A contingent of ground troopers had called in an air-strike.
General Hux watched his TIEs speed off towards Jakku. Hands clasped behind his back as he stood on the bridge, no small part of him hoped that they turned the map and the droid carrying it to a pile of slag.
A full shift had come and gone. A glance at the chrono found that Ren should have returned to take his position on the bridge well over an hour ago. Not surprised at the other commander's characteristic absence during his own shift, Hux took his leave. His crew should be competent enough to manage a handful of TIEs without him, and he had personal matters to attend to.
Arriving back at his office, the general was left to sift through an inbox overflowing with mundane messages. A quick glance told him that the Starkiller base was only a few scarce days from being battle ready. He would have liked nothing more than to let that good news distract him from his foul mood, but he knew very well that it couldn't. Flicking past other messages, he found nothing else that might lift his spirits.
He had launched an inquiry, looking for more traitors in the First Order's ranks. Many commanders had sent in passive aggressive messages about how trustworthy their particular crews were.
There was a direct reply from Captain Canady. He had never been a passive man, and his message was a purely aggressive demand that Hux stop overstepping and challenging his command. The general made a mental note of Canady's insolence.
Unsurprisingly, no progress had been made on the bounty he had put out for Lori either.
With a huff, he began sending out his responses to the few messages he deemed important enough. Half way through the task, his computer chimed with a new delivery.
Sure that it was going to be just another annoyance, he finished his current correspondence before giving the new one so much as a glance.
When he did, he couldn't help but raise a skeptical brow. The sender was little more than a garbled set of letters and numbers. The beginning of the message that was visible from his inbox simply read: do not reply.
He was about to delete it and send a scathing message to the tech department about updating the First Order's firewall against spam messages. But, part of him dimly hoped that it might be some bounty hunter. They did have a habit of using horribly outdated machines and disreputable methods.
He skimmed the short message before doing a double take, his heart suddenly in his throat.
"Do not reply. Gone to Dantooine. We could use some Sullustan Jam."
Reading, and re-reading the dozen words painted on his screen, a dozen thoughts raced through his mind.
Lori!
It had to be her. The reference to that god-awful jam she somehow enjoyed was too strange a thing to mention and too specific to be anyone else.
Dantooine?
That was firmly within New Republic territory. Why she fled there instead of towards the west, he didn't know. For a moment he worried that she hadn't a choice.
He shook the concern from his mind, ridiculing himself for even entertaining something so outlandish. She needed someone to come help her, it was obvious from the wording she used to mention the jam.
Do not reply.
How could he possibly hope to do that? Why shouldn't he? Was she in danger? What of Ardis? Was this message intercepted? It must be compromised somehow. He had to trust that she had written as much as circumstance would allow.
His shoulders tensed as he realized it hadn't allowed much.
There hadn't been any mention of Ardis. He shouldn't be so surprised, but her absence left him with nothing to stave off the worse of his fears.
With a grinding effort, he forced the stress from his tightly wound muscles. The message read: We could use some Sullustan Jam. He had to believe that was Lori's way of telling him that they were both okay.
He let out a shaking breath.
They were alive and he had a location. Better yet, he had an obscene amount of resources at his disposal. He'd always prided himself on the First Order's technological superiority, and it would be child's play to trace this message back to whatever array it had been sent from.
While he eagerly opened up the program that would do so, a small knock came from the door.
It would take a moment for the script to load, so he simply hid the window. Hux knew very well that he would grow irritated if he were to just sit and wait on the machine. Work might be a welcome distraction from the delay.
"Enter," he called out.
Scarcely a second after he did, lieutenant Mitaka timidly stepped into the room. The younger man obviously held on to some terrible news. But he hadn't come in shouting about an exploding hanger bay this time, and nothing short of that was going to ruin the first hint of joy that Hux had felt in nearly a week.
"Sir," the lieutenant began, voice almost catching on the single word.
"What is it, Mitaka?" Hux didn't stand, nor did he have a thick layer of disdain on his words.
Along with the almost cheerful tone, the lieutenant was also taken aback at hearing the general say his name rather than his rank. He had been half convinced that Hux hadn't bothered to remember it. Tucking away the surprise, he moved on to his grim news, "Th-there was an issue with the air strike, sir. Tentative reports state that we've lost three pilots. The droid and the map have gone unrecovered, the droid possibly having fled the planet."
The news washed over the general. On any other day, at any other moment, he would have unleashed a flurry acidic questions. He would have demanded to know how anyone could have failed so utterly and completely so as to lose a blasted droid during an air strike on a barren planet.
But, he was in a good mood, and he was absolutely intent on holding on to it.
"Very well," he said, almost flippantly to Mitaka's ears, "Collect what information you can. Inform Ren of the details."
Mitaka hesitated for a moment, fully expecting some overly specific demand or some harsh comment about Ren's lack of leadership. But, time stretched on and the general demanded nothing more. He didn't even speak with the vitriol that seemed as much a part of him as his well-tended uniform when he politely dismissed the lieutenant.
"You may go now."
"Y-yes, sir." Mitaka stuttered out of confusion more than fear this time.
The door slid shut, leaving Hux alone. Already dismissing the news about the failed airstrike, he typed away at his new task. The First Order had been perfecting its tracking technology. It wasn't perfect, really it hadn't even left the trial stages, but Hux had a way of tracking a vessel through hyperspace.
