04. mental link

[exhuxperation]

COMMAND over oneself and others	AMBITION nothing will stand in my way
ORDER chaos will not be tolerated	MANY over the individual

( CODE BY WHAMBAM )

Comments

[exhuxperation]

[ In a way, he's been waiting for this. He hasn't spoken to Cathaway since he first got onto the station, for various reasons. Unfortunately, there's no avoiding her forever. ]

( Mission report? )

god your layout is killing me

[polyphonos]

( In a sense. )

[Expectation. Tick, tick, tick.]

those stars represent his dokis for the republic's destruction uwu*

[exhuxperation]

( What is it you expect, then? )

[ Frustration, just at the edge of his consciousness. He doesn't like this, nor the possibility he's being toyed with. ]

[polyphonos]

[The frustration is like a breath of wind ghosting across a hanging ribbon: it twists over, gentle and easy, the irritation sliding from it like a glancing blow. Patient. Somewhere small chains stir against one another, a small rasping sound.]

( We would like your assessment, General. Would you care to meet face to face, or do you prefer this? )

[There is, evidently, no third option that involves neither.]

[exhuxperation]

( I'll come to you. )

[ As much as he dislikes talking to Cathaway in any capacity, it's better than this. Even though he's fairly sure she'll be able to dig around in his head, regardless.

In any case, he ends up at the bridge, considering it to be the logical point where she'd be. Ignoring that she could potentially be anywhere else in the nest. And that oddly, she's where he thought she would be. ]

Cathaway.

[polyphonos]

[Strange, isn't it? That she could be anywhere in the Station, and yet here she is: exactly where he expects to find her.

The bridge is quiet, as empty today as the day of his hatching. She is waiting for him at its center, the toe of her left boot consciously at the very nexus of the room. There's a pleasure to that - the exactness of it. She smiles when he arrives.]

Hello, General. Thank you for coming.

[exhuxperation]

[ He isn't going to think about the oddity of her being here. ]

Of course. What is this assessment you require?

[ Hux keeps his poise as always. Straight back, hands loosely behind him. In a way, his own mirror of her exactness. ]

[polyphonos]

We would like to hear your estimation of the mission, General. We hear there is plenty of consider.

[The set of her boot's toe doesn't waver and neither does her attention on him. Hers is a direct, unambiguous focus - pale eyes bright with reflected light, the gentle curve of her mouth a pretense more than it is genuine. She is interested in what he has to say, both for himself and for those who he'd worked alongside while on the planet.]

[exhuxperation]

[ An odd request. But maybe not. Maybe it's something they're gathering from everyone. It would make sense, to neatly slot together the whole picture. ]

Quite frankly, it was disastrous in places. [ The whole affair in Tari town, triggered by someone else's lack of judgment. He frowns at the thought– being caught so unaware was one of his least favorite things. ]

It could've gone worse, naturally. [ Everything always had a shittier option. ] However, it's rather evident cooperation is sorely lacking overall.

[ Even though they're all stuck in each other's heads. ]

[polyphonos]

[For a long beat she's silent, still: studies him quietly, his answer floating in the empty space between them like oil on water.]

How unfortunate.

[Said crisply, consonants and syllables snapped without either reservation or resentment.]

How will you proceed next time?

[exhuxperation]

[ Hux frowns at her, turning the question over. Of course it matters what he'll do next time. He's part of this, even if he doesn't want to be. Though, why he's being asked this... well, it's strange. ]

I'll readily admit my own control was wanting. [ This time around. Hopefully, to keep the other parts clear. ] That aside, I don't think I can answer you in any full capacity, knowing so little on how some members of the group operate.

[polyphonos]

A fair assessment.

[Her gaze doesn't waver, still enough that not even the pin straight sheet of her hair shifts - no small chime from any single charm at the fine chains wound through her clothes or at her wrists.]

Now, how will you prepare for the next time everyone is to leave the Station?

[exhuxperation]

If this is some sort of exercise in trying to get me to understand that I need more knowledge, Cathaway, I already understood that.

[ Just what is she getting at here? He knows he has to ask questions. Talk to everyone. While these people aren't his troops, it's essential to any group effort to know strengths and weaknesses. ]

[polyphonos]

Then we wonder how it is that you're not more efficient at utilizing what you already understand, General.

[The toe of her boot turns from the center of the floor. There's a rattle of fine things: small chains and metallic charms, the quiet of the bridge undercut by a barely perceptible hum.]

We are here, you are there. In the future, The Prince and I will be unable to accompany you and the other young hosts on missions. That leaves certain parties vulnerable, particularly when certain other individuals decide to murder their way through the mission locale. No General, you are not responsible for the actions of any other host - but a guiding hand would not be remiss.

[And evidently there are so few of those present.]

