Thank you to all the reviewers and readers for your support of this story. I really do appreciate it. Also, I threw in a few things for you all to discover and think about. Enjoy.
Big thank you to Darksidefan5 for helping me out on this chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars. I just play in the Lucas and Disney sandbox.
Aboard the Finalizer…
Sitting in at his desk, Kylo Ren is reviewing several old reports on his small computer. After figuring out that he's been sharing dream visions with Rey, and the Resistance Pilot, he'd become obsessed with trying to find as much information as he could about the experience. Whether the Jedi or Sith have information about such a thing, has become a passion project for him.
During the training he'd received from his uncle, Kylo had never come across such a thing in the limited library there. Or if he had, he hadn't paid it any thought at the time. However, with his destruction of the Jedi Temple on Ossus, Kylo is fairly confident that he and his followers destroyed any texts or records which were there.
Upon joining Snoke, and the First Order, Kylo knew that Snoke kept any information concerning Sith or Jedi under his own careful watch. Snoke was no fool when it came to withholding things from his students; and he was even more paranoid about others discovering and using the information he'd collected about the Force. That may have been something he learned from Palpatine's erroneous ignorance during his ruling of the galaxy.
Staring at the screen in from of him, Kylo lets out a soft growl of annoyance at the lack of files available for him to search through. Opening the bottom drawer to the desk, Kylo pulls it completely out and retrieves a small data-stick from the backside of the drawer. He sets the drawer back into place, then proceeds to plug the data-stick in to the computer's port.
'Whenever you need to search an archive without attracting attention, son.' A familiar, whispered voice echoes through from deep within Kylo's memories.
He waits a few moments for the data-stick to discreetly slice through the blockade of security measures that Snoke may have placed upon the possible information he's searching for. It doesn't take long before Kylo once again re-initiates a search through the First Order database.
Seeing the results, Kylo clicks on the first file.
"Festian Revival." Kylo mutters to himself before starting to read the details.
He isn't surprised, as he keeps reading, that Snoke had wanted to take control of Fest. Nor does it surprise him that Snoke was hoping to try mining for phrik, a well-known metallic compound that can withstand against an attack from a lightsaber. Kylo then notes that this plan had received Snoke's approval and was currently in operation. There are even several reports that have been sent; the newest one only a few days ago. He tucks this little bit of information away for now.
Kylo returns to the result page and clicks on the next file name, Phoenix Down. However, the file has no reports, just a file name. Rey.
When Kylo attempts to tap on the file name, the screen begins to flicker before going black. Then, the computer stops working entirely.
Yet, before he can do or say anything in response to the computer dying, a trill from the communication panel on his desk signals an incoming transmission.
Reaching down, he presses a button to answer the call.
"Yes."
"Sir, we've received a transmission from the Imperial Remnant. Their new Emperor is requesting that you, Supreme Leader, come to Bastion to renegotiate the original treaty that was signed between Snoke and the previous Emperor many years ago."
With a minor hesitation, Kylo replies. "Have my ship readied."
"Yes sir."
Kylo Ren doesn't believe this to be a coincidence; something is working within the shadows of the universe or within the Force itself. He just has to figure out what it is, and why Snoke had a file already on Rey.
Mon Cala…
The heavily water-covered planet, Mon Cala, is playing host to the slow growing Resistance. With Admiral Ackbar's death at the hands of the First Order, the people of his home world now stand in open rebellion against them. This has worked out well for General Organa and the Resistance, for now they have a stable ally and access to several more cruisers, medical frigates, and combat fighter ships. The Resistance were even given free use of the few clusters of an archipelagos island resort to turn into an above water base. Each member was given a room, though the suites were given to those with higher status within the Resistance or those who had families with them.
In one of these suites, during the early morning hours, Rey startles awake from a very intense dream.
"You're okay, love." The calming voice of her bedmate whispers while pulling her body tighter against his bare chest. "You're safe, I'm safe, and the baby is safe."
At the sensation of Poe's hand resting against the mid-size bump of her abdomen, is enough to pull Rey's mind back to the here and now. The warmth coming from his hand seeps past the shirt she'd borrowed from him last night. Slowly, her breathing begins to even out.
"M'sorry if I woke you, Poe." Rey says softly, placing her right hand over top of his.
"You didn't." Poe replies, pressing a kiss against her shoulder. "The worst thing about being on a planet covered by water, is that the water reflects whatever amount of sunlight is available. Since it is coming on 0500 hours, what we'd consider before sunrise, is more like mid-morning here on Mon Cala."
Rey lets out a hum and turns her head to see Poe looking down at her. He gives her a sly smile before leaning down so that their lips meet. Before their kiss can fill with heat and passion, a pressing need makes itself known to Rey.
