[Sidious]
"I know you can hear me."
There was, unsurprisingly, no answer. But he could sense he was being heard. That was better than the previous attempts he'd made this night, most of which had been rebuffed by wakefulness. The man didn't sleep very much. But at the moment, Armitage was at rest, his mind open and receptive.
"Your powers, though they lie dormant, are considerable. It is their latent strength that has allowed you to persevere these many years and rise to the position of authority you achieved."
Still no answer. Still being heard.
"When we meet, I will help you develop these abilities so that you may surpass even your escaped rival, Kylo Ren."
He felt some tang of curiosity, gone as soon as it surfaced. He assumed it was interest in harnessing the Force, which was mostly a lie on Sidious' part. Or at least an exaggeration.
"The First Order is no more. It blazed in triumph for such a sadly short time. My rule lasted decades and will span centuries, perhaps even millennia. I have perfected the procedure, but it is nothing without a collaborator to enact it. It could be our rule. We will call it … the Final Order!"
Hm. Nothing.
"It was the destruction of the Hosnian system that woke me," he whispered now, stretching out his feelings, reaching and straining to catch any nuance of reaction. "It was a great disturbance in the Force, all those lives cried out in terror and were ended. They were … incomplete." He smacked his lips in relish. "Fates unfulfilled. Destinies postponed as they became one with the Force all at the same instant. That sort of thing, my boy, creates a wound."
There was still nothing. Either Armitage was excellent at shielding (which was possible; from what he'd been able to tell, Snoke had been careless in using him too extensively and Hux was known to have jousted more than once with Kylo Ren), or he didn't feel any guilt over what he'd done: the Hosnian Cataclysm or re-awakening the Sith. Maybe both. 'Guilt' was not an emotion Sidious was familiar with in himself. It wasn't far-fetched that someone so closely related to him had the same advantage.
"How did it feel when that mighty weapon fired? To see your will enacted star systems away, blasting all your enemies to pieces?" Ah! There was a reaction. An unguarded twitch. He'd been told Armitage was ambitious, maybe even cruel. But he couldn't pin down what sort of reaction it was. A non-Force user left few ripples in its flow, making them harder to locate than those who exercised their powers freely.
"Mm, you enjoyed it," he guessed. Because he, Sidious, would have enjoyed it. Probably. Displays of power were as enjoyable as they were effective. And the Hosnian Cataclysm had been very effective.
Nothing again.
Sidious laughed, low and knowing. "Ah, my boy. Your discretion is remarkable. We could work well together and so I will share with you my plans. Your fleet will be brought together over Jakku where they will be converted to operate under my control. So armed, I will move my attention to Coruscant, where the remaining leaders of the galaxy will meet to discuss the momentous event of my return."
Silence.
"There lies on Coruscant the ruins of the Jedi temple and beneath it, a Sith stronghold. I will take you there." Another twitch, stronger. Refusal. Rejection. He was getting easier to read as this went on. "It is your path, young Armitage. You are a shadow of mine. Where I go, you will follow. The time comes for you to take form in the darkness. I have guided many others through this transition. Come. Let us work together. That is your-"
He lost Hux's attention. There was another with him, a human of dark hair and light skin, probably male but it was impossible to tell. Hux had been kissed, head-butted, bitten, or embraced – something to put their faces together. The impression of the other was annoyingly fleeting and too generic, despite Sidious' enormous powers, to identify. Then they were both gone. Hux had woken.
Frustrated, Sidious left the trance. "He has a lover!" Sidious spat, disgusted by this turn of events. He turned to his closest attendant. "Fetch me General Pryde! I will know why this important fact was left out of the information I was provided!" Hux had been at large no more than three days. He couldn't have fallen in love in that time, so there must be some clue they had overlooked in his records.