Starkiller Base

This one was tough. How do you write a sympathetic portrayal of genocide? You don't. See Mitchell and Webb sketch "Are we the baddies?" to fully appreciate where Avin is right now. Smut but only because the main characters do not know how to talk to each other. I hated most of the writing of TLJ apart from Force Bonds so say goodbye to most Hux canon from here on out.

"It is now time for you all to be informed of the true nature of the Starkiller project." Hux said and clicked to a holo projection of a planet. "As you are all aware we have been working on a weapon on the ice planet of Ilum for many years now. The Starkiller Base is a fierce machine, capable of pulling energy from suns to create a phantom energy beam that travels instantaneously by sub-hyperspace. The immense power we wield will mean instant surrender to the First Order across the galaxy." He stood proudly to the side of the holoprojection and clicked for the next image. A panorama of multiple planets appeared on screen which Avin immediately recognised.

"We plan to point this energy beam at Hosnian Prime, the seat of the New Republic. This will mean the complete annihilation of the Hosnian System." He said smugly, looking at all the high-level officers around him.

Avin's mouth went dry, and she struggled to swallow as she tried and failed to grasp what he was saying. What could that possibly mean? All they had discussed before was the destruction of the New Republic fleet. As she listened, she realised with growing horror that he meant the destruction of the whole system, pulling unparalleled amounts of energy to fuel a beam that would vaporise whole worlds like Hosnian Prime where the New Republic's senate was instated as well as other planets like Cardota and Raysho. She was sitting around the table with other men and women with hard faces, soaking in every word her husband said. Her husband, who was suggesting they murder billions as a political move. She tried and failed to swallow again and suddenly she felt her breakfast rising up. She was going to be sick. She darted from the room to scandalous glances, in order to find the closest bathroom nearby where she was violently ill. She rested her head against the cool metal walls of the bathroom, trying to breathe through the nausea which threatened to rise up again. She had put so much work into preparing Starkiller Base. She had thought it was in aid of the fleet, material needed for ships and a final ship-destroying weapon in order to fight the New Republics forces and Resistance terrorism. She had wanted quick and decisive victory. She had never imagined that this work would be used for a genocide even greater than the destruction of Alderaan by the Empire. Imagine, the pain she felt losing her parents to New Republic airstrikes and multiplying this by millions, billions of people. She wiped her mouth again. She would have to go back into that room, ill or not. Weakness was not tolerated in the First Order. She left the bathroom and came face to face with Kylo Ren who was standing in the hall facing towards the meeting she had just left.

"Did you kn-" she hiccupped and stopped so she didn't embarrass herself further. Their feud seemed like a distant silly memory now.

"I knew." His distorted voice was husky, his head dipped low.

"I thought we were wiping out the fleet. I thought this was going to save lives." She mumbled, hearing how stupid that sounded out loud for the first time.

"The supreme leader-" Ren started and Avin cut him off.

"This is madness, Kylo. We can never come back from this. We can't let him-" she stopped as someone left the room. An officer walked quickly towards them.

"General Hux requests you to return to the meeting, Lady Palpatine."

She went back into the meeting, still feeling extremely nauseous. She apologised for her absence and sat back down in her seat. The others in the room were looking at her expectantly.

"Now that Lady Palpatine has joined us again, I would like to extend my gratitude to her and her work. Through her tireless work on the history of the Empire and our archival resources the Starkiller Base has been completed far ahead of schedule with far less waste." Hux said, smiling at Avin as he asked everyone to join him in a round of applause. She smiled back, forcing the smile onto her face, and took similar words of praise from those seated around her. A voice was screaming inside her head, and she couldn't get the image of the terrifying figure of Kylo Ren with a bowed, resigned look outside the meeting room out of her mind.

"We are now on way to Starkiller Base and many of you will be transferring permanently to the Base while we begin operations. I thank you all for your commitment and duty to the First Order." With this the group raised their arm in salute. He continued:

"To celebrate this momentous occasion the Supreme Leader has announced a gathering to honour our glorious work on Starkiller Base. He, himself, will be in attendance." This led to excited whispering amongst the group. Hux signalled the end of the meeting, and his staff made their way out of the meeting room. Avin hung back, determined to speak to Hux as soon as possible.