Rey lets out a soft growl before ending their kiss, and she slowly moves to get up. "I need to use the 'fresher."
"Kid wreaking havoc on your bladder again?" Poe calls out teasingly as he watches Rey scurry off to the adjoining refresher.
"I've never seen the inside of a refresher this much before." Rey replies from within, half-annoyed but also half-amused by Poe's comment.
"Well, Kalonia did say that going from 13 weeks to 18 weeks in the span of a few hours could have some adverse reactions. Though I believe all women have an up-shift in frequent trips to the refresher as a pregnancy progresses. Though, there's nothing more adverse than something manipulating your perfectly abnormal pregnancy." Poe mutters out the last sentence to himself as he's getting out of their double bed, and heads over to their shared closet so that he can get dressed for the day.
"That's something that I am not enjoying now, nor do I look forward on having to do this till the pregnancy comes to an end." Rey comes out of the refresher and joins Poe at their shared closet.
She pulls out a cream colored, flowing tank and tan pants; along with a new pair of soft, brown boots which Poe recently gave her. Rose had taken Rey shopping to help find clothes that would hide her more defined, and growing, baby bump. Rey is hoping to hide the pregnancy for a little bit longer from their fellow Resistance members.
"Should I make breakfast, or are you planning on eating in the mess hall?" Poe asks, pulling on a jade green flight suit and black boots.
"I'll pick something up in the mess hall before I start my morning meditations and training." Rey answers, tugging at her uncooperative chest bindings.
Looking up from tugging his boots onto his feet, Poe sees that Rey is struggling to keep her bindings in place.
"Need help?" Poe stands up and reaches out to help hold the gauze fabric in place for her. "You may want to invest in purchasing a few bandeaus with straps if you're having trouble with keeping the bindings in place."
"Never had trouble with my bindings before."
"Well, you were never pregnant before." Poe remarks, watching as Rey finishes tying the bindings in place. Then he places a gentle kiss against her shoulder. "And one of the well-known side effects of pregnancy is not just a growing belly."
Rey lets out a huff, stepping away from Poe while pulling her top on. "Great. Another thing to add to my list of dislikes about being pregnant."
Poe lets out a chuckle before coming up behind and wrapping his arms around her so that both of his hands lay gently on the swell of Rey's belly. He places a few kisses against the side of her neck before resting his chin upon her shoulder.
"You're already half-way through the pregnancy, Rey. Twenty-two galactic weeks down, eighteen more to go. Now," Poe releases Rey from their embrace and heads over to the coral inset bookshelf within the wall to retrieve his blaster. "I have a 0530-training session with some of our new pilot recruits. Can't set a bad example by being late."
Poe heads out of the bedroom and into the small living space of their suite with Rey following him. They are met by a greeting from BB-8.
"Hey buddy." Poe greets the droid before kneeling down in front of it. "Do me a favor and keep an eye on Rey for me today. Make sure she takes breaks to eat a ration bar or two along with some water."
"I can hear you, you know." Rey states, already placing said items into her knapsack.
"I know, but you don't always listen to the advice of others." Poe retorts as he stands up.
Rey makes her way over to him and allows Poe to run through his routine of giving her a kiss followed by a kiss against her baby bump before heading off for the day.
"I'll see you at lunch." Poe says as he leaves.
A few minutes after Poe left, Rey also leaves with BB-8 following close behind her. She doesn't mind having the little astromech, but part of her wishes that Poe would have taken the droid with him. However, she understands his motives for sending BB-8 with her. After what happened on Sullust, with her body's panicking at the pregnancy being manipulated to advance ahead, Rey had to spend several days onboard their designated medical ship. During that stay, Rey had to be under constant observation and be given many injections to keep her body stabilized. It was after their arrival to Mon Cala, that Doctor Kalonia allowed Rey to be released; and even then, Kalonia knew Poe would keep a close eye on Rey.
Arriving at the mess hall, Rey enters the short line that leads to the buffet that is offered at every mealtime. Instead of grabbing a tray, Rey grabs one of the to-go containers as she plans to eat elsewhere. Stepping towards the first food item offered, Rey crinkles her nose as her stomach gives a lurch at the sight of the tiny orange balls. So, she moves on to the second item, the salty yellow-green cooked seaweed. She places a few scoops of it into her container and moves on. The third item is purple fish fillets, grilled. She takes one of those before grabbing a rice and egg bowl as well.
With her container now full, Rey heads over to the cart that offers beverages. She orders a Gen Mai Cha Supreme tea to go. It takes the Mon Cala barista a few minutes to make the tea, and Rey is handed a medium-sized metallic thermos. She thanks the barista before heading out of the mess hall.
