Happy Valentine's Day to everyone, except to poor Hux - who is like an ultimate evil cat-lady with his ginger pet. Fun fact - I have an evil ginger cat too whom I wouldn't exchange for anything in this world. I'm also the chief of a military junta in space, like to drink tea and have impeccable fashion preferences ;).
Ben Solo and Rey get engaged, but the darkness is always there to loom over their fleeting happiness in the form of Knights of Ren.
Also, parallels to one of the novels dearest to me, "Jane Eyre". (The Resistance is Mrs. Fairfax, then?)
"I tell you I must go!" I retorted, roused to something like passion. "Do you think I can stay to become nothing to you? Do you think I am an automaton? — a machine without feelings? and can bear to have my morsel of bread snatched from my lips, and my drop of living water dashed from my cup? Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! — I have as much soul as you, — and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you. I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities, nor even of mortal flesh; — it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave, and we stood at God's feet, equal, — as we are!"
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre (Chapter XXIII).
Only five of them. The sixth is on his way to track down the traitor.
„You gentlemen do not lose your time", Hux says, praising himself mentally for his subtle irony.
The knights look at one another through their masks and the familiar Force choke circles Hux's throat.
No, not this again.
„So", the tallest among them steps forward as if to inspect all the petechiae forming in Hux's eyes. „I gather you know nothing of Kylo Ren's whereabouts, Grand Marshall?"
There is something vaguely amusing to all of them in that title, since all began to giggle. A sort of menacing sound that's unnerving even to Hux himself.
The grip finally lets loose.
„He was last seen in the orbit of Utapau", Hux gurgles. „But I have my best men working on tracking him and the rebel scum down. It won't take long before they are detected and captured".
The tall one, whom Hux suspects was the wielder of the choke, removes the helmet. His eyes pierce straight through Hux and he now regrets the helmet was taken off.
Those eyes have an unnatural amber haze in them. Hux recognizes this hue from the stories he heard as a child and now the scary story for naughty children comes to haunt him. Only one culture had that sort of eyes – the Sith.
„You underestimated the Jedi girl, Grand Marshall", the man says, bemusedly, and drops the helmet on Hux's beloved marble top desk. „Our teachers taught us never to underestimate our enemies, especially the last Jedi. As their age comes to an end, they grow stronger beyond imagining. The Jedi of the old can't compete with what you have at your hands now".
„I didn't believe, not for a moment, that the scavenger could single-handedly beat the whole Praetorian guard, kill the Supreme Leader and defeat Kylo Ren, leaving him alive in the process", Hux hisses and brings his exclusive bitter Tarine tea to his lips, swallowing hard through injured throat.
„You're a worldly man, Grand Marshall", the man manages to make his much coveted title sound like a joke, and in that way, he resembles general Brendol Hux. „Of course the girl didn't do it all. Kylo Ren helped her. But there are other ways of manipulation in the Force. Turning Kylo Ren to the Light Side is a formidable task. But –„.
And he stops to look at Stynnix, who leaves the tea on the table and scrambles away from the man's brazen gaze in confusion. First time he saw his lieutenant this disheveled, Hux thought. And she was the first officer on the "Finalizer" and "Supremacy".
„-turning the Jedi to the Dark Side is an equally formidable task".
„Gentlemen, I fear I am out of my depth when it comes to the ways of the Force", Hux replies, this time much more piously. „Whatever you do, as long as you track down the traitor and bring him to the justice for the murdering plot he committed, I'm at your disposal. And if you bring the scavenger from Jakku along with him, it will be an even greater victory for the First Order. We strive to restore the order to the galaxy, corrupted by the centuries of decadent Republic".
The man is apparently half-bored and half-annoyed with the political agenda.
„Yes", he says and flicks his wrist. „Your First Order is menial compared to the Force. There is where the true power lies. Tell me, Grand Marshall, who you think pulled down the „Nephallactis"?"
Hux feels exactly like when he was brutally inspected by his father. Is this how Force manipulation works? Slowly degrading man's confidence, assaulting all his mental defenses piece by piece and then ravaging through all long buried memories and fears?
„The traitor Kylo Ren, of course", he says, hoarsely.
The man smirks, and others with him.
