AN: So, you may notice that this chapter is a little shorter than usual. That's because **Special announcement** I'm going back to 2 updates every week!
The new schedule will be new chapters every Thursday & Monday. See y'all then.
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The meeting with Snoke had only just ended, and Kylo Ren had already decided that he was going to ignore the supreme leader's orders. The knight founid himself walking to the bridge for no reason other than a need to go somewhere, anywhere.
General Hux walked even with him, mostly out of a need to make sure that the other man wasn't about to do something that would prolong their mission.
"Supreme Leader Snoke was explicit," Hux told the knight as they strode over the officer's walk, "Capture the droid if we can, but destroy it if we must."
He spoke loudly, meaning full well for the crew to hear him.
Kylo Ren came to a clattering halt, temper spiking in response to the general's words. From behind his shielding mask he cast a harsh glance over the crew, seeing nothing more than potential traitors among them.
"How capable are your soldiers, General?" He spoke with an accusation.
Hux heard it, despite the garbled nature of Ren's voice. "I won't have you questioning my methods."
"They're obviously skilled at committing high treason," the knight said. As he did, he felt a tiny flicker around Hux, a dash of annoyance that Ren knew he could exploit. The general had always been concerned about his precious pet projects, and Kylo Ren know that attacking any one of them was an easy way to pick at the other commander. "Perhaps Supreme Leader Snoke should consider using a clone army."
This wasn't the first time the force user would use his tricks to pry at the general, and Hux knew it wouldn't be the last either. Careful to keep his attention on the topic at hand, Hux didn't stop himself from retorting back, "My men are exceptionally trained. Programed from birth-"
"Then they should have no problem retrieving the droid. Unharmed."
As Ren finished speaking, he tried peering again into the general's mind. He couldn't quite put his finger on what, but Hux was hiding something beyond the usual hatred he held. Normally the knight would be content to let Hux wallow, but in that moment he was just interested enough in humiliating and angering the general to make a concerted effort.
Hux grimaced. In part because of the obvious pressure on his mind, but mostly because of the utter loathing he held for the other man.
"Careful, Ren." Hux spat, knowing that the fastest way to distract and disturb Ren away from potentially discovering his family was to mention the knight's instead, "That your personal interests not interfere with orders from Supreme Leader Snoke."
The old trick did its job, the pressure on Hux's mind immediately relenting. Kylo's features twisted into a snarl that, despite it being hidden behind his mask, was perfectly audible to Hux and the bridge as he said, "I want that map. For your sake, I suggest you get it."
Without waiting to hear a response, Kylo Ren left the bridge.
Hux glared after him for a moment. Seething with contempt for the other commander, Hux turned his critical eye to the crew. Everyone very suddenly became very busy.
Making use of the moment, the general spared a glance to a chrono. He had checked his bounty posting less than an hour ago. Captain Canady should have reached the edge of Fel territory some twelve hours prior. Impatience dripping from his every step, he paced the officers walk.
There wouldn't be any news waiting on him, and the Finalizer needed a commander.
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Lori had stopped shivering, and had even managed to get some rest. For a while the feeling she regained in her hands had been little more than pins and needles, but that too eventually faded.
Brixie had been in and out of the cargo hold, occasionally checking on Lori and chatting when she found the other woman awake.
At the moment, Lori only had Ardis for company. Sitting up for the first time since she had come aboard the rebel's ship, Lori was careful to brush the now cooled bottles of water to the side. Free from her cocoon, she lifted Ardis and brought the infant to her lap.
Her daughter's weight was reassuring, and for a moment she simply gazed down at the child. Ardis kicked slightly in response, her round blue eyes lazily blinking away the remains of a nap.
Gently brushing a hand around the side of the infant's face Lori muttered, "Yeah, I know. We're not out of the woods yet."
In lieu of Ardis' inability to give a real reply, Lori considered her options.
She didn't have a credit to her name. Without a ship of her own, she didn't have a place to stay either. Dak and the mercenaries were useful for now, but she didn't want to stay with them for too long. Every single one of her instincts told her that doing so would spell doom eventually. Of course, her biggest fear was that the rebels might learn about her First Order ties. She knew better than to say anything, but it was only a matter of time before her recent past caught up with them.
She huffed. A fate worse than having the past catch up too soon might be having it never catch up at all.
Dangerous or not, she had to contact Armitage.
If he's even-
Lori stopped the disparaging thought. She had to believe that he was alive, but she dreaded the very idea of hope. Such a delicate thing could become a bitter blade if it were shattered by reality.
Threading the line between hope and fear, Lori replaced Ardis in her makeshift bed.
Her arm ached when she stood. While it had slid back into its socket, the deep road rash she had suffered still throbbed with a dull pain. The wound had dried and scabbed over where her shirt met it, and when she moved the cloth pulled away to reopen the wound
She did her best to ignore the pain as she went. If she was going to find some way to sneak a message out to Armitage, she would have to make it quick. It had been a while since Brixie made her rounds, and Lori wasn't sure how long she would have alone.
Leaving the cargo hold left her in a narrow hallway.
Voices echoed from the far end of the corridor and to her right. They were muffled, but she could make them out to be Brixie and Dak. Acutely aware of their location, Lori turned left.