Rey heads down a corridor that has an airlock which leads to the beach outside. She takes a seat upon a coral bench that looks out the large, heavy duty, thick pane window that gives a very nice view of the beach and expansive ocean. It is here that Rey eats her breakfast in relative peace, though BB-8 has decided to roll up and down the hallway as if he is on guard duty.
Once her breakfast is gone, Rey takes the container over to one of the many receptacles that will send it to be washed and reused later. The thermos with her tea, however, gets tucked away in her knapsack.
Without saying a word, Rey heads outside and walks along the beach to the same spot where she meditates every day. There is a large sandstone that sits half in the water and half on the beach, and it has become Rey's favorite place to meditate. The lapping of the water against the stone and sandy beach gives off a very peaceful sound, which in turn helps her relax. After settling herself upon the rock, Rey begins to take several deep breaths and opens to her connection with the Force. Several moments into this, she feels a very familiar presence brush against her mind.
"Hello, little one." Rey softly says, placing a hand on her belly. "Come to join me?"
The little presence flares slightly against Rey's mind before retreating to a gentle buzz in the back of Rey's mind. This causes Rey to smile as she continues on with her meditations.
By mid-morning, Poe has hidden himself inside of the locker rooms. He lets out a frustrated sigh as he goes over the results of his cadets' flight tests from earlier in the morning. So far, things aren't looking so good. Only three out of the sixteen cadets passed their flight tests in the simulator.
"Hey, Poe." Finn says, approaching his friend.
"Finn." Poe replies without looking up from the data-pad.
"Heard things didn't go so well for your cadets this morning." Finn sits down next to Poe on the bench.
Poe lets out a rough snort. "More like they crashed and burned. Only three cadets made it past the test. Cadet Maverlin and the Wezeltan twins."
"Doesn't surprise me that Georgi and Freiden passed. Those two are geniuses when it comes to being mechanics and learning how things work. Hells, that's why Rose sent them to you for pilot training. They'd surpassed even her skills and gave Rey a run for her credits on repairing that old Jedi Starfighter the Mon Cals had hidden away all these years."
Seeing that his friend is too focused on the results of the tests, Finn takes the data-pad out of Poe's hand.
"Hey!"
"Hey nothing, Poe." Finn states, turning off the data-pad and tossing it onto the shelf in Poe's locker. "You staring at the results aren't going to change them. They are what they are, and it just means that your cadets need to spend more time in the simulator."
Finn closes Poe's locker, but not before pulling out the spare set of clothes that Poe always has available in his locker. He throws the sandy colored tank and taupe colored pants at Poe.
"You need a break from all that flying stuff and a distraction from those test results. So how about you and I have my infantry cadets and your flight cadets do a mock beach battle?" Finn offers with a smirk on his face. "It'd be a good excuse to let out some of that pent-up energy you got, and let you beat up something without getting in trouble."
Finn watches as Poe contemplates the idea before agreeing to his suggestion.
"Sure, buddy. I'm in. As long as we make it hell for our cadets." Poe gives Finn a conspiring grin.
"You bet. Can't be letting the rookies off easy, can we?"
Both men head out of the locker room and head off to inform General Organa of their plans.
On the beach, Rey has just finished her meditation and lightsaber drills. Between the physical exertions and the heat plus humidity of the planet, Rey is feeling very drained.
"I'm alright, BB-8." Rey replies after hearing the droid ask if she needs assistance.
She reaches into her knapsack and pulls out a canteen filled with water and a ration bar. The ration bar disappears quickly as Rey scarfs it down in three large bites. However, when she takes a drink from the canteen, the taste of the very warm water causes Rey spits it out. Coughing several times, she fights down a wave of stomach bile that is now threatening to come up from tasting the too warm of water. It takes her several minutes to feel like she's slightly back to normal.
BB-8 beeps out a question to Rey, which has her looking at the small astromech.
"I'm fine. The baby just doesn't like warm water, I guess." Rey pulls out a chronometer from the knapsack and checks the time. "We'd better head back. It's an hour away from the mess serving lunch."
She receives a happy trill from BB-8 and the pair start heading back down the beach.
While walking, Rey's thoughts flow freely in her mind. Nothing really takes center-stage till the idea of home comes to the forefront of her mind. She's never really had a home; and no, Jakku doesn't count in her mind. The feeling of belonging somewhere and with someone important. Yes, she has friends who've become like family to her. Even Poe has become someone very important to her and has offered her, and her child, a home of sorts. Yet she can't ignore what her own parents had done to her. They'd just left her there on Jakku, treating her as though she was insignificant in their own lives.