"Are you alright?" he asked her, distractedly, looking down at his comms where multiple messages were flashing.

"Yes, Arm, just a little ill. I need to speak to y-"

"It will have to wait. The Supreme Leader requires an audience." He said pompously, a proud smile on his face. He looked at her. "We can speak on the Starkiller Base. You will be moving to quarters there in 2 standard hours."

"I need to speak to you, Arm." She said forcefully but he had already walked out the door.

True to his word, stormtroopers appeared outside her quarters in two hours' time. She had already packed away her most delicate items and she directed them to pack the rest. As she was leaving, she saw a comm flash.

Wear the coat I bought for you. It is extremely cold on the base. H

He was right. It was extremely cold on base, and she wrapped her cloak around her tighter as she was guided to her new rooms. Her quarters here were as spartan as her quarters had originally been on the Finalizer. She felt like she was back to the start of things. Crates were stacked up on each other, waiting to be unpacked. There was one noticeable difference. On the dining area table there were black boxes, gleaming a silky obsidian in the low white light of her room. She had not packed anything in boxes like this. She gingerly opened one and looked inside, expecting more presents from Hux.

In the first box there was a crown in silvery metal with the odd ringing quality which marked it as beskar. The crown was high and had impossibly sharp edges pointing to the sky, appearing like a jagged edge of glass or splintered bone. It must have been impossibly expensive. Avin had never seen anything like it before. In another box, just as carefully wrapped was a structured silk dress in a deep red the colour of blood. She understood what this meant immediately by the colour of the dress, the Supreme Leader's colour. Snoke had chosen her outfit for the celebration. Soon after this masked willowy figures in red appeared at her chamber door to get her ready for the night, moving silently around her empty quarters.

Hours later she had been plucked and scraped and cinched within an inch of her life. Her hair had been pulled into an artful updo around the jagged crown and her make up showed her own face made sharp and mysterious back to her in the mirror. They had not bothered with any other jewellery. The dress had a structured corset top which pulled in her waist and accentuated her breasts, leaving her shoulders and upper arms bare. The dress was long, trailing behind her but completely saved from modesty by the slit which ended at her hip. Black stilettos completely the look. She looked like some horrible figurehead, violent and cruel. She struggled not to think of the people that were about to be killed as the blood red of her dress shone in the low lighting. The young girl in her soft desert clothing sprung back to her mind as she gazed in the mirror. Then her mother gently tying the back of a delicate silk halter neck dress before a formal dinner on Naboo. She didn't know who this sharp, dark figure was looking back at her. The assistants finished and left without a word.

The door chimed again, and she opened it, facing more strange military figures clad in red stood outside her door. She felt a flash of fear finally seeing Snoke's Praetorian guard before they made it clear they were her escort for the evening. She walked with them, head high, assuming Hux or Ren would join her, but they were nowhere to be seen. She entered an antechamber adjoining the larger social area where the celebration was to be held. Snoke was lounging on an expensive leather chair, surrounded by his faceless guards. He was wearing a gold robe that trailed the floor and soft velvet slippers, there was something almost dandyish in the cut of his outfit.

"There she is." Snoke pronounced indulgently, "The Palpatine legacy." He stood, impossibly tall even as he stooped, and gestured to her. "Come, child."

She joined him and they walked into the celebration. The room had a large obsidian staircase which flowed down to the room below, an open space with several dais to note position beside a long, elegant table on which drinks were presented to the upper echelons of the First Order. Various admirals were standing in a sea of black, mostly older men with a scattering of women. She did not recognise many of them. There was no music, no entertainment. This was not a place for socialising but for being seen. They all as one turned to Snoke and Avin and raised their fist in salute. She looked down to see the figure of Hux, his hair one of the only hints of colour in the sombre room, at the bottom of the steps looking up at both of them. From here she could see the heat in his eyes as he looked at her. Snoke leaned down towards her.

