AN: Good morning & happy whatever winter holiday you celibate. If Christmas/Hanukkah/Yule/Saturnalia/Kwanzaa/whatever isn't your thing, than happy arbitrary Thursday in December.
.***.***.***.***.
General Hux was beside himself.
Kylo Ren had returned only one short day ago, but so many things seemed to have spun out of control in that time.
Ren had found the Emperor. What was worse, was that the supreme leader hadn't killed the old man. Instead, he had returned to the First Order fleet with some fresh fervor about him, madly moving about the ship, demanding impossible tasks from each and every person he came across.
The supreme leader had called an emergence meeting of the supreme council. Hux was sure that it wouldn't shed any light on the situation beyond what he had already heard.
Besides, what he had already heard was troubling enough. The emperor had somehow amassed a fleet. Not just any fleet, but one that apparently dwarfed the First Order's. He wasn't sure how a dead man at the edge of the galaxy had managed to secure such a thing, nor how he had even a fraction of the people necessary to crew it. But, Hux had seen the data and the blueprints, and he knew exactly what these new machines were capable of.
More troubling still, was the apparent timeline that Palatine had somehow forced Kylo Ren into. Hux had his doubts, but he didn't put any half mad plot past the force users. This new phantom fleet was set to launch and begin its campaign across the galaxy within the next two days.
The sheer impossibility of it all would have grated at Hux if he still had the energy to spare on being annoyed. Instead, he was left with a dull anger at the situation, I spent years -a decade- creating the greatest weapon in the galaxy, and these damnable people appear out of nowhere! How!?
The scenery around the general turned from the bustling main corridors of the Finalizer, to the rarely seen back hallways, used mostly by maintenance droids and cleaners. Moving down the narrow and winding things, he didn't need to worry about moving silently as he brooded. He doubted that there was even a soul down here, with how busy they were attending to Kylo Ren's every whim.
What was in the halls were the most overlooked and rarely maintenanced control panels. Being so far away from the main paths, Hux was fairly certain that they had all escaped Kylo Ren's notice, and as a result hadn't needed replacing for the better part of twenty years.
In the near perfect silence, Hux listened for the sound of any would be witnesses approaching. Predictably hearing none, he set about typing a short letter of warning.
The last several messages he had sent had escaped the First Order's notice. Or at least, he assumed so. He wasn't sure that anyone would bother telling him, even if they found evidence of a spy on his ship.
Typing out what he had overheard, Hux wondered how much detail to include. Too much might be identifying, and too little would make his warning utterly useless. Debating whether or not he really cared if he got caught, Hux decided to keep as much detail as possible, though he did change the true time of the fleet's launch from two days from now, up to twenty-four hours from now.
Let them panic. And it's better that the rebels find a way to ruin this sooner rather than later.
Not at all satisfied, Hux encoded his message before sending it and leaving the nearly forgotten terminal.
He had a meeting later that day. As much as he would prefer to do literally anything else, he had some things he needed to see to before it began. Made powerless he was a glorified errand boy, and he knew that he couldn't afford to leave his tasks unfinished.
.***.***.***.***.
Lori tried to hide a nervous tick as Mitaka finished talking.
"Yes, it was signed LG." he reassured her.
Mitaka was rarely able to read the full reports that the First Order spy leaked to the Resistance, but he was able to see parts of the raw data. Once or twice, he had even been allowed to read the personalized letters that came along with the information. Between what the lieutenant told her, what she was able to pry out of Brixie, what she'd been able to skim computer screens at a distance, and what she had overheard simply from being in the camp, Lori thought there was was something sinkingly familiar about the way the spy wrote.
Though Lori had only seen sentences at a time, whoever was writing these instructions was mercilessly condescending, and apparently had no faith in the Resistance's ability to piece together information on their own. She wouldn't admit it, and she almost didn't let herself think it, but Lori couldn't help but be reminded of Armitage.
"And the other letter had a different set of initials?" she asked for clarification.
"Yes. By what I've heard, they all do."
"But the first one was LG?" She couldn't help but notice that her own initials had been signed on the letter.
Mitaka nodded, apparently not connecting the same dots as Lori "do you think that's our spy's true initials? That the others are just a cover up to hide their identity?"
Lori had other suspicions.
"Maybe," she lied, "but that wouldn't explain how they know so many different things."
The lieutenant seemed pensive for a moment, before agreeing, "You're right. Should we be doing something, though? Can we do anything?"
Lori heard two different meaning to Mitaka's question.
He should be asking if there was some way for them to expose the spy. If there was some way to make it obvious that the Resistance was operating on stolen information, and if there was some response they could send back that would definitely get them caught. What she though he was asking, was whether or not there was some way for them to help this spy escape. Or to keep them safe from discovery.
Mitaka hadn't said anything about his slipping loyalties out loud, but Lori had watched as his pretending to have turned against the First Order became more and more genuine. At first it was his willingness to help them test the veracity of the spy's reports, but then the little things had begun to stack up. He'd been less nervous and defensive when the people around camp mentioned the Order's shortcomings. He'd been friendlier to the less intimidating rebels, mostly Brixie and Klaude. Lori even noticed him being more distant towards her and Ardis in the last few days.
Lori didn't call him on the subtle changes, sure that it would do more harm than good. If her suspicions about this spy were correct, than she might be able to use Mitaka's willingness to protect them to her advantage.
"Let's hold tight for now," she gave Mitaka a non-answer before making another attempt to pull useful information out of the man, "You did say that most of the messages were transmissions, right?"