Rey presses a hand against her abdomen and can feel her child's sleeping presence through the Force. Even though her child was totally unexpected, she can't fathom leaving it, like her own parents had left her. Not even without knowing just how she'd become pregnant in the first place. But it's the feeling of knowing that her own parents had abandoned her that causes tears to flow down her cheeks in earnest. Furiously, Rey wipes them away, but they just keep coming.
Rey comes to a stop near the base of a large sand dune. Fighting back the growing sobs, her breathing becomes labored and an overwhelming need to escape builds. Without hesitation, Rey bolts up the sand dune, having to use the Force to aid her climb since the sand is so loose.
The orange and white astromech droid can only watch as the young woman runs off. Knowing that the dune's sand will not allow it to follow BB-8 does the only thing he can do, send a message to his master to sort out their friend.
'In the middle of something buddy, can this wait?' Poe's voice echoes out from the comm-link he'd given the droid several weeks ago.
At the sound of a blaster fire, in the background, BB-8 lets out a series of worried beeps and trills.
'I'm fine, BB. Finn and I are in the middle of a mock battle with our cadets. I promise that I'm not in imminent danger. Using stun blasters.'
Pleased to hear that his master isn't in any mortal danger, the droid communicates to Poe what the nature of the call is for. Once he's relayed what's happened, the droid hears his master let out an expletive beneath the discharging of weapons.
'Keep tabs on her till I arrive, buddy. I'll be there shortly. Finn, I've got-'
The transmission ends abruptly, but the droid isn't bothered by it. So, doing just as Poe had told him, BB-8 rolls towards back and forth at the base of the large sand dune.
It isn't a long wait for the droid, as his master shows up about seven minutes after being called.
"Where is she, BB-8?" A heavily sweating, sand covered Poe calls out as he slows down his run.
Receiving a short beep in response, Poe pats the droid's domed head.
"Thanks buddy." Poe starts to climb the sand dune before turning to look back at his droid. "Remind me to give you a thorough oil bath tonight."
Poe turns back around and continues his climb up the sand dune. He stumbles several times thanks to the loose sand, but he isn't going to allow it to keep him from reaching Rey. Once he gets to the top, he finds Rey with her arms wrapped around her knees and her head down. He holds back on calling out to her when he sees that her shoulders are shaking. Moving slowly, he approaches and kneels down beside her.
"Rey?" he asks, placing a hand against her back and the other upon her knee. "Rey?"
She lifts her head to look at him, and Poe's heart breaks a little. He's never truly seen her this distraught before. Without saying a word, he wraps her up in an embrace and lets her cry in his arms. Knowing that he can't stay in a kneeling position for long, Poe shifts so that he's sitting on the warm sand with Rey in his lap.
They stay like this for a while till Poe notices that Rey is now slumped against him and is no longer crying.
"Come on. Let's get you inside." Poe mumbles into her hair, and then proceeds with getting the pair of them standing. "You'll have a nice shower, some food, and then you should take a rest for a while."
"What about you?" Rey asks softly, as Poe and her slowly head down the sand dune. Now that she's finally got a good look at him, she can see that he is covered in sand and sweat. "You're dirty too."
Poe lets out a chuckle. "If you think I'm bad, you should've seen Finn before I left. Poor guy is going to be cleaning out sand from every crevasse of his body."
"What were you two doing?"
"Having a mock battle simulation on a beach. My pilot recruits versus his infantry ones. Mind you, my side was winning when I left them."
The pair reach the bottom and BB-8 is there to meet them. The droid swivels his head between the pair before letting out a few beeps.
"Everything is fine, BB-8." Rey tells the droid. "Just one of those emotional moments that Leia told me about, which every pregnant woman has apparently. I'm better now, thank you."
The droid lets out a series of happy beeps before rolling off ahead of them. Poe and Rey follow, neither one of them moving fast due to the unbearable humidity and bright sunshine.
They reach the airlock, and a blast of cool air feels wonderful against their sweat covered skin. Yet, before they continue heading towards their suite, Poe asks BB-8 to head down to the mess hall and ask that lunch be delivered to their room. The droid happily complies.
"Come on, love, let's get you cleaned up." Poe softly says to Rey, tucking her close to his body.
Rey hums in agreement, resting her head against his. Originally, she thought training was tiresome, but adding to it her emotional episode to it has her feeling completely exhausted. Even the walk back to their room is wearisome.
Upon reaching their suite, Poe leads Rey straight to their small bedroom then to their fresher. He turns on the shower, with real running water, and quickly strips himself and Rey out of their clothes. Poe steps into the shower first before having Rey join him.
"Let me help you clean your hair." Poe offers, guiding Rey backwards to stand beneath the running water.