"I can see that you want the rabid cur, rather than the prince. Unexpected but not unwelcome. These tools of mine, they all need… incentives." He said, languidly and she felt a phantom touch on her back. "I've found a way to make the General mine, forever."

She descended the steps with Snoke, moving slowly to allow for his limp. From this close she could smell extremely expensive cologne masking a smell like festering mould. The gold damask of his robe was scratchy against her forearm and every single sense she possessed was screaming at her to get as far away as possible from this creature. She walked with him to a golden throne flanked by the praetorian guard. He gently placed himself onto the throne and moved his robes to sit well in a decidedly vain manner. He beckoned her to stand by the throne which she did, feeling like some kind of trophy in her red dress amongst all these black uniforms. He addressed the crowd below him:

"You have all joined me tonight for a momentous occasion. The Starkiller Base represents the destruction of hope and the bringing of a new order to the galaxy. Long have I waited to see this day come when we would have the might to put the New Republic on its knees. We have General Hux to thank for this Base. For pulling the power of the very stars into a weapon that can obliterate our enemies. Today marks the first step to the end of the Republic. The end of the Resistance. The end to any who dare oppose us." Snoke's words echoed around the chamber.

A cheer rang out amongst all present, although Avin could see the older admiral's jealous glances as they stared at the back of a far younger Hux. Hux was beaming with pride, his hand clasped in typical pose as he surveyed all before him.

"As a reward for his service to the First Order the General has been given my blessing to take Lady Palpatine as his own." Hux didn't look surprised at all by this announcement and stepped up on the podium to stand beside Avin. He had a huge self-satisfied smile on his face. A long black ribbon was passed from one of the guards to Snoke.

"I-" Avin said, speechless. Hux was looking at her with such pride, she couldn't say no in front of the whole of the First Order. She fought the urge to slap the black ribbon out of the Supreme Leader's hand and raised her left hand in front of her. It was quickly clasped by Hux and held, as if he was worried, she would run away. He didn't even look at her, eyes completely focussed on the Supreme Leader instead. They repeated the cold lines Avin had heard years ago on Phelarion:

"To honour the ways of the galactic empire and the First Order. To submit to the Supreme Leader and devote health and home to our success in the galaxy. To work for the Order faithfully and fulfil any duties we are given. To stay loyal to the one we marry and support our partner and progeny in upholding the tenets of the First Order."

Snoke wove the ribbon between them and pulled it tight, pushing the hand Hux held firmly clasped already to the edge of pain. From somewhere behind her a sharp bell rang. Hux turned and held up his tied hand to the crowd, who saluted in turn. Avin did not miss the vicious, gloating look he threw Kylo Ren who stood apart from the rest, on a separate dais with the Knights of Ren.

"I told you that you would submit." Snoke said softly to her, as Hux stepped down to be congratulated without a backwards glance. "And Ren will still have you, as instructed."

The hair rose on the back of her neck, and she turned back towards him, horror clear on her face. Snoke planned to order Ren to sleep with her, even after she was married. Her heart was beating in her chest, and she was finding it hard to swallow. She would never sleep with someone else with her free will, she knew that without a doubt.

"You didn't think I knew? Kylo Ren wouldn't sneeze without my permission, girl." He said quietly, making sure no one could possibly overhear. She stepped away from him and down to Hux, plastering a smile on her face for the admirals around her. They were congratulated as one once she joined him, Admiral Pryde and Captain Canady's eyes lingering far too long on her chest for her liking.

They walked back to the Senior Officer's level on the base quietly, Hux leading with a possessive hand around her waist. Once they passed his chambers they stopped.

"These are your quarters now." He said firmly, pulling her with him. Reluctantly she followed him in. As soon as the doors closed Hux was immediately on her, grasping at her soft thigh with a rough hand while he pressed himself against her. She pushed him away.

"What was that?" she said through gritted teeth. He looked confused. "You just married me in front of the First Order without my permission."

