"Ryloth is secure. They pledged allegiance to the First Order this morning."
"I know you have an inkling beyond the rest of us, but surely you didn't need the Force to see that coming?"
The dark one didn't dare indulge in the sweet twinkle of amusement directed at him from over the back of the humble sofa; to do so might leave him disappointed. Nevertheless, the Supreme Leader continued to enter the apartment, with a sweep of that dark fabric he called a cloak, without being specifically invited; not that the (older) female occupant minded. Immediately, Ren dived into a passionate, frenzied pacing that Lucilla watched with something akin to bemused expectation.
"When you first mentioned Ryloth… To target Ryloth first… I was wracking my brain, tormenting myself, to try and decipher why… why that backwater shithole, of all places, should be first…" The frantic tread that might have worn a path in her carpet ceased; stopping on the sudden pivot of a dirty, scuffed (was the blood?) boot to stare down the little dove on the verge of derangement.
"It makes no sense. The place is a lost cause. Ravaged by criminal cartels, spice and slavery; no one in their right mind, not even the New Republic in all its righteousness, would touch it! And even if they did, what would come of it?! Hmm?! Gratitude?!"
Lucilla didn't answer. There was something more to this than criticism, but wary and curious, she held her tongue and the Supreme Leader continue spitting his fervour, working through the apparent agitation, towards getting it out of his system. In that, the pacing resumed, and Lucilla placidly watched, over and back, over and back.
"But now… Now…! The Twi'leks are all over the holovision! On every channel! Telling the whole galaxy how the First Order came, how they cared in ways the New Republic or Resistance never did or could! They're spouting left, right and centre about what we've done already! What we're going to do! That we've already boosted their economy! The other systems are watching… listening…! The richer systems, the better represented systems, the systems that made themselves feel better through charity to the likes of Ryloth! You know what they're going to do now?!"
A rhetorical question, of course, that the Order's new Public Relations Liaison already knew the answer to but again, Ren needed to work through it; on the cusp of foaming at the mouth and aided by random, maniacal gestures and throws of his hands.
"They're going to start cosying. Cosying right up to the First Order to start bleating about virtue! To admire how poor, dirty, downtrodden Ryloth was our priority! Because we gave a bantha's fuck about a crappy, backwater planet that no one else even thought to help! Not a central system! Not a resourced system! Not a system that had anything to repay us with! No. We looked after the little guy because it was the right thing to do. The ultimate display of mercy and charity of the New First Order; starting as we mean to go on because that's what good leaders do."
Ren stopped and took a steadying breath, all the while never once drawing that intense gaze from the little one still seated on the sofa, the one that had led them to this genius solution through careful and inspired selection.
"You did that." He declared, low and obsessed but Lucilla bided her time; nor did she become alarmed when the solid shadow started to encroach upon her like prey, nearly every word (even if some of them had notes of accidental accusation) drawing him closer. "Not me. Not Hux. You. You didn't pluck Ryloth out of thin air, you didn't close your eyes and dance around a charter of the Outer Rim with your finger pointed. Ryloth was key, it was unique, the whole squalid situation was specific. If you chose another planet, the chain reaction wouldn't've been the same. There are Twi'leks all across the galaxy, absconded from their homeworld to seek a better life for themselves… They're talking to friends and family back home; they're soaking up everything and regurgitating it back to whoever will listen. You. You did that."
Was he finished? With only a hair's breadth between them now, Kylo Ren towered over the soon-to-be Empress; and if she hadn't earned that title by now, she never would. In that same vein, Lucilla's hands folded daintily in her lap, her chin adjusted to just the right level of brazenness and her tone adapted to one of airy but sharp diplomacy; an Empress, indeed.
"I'm flattered, Supreme Leader, that my first act as Public Relations Liaison was pleasing to you." Cue the confused tilt of that shaggy, Umbaran head and a narrowing of those chocolate eyes; ones that had once been sweet but since soured with pain and suffering. "My selection of Ryloth was not based on strategy or propaganda though I understand it has value in both; value that will, hopefully, pay dividend to the First Order accordingly. We have, as you have rightly pointed out, poured a great deal of resources into Ryloth and its citizens but that will be our duty, whether or which, if we are to secure the galaxy as our own."
"I am disappointed, however, that you choose to see it as nothing else, only strategy and propaganda." Spine steeled to her trademark, Lucilla absorbed the Supreme Leader's frustrated huff, but it dented neither her interior nor her exterior; merely roused her impatience as he began to pace again. Hopefully, this would not take too long; Lily's nap was due to end soon.
"When I was in the compound in the Undercity, there were Twi'lek girls." She informed his prowling shadow, her words jagged with testiness and the prick of her unwavering gaze just as sharp. "When I was being bid upon on Tatooine, there were Twi'lek girls. Everywhere I looked, there were Twi'lek men and women in chains. On Ryloth, there were families torn apart and an unfillable hole left where their children had been! It is a planet with an imposed culture, second only to Tatooine, that revolves around forced slavery and you would have me use it for propaganda purposes?!"
Perhaps the lofty stance of the now still Kylo Ren suggested guilt; a seemingly permanent crumple of disgruntlement in his face following the scolding. He would reflect later and appreciate that the only thing better than someone pretending to care, is someone who actually cares. And it would serve them well when (like was already beginning to happen) more systems flocked to their cause, looking for similar aid to what Ryloth had received. And was she not the best person for it?
"As it happens, Supreme Leader…" Lucilla continued matter of factly, to the fresh scrutiny of his eyes; having been ripped from his thoughts. "I have been invited back to Ryloth. When the Death Squad is being dispatched, I will be accompanying them." Rising to her full height (and even Lucilla herself could concede that that wasn't very much), she claimed the distance between herself and her visitor with easy strides; ones befitting an Empress.
"You see, Ren… When my compound was burned to the ground, I did not have the luxury of witnessing it. But this time, I will. And the next one and the next one. For every Twi'lek and every slave who has ever been dragged over its threshold." Ren couldn't help but swallow at the threat of purpose threaded through that usually meek and docile tone; to look upon the face it came from, so intent and definite, it almost frightened him. Those sapphire eyes, now burning and seeking his own, conveyed just how determined the little dove had come to be and even more so since these resources had been placed at her disposal. But all for the betterment of the galaxy, which she confirmed once again.
"Because it will not be happening again."