Combing his hands through her hair, Poe lets the water dampen it before reaching for the standard issue bar of shampoo. Rubbing the bar back and forth in his hands, he gets a decent enough lather and begins cleaning Rey's hair. Once he rinses the lather out of her hair, he continues on to the bar of conditioner and repeats the same process. With her hair clean, Poe moves on to washing his own hair with just the shampoo. Then he returns to finish up cleaning Rey, by washing the sand and sweat off of her.
Just as he begins to wash her legs, a gentle hand runs through his own wet hair. Looking up, he sees that Rey has the bar of conditioner in one hand and the other is currently combing through his hair.
"You need to get cleaned up too." Rey blushes gently as she tells him this.
"I'm not going to argue against the idea, but are you sure you can manage it? You look exhausted."
"Poe." Rey lets out a sigh.
"I know." Poe chuckles as he finishes cleaning Rey's legs. Then he stands back up. "You're pregnant, not an invalid."
Poe gives her a quick kiss on her cheek before placing one against her lips. "But what kind of partner would I be if I didn't see to you first? Now, let me rinse out my hair and scrub off all the sand. Then we'll have a light lunch."
Rey nods her head before leaning in to give Poe a sweet kiss, and then leaves the shower to dry herself off. With a towel wrapped around her body, Rey leaves the fresher while drying her hair with a second towel. Inside the bedroom, she isn't surprised to see BB-8 waiting for them.
"Hello." She says to the droid and receives a similar greeting in reply. "Sorry if I scared you earlier with my… emotional display."
She continues patting her hair dry with the towel as the droid lets out a series of beeps and trills in response. At this time, Poe enters the room with just a towel wrapped around his waist.
"Need to borrow this." Poe calls out, swiping the towel from out of Rey's hands.
"Hey!"
Poe immediately begins rubbing the towel over his head, attempting to dry his own hair with the stolen towel.
Rey lets out a sigh and heads over to their closet to use one of his shirts to wear in retaliation. Pulling the shirt over her still damp body, Rey allows the towel, which is wrapped around her body, to fall on the floor. She leaves it there, knowing that it will irk Poe and that's fine with her.
"BB-8 was just telling me," Rey says, walking away from the closet and heading towards the bedroom door. "that Leia invited us to dinner tonight."
"Why?" Poe asks, having finished drying his hair and is now scowling at the wet towel Rey left on the bedroom floor.
BB-8 lets out a short whistle before turning around and follows after Rey.
"What do you mean because she said so?" Poe calls out at BB-8, watching as the droid and Rey leave the room.
In the main living portion of their suite, Rey sees that there is a trolley cart placed just inside the main door. On the lower shelf of the trolley are several small dessert plates with various kinds of sweets. On the main shelf are two bowls filled with some kind of marine life-based chowder, a bread basket, and several glass bottles of filtered water.
Not waiting for Poe to join her, Rey quickly takes one of the bowls from the tray and heads over to their small, two-person table that rests against the exterior wall. She then returns to the cart to pick up the bread basket and a bottle of water. Sitting down in a chair, Rey starts to eat lunch.
"Started without me I see." Poe states, stepping out of the bedroom in a pair of long black lounge pants and a dark green tank.
"We're hungry and couldn't wait for you." Rey retorts with a grin while using her free hand to point down at her belly.
"I'll let it slide, for now." Poe gives Rey a sly smile as he heads over to the cart to pick up his own bowl of chowder and bottle of water. He then joins Rey at their table and begins eating.
The pair remain silent as they eat their lunch and the offered desserts. Once the tray is only filled with empty dishes, BB-8 offers to take it back down to the mess hall, which the pair don't try to argue against. After the droid leaves, Poe ushers Rey back into their bedroom and the pair settle down for an afternoon nap.
Rey isn't too sure about how long her nap was, but a very familiar voice is slowly pulling her out of her sleep.
"Now, the T-70 has improved banking, maneuverability, and speed over its predecessor the T-65. Now, your old man isn't being biased against the T-65 X-wing model; but my X-wing, Black One, was the best of the best when it came to the X-wing class. I had modified her to exactly what I wanted. From the mod for increased speed acceleration to the targeting system yielding higher locking-on ratio… You would've loved flying with your old man in that ship."
Rey, who's lying on her side, slowly opens her eyes and has to bite her bottom lip to keep herself from giggling. Lying on his stomach, with a hand resting against her bared baby bump, and his face mere inches away from said bump, is Poe. And he just so happens to be talking to the baby inside of the bump about the schematics and abilities of X-wings. More specifically, his own.
Within the Force, Rey can feel the baby is wide awake and listening to Poe's voice, which has the little person sending out waves of happiness through the familial Force-bond it shares with Rey. This leaves Rey smiling at the reaction the baby has to hearing Poe's voice.
