori," he wrapped a hand around his mug of caf, thinking carefully on each word before he said it, "I'm afraid my mission on Bastion is coming to an end. I thought it would take more than just a few days to make real progress, but it seems I was mistaken."
She knew he would have to leave eventually. She had been trying to ignore the fact that eventually would come sooner, rather than later.
"I understand," She looked him in the eye, already missing him, "Do me a favor?"
"Anything." He answered without hesitation.
"Get your war with the New Republic sorted out just as quickly as you did with your talks to Fels. It's about time we came home."
Hux knew that wars weren't won in an afternoon, and he knew that Lori did as well. The first shot hadn't truly been fired, not yet. Once it was, there wouldn't be a single corner of the galaxy that wouldn't be tenuous at best.
Familiar doubts and hopes swirled around Hux. He had long dreamed of a galaxy squarely under his thumb. That very dream had become a burning desire, and now it was a necessity.
"It is," he finally agreed, "I'll find somewhere to call home, permanently. The New Republic's days are numbered, and they're about to run out."
A dark promise sat beneath Hux's words. The sound of it brought Lori back to some of their first talks back on the Finalizer, when both of them had been so busy trying to unravel the other.
"Good," she settled on a single word. A year ago, she would have been so ready to poke at his ideas, to wonder how she might store that information and use it later. But now she was content to do her part in helping Armitage on the way to his dream, because it had become her dream as well.
They ate on for a moment, Hux having set the data pad aside in favor of breakfast. Lori occasionally rocked Ardis' crib, lulling the child back into a light sleep when she grew restless.
The morning sun slowly rose over Bastion, and with it came the weight of the day.
Armitage looked beyond Lori and Ardis to the brightening window, and then to the chrono on the wall, "I'm due at the palace in an hour."
Lori pushed aside an emptied bowl simply because it was something to do other than think about Armitage leaving, "How long does it take to get there?"
"Forty-five minutes. Forty, if I hurry."
"Sounds like you got fifteen to spend on a long goodbye then."
Armitage smirked from across the table, "I thought I just said I had closer to twenty."
Grabbing a handful of silverware, Lori stood from her seat, "You've got to spend a couple of those helping me clean up."
He followed suit, inwardly hoping for a time where this could be every morning. There were only two sets of dishes between them, and it only took a minute to unceremoniously throw it all into the dishwasher.
The quick flurry of movement that came with cleaning quickly drew to an end. Both Lori and Armitage wished that there were some other small task to focus on. Some other thing to work together over, to think about rather than their inevitable goodbye.
Lori offered Armitage the bag he had brought the other day. It was empty now, with the gray blanket firmly wrapped around Ardis, and the night cloths stowed away in the bedroom. They suggested a fragile promise that he might return with a need for them.
"No, you should keep it," he turned down the satchel, "Besides, it will difficult to explain if someone sees me sneaking back in."
She put it down with an amused huff before turning to straighten the opening of Armitage's grey coat. The holodisk he had gotten from the medcenter hung heavily in an interior pocket, "Because wondering around out of uniform will be so easy to talk around."
"One thing at a time," he clung to the distraction.
Unfortunately, the chrono ticked on, not sparing a moment for them. Lori was aware of it and would have said something for it, but was instead distracted by Ardis babbling in her crib.
Happy for something to distract from their imminent goodbye, Lori reached for the infant. Cradling Ardis, she turned back to face Armitage. He looked the two of them over and wondered how he might draw his mission on Bastion out for another day.
"Well," Lori began, a creeping sorrow hidden under a neutral expression, "I don't think she knows how to wave goodbye yet."
Armitage drew closer, bringing a hand up to caress Ardis' cheek, "I'll return before she even knows I'm gone."
Seeing Armitage so convinced of himself left Lori with a little bit of cheer to add to the moment, "Be careful with a promise like that, I'll hold you to it."
His gaze moved up to look Lori in the eye, "I wouldn't expect anything less."
She stepped closer to Armitage, not having an arm to spare for a hug. He understood, and wrapped his long arms around her, leaving just enough space between them for Ardis to lay undisturbed in Lori's embrace.
Keeping as close as she could manage, Lori lifted her head from the comfortable place she had found at the base of Armitage's neck, "I know you're usually the one warning me, but be careful. Please?"
He looked down to Lori, keeping his hold tight around her before answering, "I will be. You said it yourself, the people here are imperial loyalists. They will come to see the First Order as the true heir to the empire."
She wasn't just referring to the Fels, and they both knew it. Yes, there could be a civil war brewing on Bastion, but that might be nothing compared to the struggle about to break out between the New Republic and the First Order.
"I'm sure they will," she let him have that point, "But be extra careful back on the Finalizer."
