Only one person moved. 'Rebel scum,' yelled the shrivelled grey stick who'd made the mistake of underestimating her. 'The First Order doesn't need you to save it.'

He collapsed to his knees, clutching his throat in response to Ben's extended finger.

General Hux stepped forward. 'Shut up, Marten. I think we all want to hear what else she has to say.' He gave her a watery smile. 'Carry on.'

She nodded back, grateful for the support. 'I haven't finalised all the details yet, but this is how I think it goes. First – purge the army. Fear doesn't work as a method of control long term, you need people who are loyal to you in your ranks. Let any stormtrooper, civilian staff, support worker who doesn't want to be here leave. Ferry them off to the nearest planet and give them your best wishes.

Without as many passengers you won't need as many ships. Send ten Star Destroyers back to Kuat, as a down payment on the debt on condition that the ships are scrapped, and they withdraw their support for your enemies.

And then we're going to withdraw. From everything. We're going to break every supplier contract, we're going to evacuate from every conquered world, we'll stop protecting the dependent planets and we'll cease supporting the organised crime syndicates. We'll need some time to rationalise and retrain the army anyway, so we'll go back to the Unknown Regions and regroup.'

The room grew restive around her, so she rushed on.

'Without the First Order, the galaxy will fall apart. They may hate you, but that's the only thing that's stopping them hating each other. There's no Republic to step in. Every system is out for itself. There will be chaos.

So we let it be known that the First Order is seeking allies. In return for ten per cent of revenues, any world may ask to join the First Order and in recompense, we will protect them from their enemies. It will start small. A few systems will join us, and we'll make a very public example of what happens to those who oppose our allies.

More will follow. We will offer stability to the universe as part of our alliance. And we'll also offer favourable trade terms to those within it. We will use the taxes we earn from our allies to set up our own shipyards, munitions factories, uniform manufacturers, so that we can never be held hostage by our suppliers again. We might even pay off our debts.

Systems will flock to join us. The universe runs on credits, and chaos is bad for business. We will be loyal to our allies, but severe with their enemies, and we will not rule with fear, because it costs too much, for one thing.'

General Marten had been allowed to stand again, rather unfortunately. 'She's bringing back the Republic,' he said in horror.

Rey smiled at him. 'No. You need to look deeper. A friend of mine keeps telling me to let the past die, but I don't think that's right. I think you should learn from the past, not ignore it altogether. Look at the Empire – it tried to rule with fear and ended up creating a resistance that destroyed it. The New Republic was no better – it tried to rule with loyalty and had no answer when you defied and overthrew it.'

Her attention shifted to Ben. 'Nothing and no one is ever just one thing or the other. The Empire was too much towards the dark side, and it failed, the Republic, too much towards the light. If you really want to fulfil the First Order – to remove disorder, create stability and foster progress – then you need to understand both sides. You need both to succeed, the dark and the light. This is Resistance politics in a First Order environment. The free will and the iron fist. '

She ran out of words. She'd done a lot of thinking over the past few weeks, mostly because she'd had nothing else to do, and the answer she'd come up with was the only solution that seemed to work for them, and the only set of circumstances under which she'd ever stay. She gazed into Ben's shadowed eyes across the room and she wondered if he knew that.

The obvious answer to 'join me' should have been no, if not at first, then as soon as it became clear that he really hadn't thought the whole thing through. So, she'd had to come up with a less obvious answer, something that balanced both sides. She wasn't ever going to turn, and he wasn't ever going to change unless she pushed him. The rest of the universe was just going to have to shift around them.

She waited, not knowing if the military elite would be able to accept the challenge she'd laid down. It kept their objective intact, as well as their precious army, but their perspective would have to alter, and they'd have to start looking at the detail, as she had. In its current form, the First Order was already over, it was just taking a while for everyone else to realise that.

The silence lasted so long that she took a step backwards, on the point of running for her lightsaber.

Then Hux slowly, slowly lowered himself to one knee and bowed his head. 'Supreme Leader,' he said.

It rippled around the room, the kneeling, and the acknowledgement until she was the only person standing and only one other individual would meet her eyes. He stood, black and severe across the other side of the room, a chasm between them she wasn't sure he'd cross, and then he stepped forward, striding purposefully through the uniformed figures until he was close enough to touch.

He put one hand on either side of her face and kissed her.

Behind the sensation of lips, and pressure, Rey was aware of a low murmur from the ginger general.

'Now I understand. You're not his anything. He's yours.'

Ben broke off rapidly. 'And I'm not deaf. Go to bed Rey, I'll see you later.'

This time there were a lot more sniggers.

The Car Crash Bride and The Postman's Daughter by Sally Anne Palmer are available now on Amazon.