Though she doesn't want to interrupt his one-sided conversation with the baby, Rey knows that Poe has a flight class to teach this afternoon. Being as quiet as she can, Rey shifts her right hand out from beneath her pillow and cautiously moves it towards the top of Poe's head. Having achieved her goal of not having Poe catch her, Rey gently runs her hand through his hair which does startle Poe for only a second.
Shifting his head so that he can see Rey's face, but not far enough away to be unable to continue talking to the baby, Poe gives Rey a knowing smirk.
"And it would appear that your mother has discovered our secret." He says before leaning in to press a gentle kiss to the bump which houses his child. "Looks like the gig is up, and we'll have to let her join in on our little lessons."
Rey starts to laugh at Poe's over dramatized facial expression of sorrow, though she can sense that he is just teasing her. She continues to run her hand through his dark wavy hair, even as he drags himself up alongside till he's face-to-face with her. When he leans towards her, she meets him halfway and they share a long, deep kiss.
As their kiss turns passionate, the trill of Poe's comm-stick goes off.
"Just ignore it." Poe mumbles out against Rey's lips as he pulls Rey's body closer to his own and continues kissing her.
The trill of the comm-stick goes silent after a few seconds.
"Much better." Poe growls out huskily. He refuses to allow that momentary distraction to deter him in his goal. Rolling himself onto his back, he pulls Rey with him so that she is on top of him.
Remembering that pregnant women aren't supposed to be lying on their bellies, Poe moves so that he and Rey are sitting up; and makes sure that she's ended up in his lap. With swift moving hands, he starts to pull the offending shirt up so that he can have access to Rey's chest. Lavishing attention to her breasts, Poe lets out a deep guttural groan as he feels Rey's hips grind down against his own.
However, it doesn't get much farther than that between them. This time, not only does his comm-stick go off again, but the chimes to the suite's main door goes off too.
"Kriffing hell." Poe says loudly, resting his head against Rey's forehead while becoming a bit frustrated. "Can't a man make love to his pregnant woman without being interrupted?"
Rey breaks out in laughter at Poe's annoyance of being interrupted. She not so carefully, climbs off of his lap while pulling the shirt back down to cover herself. Even though she can no longer hear the his comm going off, the chimes at the door are still sounding the presence of a visitor.
"I'll answer it." Rey climbs off the bed and wraps the spare teal blanket from the bed around herself.
Leaving Poe behind in their bedroom, Rey goes to answer the door. She taps the release on the control panel, and the locking mechanism makes a hiss sound before the door opens. Standing on the other side of the door is Wes Janson.
The older man gives Rey a once over before a knowing smirk appears on his face.
"Am I interrupting anything?" He knows, by the way Rey is wrapped in a blanket and with her hair askew along with red lips, that he has; and he can't help but poke fun. "Looks like I did."
"What do you need, Janson?" Poe, having heard the older man's voice from the bedroom, had come out to keep the flirtatious man's attention away from Rey.
Wes can see by the disgruntled glare that Poe is giving him, that he truly did interrupt something. However, he can't help but be reminded of the numerous interruptions he used to pull on Wedge and a few of the other members of Rogue Squadron back in the day.
"You may want to invest in a Do Not Disturb sign if you are going to do the horizontal tango in bed. Or is it the dirty shimmy? I can never tell what euphemisms you kids use for sex these days." Wes gives Poe and Rey a smirk at the sight of Poe's cheeks turning pink while Rey's face goes dark red in embarrassment.
"I'll ask again, what do you need?" Poe lets out with a slight growl to his voice.
"Hey, no need to get all snarky at me. Leia sent me down here when you didn't answer your comm."
"It only went off twice and within minutes of each other." Rey replies back, looking away from Wes to look at Poe.
Seeing Rey's confused look, Poe gives her an answer. "It's been going off every so often for the last thirty minutes."
"Then why didn't you answer while I was asleep?"
"Because I didn't want you to wake up alone." Poe sheepishly tells Rey while rubbing at the back of his neck.
Wes lets out a peal of laughter at Poe's sudden embarrassment at being caught. "Boy, has the girl got you whipped."
"Shut up, Janson." Poe glares at the older man.
"Hey, that's General Janson to you, Commander Dameron." Wes says with a teasing, but arrogant attitude.
"Fine. General Janson. What is it that Leia needs me for?"
"Not just you, Dameron, but both you and Rey. She's got a mission for the two of you."
Bastion, The High Imperial Citadel, Office of the Imperial Remnant Emperor…
After spending six days aboard his shuttle, Kylo Ren had found himself ready to get off of his ship. What he wasn't expecting was to be greeted on the landing platform by several Chiss in Imperial uniforms. Nor was he expecting to be immediately escorted to the office of the newly minted Emperor of the Imperial Remnant.
