The Lady of Ren

Advesperascit

Doctor's orders be damned. You were going to the landing pad.

Already dressed, the only thing you needed to do was to grab BB.

"BB," you called. "Wake up. We're going to the bridge."

The droid lit up and chirped himself awake. When he saw you standing before the blast doors he beeped, "Why?" He rolled off his charging pad.

"Because I'm the First Order's damn ambassador. It's my job."

There was no mercy.

The Stormtroopers who passed by froze in their walk and bowed their heads in acknowledgment. You did not look at them. You did not smile in response.

You were angry.

BB followed close behind, his little round body catching up every time you took long strides. He chirped something incoherent towards you but you ignored him, focusing on the energy that was pressing into your chest. The closer you were to the landing pad, the worse the tension got.

With the landing pad within view, you saw Hux standing by as Nona greeted the ambassadors with a friendly, political smile (her eyes did not smile, however, and instead remained firm in their sockets). It didn't take long for the general to notice your engaging walk and, when he saw you, his eyes widened in surprise.

"Ambassador Ren," Nona said, her voice clouded with perplexity. "What are you..."

You smiled sarcastically. "Well, I am the ambassador, am I not? What good of an official would I be if I didn't do my job?" You stood close to Nona, hands crossed in front of you and eyes staring blankly at Tyth.

He was sallower than what he was a month ago. The color in his cheeks was gone and his eyes seemed barren. His head of grey hair was starting to recede and his fake smile deemed more inappropriate by the second, as it didn't look rehearsed. He was completely unfiltered – raw and prepared for his assembly.

Beside him, Fan looked as naïve as possible. He didn't look any different, aside from the bags under his eyes. "Hello, Ambassador Ren," he said pleasantly. "We're very happy to be here."

You look towards him – eyes made of stone. "I would hope so, ambassador. We have a lot to talk about," you waved before you. "Shall we?"

Fan nodded his head and smiled genuinely but the look on Tyth's face made your stomach flip.

Hux caught up and walked beside you. He leaned in to whisper, "What are you doing?"

"My job," you told him harshly.

And then it happened. A blaster shot rang through the air. Chaos nuked the entire base in one swift moment.

Behind you, Tyth and Fan were ducking but...they had no weapons. Amid the bedlam, you turned your eyes to see who the perpetrator was, but before you found them, you saw the first victim. It was a mechanic who had passed by. A smoking gash displayed itself against his chest.

You twisted, eyes skimming the base frantically. With all the bodies mixing with one another it was impossible to tell who shot first. The Shock Troopers on the bridge were zealously firing into the crowd...blindly.

Hux grabbed a hold of your arm. "Come!" he shouted over the noise.

But you shrugged him off and reached for the blaster at your thigh. "Hux! Get Kylo! Now!"

He shook his head before reluctantly grabbing the hidden pistol in his boot. "Dammit," he muttered under his breath. He began to fire.

The base turned to anarchy. Half of the crew was dead while the other half abandoned the fight and fled for their lives. Shock Troopers were now filing into the crowd, their invisible armor making it hopeless to distinguish them.

One thing you noticed while scanning the scene, however, was that Nona was missing.

"General!" you shouted. A beam of red grazed your shoulder. "Where is Nona?!"

Hux looked around erratically. "I don't know! Does it matter?!"

"Who's shooting at us?" you roared. You couldn't tell who it was; every blaster on the base must have been firing at once. "Never mind! Hux, let's go! BB! Come on!"

BB-4 had been shoved into the crowd. He was electrocuting everyone who got too close, his internal arm buzzing someone to the ground. He beeped madly at you and pushed himself out of the sea of bodies.

The three of you ran through the halls. The skirmishing was making its way into the rest of the base now. You had to fire over your shoulder every other second; it was maddening.

"Hux!" you screamed. He was still beside you, aiming at a First Order mechanic. "Where's Kylo?!"

The general shot a path. Bodies fell to the ground. "I don't know!" he bellowed.

Dammit. Your intestines felt as though they were being twisted. "BB!" you yelped. "Can you get me Kylo's location?!"

BB chirped wildly. It sounded like, "Yes!"

"Find him!" you ordered. Your hand gripped the blaster before firing towards an electrician who had aimed for your head.

Only after a few moments, BB began to head down a different corridor. He shouted hysterically as he rounded the corners and dodged bullets. The base was mad with blasters. Everywhere you turned you found someone pointing a gun at your head.

You weren't looking when you bumped into him. You had been shooting behind your shoulder at a rather skilled (and rogue) Stormtrooper. You cursed under your breath when the two of you collided.

Kylo didn't say anything. He just gripped you by the arm and led you down the hallway. His lightsaber deflected bullets and he beheaded two or three people by the time the four of you were on the other side of the base.

This was the only area that wasn't a battlefield. Once there was no one in sight, Hux bent down and rested his hands on his knees. He looked up from his unkempt hair.

"What in the Kriff just happened?!" he shouted.

"Implants," you wheezed, catching your breath. "Rogue troopers, mechanics, engineers, pilots..."

Kylo was leaning against the wall and he slipped off his helmet. "We have to go," is all he said.

"How? All the TIES are hijacked." You clutched your chest, the blaster in your hand heavy.

Kylo shook his head. "No. The command shuttle."

Hux swallowed a lump in his throat and weighed the pistol in his hand. "Where are we going?"