Chapter 26 - Congregations

Resurgent-Class Star Destroyer Ravager

High Orbit of Vardos

The Jinatan sun slowly rose over the surface of the red and gray industrial world, painting it gold and white like an impressionist at work.

In many ways, Hux hated this planet, with its cold and grimmy weather, skies choked with ceaseless gray overcast, scarlet lightening and industrial pollutants. Even the people themselves were a boring, fanatical lot that couldn't be bothered with a conversation beyond the glory of the First order and all that. Even their architecture was an analogy of this, functional and spartan with an obsession for concrete.

It reminded him badly of all those Core Worlds turned to the fancy of Palpatine. He wasn't surprised though. This planet had been the first turned to the service and industry of new government, with many of their ships and weapons produced here. 'Little Kuat' had been its nickname, but even Kuatians were not nearly as dull or single minded as the Vardos.

This however was something Kuat did not have, or many other planets for that matter. An odd little rotation where the planet came in just right to where the sun appeared over the top of the planet, like dawn over an horizon.

"And what an horizon it is," Hux smiled, "a pity it had to be wasted on this miserable excuse for a planet."

"Sir," his comms officer reported, "we're getting a transmission from the Scarlet Corsairs."

"Crimson Corsairs, man." the weapons officer corrected with a chuckle.

"What difference does it make? It's a shade of red!"

Hux couldn't help but chuckle at the humor. In the past, such a thing would've been disciplined, but Hux didn't bother with such nonsense. It was a sign of cheer and morale, something a good officer tried to inspire.

Granted, Captain Canady was of a different sort of mind.

"Stow the banter, ensign," he snorted, "and bring it up on screen."

"Aye sir. Sorry sir."

As soon as the officer did, the image of Sydow appeared across the black holoscreen, and in the background Hux could hear the pirates singing.

"Bravely taking to his fleet

He beat a very brave retreat

Bravest of the brave, Abrahm Jonston.

Packing it in and Packing it up

and sneaking away and buggering off.

And chickening out and pissing off home

Yes, he is throwing in the cloth."

Hux rolled his eyes. It was the song the pirates sang whenever they had to retreat; a way of getting themselves all riled up again. "Your men are singing about my old superior, Captain?"

"Don't tell me you're defending the reputation of the man, Admiral Hux," Sydow titled his head oddly and Hux could all but hear the smirk in his voice, "after all, you were the one who wrote that disgraceful, scandalous eulogy about the 'good' Admiral Jonston. About how he so kindly blunder his attack and tried to run away-"

"Yes yes, you don't need to remind me," Hux snorted, "or my men for that matter. The name Jonston should be forgotten."

"You are the one who immortalized the man, Admiral," Sydow's helmed head tilted down and Hux could feel the sodder-eating grin, "the song is based off your eulogy."

"Captain Sydow," Canady growled, "what the Admiral is kindly trying to say is stop singing the bloody song! The last thing we need is for our own to start singing it as well!"

"Permission to speak freely, sir?" the deck officer asked.

"Granted," Canady sighed.

"It is kind of catchy, sir."

"Anybody caught singing that song will be given latrine duty, and that is final!"

"Aw," the deck officer groaned as he about faced and returned to his duties.

"Speaking of running away, Captain," Hux smiled wryly, "I hear you got chased off by Commodore Antilles, again."

"Really?" Sydow snorted, "Need I mention the name Ackbar? Besides, he's not reason the op went completely and absolutely Endor for us that a flame on hoth had better chances of survival."

"Well, that is colorful description," Canady snorted, "and what is the reason that you botched this relatively simple operation?"

"Point your cams to the Scarlet Night's bow and you'll see why."

Hux nodded, and there clinging to the side of the ship, was a monster.

"What the hell?" Hux raised his eyebrow in surprise. Suddenly, the blast doors to the bridge opened and Kylo Ren stormed in, his pace that of a man particularly anger about something.

"Admiral, I am sensing a sith spawn in system. I need you to conduct scans so that-" he then noticed the the creature on the viewing monitor, "Oh, you found it."

"Well well, if it isn't the fabled man in black," Sydow chuckled, "so, as you can see, this bastard survived a jump through hyperspace. So, I think you can understand why this operation was botched."