Upon entering the luxurious office, Kylo is already disliking the decorations. The walls are gray, but have many tapestries baring several family crests and a single large one which takes up nearly an entire wall with the family lineage. The floor is a shiny black, without a single scuff mark on it. The furniture is made up of deep crimson chairs and silver end tables. But the large desk at the opposite end, from the entrance, is made of a silver colored wood.
"I wasn't sure if you would have accepted my offer." A voice calls out from behind the desk, but with the large chair turned away. "But then again, as the new Supreme Leader of the First Order, you'd be a fool not to."
Kylo moves further into the expanse of the room. "I was surprised to hear that the Imperial Moff's council elected a new Emperor. I wanted to see who it was they chose."
The large, high-backed chair swivels to face Kylo Ren. "It's been a long time, Ben Solo."
Kylo stiffens at hearing his real name being spoken by the man but refuses to allow himself to be intimidated. "Jagged Fel."
"Ahh, you do remember me." Jag says, moving to stand up from his chair. "I wasn't sure if you would. Though you were young when we first met. My, how different our lives are now compared to then. You were a Jedi student of your uncle's when last I saw you. Now, you've become the leader of the First Order and fighting in a war against your mother. Who would have thought?"
"Your message stated that you wanted to renegotiate the accord. So, let's negotiate." Kylo states, not wanting to go down memory lane via reminiscing with the man who once tried to date his older sister.
"You're very direct, Ben. Must be a talent you inherited from your mother." Jag replies with a smirk before sitting back down in his chair.
Kylo takes a seat across from the new Emperor.
"It's a shame that most of the Imperial Remnants didn't join the First Order when Snoke invited the lot of you. This war between the First Order and the Resistance would have been over sooner." Kylo watches the man bristle just enough to know that his comment struck a nerve, but the man quickly recovers.
"My father and the Moff's Council were not willing to bow, yet again, to another Force-user or call one their leader. They'd learned their lesson from Palpatine's mistake of overconfidence in their own abilities. We prefer that our ruler earns his title through his deeds and merits."
At this point, Kylo Ren is becoming more impatient with the man before him.
"And what is it that you want? Because you are wasting my time with each passing minute." Kylo tells the man, letting his own emotions get in his way of being a leader once again.
"Very well." Jag reaches to his left, lifting a data-pad up off of his desk and offers it to Kylo. "Here."
Once Kylo has taken the pad, Jag continues speaking to him.
"One of the interesting things from the original accord that your leader, Snoke, and my father agreed upon was for the Imperial Remnant to keep certain file records hidden safely within our territory. Most of these records were from Palpatine's records from his cloning facility on Wayland, which were handed back to us from the New Republic. Though, Snoke gave my father several Sith records, which were once housed within Darth Vader's castle on Mustafar. Those were things that Snoke had personally retrieved himself. The rest of it, he asked my father for access to, remotely. All of these file records were sealed and placed under heavy encryption securities and even several layers of armed guards. Several days ago, one of our satellite information citadels on the Chiss home-world of Csilla-located within the Unknown Regions-was breached."
"Breached?" Kylo asks, looking down at the data-pad in his hands. "By who?"
"You'll see." Jag replies and then presses a button on his desk to reveal a holo-vid recording, which begins to play.
Kylo watches the footage of the perpetrators escape. Several Chiss guards fire off their weapons, which the bolts are sent back from somewhere off camera. However, Kylo can hear the faint sound of a lightsaber hum coming from the recording. The members of the Chiss guards who weren't killed or severally injured from their own bolts, are sent flying backwards and into a dura-crete and steal wall with a sickening crunch. The image flickers slightly before the back of someone comes into view. The camera zooms in and follows the partially waddling person till weapon bolts fire at them from the left, which causes the person to seek cover around a corner. The intruder's head is covered thanks to the deep-set hood on the oversized heavy-duty coat. Several more blaster bolts are fired off, and one actually hits the corner, only a foot away from the intruders' face. This causes the intruder to stumble back and their hood falls.
Seeing the intruder's face causes Kylo to stand up from his chair. "Jaina."
Jag pauses the holo-vid so that Jaina's face is clearly seen. "Indeed. I, too, was surprised to see her face. The last thing anyone knew of your sister, was that she'd gone on a mission with Master Durron and the pair were deemed lost."
Jag then presses the play button again, and the sound of a lightsaber cutting through flesh and cries of soldiers fill the room. Then the camera zooms out just enough to show all of Jaina's body before someone blocks the view for only a moment before moving to stand at her side. Then the person removes their own hood.
"I guess they both survived." Jag states with indifference when the face of Kyp Durron is revealed. "Though it would appear that they work well together. Perhaps too well."
