A/N: in this chapter we leave Kylo and Rey to erm, do whatever it was they would do in the cabin of his command shuttle. We return to Dureena, Kylo's two loyal Knights, and a brief Hux cameo for those who might have missed him in this story. thank you for following this fic as it progresses!
It was barely two hours in, and already, somehow, everything had gone to hell.
Dureena could only watch on as her colleagues harangued each other. Chagrined, she sat down tersely in her designated seat.
She had requested the emergency session to address the extremely high possibility that Chandrila would soon be called to war. Clearly, that agenda was all but forgotten. Instead, the senators - most of whom were men and women twice her age - were engaged in concurrent shouting matches. On the bright side, Dureena thought darkly as she collated her datapads, having given up for the day. At least now all the factions are out in the open.
It was easy to tell who were the pro-First Order senators. The moment Dureena had voiced out her concern that Chandrila might now be a target after Kylo Ren fled from the planet, an entire wall of senior senators had stood up and protested the "unannounced and unwelcome intrusion of Leia Organa's band of rebels." Without missing a beat, they had then redirected the focus of the emergency session to her, claiming that she had been colluding with the Resistance to bring Chandrila into war. Her allies, namely the younger senators, had leapt to their feet to defend her. There was a couple of name-calling, one or two scandal-shaming, a chorus of accusations about allegiances. The final straw was when a junior senator had thumped his monitor so hard, it flew straight to the head of a senior senator seated not too far from him. It was a miracle her colleagues hadn't come to blows.
A loud thud rang through the domed hall of the Senate House. For a brief moment, everyone fell silent. A burly male in a black robe slowly got up to his feet, wincing slightly as he touched his bruised cheek. And then the cacophony of voices resumed, much louder now than before.
Dureena's lips curled in disgust. So much for the last vestiges of senatorial decorum.
"Teear, let's go," she called out to her protocol droid as she rose from her seat, gathering her skirts around her.
The droid hesitated. "But Lady Dureena, the House is still in session."
"You call this a session? We shall be no part of this monstrous incivility." Dureena tapped a button on the side of Teear's arm. The droid's chest revealed a small compartment into which Dureena slid in her datapads. "Come on, Teear."
Everyone seemed to be concerned with having a piece of action, throwing insults and punches. They barely noticed her leaving the hall through its main doors. A couple of senators glanced in her direction as she did so, but no one bothered to follow her out. What a pointless session. Maybe after today, the Senate itself would be pointless as well.
Dureena let out a deep sigh as she walked down the promenade linking the Senate House to the senatorial offices. It was still late morning. Usually the sun's warmth and fresh air would lift her spirits. Not this time. Everything felt cold and lifeless. It was as if the emptiness of the senatorial plaza matched her heart. Teear kept pace beside her as they headed for her transport in silence.
Within Hanna City, Dureena got around on a roofed hovercraft that was more standard government issue rather than private property. She had her own, of course, that was given to her and Talohn as a wedding gift. But being a vintage, it was otherwise too flashy for everyday commute. The government-issued craft wasn't going to catch anyone's attention with its muted maroon exterior. Plus it had autopilot, something that her private hovercraft didn't have. She keyed in the course for her manor before she kicked off her shoes to curl up on the backseat.
"Really, Lady Dureena," Teear began disapprovingly.
"Be quiet, Teear. The Republic is dead and I'm tired," Dureena mumbled. She shifted to turn her face away from her droid. "It's been a long day."
Another drama was waiting for her at home with Leo, that was for sure. Her long day had yet to end. It probably had just begun. But Dureena kept those words to herself and shut her eyes.
Teear thought her mistress sounded more sad than exhausted. Or maybe it was a combination of both. Sometimes, it was hard to tell with humans. But if one thing was clear, it was that Dureena wanted to be left alone on their way home, and it was probably wise to respect that.
The droid's head swiveled to the craft's dashboard. Her eyes scanned the details of their estimated traveling time. Then she set an internal alarm for thirty minutes, and powered down.
A few thousand light years away, General Peavey made his way to where the new Supreme Leader was seated on his curule chair in the throne room on board the Finalizer. He bowed slightly when he neared the younger man. Armitage Hux was really enjoying his new role, one of his hand kept smoothing out nonexistent creases on his fine red robes.
General Peavey maintained a straight face as he spoke, "I suppose you'd like updates, Supreme Leader."
Hux's nose wrinkled slightly at the casual way his acting officer addressed him. "Ren. Have we managed to trace him?"