"We're already married Avin, I thought it wouldn't matter-"

"I think I'm going to have to write a new chapter in that fucking book you read about women Armitage, because if you think-"

"I should have told you. Snoke told me today that we could… that I could… I knew you would agree."

"I'm keeping my own quarters Armitage. I am not some thing you can parade around-"

"You are my wife." He snapped, losing his temper with her.

"And you are my husband. Act like it for maker's sake." She snapped back. They were breathing heavily, angry with each other for different reasons.

Hux watched her carefully and sighed, stepping close to look down at her.

"You looked so beautiful tonight. A wife fit for the most powerful man in the galaxy." He said, stroking the soft skin of her upper arm.

"Is that what you'll be, once you kill all those people?" she said quietly, looking him straight in the eye. He glanced away, his eyes hard. She reached out and grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at her. "Don't do this Arm." She pleaded.

"It is already done." He snapped, wrestling away from her grip. "Whether or not I give the order, the Base will dispose of that system. The Supreme Leader chose me Avin."

Avin remembered the words Snoke had used for Hux when they spoke together. He called him a dog, just like his father. She had seen the look Hux had given Snoke as he walked up the steps to them earlier, the look of adoration. Snoke was using him just like his father had. It made Avin feel sick.

"Arm, I love you. Call this off. All those people. This-"

"They killed your parents Avin. You want me to show them mercy?" He interrupted quietly; his face twisted in a frown. She stopped and stared at him. A horrible pain blossomed in her chest, and she flashed back to her parent's terrified faces on the viewer screen in their final moments.

"And once you've destroyed the Hosnian system, which system is next?" she asked, terrified of hearing the answer.

"There will be no need to use it again. One strong show of might is enough to let the galaxy know who is in charge. Once they see the awesome power of the First Order they will surrender." He said fervently, taking her hands in her own. She looked up at him.

She very delicately removed the heavy crown from her head and set it down on the dining table and unpinned her hair to let it cascade down her back. A part of her was desperately relieved that Snoke had legitimised their relationship. She still couldn't let his callous disregard for her feelings go. She wanted to be in control.

"Take off your clothes." She commanded. He looked at her, taken back by the tone. Surprisingly, he acquiesced and silently removed his uniform.

"All of it." She snapped and he continued undressing, carefully removing his boots and standing in the chill air of his quarters. She turned away from him and pulled off her panties as she walked to the dining area, throwing various work devices on the floor to make room. She pulled herself up onto the dining table and spread her legs, beckoning him to her.

"Lick me." She ordered and wrapped her legs around his neck as he kneeled down to comply. He was even more practiced than their time on Naboo, flicking and sucking her nub in a way which made her moan like nothing else. She briefly thought about who else he had performed this on and batted the thought away as he stuck his tongue in her as deeply as possible. He ran his tongue back up to her nub and twisted his tongue in circles around her. It felt so good, like some dark sticky sweet melting on her tongue and she shook and moaned out an orgasm while riding his face. She realised him from the grip in between her legs and he sat back, his face glistening wet and looked at her silently. She let her breathing go back to normal as he gently kissed the inside of her thighs. It was too sweet, too loving. She pushed him away and stood up from the table, intent on her own pleasure.

"Come." She ordered and stalked to his bedroom, and he followed after her, still oddly compliant. Once there she pushed him down onto the bed and he fell back against the pillow with a surprised look on his face. She stood over him, still fully dressed.

"How many women have you slept with?" she barked, allowing the ugly feeling out.

"None." He said confusedly, his pale chest and arms spread out on the black sheets. He stared back up at her looking genuinely annoyed at the question.

"I don't believe you. You know how to-"

"I watch. To learn. I am loyal to the First Order, and I am loyal to you."

"You were a virgin the other night?" she said, full of doubt. He looked down, red spots appearing on his cheeks, embarrassed.

"You were not." He said bitterly.

"No more watching." She said firmly. He looked back up at her, naked body spread on the bed, cock already fully erect.