Armitage would have been lying if he said he didn't fear that his flagship might come under fire. He would have to be even more delusional to think that war with the New Republic wouldn't bring him up against Ren more often.
"Absolutely." He agreed to her second request.
Lori heard a few doubts under his last word, but she let them be. It was nothing that she could talk away in a moment, and simply being there was the most she could offer.
Armitage checked the time to find that he had only a minute before he would have to rush away, clinging to the moment he stalled by saying, "You're asked two things of me, it's only fair that I get a promise from you."
Hearing the echo of their old back-and-forths was a small comfort, and Lori was more than ready to accept it, "And what would that be?"
"Stay safe. Both of you. I'll message you before leaving the planet with some indication of what's to come, but be ready to run."
She would have liked to given him a reason to let go of those worries, but they weren't completely unfounded, "Deal. But if I can't find anywhere good, don't be surprised when I show up on the Finalizer."
He appreciated the attempt at humor, but he hadn't the time to dwell on it, "Hopefully you'll be able to return soon enough. Once the New Republic is gone, there won't be a single power in the galaxy left to oppose the First Order."
"I look forward to it," she told him before leaning up to give him a final kiss on the cheek.
He came back with a long kiss on the lips. Stopping only because of the time he backed away and give a final goodbye to Ardis.
"Don't give your mother too much trouble." He still hadn't perfected an easy-going fatherly voice, and the hint of a general handing down an order lingered on his words.
But he was trying, and that's what left Lori with an amused curve of the lip.
She moved one of Ardis' arms slightly, as if she were the one responding, and gave a purposefully playful, "yes, sir."
He lingered at the door, "I love you, both of you."
Lori nearly asked him to stay, but she knew that he had to go, "We love you too. Now go on. You'll be back before she even knows you're gone."
With nothing that wouldn't drag the moment out, he simply nodded.
Donning his wide brimmed hat, Armitage looked one last look at his partner and their child before wordlessly stepping into the morning sun.
The door slid shut. Lori was left holding Ardis in her arms, fully aware of how long it might be until they saw Armitage again.
.***.***.***.***.
Lieutenant Mitaka nervously paced the palace hall in front of General Hux's suite. He was set to collect the general for their morning meetings, the first of which was only twenty minutes away. Mitaka had read through the morning news. Though mostly mindless, there had been one report that stood out to him.
The Fall of Emperor Fel, A Coup! He thought the title to himself, What malicious sycophant thought up that title?
Of the people he had spoken to, one must have penned that article. He had talked to no less than two dozen palace workers in his only two nights on planet, and the article had been written as if he'd spoken to the reporter directly.
Mitaka got to the end of the hall before turning back, a list of possible suspects rolling through his mind. Bruno the kitchen worker? Lukka the gardener? Mila the cleaner? Bridgette the mechanic?
As much as he wondered who could have been the secret reporter, he was certain of one thing: Until he was shown absolute proof that General Hux knew it was him who had given the Fels the idea that the First Order was here to invade, he would deny being involved.
Being so focused on his thoughts, Mitaka hardly noticed another person in the hall until they were nearly on top of each other.
Welcoming what might prove to be a distraction, the lieutenant was quick to speak, "Excuse me, sir. This is a private hall. We-"
His words came clattering to a halt when he finally got a good look at the other man in the hall.
General Hux was out of uniform, wearing subdued grays and a wide brimmed hat that hid his bright hair from view. Mitaka was sure he had never seen Hux dressed in anything besides a nearly-black flag officers uniform, even now he nearly didn't recognize the man.
Nevertheless, the lieutenant snapped to attention. The confusion on his face hidden as well as it could be, "Sir?"
Hux cursed his luck, and for a moment he wished he had told Mitaka that he would see himself to the first meeting for the day. "At ease, lieutenant. I was only taking a morning stroll."
A very long one from the looks of him, Mitaka thought, perhaps it's the missing uniform, but he carries himself differently.
"Of course, sir," Mitaka played along.
Hux suspected that the lieutenant didn't believe him, but he wasn't keen on drawing the conversation out and accidentally giving any clues as to where he could have been.
"Wait here," the general ordered before stepping into his suite.
Alone in the other room, Hux let out a heavy sigh. He would deal with whatever fall out arose from Mitaka seeing him sneak back in later. His main concern today was preventing Bastion from tearing itself apart in a bloody civil war.
Being mindful not to damage the holodisk, Hux set it on the bed before changing into his uniform. Years of practice made for a quick change. Pulling his tunic on, he made sure that the sleeves were pulled straight and covering the old scars from Brendol's cigars on his wrist.
The permanent reminder of the past left him even more fixated on the future. Pulling on and straightening his rank band, he thought over his tasks for the day. He only had two meetings, one with the council of moffs, and then another with Emperor Fel himself.