„Incorrect, Marshall", he says. „TIE silencer weapon system was dislodged some minutes before. You should commend your fighters for it. Those who survived, of course".
The knight takes the cup into his hand and takes a sip. Apparently dissatisfied, he continues.
„It was Luke Skywalker", he says, and a low, disdainful growl bounces over the hated name. „He is protecting the alliance and the last Jedi. The reason why you won't find them, Marshall, is because he doesn't want you to find them. You can run after them until your bones dry out, but you won't capture neither of them. Not until the girl is with them and growing in her power".
„To secure the order, her powers need to be harnessed somewhere else. It's relatively easy with the females, you know. Their servitude, their compassion, their ubiquituous need to save the unreedemable, to protect the little unprotected babies and downtrodden – it's all very predictable, actually. So, what me and my brethren cordially suggest is – terrorize the galaxy, Marshall. Hit them where they are the most vulnerable. Stop this goose chase – you'll get nothing of it, only loss. You have – what? – 5 dreadnoughts at your disposal and you already lost 2 in less than two months with how many men, weapons and crafts onboard? My, my, Marshall".
The man shakes his head, mock-worriedly.
„I am here to help you, Armitage", the knight adds. „Leave Kylo Ren and the Jedi girl to us. I know Kylo Ren better than anyone. I know his weakness and his strength. I know what haunts his sleepless nights and what he desires the most".
There is something almost lascivious in the knight's words and Hux shudders. He feels his own pet had more sense than him as the animal sprung in terror and hid itself somewhere under the desk seconds before the Knights of Ren entered. Hux wishes he could now do the same.
Mandalore is an interesting place, Rey thinks. Here she is, a humanoid adopted by a human mother. Adoption was a rare thing among humans throughout the galaxy, but on Mandalore, the adoption was common and considered both a great honor and a duty. It is a stark contrast to the dominantly warmongering ways of the Mandalore.
All that Satine knows and Satine is, she received from her adoptive mother, Bo Katan Kryze and her "aunt", Sabine Wren.
While talking to Satine, Rey loses sight of time and loses sight of Poe. He didn't take this new thing too well. Then again, neither did she. It is commonplace for the fiancés of the galaxy to drop on one knee and offer the band, after which the putative bride has to glean and hide the tears and show (usually artificial) surprise. But as she climbs to the TIE silencer and feels the lingering stench of electric chips burnt down, she is hardly prepared for this kind of… ceremony. He didn't kneel at first, but when he did, Rey thought something in the ship malfunctioned again and needed the repair.
It is Leia's engagement ring in his palm – the pale and translucent rose quartz gem embedded in a silver band, two opposing Resistance crests supporting the gem from both sides. Han really took an effort to make the ring work and probably had to steal the remarkably clear gem from somewhere. It is slightly rudimentary, but it's genuine and it emanates a sort of bitter-sweet memory.
"I don't know what will happen tomorrow", he says. "I have nothing to offer to you except for what you already have, and that is my life, Rey. I will be a burden to you and gods of the galaxy, if they exist, know that a Solo isn't really a catch of a lifetime. But I love you. I loved you even before I knew you existed. Will you have me?"
This must be some kind of bad joke on his part – she suspected he had sense of humor buried somewhere deep underneath the layers of Kylo Ren, but this is just a very unfortunate moment to exercise it.
"Ben", her voice gets a nervous pitch. "Do not mock me. Get up".
I don't mock you, he says and the grave tone of his voice inside her head makes her stop. Makes her heart stop and head spin.
She raises her eyebrows and a small hiccup escapes her. He is seriously proposing her.
Upon the realization, she kneels in front of him. Her knees are water; this isn't just a statement of their equality. The TIE silencer is rendered truly silent, as if the whole air has been sucked out from the craft. Rey caresses his injured cheek and removes the strand of his hair from his forehead. This is a true torment for him, she realizes, astonished. His newly found life dangles at the end of a delicate thread.
"Of course I will", she utters, feeling her voice will betray her. "I will have you, Ben Solo".
It's not the most elegant of formulations, but how would she know? Rey speaks from her heart, just as he does.
She accepts the ring and lets him place it on her fourth finger of her left hand, as it is the most commonplace throughout the galaxy.