"Oh I certainly can," Kylo nodded as he stood next to Canady and Hux, his arms crossed, "I killed two of these things during the Marka Ragnos Crisis."

"Good," Sydow nodded, his voice sounding a little strained, "then could you kindly do me the favor of getting it off of my ship! I've lost twenty good lads and a Vulture Droid to this monstrosity already!"

"Patience, Captain," Kylo Ren replied coolly, "I will get it off of your ship in good time. First, I want to know why it's on your ship to begin with."

"Because Han Solo sicked the bloody thing on us. That thing is the sole reason he and his fellows got away."

"I see," Hux mused before sighing, "Captain, I want you to come aboard immediately. We will debrief the extent of this… calamity, in private."

"Not before you get this thing off my ship."

Kylo Ren nodded, "Contact the Armory. Tell them to get my EVA attachments ready, and have my shuttle prepared for launch."

He then about-faced and headed out the blast door. Sydow chuckled as he went, "See? That wasn't so hard."

"Just get over here, pirate," Canady grumbled.

"Gladly, fascist."

"Helmsman," Canady ordered, "if the pirate refuses to disembark his ship in five minutes, tear a hole through that freighter of theirs."

"Well aren't you cheeky?" Sydow laughed, "Don't worry, I'm going. Expect me in three."

The signal went dark, and Hux just shook his head, "Pirates."

"Don't worry, sir," Canady chuckled, "once war begins, we won't have a need for Mr. Flamboyant over yonder."

"Somehow, I doubt that, Marcus," Hux scoffed, "is Captain Phasma cleared from medical?"

"Aye sir, she is. Reports say she'll be ready for active duty shortly. Tough bird, you pick 'em well. Oh, and she's requested to see you, sir."

"Good. Have her sent to my office immediately."

"Um, sir? Isn't Sydow going to be there as well?"

"Yes, he is."

"She's not going to like this."

"I know," Hux replied as he turned on his heel, "you have con, Captain Canady."

"Aye sir."

Captain Jak Sydow didn't say anything at all after the initial explanations of what had happened were concluded. Instead, he just sat there, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed as he stared at Admiral Hux and Captain Phasma across from him. In truth, he was really staring at Phasma with narrowed eyes. Finally, he decided to ask the obvious.

"Why is she here?"

"She is here because I requested it, Captain," Hux smiled tightly, leaning back in his chair, "because I want you both to learn a little lesson in perspective."

"You don't pay me for perspective, Admiral."

"What exactly do we pay you for, pirate? Oh," Phasma said sarcastically, "that's right. To catch a broken down ugly that I happened to soften up for you… and you couldn't even manage that."

"I'm sorry, lass," Sydow shot back, "coming from the same woman who couldn't even catch said ugly that was, how should we say it? Broken down? I find that rather hilarious."

"Anymore hilarious than you being mauled by an undersized rancor? Not once, I've heard, but twice?"

"Ah yes, but humorous as that is, at least my boys are still loyal to me and not running off to the New Republic. Oh, by the way, what exactly gave you the inclination to speak?"

"The fact that you are standing on a First Order ship, dealing in a matter that involves one of my troopers," Phasma growled.

"Ah," Sydow smirked under the helm, "you mean the mess you made, that I was brought in to clean up?"

"Which you couldn't even manage."

"At least I have a justification for the matter. Now, do us all a favor, love, and be quiet."

Though Phasma was still wearing helm and armor, her indignation still burned quite through. Hux allowed himself a tired smile.

"This is why I brought you both here, Captains. You've put me and the entire Order in a very delicate position. We are on the verge of war, and we are still missing the key instrument to our survival in this conflict, let alone success. Which is why I hope that you have something to remedy the situation, Captain Sydow."

"I do actually, Admiral," he then produced a holo-displayer and put it on the table. A moment later, it flickered to life and displayed the departure of the New Republic battlegroup, "I already have cartographers analyzing the trajectory. We'll have an idea of what direction they went soon."

"Assuming they didn't perform multiple jumps?" Phasma asked with disdain.