We admit it's an imperfect system. Unfortunately, we must enlist help where we're able. If you're unwilling to assist, we will find someone else to take up the task and hope that next time we don't have to collect any host bodies on the way out.

[exhuxperation]

[ Answering the first part is going to be damning in every way, so he elects to let it pass. Something to think about and strategize around, as much as it's caving to a system he has no love for. ]

Kylo Ren's outburst was something I mistakenly let run longer than I should have. [ Even in the moment, he should've seen it coming. Felt it, even, having been around the man for so long he could sense when his temper changed on a pin. He'll be making corrections there, he can tell. Because Snoke is no longer is here. And while Ren's re-dedicated himself to Cathaway, the structures aren't the same. ]

I see. [ It's not that he's totally unwilling. Just. Mentally unwilling. All of the shared everything is still incredibly uncomfortable. ]

I don't have qualms about assisting where I can. [ That only helps his survival, after all. Though– ]

I have concerns about how far that assistance will be able to run. [ Someone in the nest killed someone on planet for no apparent reason. Chaos in a true form. ]

[polyphonos]

Enlighten us. What are these concerns? What shape do you anticipate them taking?

[In a way, it's an honest question. There are so many variables, so many ways a thing can go wrong or be perceived as incorrect, that the consensus had difficulty pinning down exactly what the General - or what someone very like him - thinks is the hard part of this task. Better to know and address is directly than to fire blindly.

As for the rest, she has no further comment. He isn't incorrect in his assessment - whatever quarrel he has with Ren is a limitation to them both, but at least he seems the understand some piece of that.]

[exhuxperation]

The shape they took during the mission was someone in the nest killing without seeming reason.

[ Though, even with reason, there wasn't any notification that it was done. Communication being their downfall once more– he supposes that's what happens when people come together in a disjointed mess. ]

I don't know who it was, but it's a fairly narrow list of who it could be. [ A rogue variable for now. Not one he enjoys dealing in, considering his options. ] If the issues on planet can be traced back to anything, it's that.

[polyphonos]

[She blinks at him. Her attention is very direct.]

Do you not know who it was?

[exhuxperation]

[ Hux's stomach lurches a little, more out of shock than anything else. Really? Why would he be here having this conversation if he knew? ]

I don't believe it to be any of my broodmates. Otherwise, no, I've no idea.

[ If they were projecting murderous glee across the planet, he must've missed it in the fight with Ren. Or he just was ignoring everyone as much as he possibly could, somehow believing the rest capable of not murdering someone on-planet. ]

[polyphonos]

[Her chin doesn't lift, but there is a small change in the air that perhaps gives the impression of her standing straighter anyway - a cool edge in her expression, something knowing in the line of her mouth. Her link to him is solid, a stilled line as if drawn with a pen and ruler. She gives him nothing. It's very quiet.]

We could tell you, if you'd like us to.

[exhuxperation]

[ Her chin doesn't lift but her countenance changes all the same. Hux meets her stare dead on, unwilling to be intimidated by the sharp gaze. He doesn't like what he sees, but rarely has he dealt in anything he enjoys, here. ]

I'm better off knowing than not, all things considered. [ They did just talk about him getting to know the nest, didn't they? ]

[polyphonos]

[She could insist on showing him: opening her hand to him and drawing him in, spreading the line drawn between them so he might feel the memory of that hum from Ilde's link to the nest. So he might understand the emptiness of the feeling, the dead weight of-- well, of death. She could give him all the tools to know if he asked. It would be a simple thing. She could be gentle with him if he wanted her to be.

Instead Cathaway simply says:]

It was Ilde.

[She doesn't bat an eyelash. The line between them is cold - a dead star.]

[exhuxperation]

[ He's not looking for her to be gentle. The command structure of the First Order had rarely been so; he's grown used to clipped tones and never wasting time. Here, he expects no different and had been oddly thrown by how the dynamics were. So while he wants nothing more than to be presented the facts, clear and concise, something lacks.

At first he thought it was merely their aloof relationship that caused the rift. The emptiness. It seems he's not far off, but for a very separate reason. His mind link tells him she should be there but he doesn't feel anything except for ice. Unnerved, he focuses on her words, content with the answer even if the means dig under his skin. ]

Did she learn something from it? [ Her mind had been chaos when he first met her. Hard to say if there had been any change. ]

[polyphonos]

Impossible to say, isn't it?

[Without touching Ilde's mind, without using all the tools in his proverbial kit, was there a way to know definitively?]

It seems we must wait and see what she's gleaned from her time on the planet.

[exhuxperation]

[ A strange sense of irritation settles over him. As though he's in a meeting he'd much rather not be having. Part of it is coming from Cathaway herself– the chill is persistent, like someone's left a window open he can't close. ]

Either way, I'm sure it will be enlightening. [ Whether it's due to more chaos on her part or if she's finally shaped up. ]

Will that be all, Cathaway?