"Put your legs together." She ordered and he immediately complied, his thin pale legs locking together. She saw his cock twitch as she crawled onto the bed after kicking off her high heels. She flipped the dress over his legs and sat down on his cock, her pussy making wet noises as she slid down on him. She immediately pushed back up off him completely and sank back down again at an angle where he would hit her most sensitive spots. He gripped her thighs and gasped loudly as she continued to lift herself off completely and pound down on to him. Hux opened his eyes wide and gazed at her dazedly as if he had never seen her before. She tucked her ankles underneath his legs as she clenched down on him as she moved. His eyes rolled as he moaned loudly, gripping at the silk bed sheets in pleasure. She ran her long nails down his chest, through a small thicket of red hair on his chest to the line down to his groin. His stomach muscles rippled and tightened as she rode him.

"You're mine." She whispered, squeezing down on him, her hair cascading around both of them as she leaned forward.

"Yes." He whispered back, eyes closed.

"Not the Supreme Leader's."

"Yes."

"Say it." She hissed at him, circling her hips in a figure of eight pattern on his cock. He groaned in longing.

"I'm yours and no one else's." He reached up and tried to snatch the dress down to expose her breasts, but the fabric was too tight. He cupped her breasts through the dress. She leaned down and kissed him, long and deep. Her hair fell around them as she continued to move, clasping one hand on the bed frame to help get the right angle. She felt the warmth building in her for the start of another orgasm which she took her time getting to, playing at the edge of a climax in a way she had never done before. She reached her peak hard and long clenching tightly around him. In response he came inside her, his head thrown back, hands tightened painfully around her hips grinding her down on him. She fell asleep on his chest, their legs tangled, Avin trying desperately to shut out thoughts of Hosnian Prime.

She stood on the podium with the other senior officials, wrapped in the warm sable coat Hux had gifted her, her nails digging into her hand. She had heard all this rhetoric before, she had lived through this all as a little girl. Hux had been boring her with speeches about their place in the galaxy since they were children, but this was different. The sheer immense size of their ground troops was awe-inspiring. She felt a huge jolt of pride to be standing on this podium which was quickly doused as they looked upward as one when Hux described the destruction of the system. Ren was nowhere to be seen, back onboard the Finalizer, hiding under his helmet again. Her husband's rolling coruscant accent echoed around the rally. His speech was so passionate, it frightened her and for the first time she really saw the hint of madness in his words. Guiltily, she thought of what Snoke had called him, a rabid cur. She knew this beam would be viewable throughout the galaxy. She knew it would decimate those people in seconds. She was complicit in this horror.

"Fire!" he roared.

An electric quality in the air and a huge beam of light exploded from the base. There was no heat but a strange purple red light which dissipated as the beam reached its target. A great cheer rang out through the demonstration. The Hosnian system was gone.

She made it back in time to her room to be violently ill. Eventually she had pulled herself up from her curled position, whimpering on the floor, and sat on the uncomfortable sofa of her quarters. Thinking about that sub-space channel that Phasma had not found during her sweeps of the archive. If she were to contact Korellia, what would she say? Would she beg forgiveness from the Resistance? She expected no forgiveness from them; the liars, traitors and thieves who had brainwashed Korellia into joining them. Avin could see three choices ahead of her. She could contact the Resistance and betray everything she believed in, including her husband; she could give up and disappear into herself; she could see this horrible chapter through, knowing that victory would be swift, that soon order, and beauty would return to the galaxy.

Hours later, she was gazing out at the blizzard in her own room, legs curled underneath her when the door chimed and Hux entered, striding into the room still in full military uniform. They stared at each other for several moments and Millicent curled around his legs as he stood in the room. He stalked towards her and pulled her up to him, kissing her desperately. She didn't want to think, didn't want to imagine the kind of destruction her husband had wrought. He almost threw her onto the bed and removed his clothes just as quickly. He pushed her arms above her head before licking a hot line down to her breasts and worrying her nipples with his teeth. She gasped from pleasure and opened her legs to him which he took as permission. Without the usual time he took to prepare her, he pushed in. He had to push in and out a few times before she could take him fully. Once in he set up a punishing pace, she had never felt from him before, his hips uncertain but eager.

