General Hux quietly closes the door to Pates's room, lingering outside for several seconds before taking a deep breath and turning around. He nearly slams him back against the door when he turns to find Queen Phoebe behind him.
"Good…good evening your majesty. Ahem…I wasn't expecting to find you here."
"Funny, even without the guidance of the Force, I had a sneaking suspicion I'd find you right here," the queen comments, "you and the soldier are close, are you not?"
"She is not a common soldier," Hux insists, "she is an officer of noble birth, your majesty. We trained at the same Imperial academy."
Queen Phoebe nods, but she still maintains a quiet smile of curiosity, "And you would consider yourself close? Friends at least?"
"Citizens of the First Order pledge their allegiance to the order and its Supreme Leader, not to individuals," Hux explains, "it would be dangerous if the organization allowed its people to hinge their affections on vulnerable, mailable individuals."
She raises an eyebrow, the hair connecting up from her head and down onto her beak salt-and-pepper in color, "Perhaps that is the way of the First Order…but do you really think that works in practice?"
"Are you questioning the methods of the First Order? Need I remind you who rules your planet now-"
"The Force has shown me many things. And one thing always remains constant: people are quite empty without connection. Even lords of the Sith maintained an apprentice."
Hux chuckles, "Most people believe the Sith were evil-"
"The Dagoyan Order subscribes to neither the Light or the Dark side. Both the Jedi and the Sith failed because of their strict adherence to one side of the Force. Now, I believe the First Order can rule as the Empire did…but I grow fearful that it's making many of the same mistakes. Adhering too close to the Dark side."
His posture stiffens, "And you believe Pates can bring balance, is that it?"
"I've sensed her Force energies through our melding of minds. She desires the First Order rule with peace and goodwill towards all systems-"
"Pates has always been an optimist," Hux can't help but smile at the thought, but his smile quickly fades, "but that is simply not the way of the First Order. Violence and force is an absolute necessity, lest we show weakness towards the Resistance."
"I'm not saying it isn't, when appropriate," Queen Phoebe turns towards Pates's room, "…but the Force is with her. You should heed her advice."
"And what do you know, 'your majesty'?" he snaps, taking a step closer to her, "You can exposit about your superstitious 'Force visions' all you please, but your role as a leader is ceremonious at best. This planet is property of the First Order, you and your people are under my jurisdiction, and if I find out that you're putting silly ideas in Pates's head…I will send every Stormtrooper and Star Destroyer to your precious planet, and they will tear it apart, stone by stone."
General Hux marches off, leaving Queen Phoebe alone in the hallway. She takes a moment to compose herself, before going back to Pates's door and knocking.
Pates opens the door, now wearing a simple black-and-white nightgown, the cloth fabric going down to her knees, "Good evening, your majesty."
"Good evening, Pates. May I come in?"
She nods, opening the door wider for the queen. She sits down on the bed, while Queen Phoebe sits in a nearby armchair.
"I came here to thank you, Pates. For putting your trust in me and my people. When you argued for negotiations over violence, I felt a shift in the Force," she explains.
"If I may ask, your majesty, since you're the Dagoyan Master, is it true you can see the future?"
"I see many possible futures. The future is never fully decided until it becomes the present…" the queen pauses, contemplating her next sentence, "…so, before your current position, you were an officer?"
Pates shrugs, "I guess. I was Chief Engineer, and us engineers sort of fall into our own category, but technically we're considered officers."
"And you never thought about advancing up the ranks beyond Chief Engineer? Surely Chief Engineer isn't too far behind high command, is it?" the queen asks.
"That may be true, but being a part of high command is very, very different from being Chief Engineer. I don't think I'd ever fit in at high command-"
"Leadership shouldn't be about fitting a certain mold, it's about the right person being put in charge of the decision-making. I might have been brought into the role of queen by birthright, but my Bahk-tov Council is chosen among those not just strongest with the Force, but who have proven themselves good of heart and worthy of leadership."