Peavey shrugged. He walked up to a wheeled monitor and pulled it closer towards them. "We've been trying." He tapped a few sections on the screen and a galaxy map popped up, with a red dot in one of the outer rings in the centre. "The last we've detected his command shuttle was on the edge of the core sector, before it suddenly vanished." He cast a sidelong glance at Hux. "I'm afraid even the latest hyperspace tracker technology couldn't locate its whereabouts."
The general thought Hux paled briefly. The latter had personally overseen the military's latest project under Ren's nose, and he was extremely proud of it. Just because Hux was now the Supreme Leader didn't mean Peavey would stop finding ways to take jibes at him. Rubbing into Hux's face that his technology was failing him was one of it.
"I want him found, General." Hux insisted, but his voice trembled slightly with nervousness. His hand gripped the edge of his chair. "We must not let that traitor escape."
"He won't be able to run away for long, Supreme Leader. The Galactic holonets have picked up on the holovid, they should be broadcasting it nearly everywhere by now. Plus, the Unknown Regions are mostly ours. And we have allies in Hutt Space. There is very little room for him to escape."
"Good." Hux cleared his throat as he sought to regain his composure. "What of our attempts to consolidate the Order?"
Peavey's hand swiped at the monitor, and the screen changed to a list of all known planetary governments that formed the New Republic. Hux stood to have a better look at it. Most of the icons on the list were in red, except for a stray handful that still glowed yellow. "The Republic is effectively only these planets now, but all small planets and too fearful or too reluctant to fight. They can be easily persuaded but Naboo, Chandrila, Ryloth and Gatalenta... they are probably going to be rather difficult."
"Difficult, but not invincible." The Supreme Leader stared pensively at the red icons that dominated the screen before him. Eventually he turned to announce his decision. "General, give them the ultimatum to surrender. Tell them that the First Order is here to provide them stability. But if they resist, we will decimate them like we did their beloved New Republic Senate."
If it was entirely possible, Theed had grown far more beautiful than what the twins had remembered it to be. Or perhaps, they had been gone for so long, and their memories filled with so much pain, that they had forgotten how their homeworld looked like.
Over time, Naboo aesthetics had gotten more refined, and the spaceport had expanded to include floating docks. Caerra and Caedus had eased their so-called Crystal Chariot into one of those, and acquired permission to stow their ship away in one of the hangars for long-term visitors. As they rode an airbus to take them to the capital city, Caerra noticed that there were more forested areas now on the outskirts. Whoever was ruling the planet must have made an effort to increase green spaces around Theed to complement its pristine lakes.
Once they reached Theed's major commercial square, they headed for the nearest realtor to negotiate for some rooms to rent for the next few months. It was easy to secure a small, fully-furnished cottage in the suburbs with the amount of Galaxy credits they had. There was no question asked about their identities, and their only receipt was an acknowledgment letter on the realtor's end that he had leased out the lodging to Ares and Sbalva Rothar. As far as anyone else was concerned, these siblings were phantoms with no real presence, only money.
It was an hour's walk from the square, and the siblings decided they might as well take the chance to acquaint themselves with the revived city. Somehow, Naboo had managed to accommodate the latest in communications tech without altering much of its culture. The men and women of Naboo still wore the same types of outfits that the generation before them did, in the same rich tones and pastel shades. The roads were still cobbled at some parts, and parks of varying sizes were found at every possible juncture.
"I can't remember the last time I saw so much green, Caedus," Caerra murmured. She bent down to pick up a rominaria flower that had fallen off the shrubs lining the street. "I thought I would never see this again."
Her brother gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. Caerra tucked the flower into her hair before she straightened up to continue their journey to their new home.
"Maybe I should start planting that around the cottage, if there's space," she wondered aloud. "We also probably need a job."
One that doesn't involve taking things from people, I hope, Caedus added with a faint smile.
Caerra gave him a shaky laugh. "Don't worry, we'll look for something more... normal. Although," She lowered her voice. "Based on our cover identities we really don't have to. But it might be nice to build informant networks in this place. We never know when we need allies."
Caedus knew perfectly well the unsaid circumstances she was referring to. The first was if their cover was blown, and they needed to escape Naboo immediately. The second was if Kylo managed to find them, and they needed to carve out a new cover for him.
He glanced up at the clear, unsullied skies of Naboo. Kylo too must have gone into exile for the time being. Or at least, he and his sister desperately hoped so. He was beginning to enjoy the tranquility his former homeworld offered.
He would hate to have it destroyed by war.