"Oh, Armitage." She moaned as he hit her at an angle, the sound of the soft wet slap of their bodies meeting making her even wetter. She pulled her legs up over his shoulders to maintain the angle. He continued to thrust into her at that angle and it was pressing against her most sensitive spots.

"Emperor, call me, emperor." He gasped into her shoulder, sweat dripping off his forehead. His hips were snapping into her, his prominent hip bones pushing against her softer, rounded curves.

"Oh emperor, I want you to fuck me harder." She said, keen to play, to forget their reality. His panting was almost obscene in her ear. He pulled back so her breasts were displayed, and he watched them bounce in reaction to his sharp thrusts. He moaned again long and low as he watched her chest. His hips snapped even harder, and she could feel something building inside her. She closed her eyes in pleasure, her back arching off the bed.

"Call me Supreme Leader."

"What." She gasped out, eyes opening, completely losing focus.

"Say it!" He screamed, his eyes wild, face full of ravenous hunger. He paused mid-stroke and resumed again quickly.

"Supreme Leader! Ah, Supreme Leader!" she panted out half-heartedly. She was so close she would have called him anything to keep him going. With a particularly hard thrust she went over the edge and dug her nails into his hips as she climaxed, losing sense of her own body.

"You're mine." He hissed, clearly at the edge as well. "No one else can have you." He thrust again, almost to the point of pain, and with a loud strangled grunt came inside her. He stayed in her, panting. She was so wet she was dripping onto the sheet below. He seemed to remember who he was and stared down at her, his whole body shaking slightly from exertion. She looked up at him. He reached down and kissed her gently, sweet little pecks on her lips as he gently pulled out.

Then he rolled off her and onto the other pillow. She waited a few moments until her heart had calmed down to speak to him.

"Armitage-"

He was already asleep.

She was woken early in the morning to Hux leaving his bed and dressing. When he realised, she was awake he looked almost guilty as he dressed.

"Where are going so early?" she asked groggily from the warm bed. He straightened his jacket sharply, his hair tightly gelled back.

"I have things to attend to on the base." He said shortly, shrugging on his great coat, and left his quarters. She fell back into the bed, her curls spread all over the pillow and fell into a deep sleep again.

She woke hours later to sirens. Hux was standing at the doorway again but now his face was contorted in fear. A huge cohort of Stormtroopers surrounded him.

"Get up Avin. The base has fallen. You need to leave immediately. Get Millicent and go, now!"

"You." He shouted at the Stormtroopers. "Take our things and bring them to my shuttle now."

Avin, still very confused, jumped out of bed and quickly threw on what she had been wearing the previous day during the destruction of the Hosnian system.

"You must go now." He said, he made to move in the other direction away from where his shuttle was kept.

"Where are you going Armitage?" she said desperately over the sounds of sirens and a strange rumbling from below.

"I must speak to the Supreme Leader." He gasped and ran out of the room. She shouted after him repeatedly, almost frantic with worry before making a decision and grabbing Millicent from under the bed.

She was marched quickly to Hux's shuttle by the Stormtroopers who were holding their possessions, from packed crates still fresh from the Finalizer. They boarded the small sleek craft, and the crates were stored. The faceless figure of a pilot was in the cockpit, waiting for the all clear to leave the base. She held Millicent in her arms while she waited. All around her she could hear sirens and explosions, great earth shudders as if the planet was being pulled in two. Millicent was mewling and scratching at her clothes, clearly just as terrified as Avin was by the horrible noises. A loud noise of impact hit the shuttle and she screamed, only to see the door open and the wild face of Hux appear before her. He shouted at the pilot to vacate immediately. As they lifted off, she could see hundreds of stormtroopers trying to evacuate, many of which fell into a huge crack in the earth right where their shuttle had been.

"Are Phasma and Ren safe?" she shouted, over the noise of the planet cracking and their own terrified cat.

"I don't care." He snarled and put his head in his hands. "My life's work – my life's work is gone." He clenched out with a heart racking sob.