"Most of them," Mitaka made a genuine effort to remember how they had gotten their information, "We were only sent a physical item once of twice, but we've gotten loads of transmitted data."
Lori didn't like that he was saying we, but she didn't comment on it.
Armie always was a computer person. She found herself thinking, and at the same time doubting, but it'd be a hot day on Hoth before he decided to help the Resistance. Do they have something on him?
They couldn't or else they wouldn't be chasing their tails trying to figure out who their spy is. Did something happen to the First Order? Sure, Ren took charge, but it couldn't be that bad. Right? Did they do something to Armie?
"Lori?" Mitaka asked as she had a glazed over look.
You're overthinking this. It's not him. She tried to shake the thought from her mind.
"It's nothing." She tried to dismiss her own thoughts, "I'm just confused, is all."
She was pretty sure that Mitaka didn't believe her, as the young man nodded slightly before taking a step back.
"That's all I have time for now. I'm supposed to be taking inventory with Rose."
Lori gestured to the side, "you better go on then."
Mitaka took the dismissal and scurried off without another word.
Alone with her thoughts once again, Lori was left to dwell on her would be revelation.
She was never truly tied to the First Orders cause. She thought their ideals were no different than the Empire's or the New Republic's. Good or evil, the First Order had simply been the most convenient way for her to live a comfortable life. Armitage had been the one tied to the ideal that was the Frist Order. Growing up obsessed, convinced that the First Order would bring order to a chaotic universe.
Had something happened? Ren was a mad man, and Lori knew exactly how much Hux loathed the other man. Had the would-be dark lord finally done something to make Armitage snap? Was this about Palpatine's broadcast? She hadn't heard a single word about what the First Order was doing in response to the dead mans return. Had that specter done something to turn Armie against the First Order?
Lori shook her head.
Armie isn't the spy.
Is he?
.***.***.***.***.
Hux was sure that no one knew he was the spy.
He was also sure that the others within the First Order had only just now realized that there was a spy at all. His reason for thinking as much wasn't from paranoid guessing, or from overhearing wild rumors.
The evidence he was faced with was much more solid than any of that.
The severed head of an ovissian landed on the meeting table with a heavy thud. Features drained of life and slightly dried from the longer travel between the place where he was killed and the Finalizer, the head still managed to look like it was from a recently killed man.
"We have a spy in our ranks, they just sent a message to the Resistance." Kylo Ren loomed at the head of the meeting table, his mask set back in place, though it had been reforged; thin lines of red metal filling in the cracks and gashed he had caused, "Whoever this traitor is won't stop us. With what I've seen on Exagol, the First Order is about to become a true empire."
Hux tried not to shift in his seat. He'd sent his message out not but four hours ago. He had no way of knowing what information this man had been caught with. Given Kylo Ren's assurance that the news would do the Resistance no good, despite their knowing it, Hux believed that this was about Palpatine's fleet.
"I sense unease…" the silence that had settled in the room was once again interrupted by Kylo Ren's garbled voice, "…about my appearance, General Hux."
Hux fought not to stiffen at his name, each of the others at the table swiveling to look at him. At once relieved that the would-be dark lord had misidentified the true reason for his discomfort, and also unnerved that Ren had thought to focus on him at all, he answered, "About the mask? No, sir. Well done."
The fake and hurried comment was a bitter, and Hux was sure that everyone at the table new exactly how forced it was.
None of them seemed to really care, however, with General Parnadee deciding that she could use the opportunity for brown-nosing, "I like it."
Hux let the spare comment be a welcome distraction. Being more than a little true to himself, he shot Parnadee a poisonous glare.
General Quinn hoped that now might be the best time to raise a question, with Ren having just been complimented, and Hux having been cowed, "Forgive me, sir, but these allies on Exagol. They sound like a cult. Conjurers and soothsayers."
Kylo Ren didn't have a chance to cut Quinn down with a harsh comment before General Pryde did.
"They've conjured legions of star destroyers," he emphasized the word conjure at once making his own point and mocking Quinn's, "The Sith fleet will increase our resources ten thousand-fold. Suck range and power will correct the error of Starkiller Base."
Hux didn't miss that Pryde was mocking him along with Quinn.
General Engell didn't mind the obvious slights being delivered to the two younger men as she made her own analytical comments, "We'll need to increase recruitments. Harvest more of the galaxies young."
Hux didn't pretend that her comment was as neutral as she made it seem. She had taken the stormtrooper program from him as well, and this was no doubt a thinly veiled reminder of the fact.
Quinn was taken aback by the more senior officers dismissal of his concerns. This time speaking loudly to the table, he asked, "This fleet, what is it? A gift? What is he asking for in return-"
A sudden an sickly crunch came from Quinn's neck as he was suddenly flung upward. The man scarcely had time to reach up to his throat before slamming against the ceiling with a heavy thud. Grasping, and chocking, Quinn's body jerked and shook as he fought for breath.
The sudden commotion had rattled the table, each of the officers around it suddenly looking up in fear and then desperately trying to ignore the dying man pin to the ceiling.
Kylo Ren looked away from Quinn. He didn't release the general, who had begun to grow quiet in his struggle, "Prepare to crush any worlds that defy us. My knights and I are going hunting got the scavenger."
As the last trace of life was choked out of the general on the ceiling, a few bitter words came to Hux.
Really. The galaxy is at stake, and you're searching for the scavenger. Don't you have more important things to be dealing with? General Hux knew better than to dwell on the acidic thought more than sure that he would meet a similar fate as Quinn if he did.