He was less interested in impressing the moffs. It was already clear that they were deeply entrenched in their ways, and Hux doubted that any of them would change their minds. His only real hope, Hux decided, was convincing Emperor Fel to fall in line behind the First Order. He didn't know how easy or difficult that task might prove, but he couldn't let himself give into worries and doubts now.
After putting the other clothes away, Hux slipped the holodisk into an interior pocket. As easy as it would be to leave and simply turn the planet to dust, the general had reasons to play at diplomacy.
He just hoped that these talks were something that could be won.
.***.***.***.***.
Lori sat at the table, leaning over her data pad and taking notes. Armitage had only been gone for a few hours, but she was already starting to feel the loneliness starting to creep back in. Pouring over the last few articles written by the Bastion Sun and watching any of their broadcasts she could find gave her something to do.
Their bottom line and most of their stances were plain as day after she took the time to look for them. She had even managed to put faces to names for most of the company's higher ups. The majority of them were already infamous public figures, and she decided that it wouldn't be too difficult to completely discredit them and their paper.
Just before Lori got the chance to type out yet another note about the Bastion Sun's editor and chief, Ardis began stirring in her hovercrib. She had been fed no more than half an hour ago, but Lori peered into the cradle regardless. Finding the infant uncoordinatedly wriggling around from beneath her gray blanket, Lori gently pulled the fabric loose.
"And here I was thinking you would be cold."
Ardis twisted slightly, her stubby arms flailing through the air and her hands clenching shut and then slowly opening.
Lori didn't speak infant, but there were only so many things Ardis could want. She had just eaten, moving the blanket had done nothing. Ruling those out, Lori left the table to find the toys she had bought.
During the short search, she double checked the emergency supplies she had packed into the bag Armitage had brought. She could be at the Tolera in twenty minutes, and off world in thirty. She had no intention of leaving just yet, but if she ever changed her mind the supplies in that bag would last Ardis and her for a week.
The check and search didn't last long before Lori returned to Ardis with a set of toys in hand. Dangling a brightly colored rings of plastic looked like it was going to do something, with Ardis batting at them. Or so Lori assumed. When it became clear that Ardis wasn't paying the rings any special attention and just so happened to be reaching up, Lori set the plastic to the side.
"Yeah, I guess you're still a bit young for that," She ran a gentle hand along the side of Ardis' face while she spoke.
The infant leaned into her touch, leaving Lori with one last idea of what to try.
Completely abandoning the data pad that sat on the dining table, Lori scooped the child up from the hovercrib. She'd taken to being held upright against a shoulder before, so Lori slowly shifted her to that position.
"Hold on now, miss squishy." Lori took a few steps to the couch.
The shift in position worked for a moment, but once again Ardis started gurgling and threatening to cry. Hoping it wouldn't come to that, Lori gently patted the infant on the back. It only took a couple of taps before a heavy burb shook Ardis as it came up.
Lori almost jumped at how loud the sound was. After the initial surprise, she found herself chuckling, "It's only a matter of time until you spit up on me, isn't it?"
This time Ardis curled more tightly against Lori, quieting down after the apparent problem had been fixed.
"I'll take that as a yes." She said before sitting on the couch
Leaning back so that she rested against the arm of the sofa, Lori shifted Ardis around slightly. The infant came to a rest laying on top of her stomach and chest. Content to relax with her daughter, Lori let her hand softly rest on the infant.
"Passing that much gas must have taken a lot out of you, huh?" She gently stroked Ardis, careful not to wake her now that it looked like she was settling into another nap.
The weight and the warmth of the infant was reassuring. The regular rhythm of Ardis' breathing was its own sound to behold, and Lori found herself matching it breath for breath.
Hope this beats being on the inside. Lori thought to herself before adding on, you'll probably miss the warmth once we get back to the Finalizer.
Back on the Finalizer. Lori lingered on the thought. The warship had been the closest thing to home she had ever known, it only seemed natural to assume that it would remain so.
War was brewing, on Bastion and in the galaxy at large. The fact that the First Order, and Armitage in particular, would be the one to throw the galaxy into chaos didn't bother Lori as much as she thought it should. It was the New Republic's own problem if it lost the war, nothing beyond her family's safety concerned her. Nearly two years ago she had told Armitage that his spy problem would quadruple if he started a war. If this business with the Bastion Sun was anything to go by, then she had been right.
Then again, Bastion was nothing more than a side show. The cold war between the First Order and the New Republic was about to go hot. As soon as Starkiller base was capable of firing, that would be the beginning of the end.
Ardis kicked in her sleep. The familiar sensation gave Lori a pause and a left a sad smile to tug at her.
Now wasn't the time to be starting a family. But, now that she had one, Lori wasn't about to let anything happen to it. War or peace, hell or high water, she'd figure it out. If not for her sake, then for the infant that lay on her stomach.