She hadn't seen the ship from the outside, but the cramped conditions told her that it couldn't be very big. Passing a room with multiple bunk beds reinforced the idea that the mercenaries were tight on space.
When she reached the end of the hallway without seeing anything useful, Lori cursed her luck before turning back.
Silently slinking to the cargo hold, Lori peered back through the rooms she had already passed. Holding in a few annoyed grumblings when she once again found nothing, Lori jumped slightly when she heard an unexpected clink of metal.
Immediately standing straight and ready with a lie about what she was doing, Lori looked to the end of the hallway where she had heard Dak and Brixie. When no one came from that direction, she searched for the source of the sound.
Only after she took another step down the hallway did she figure it out.
A second clink came from the ground, and as she looked down she found a loose grate in the floor.
Seeing an opportunity, she knelt to lift the hatch and slide it to the side. It was heavy, and moving it with her wounded arm took more effort than Lori was willing to admit.
Dropping into the lower section of the ship, she found a mess of wires and pipes. She wasn't sure the about model of the ship, but most standard designs had maintenance terminals buried deep within the most intricate parts of their design.
More importantly, Brixie had been very clear that the mercenaries messaged all their people once a week. From the looks of things the mercenaries lived out of their ship, and Lori bet that they had to send and receive transmissions at lightspeed. In order to do that, they would have to have a long range communications array installed somewhere.
Ducking below a duct and dodging a mess of cords, Lori ventured deeper into the guts of the ship. Occasionally, she would pass beneath another grate, the scattered light that filtered through the dirty metal being the only thing she had to see by.
"…how's Poe doing?" Brixie's voice drifted through the grate above Lori.
"Dunno. The videos stopped, but I didn't see him die." Dak answered back, his words echoing off machinery.
"I hope he's…"
The last of Bixie's words trailed off as Lori continued on. The sudden stop of videos felt like a strange detail, but now wasn't the time to stop and wonder over them. Leaving the conversation behind, Lori felt as if she must have walked the entire length of the ship before she found a clearing.
Directly below another grate, she cautiously peered up. Lex sat at the pilot's seat. His feet were propped up on one control panel, and his gaze fixed on a data pad he held in his hands. Even though he was distracted, Lori was careful to keep away from his line of sight.
Skirting the edge of the machinery, she eventually came to the far side of the clearing. Placed squarely beneath the pilot's seat was the maintenance terminal.
Realizing that this would be easier with a droid, Lori powered the thing on.
It took some searching, but she eventually found the command window for the ship's communications array. Sure enough, there was an auxiliary device patched into the system.
Glancing up Lori hoped that the main control panel wouldn't blink or beep at her actions. She tentatively typed out a short message. She had no way to encrypt what she was sending or where she was sending it, so she didn't dare put any obvious information in the transmission. She wasn't even sure that Armitage would get it, and if he did she wouldn't be able to get his reply.
But she still had to try.
"Do not reply. Gone to Dantooine." She paused, realizing that she needed some way to show that the message was from her. Both her and Ardis' names were out of the question, but Lori was quick to come up with something equally as identifying, "We could use some Sullustan Jam."
Not wasting another moment, Lori sent the message. A quick look upward found Lex still reading off his data pad, none the wiser of what was happening just beneath him.
Lori snuck back the way she came, increasing her pace when she overheard Brixie excusing herself from her conversation with Dak. Trying not to make a noticeable amount of noise, Lori rushed back to the open grate and hoisted herself back to the hallway. Scarcely a second after she replaced the metal and made it to standing, the door at the far end of the corridor whooshed open.
"Hello?" Lori called out. Experience told her how to avoid looking suspicious, and it was very rare for a person trying to hide something to call out for attention.
Brixie was pleasantly surprised to see her patient up and about, "Oh! You're awake. How are you feeling?"
"I can feel my fingers and toes again," Lori answered without missing a beat, "I was actually looking for a fresher. I'm pretty sure I've still got dust from Bastion in my hair."
"Sure. Go down the hall, and turn into the room with a bunch of bunks. There's a fresher in there to the right."
Lori wasn't lying outright, she did need a chance to clean herself, and she was glad for the helpful answer. Quickly turning to the side, she would have disappeared into the bedroom, but she was stopped by another comment from Brixie.
"Hold on, do you want a change of clothes? They might be too big, but I can find you something."
Dropping some of the tension from her shoulders Lori answered, "Yes, please."
"You're welcome. Also… are you ok? You're holding your shoulders unevenly."
Keep it together, Lori mentally chided herself before going with a mostly truthful answer.
"I got a bit banged up. Hurt my shoulder real bad, ended up losing a few layers of skin off of it."
Brixie opened her mouth in surprise, but then took a calming breath before speaking, "I'll get the medkit, and some clothes. Don't do anything to strain your arm, and don't turn the water on too hot."
"Whatever you say, doc."
Brixie was grateful for the compliment, but she timidly muttered, "I never finished med-school."
Lori gave a warm half smile to the medic. She almost felt bad. Turning the conversation around and controlling the better part of it was too easy, and Brixie was far too trusting for her own good.
Before heading off, Lori left Brixie with a final comment, "Could have fooled me."