"Then we will search all nearby habitable systems." Sydow drawled, "Contrary to popular belief lass, Pirates aren't stupid," he leaned forward till he was practically in her face, "after all a stupid pirate is a dead pirate, much like a certain tribe of raiders from Parnassos."

Phasma's hand curled into a fist and she set it down on the table, lest she throw herself at him. However, she didn't let it show in her voice as she callously replied with a sharp smile, "So says the man who got left in the vacuum by his best friend all because of a girl."

"Says the butch who spends long hours in the night weeping about the traitors." Sydow retorted scathingly

"Says the man who betrayed his friend." Phasma bit back.

"Han betrayed me first, over a bloody woman!" Sydow exclaimed, surging to his feet amid the clamor of his clattering chair, "One that bloody betrayed him not five minutes earlier!"

"And I suppose that makes it better?"

"Why you-"

Hux decided now was the time to intervene, "Enough, both of you," he growled, not even raising his voice or moving from his chair as he continued. "In case you haven't noticed, the droid is getting further and further into the New Republic space, along with a Jedi."

"What the hell does she matter?" Sydow asked, "She's a middling knight that nobody cares about."

"'A middling knight that nobody cares about?' I've never heard a more lacking description for one of the apprentices of Master A'Sharad Hett." the voice of Kylo Ren spat behind them with an edge to his tone, turning the pirate captains blood to ice.

Slowly, he turned around to face the Lord of Ren, noting immediately a long claw mark across his chest that had torn away the robes to reveal the armored plate beneath. The beast had only stripped the polymer layer from it with its attack, making Sydow wonder what the hell the armor was made from.

"Master Hett?" Sydow asked, chuckling grimly as he did, "So, she can't be Kali, so that makes her Rey, eh? Well, that would have been nice to know."

"Is that a problem?" Phasma drawled.

"Yes, m'lady," Sydow snorted, "my men and I were fortunate that she wasn't at her best, otherwise we would have been in a black hole's gravity well with no engines. Especially if she's anything like her master, or hell, even her father."

"You seem to know quite a lot about this Jedi." Phasma observed, "Care to explain, pirate?"

"Oh that's easy, love. I was in the employ of A'sharad Hett and Deba Jarrus back in their little crusade against Zhan and Zorba the Hutt. Well, before the New Republic in their infinite wisdom decided to try and arrest me because I claimed some of Zhan's ships for me fleet. Completely forgot that I had the right of salvage, of course. But that's bureaucrats for you."

"And that is beside the point," Kylo cut in, "she was… at the Temple, when my predecessor attacked it."

"You know her, don't you, son?" Hux asked, "That's why you had our teams called off on Jakku."

"I do." Kylo answered simply, "and those Troopers are alive because of it."

"Care to explain how you know her?"

"That is not your concern, Admiral." Kylo answered coldly

"Lord Ren." Hux stated crisply, "Any information you can provide on this woman would be extremely helpful in our efforts to defeat her."

"You won't need to. The next time, I will deal with her personally."

"Son, I'm sorry, but that's not good enough."

Kylo stared at him, and Hux could feel the intense gaze behind the dark visor. He matched it without flinching. It hadn't been the first time he had to deal with Dark Siders with an agenda or secrets for that matter

Kylo just nodded, "I appreciate your candor, Admiral. All you need to know is that she and I were graduates in the same year."

Phasma fixed him with a stare, "You were a Jedi, Lord Ren?"

"We all come from somewhere, Captain." Kylo told her without looking away from Hux, "but that is not why I am here. I know where Antilles is taking them."

"Let me guess," Sydow asked with a sarcastic tilt of the head amid the surprised faces, "you got foresight up your sleeve?"

"No, it's much simpler than that, Captain. I had a word with your cartographers after I threw that Alpha Terentatek into a cage… you're lucky to be breathing," Sydow could detect the edgings of a smirk in the Sith's voice as he continued, "and assuming that Antilles hadn't made an additional, alternate jump, there is only one place on his trajectory that he would ever think of going to."

"Where?" Hux asked.

"The Jedi Temple on Takodana, of course."

Sydo chuckled, "Of course it is. Place being so fortified it'd give the Imperial Death Squadron pause. 'Sides, I don't think the Rangers trust the New Republic much anymore, all things considered."