Starting to become suspicious, Pates asks, "What are you suggesting, your majesty?"
Getting up from her seat, Queen Phoebe walks over to her and places her hands in Pates's, "Your superiors have become consumed by the Dark side. Without balance they will only seek power and personal gain. They require the guidance of the Light."
Pates's expression grows confused, and a little concerned, as the queen gestures to her, "You are strong with the Light, Pates, and I have foreseen a future in which you bring balance to the First Order-"
"Your majesty, with all due respect, I may not be strong with the Force, but I know which side I belong to. The Light is deceptive and hypocritical. When the Jedi were in power they conquered worlds while claiming to be protectors-"
"But do you seek power, as a Sith lord would? The ultimate goal of a Sith apprentice is to surpass and murder their master, taking their place," she argues.
Pates takes a genuine moment to contemplate this. But she shakes it off quickly, "While the First Order aligns itself with the Dark side, it doesn't concern itself with the details of old religions. But your majesty…what you're suggesting is that I'm a threat to the First Order-"
"Not a threat! But a valuable asset, the one that will save the First Order from its power-hungry passions-"
"Are you suggesting my Inquisitor commit treason?"
Pates and Phoebe turn as Kylo Ren marches into the room. Pates is the first to respond, "She was just trying to give some advice. About how to help the First Order."
Kylo Ren draws closer towards Queen Phoebe, his black robes casting a shadow over the two of them, "Step out of line, queen, and your neck will meet my blade."
It doesn't take long for the queen's expression to change, her face losing all confidence, "I…I understand."
She leaves the room, her pace hurried and focused.
"And what about you?" he asks, quickly turning to Pates, "How can I know you're not going to betray the First Order?"
"Ugh, again with betraying the First Order," she grumbles to herself, "with all due respect, Commander, it really is an insult that you'd believe I'd betray the First Order based on prophetic ramblings from a nearly-dead religion."
There's a pause from Kylo Ren, as his body shifts slightly to the side, "…I really hate it when you talk to me like that."
Her guard drops a little, "I apologize…Kylo…Ren? That's still your title though, isn't it?"
"It is…don't worry though. I prefer that name," Kylo Ren's cloak billows behind him as he circles the room, "and I do not believe you'll betray the First Order."
He places his hand on the wall closest to the bed, "It's the queen I'm worried about. She and her people are hiding something, I sense it. And I need to be able to trust you so that we can figure it out."
"…trust me?" she asks.
On instinct, Pates leans away from him as he grasps his helmet, the whirring of the locking mechanism small and quiet even in the otherwise silent room. Kylo Ren lifts up his helmet, revealing thick, surprisingly well-groomed black hair. The gash that runs down the left side of his face is a deep, dark red, far from healed but too scabbed over to be recent. Even when his mask is off, he still presses his voice, forcing it to sound deeper.
"I trust you, Pates."
Pates squints a little. Kylo Ren's natural voice has a very distinct timbre, a familiar forcefulness. However, without his blond wig's tight curls that compress his forehead, or the wide, circular glasses that frame his otherwise boyish cheekbones, or because of the prominent scar, the difference is just enough that Pates can't pinpoint what she finds familiar about him.
Kylo Ren holds out his hand, closing his eyes as he reaches out with the Force, "It's here, I know it. The Force showed me in that vision-"
"Commander, you can also see visions?"
His reactions aren't as extreme as his Matt counterpart, even when he's caught off-guard there's only a slight lift of the head, "…sometimes. Especially in a place like this, a place of increased Force energies."
Kylo Ren reaches out just a little more, and all of a sudden the intricate carvings in the room begin to glow red. Pates and Kylo Ren step back as sections of the floor slowly start to sink, some pushing farther down to reveal a hidden staircase that spirals down into a dark cavern.
"My god…" Pates whispers in shock.
"I knew they were hiding something," Kylo Ren turns to Pates, "let's investigate."