Kylo watches the image closely and notices that Kyp Durron, after checking his older sister's face for injury, quickly moves to push open her coat. He holds back a growl when he notices that the older man is cradling the very large and rotund belly on his sister.
"It would appear that congratulations are in order. Uncle." Jagged Fel states with an unkind grin. "Though the thought of a child being born between two very strong, very powerful Jedi would cause anyone to wonder at the child's abilities could be like."
Kylo glares, past the frozen image of a pregnant Jaina, directly at Jagged Fel. "What do you mean?"
Emperor Fel turns off the holo-vid and presses another button which turns on the data-pad in Kylo's hands. Then he leans forwards in his chair before addressing Kylo Ren.
"It would appear, that when Snoke first asked for access to our records—which included the New Republic ones-he had a little preoccupation with information concerning Jaina Solo. When my father mentioned that I knew Jaina, I was summoned to this very office and was asked many question by Snoke. At the time, I didn't think anything of it. I had just turned twenty, recently returned from spending a year with my Uncle and his family on Hosian Prime, and had attended the New Republic's Flight Academy on a special exchange student visa. Since your sister had refused all my attempts of trying to engage her in courtship, she didn't have my loyalty. So, I told Snoke everything I knew about her; and the more I mentioned her being the granddaughter of Darth Vader, the more he seemed interested in her abilities with the Force. Now thanks to this breach by your sister and Master Durron, I believe I've discovered Snoke's real reasons for wanting to know so much about her back then."
"And what was that?" Kylo asks vehemently, jealous at the idea that Snoke may have had his sights having Jaina as his intended apprentice instead of himself.
Jag lets out a chuckle and shakes his head before standing up from his chair. "I suggest you use the data-pad I just gave you and read a particular file named, Phoenix Down. It will answer all your questions."
"But that file only had a single file folder in it." Kylo states, not realizing that he's just given this new Emperor information that he'd tried to access this file previously.
"You only saw what we'd recently given Snoke; information on about a young woman named Rey. There is more than just her within that file. Which brings me to ask, do you know of the woman named Rey?" Jagged Fel asks, curious to find out if what he'd heard about the new Supreme Leader was true. Was the new Supreme Leader infatuated with the woman?
Before Kylo Ren can give a reply, a blue skinned Chiss soldier enters the office. It gives a salute before approaching Jagged Fel and hands the man another data-pad. Then it steps back till it comes to stand several feet away from the pair. Jagged Fel, however, becomes engrossed by the information on the data-pad and Kylo Ren starts to feel agitated by being ignored by the man.
"Forgive me," Jagged Fel states, looking up from his data-pad to rest his gaze on his guest. "but one of our way-stations within our borders has passed along information concerning the First Order attacking Mon Cala. Forgive me, but is this a trick on your part? A way to show the Imperial Remnant your military might in a means to intimidate us?"
"There is no attack!" Kylo Ren shouts in frustration. Part of him is hoping that this is a ploy by Jagged Fel; but then, there is that other part of him which has to wonder if General Hux has done something without his knowledge or approval.
"Interesting." Jagged Fel says, before handing the data-pad back to the Chiss soldier. "Well, I'm afraid that our negotiations will be placed on hold till such a time that you can guarantee that you have complete control of your people. As a ruler, one must know what his subordinates are doing at all times."
Kylo is fuming at being lectured by a man who is only a few years older than he. But this is not the First Order where he can assert his rule. This is the Imperial Remnant, and he is an invited guest. To show anger here would be to doom his reign as the Supreme Leader of the First Order.
"I can assure you," Kylo grounds out while keeping his temper in check for once. "that this attack was not sanctioned by me and the general in charge of this unsanctioned attack will be punished. Perhaps negotiations can resume once more after this situation has been taken care of."
"Perhaps." Jagged Fell nods to Kylo Ren before gesturing for the soldier to escort the younger man away. "I look forward to seeing you again, Ben Solo."
So a little back story for those who aren't familiar with the "Legends" Universe of Star Wars.
Jagged Fel was the nephew of Wedge Antilles and grew up in the Imperial Remnant. More accurately, he grew up on Csilla, the home-world of the Chiss. He eventually joins up with Jaina and several other pilots during the Yuuzhan Vong war when the Republic was in need. Eventually, Jagged Fel and Jaina Solo married after over a decade of on again, off again courting. Then Jagged Fel was made Emperor of the Imperial Remnants which their main capital is on the planet of Bastion. Now, I've never been a fan of Jagged Fel, but I tried to incorporate him into the story in a way that would fit with his personality and upbringing.
Reviews are welcomed, loved, and extremely cherished.
Selene