He leaned back in his chair, admiring the program for a moment. He would have to update the information on his bounty and change his orders to Captain Canady. The Fels could burn for all he cared, the new priority was pushing through until Canady reached New Republic territory.
War was inevitable. Welcome, even. With this debacle on Jakku, it might have even already begun.
The computer chimed. The source of the message was in hyperspace. Much to his annoyance, Hux couldn't get a lock on the signal. Not yet, at least. As soon as they dropped down from light speed, he would have a lock on them.
He hunched back over his desk, ready to bring Lori and Ardis back home.
.***.***.***.***.
Lori stepped out of the fresher unit and into the tiled room to find a fresh change of clothes waiting as a heap next to the door. Taking care to avoid the raw patch on her arm, she slid the outfit on to find it was a few sizes too large and short-sleeved. She didn't care to have her long healed-over scars plainly visible, but she knew that complaining would only draw attention.
She also assumed that Brixie had brought something short-sleeved so that it would be easier to reach the wound on Lori's shoulder.
That assumption was quickly confirmed when Lori slid the door open and entered the bedroom. Brixie was there waiting for her, medkit sitting to her left and a bundle of blankets holding Ardis to her right.
Brixie did a double take at the raw patch on Lori's arm, "I should have gotten a bigger medkit."
"It's looks worse than it is," Lori said as she came to sit on the bed.
Ardis twisted, but wasn't woken up from her nap as Lori's weight shifted the mattress.
"Well, it looks pretty bad," Brixie shifted to face Lori's wounded arm, digging through the kit as she went, "this might sting a bit."
Before Lori had the chance to make a snarky comment, Brixie sprayed some aerosol over the raw patch. It did sting, leaving Lori to bite her tongue against a wince.
"Sorry," the young medic muttered before digging through the box again.
"It's fine," the sharp pain was fast fading. The medic was quick to come back up with some sort of gel, she began applying it to the wound, leaving Lori a chance to fish for information, "Hey, Brixie?"
"Hm?"
"What's the plan? We get to Dantoonie, and then what?"
The young medic paused her work, "I… I don't think we should leave you behind again, if that's what you're worried about."
While it was good to know that she had Brixie's trust, or at least her sympathy, Lori was more concerned with how much trouble the mercenaries might bring her way.
"Thank you, but…" Lori gave a meaningful look to her infant daughter, "I can't run forever. Do you think Dantooine is safe?"
"Well…" Brixie put the healing paste down, only to pick up and nervously tug at a bundle of bandages, "We have a couple of contacts on the planet, but I don't know any more."
"Guess I'll have to go check, and see for myself."
Brixie sighed, "Pick up your arm for me?"
Lori did as she was asked, allowing Brixie to firmly wrap the bandage. As she worked, there was a slight shudder through the walls of the ship.
They weren't far from the planet's surface now. Both women knew it. For Brixie the knowledge brought a little trickle of worry. The rest of the Red Moons mercenaries had set up a safe house, but she didn't know if it was still safe.
For Lori, the shudder brought an opportunity. Slipping away from the rebels might be difficult, but Hux knew where she was. Best case scenario, she could find her own way back, or at the very least find a way to contact him more regularly. Worst case scenario, she only had to wait until he caught up.
.***.***.***.***.
Lieutenant Mitaka rubbed a trembling hand across his sore neck.
After nearly killing the lieutenant, Kylo Ren had tossed him aside before storming out of the control room and leaving it in flaming shambles. Terrified, Mitaka was nonetheless thankful that he wasn't part of the burning rubble. Still struggling to catch his shaking breath, Mitaka staggered his way to standing.
As he did, a figure stepped into the doorway that Ren had just left through. The sudden presence drew a surprised yelp and jump from Mitaka. Stumbling from his half standing position, he had tumbled to the floor before he realized the new person wasn't Ren coming back to finish him off.
Instead, Lieutenant Grier peered in from the door frame, confusion and concern coating her features.
"L-l-lieutenant Gr-" Mitaka stopped himself when he found his stutter and shortness of breath too much to talk around.
"What on…" Quin took in the ruined room and the quivering officer. Once her gaze settled on the molten gashes cut into the control panel, everything became clear, "Ren?"
Unable to get a grip on his words, Mitaka nodded. While he did, Quin stepped into the room and offered a hand. Mitaka gladly took it, this time successfully standing with her help.
"He's gone now, I didn't see him in the hall." She tried to assure Mitaka before glancing to the ruined control station, "He's probably too mad to come back."
It was a small attempt at making him feel better, but Mitaka appreciated it. Taking in a deep breath, he did his best to speak, "Y-you're right."
A silence settled between them, interrupted only by the smoldering control panel. Quin was acutely aware of the possibility that Mitaka might start asking about Lori again, but she couldn't bring herself to just abandon him after he'd nearly been killed by Ren.
"Are you off duty?" She asked.
Still flustered, Mitaka wasn't sure where she was going with her question. He nodded.
"Good, let's go grab something to eat."
"What?"
His features were twisted by confusion and a lingering panic, so Quin offered a small explanation, "You look like you could use a distraction. Come on."
She had half turned to step back to the hall. Mitaka recovered quickly enough and made a quick step to follow her.
"Th-thank you." He managed to say as they left the ruined room.
Quin smiled a little, genuinely happy to help, "You're welcome."