She really should have expected an interrogation room.

Hermana woke a metal chair with metal cuffs around her wrists and ankles. She had heard about interrogation before. It typically involved torture. To Hermana's left, she spotted a tray of ashes. Next to that, a Stormtrooper with a blaster. That couldn't be good.

When she turned her head, she started, hitting her head on the headrest, which hurt because the headrest was also metal. About five feet away, a familiar-looking man with a black First Order uniform and red hair stared disapprovingly at her.

General Hux, she thought. There were a lot of things she could have said next. Heroic things, like, "You'll never get away with this!" Instead, she thought of the copper-colored knot on top of her head, and said the only thing she could think of:

"Nice hair."

The general looked baffled for a moment, then resumed his icy stare. "Do you know why we've brought you here?" Even from a few feet, Hermana could smell his rancid breath. Maybe she didn't clean her teeth every day, but she did it more than Hux.

"Nope! No idea," she said. She tried for a smile, but with the throbbing in her head, it may have looked more like a grimace.

"I don't suppose you know what's happened where you were going? And how your mother caused it?" he growled.

Hermana didn't see any point in resisting. After all, that Stormtrooper was there for a reason. "First – no, I just wanted to see my friend. Second – my mother's dead as of four years ago. She can't have caused anything. Third – isn't Kylo Ren supposed to do the First Order's interrogating?"

"Kylo Ren is . . . occupied at the moment," he said carefully, as though he was trying not to get mad. Hermana got the feeling that he wanted to be the one asking questions. "And if you're who your blood test says you are, you're the daughter of Dodona Apollo, who died two weeks ago."

"I've never known a Dodona. What kind of name is that? Sounds like someone from Naboo or Alderaan – well, I guess no one can be from Alderaan 'cause the Empire blew it up. Except . . ." she trailed off when she saw Hux's face. Either she would have a blaster bolt in her face soon, or the general was going to explode. "Sorry," she said quietly, though it would be quite nice to watch Hux explode.

She was right the first time. General Hux made a small gesture with one hand, and suddenly the Stormtrooper had his blaster pressed against Hermana's forehead.

Hux took on a gentle, almost singsong tone. "Now, Miss Apollo –"

"My last name's Bokis," Hermana corrected. Hux actually growled, like an angry Gammorean. Hermana would have laughed if her life hadn't been in danger.

"– what exactly were you going to be doing on Takodana?" he continued.

"Like I said, I was going to meet with a friend."

"Where would you have been meeting this friend?"

"On Takodana." Hermana feared to be too much of a smart-aleck would get her a free ticket to see her mother, but she figured if the First Order had taken an interest in her, she must be pretty important in the whole Resistance thing. She didn't want to give any more information than she had to because if it came down to it, she'd rather be on the Resistance's side than the First Order's.

"That Stormtrooper can pull the trigger as easily as you can breathe. I'd suggest complying," Hux said.

"I am. I'm telling the truth," Hermana replied.

"Who were you going to meet?" asked Hux. The Stormtrooper pushed the blaster barrel into Hermana's head so hard she knew there was going to be a bruise there.

"Maz Kanata," she spat. General Hux recoiled like she'd punched him between the eyes. He stood for a second, then laughed out loud.

"You don't know, do you, Miss Apollo?"

"Bokis!" Hermana snapped.

"We killed Maz Kanata. We destroyed her cantina," he said.

Suddenly, she found that her world had been turned on its head. "No," she whimpered. Maz was the one who had kept her going since Mama died. Maz had always been there for her. She couldn't be gone. "No. NO!" Hermana screamed with such force that it seemed like the entire room trembled. It felt like her entire body was burning up. "GET OUT!"

Immediately, Hux and the Stormtrooper scrambled from the room. Hermana was so angry, everything looked red. She remembered something Maz had said: "Anger leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering. A proverb from an old friend." Hermana tried to control it. Honestly, she did. But she had broken the dam, and it wasn't so easy to build a new one. All the rage, all the resentment she'd ever felt towards everyone who'd abandoned her came pouring out. The walls shook – literally. Loudspeakers blared emergency warnings and commands, but Hermana ignored them. Too many people had left her. She wouldn't let it happen again.

She was able to form two clear thoughts: something Maz had told her many times: "Your family has a long history with the Force, Hermana. Some of your ancestors chose the light path. Others chose the dark path. The latter endured pain and suffering, only to be destroyed in the end. Don't be like them. Follow the light. It's always been there."

And her second thought: I've failed you, Maz. She fell unconscious again, hopefully, this time, for forever.