Copper for the Charlatan

Coin Toss

Ichara pushed the first domino, going to see where that trail ends next chapter

Did I ever tell you I love desks?

Hux found it hard to work with her around at first, but after a week they had settled into a routine. He had to admit he relished the way staff nervously flitted their eyes to her as she hovered at his right hand like an ominous shadow. When he wasn't receiving daily reports she sat across from him, engrossed in reading on her datapad. Most of the messages he intercepted were brief and somewhat cryptic, aside from the correspondence to a few Corellians that owed her money. He noted that those were incredibly, impressively detailed.

He gave her an official ranking at the weekly meeting to make her presence more formal, and she proved her worth picking a few things from some less than honest officers. Currently though, he was preoccupied with some major setbacks regarding the salvaging of the Supremacy. He was so frustrated with the failures of the Lieutenant that just left he seriously considered asking Ichara to force choke him just to see him suffer. She consoled him as they made their way to the bridge for his shift.

"Don't be too worried about it, General. He lied to you- not maliciously, though."

"I beg your pardon?"

"He's intentionally presenting the worst case scenario as the most probable turn out. When the situation resolves more favorably, he's expecting to be praised for bringing better results than expected. It's good to have people beneath you vying for praise though- it means...." She paused as the doors opened to reveal Kylo Ren waiting for them on the bridge. She continued it a noticeably colder tone "It means you're respected. Fear and respect are two different beasts. When people respect you, they fight for you. When they fear you, they fight because of you. Two very different things when it comes down to the wire."

A whole week without seeing him- I should have cherished the days more Hux lamented.

"Wouldn't you agree, Supreme Leader?"

Hux winced, Stars, what is she doing

"I have no interest in your conversation." he replied dismissively. "I told you not to-"

"I'm working." she cut him off. His obsession regarding her headware grated on her nerves.

He glared at her for a moment before turning his ire to the General.

"The equipment from the throne room on the Supremacy. It's not here. Why is this?"

"Yes, ah, it would appear there are some difficulties regarding transports and the integrity of the ship. The structure requires further reinforcement before-"

Kylo whipped out his arm, and the general clawed at his throat as he felt the invisible hand crushing his windpipe.

"That is not an acceptable answer, General" he growled.

The tension she felt while in Kylo's presence was bad enough, but seeing him choke her general caused something inside Ichara to snap. Her injured pride from the week prior was still smarted from being tossed like a ragdoll. The subtle pushing of boundaries between the two force users lept from shared scowls to a high stakes gamble; she decided to go all in.

"That is enough!" her voice vaulted across the bridge, shattering his concentration and causing him to release Hux. She reached out and threw him back, hard, flying down the walkway of the bridge and into the transparisteel viewer. Kylo fell into a crumpled heap, head ringing from the blow as he struggled to recover.