Chapter Text
Taungsday, Week 2, Nelona
Datapad found, unopened, in General Hux's personal quarters. There is one message buried under a stream of encrypted, otherwise meaningless letters and numbers:
To General Armitage Hux,
Sir, I have examined and re-examined all the evidence to try and find a way to rationalise this, but I have found no other possible explanation. You know as well as I do that the data I had access to as part of the former monthly reports gave me insights into far more than what got reported on; unlike my predecessor, however, I do not intend to use that as an excuse to create a crime racket at the Order's expense.
However, there are some things from the investigation into the documentation inefficiencies that stood out to me. Simple little things, mostly amongst the Engineering or Strategy divisions; little discussions about schematics, plans, or files needlessly copied or missing. That, when combined with other increases in phrases picked up across the Order, and when compared with Internal Security's monitoring of distributions from your office - not to mention your affair with a woman of unknown origins (who I now know to be one Rose Tico, head of engineering in the Resistance) - can only lead me to a single conclusion:
You are selling Order secrets to the Resistance. And doing it for the love of a woman.
And if I am able to observe these things, then I can guarantee Internal Security more broadly will too.
You have always been good to me, sir. You are a loyal member of the Order, and an inspiration for those who do not possess unfair Force powers. And your dedication to the Stormtrooper Programme, as well as ensuring that you remember the designations of almost every stormtrooper (and most officers) has always meant much to those of us loyal to the Order and its mission, even in the face of the changes brought about by Supreme Leader Ren and the Sith Allegiants.
That is why I have no intention of reporting you. I want in on your mission to restore the Order and move us away from whatever disaster you foresee. There are others like me - officers and troopers who have no loyalty to the new Supreme Leader's unusual strategy or desires. We await word from you on what steps to take next.
And if anyone deserves to find love in this exhausting war, it is you, sir. If you have managed to capture the shining heart of a rebel, then I will support your efforts to the end. Also, the video footage I found (and deleted) of you two together on an abandoned but still monitored station was quite enlivening and inspirational.
Sir.
I want to help. I have outlined a plan for an emergency evacuation should you need to leave the ship before you can enact your own scheme.
From Captain Dopheld Mitaka.
Kylo Ren's shadow looms over the small desk, unmoving. The mask tilts slightly to the side as the giant stands still, glowing red veins seeming to pulsate in the low light of Hux's abandoned quarters. The datapad lies there, its secrets open to someone like Ren who can simply use the Force to read its contents.
There is nothing that can be done at this stage - things are already in motion which cannot be undone. Rey will soon be here and his new empire will be sweeping across the galaxy. But perhaps...
Kylo Ren feels the presence of the Force well up within him, bursting forth with possibility. Here above an ancient homeworld of the Sith, strange eddies of power ripple through him regularly, but this feels less like one of the aimless Dark Side surges and more like... A drive of something with intense purpose.
Something like the Will of the Force in its raw form.
The call of the Light is a fickle, unusual thing, even without the unusual complexities that exist within the Force as a whole. It seeps in through the glowing red of his helmet and slithers seductively across his skin. He can feel something in the Force, needles dancing across his eyes, their sharp edges pricking him until he feels blind to everything but this one course of action. Above Exegol, powered by things not even the decrepit Palpatine could hope to understand, worlds and possibilities emerge and Kylo Ren and Ben Solo briefly merge into a whole being with no conflict.
Peace flows through and he understands that his next act will help soothe Rey, convince her to become Empress with him, and save the life of an ungrateful brat of an underling who clearly loves a rebel traitor. Or maybe it is his own soul he wishes to cleanse, and annihilate the violence of his and Hux's past with a chance of redemption through the Force. A chance for him and the woman he loves to engage across time and space - something he knows his Dyad in the Force ensures with Rey no matter what the Scavenger Girl may otherwise believe.
Or it could just be that he wants to punish Hux with eternity in Force limbo. It would serve the sycophantic sleemo right. Amazing what the love of a woman can do to a man.
Kylo snorts, the mask distorting the sound. Perhaps he and his subordinate had more in common than he previously thought.
What a monstrous concept.
As undeserving as Hux is, and whoever his little rebel lover is, they will see each other again. The Force is buzzing in him now, more powerful than anything he has ever felt before, and beginning to overwhelm his weak human capabilities. As Kylo collapses onto Hux's small chair, he allows the Force to work through him, doing things that ought not be possible yet still crafting existences across the fabric of all realities. He doesn't even bother to try and focus his consciousness on this, allowing the Force to use his power as a conduit to do its will. It is beyond him, and he is not ashamed to admit it to himself.
His hand touches the device on the small desk, and light flies out across the room, spilling everywhere with jagged edges, crackling to his ears alone like electricity and screaming like an ion engine, looking for something.
Kylo, vaguely conscious of what he has unleashed, simply lets it go and allows exhaustion to beat him into submission. He feels supremely tired and like a longer period of time has passed than what the chronometer on the wall indicates (mere seconds, though he seems to feel like hours have passed in a dream-like state), but a weight in his chest seems to have vanished, and he unconsciously understands the conflict between Kylo Ren and Ben Solo seems to be reaching a conclusion. The light fades slowly, and Kylo only stares at the datapad in front of him.
A moment or a lifetime passes, and then he stands and exits Hux's room. He leaves for Endor, and does not look back.