Glitter and Gold
Chapter 13
31 ABY – Outer Rim Territories
"Where is she!?" Snoke snarled, face contorting in a hideous sneer. He sat atop his throne, body half-leaning out of it as he screamed.
Kylo Ren gasped for air before him, hovering in the air, as his fingers scrabbled uselessly at his throat. "I…don't…know!" he managed to get out.
"LIAR!" Snoke yelled, throwing his hand out. Kylo flew through the air, slamming into the floor hard. His head slammed against the floor, giving everything in his vision a fuzzy, indistinct look. "You wouldn't have sent her away without knowing where she was!"
Kylo slowly pushed himself up to his knees. "I did," he admitted, tongue tracing along his bloody lip. "Neither I nor she knew where she's going," Kylo said, a brief, pained smile crossing his features. Vex was safe from Snoke, he thought. Their baby would live.
"You stupid boy!" Snoke roared, outstretched fingers tightening in a loose fist.
Kylo began to scream.
31 ABY – The Unknown Regions
Vex had left the First Order with no idea of where she should go. Where she could hide. She knew that any sort of set plan could have been discovered if Snoke had caught her in the attempt. Now that she was out, now she could decide where to go.
But Vex didn't know anything about the galaxy around her. She'd been raised on the Supremacy, leaving it only for brief missions. Instead, she let the Force guide her to safety, to a place she could hide and safely deliver her baby.
In four days, Vex and EV-9 had reached the Unknowns. They were traveling slowly, as the region was known for being treacherous. The Unknowns were sparsely populated, so in the day or so they'd been there, there had only been one planet they'd passed so far.
The Force was still urging her forward, guiding her way. But Vex was growing impatient to get there. The food would only last so long, and at a certain point, Vex wouldn't be able to do much.
"EV, why don't you go plug in? I'm sure you're getting low on power," Vex said. The droid eagerly popped down from her perch, rushing to the outlet. Vex chuckled, turning back to face the controls. She increased the speed a bit, navigating around a meteor field.
It was hours before EV-9 unplugged and went back to her perch. She chirped out, instructing Vex to go rest and eat. Vex obliged just as eagerly as EV had. She ate quickly before laying down in the bunk for a nap.
/
Vex woke out of a dead sleep, a gasp coming out her lips. "Stop, EV!" she cried, the ship stuttering to stop. The droid tweeted out questions as she dropped from the perch, rolling over to Vex.
"The Force," she murmured, getting up and hastily going to the piloting chair. In front of them was a blue planet – Ahch-To, according to the scanner. It looked as if it was completely made of water, but the Force within Vex told her this was the place.
This is where she needed to be. "I think this is it, EV," Vex said breathlessly. "Let's have a look," she said, directing the ship into a descent.
They traveled along the horizon, looking for somewhere to land. EV detected that the atmosphere was luckily air, but they hadn't found any land. EV pointed this out in a string of chirps.
"You're right… but there has to be something, otherwise the Force wouldn't have guided me here," Vex replied, brow furrowed with worry. She sighed, getting up. "Keep scanning for land forms. I need to eat,"
Vex went back, digging a ration out of her stores. She prepared it quickly with some water and carried the rather unappetizing loaf to the pilot seat. "Whoa! What's that!?" she cried, hastily putting the food down to take control of the ship.
On the horizon before them rose a mountainous island, rocky but covered with green. "That must be it, EV! That's our new home!" Vex crowed with excitement. EV chirped in agreement, round body shaking. "Let's do a fly-over, see where we can land and if there's any existing shelter," she said.
EV chirped out a question. "Residents? There might be some indigenous species, but I don't sense any humanoids," Vex said. They flew around the island, spotting stone huts on the east side of one of the mountain faces. "That's shelter, EV. Let's find somewhere near to land,"
Several hundred meters down from the shelters, Vex landed her ship. EV popped down from the perch, tweeting. "Let's make sure the huts are uninhabited before we bother moving in," she said, hitting the button to lower the boarding ramp. She secured her lightsaber on her belt and donned a cloak – it looked cold and windy.
Vex stepped off the ship, looking around. The sky was gray, as if it were about to rain at any moment. "Let's hurry," she said, starting up the steps leading to the cluster of huts.
The huts seemed uninhabited, but well-maintained. There was one hut that had a metal hull as a door, but it appeared empty. Vex chose one towards the middle, shielded by the others from weather and sight. "Let's go get our stuff – I don't think we've got much time before the rain comes," Vex said.
They'd gone down to the ship and returned, Vex carrying her pack of clothing and food, only to find a group of short, amphibian-like species bustling around the little village. They were female, judging by the white robs they wore. They paused at the sight of Vex, chattering amongst themselves in a non-Basic language.
"Do you understand them?" Vex asked EV. The droid tweeted out yes. "Tell them I'm pregnant and in need of sanctuary," she requested.
EV turned, emitting those words in the same language the amphibian-like women spoke in. The Lanai, EV told her. The words seemed to rouse them. One of them, a matron by the looks of her, came forward, placing her little hand on Vex's belly as if to find out herself. Then she took Vex's hand, leading her to the hut she'd chosen, ushering her inside. Others followed them in, sweeping and cleaning it up.
The matron led Vex over to a stone ledge wide enough to serve as a bed, urging her to sit down. Vex followed the order, setting her pack down at her feet. Soon others followed, bringing her a bottle of green milk. Vex drank it hesitantly, finding it saltier than normal milk, but otherwise palatable.
One of the Lanai built a fire in the center of the hut, filling it warmth and yellow light. Others brought linens in, telling Vex to perch by the fire as they made a bed for her there. More attempted to hang a heavy blanket across the door to block out the cold wind and rain starting to fall. EV helped hold it in place as they secured it.
"Tell them thank you, EV," Vex said with a smile, drinking from the bottle. EV delivered the message, all the Lanai turning and smiling at her, responding in their language.
Vex felt warm and happy and safe – all until an older man shouldered into the hut, looking angry. "Who are you and what the hell are you doing here!?"
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