"It was breached once before," Phasma noted, shaking her head again, "surely it can be again."

"By the combined forces of our fiefdoms, Captain," Kylo pointed out, "and only after they were sabotaged from within. They won't be so easily caught off guard this time."

"Oh, you leave that to me, m'lord," Sydow replied, an aged confidence in his voice, "it ain't the first time I've had to break into a fortress. I'm a crafty bastard, after all."

"I appreciate your spirit, Captain," Kylo chuckled for a moment, "and I don't doubt your luck, considering you survived the Alpha Terentatek. But, if it's all the same to you, I'd like to keep an eye on my Investments, even if I have all the faith in their success."

"Lad, I was gonna ask you to come anyway," Sydow tilted his head incredulously, "after all, fighting Jedi is supposed to be your job. So, you'll be doing that while I grab us the payday."

"With one condition, Captain," Hux interjected, "Phasma is going with you."

The two Captains did a double take, but only Sydow voiced his objections, "Why the hell should I do that exactly, Admiral?"

"As Lord Ren pointed out, I would like an eye on this investment."

"Who's to say I'm not yours, Admiral?" Kylo asked with a tilt of his head.

"Lord Ren," Hux leaned forward in his seat, "you and I both know that while we work towards the same goal, you are not under my jurisdiction nor under my command. As such, I can not entirely rely on your… personal agendas."

"Do you question my loyalty, Admiral Hux?"

"Not at all. I'm just uncertain if your priorities are the same as ours."

"Fair enough, Admiral. How many Troopers will you be bringing with you, Captain Phasma?"

"Four," she replied simply, "personally selected operators from the Commando Corps. They'll do their job well enough."

"Good, but make sure that they use Sydow's equipment and gear. We don't want to risk the New Republic tracing anything back to us." the Admiral told her.

"There's one other thing," Sydow added, "if we're gonna do this job and assuming Antilles is still there, I'm gonna need to call in the rest of me fleet."

"How long will take, Captain?" Hux asked with a tired sigh.

"Three days, maybe two if they push it."

"That's too long a time frame." Hux grimaced

"I disagree," Kylo countered, "we actually have a time advantage here."

"How so?"

"There's going to be a government assembly in a few days. All eyes and assets are going to be on it, and if things go as they're planned, we'll have a window to make this attack."

Hux eyed the darksider for a moment, his eyes full of questions "What do you mean 'things go as planned?'"

"Let's just say there's going to be a great deal of chaos that will follow the outcome of that assembly, and the last thing the Rangers on Takodana will want to do is announce their presence to the New Republic."

Hux nodded, careful not to show his true emotions beneath the weathered face. 'Damn it, Armitage,' he cursed softly, 'what the hell are you doing?'

Sydow had watched the old man's face carefully, knowing a poker face when he saw one, "I don't suppose this has something to do with what Ambassador Hux is doing?" At Kylo's gaze, Sydow shrugged his shoulders, "What? I keep my ear to the ground."

"Let's just say the good Admiral's son has done well in his meetings with Chancellor Borealis," Kylo replied simply, "so are we in agreement, then?"

Hux sighed, his eyes sliding down to look at the obsidian table; his own reflection staring back at him. "We are. Make it so, and…" he shook his head, "may fate be kind to us, just this once."

"Fate is kind to no one." Kylo answered, "she's a hag at heart."

"Perfect for one nighters." Sydow chuckled.

"I'm not entirely sure what's more disturbing," Phasma shook her head, "that you have a sense of humor, Lord Ren, or that you share the same kind as the pirate."

"Oh, you should've seen me when I was younger, Captain. I was much worse."

"You have me curious, my lord."

"Careful, Captain. There are some secrets that are better left alone."

"Can't blame a girl for being curious."

"Heh, I suppose not."

"Please tell me we're not gonna get in a good happy circle now and start singing?" Sydow asked with a smirk as Hux just shook his head.

"You are all dismissed. Proceed with your duties. And Captain," he beckoned for Phasma, "I want to see you at oh-seventeen-hundred. We need to talk, you and I."

"Aye aye, sir."