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 )

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[exhuxperation]

[ Quite the opposite, Hux's mind leaves the impression of smooth steel walls, blank and uniform. Orderly. There aren't any doors here, nothing so easily accessible– so maybe in this way, they're similar. Holding a part of themselves back.

Still, her pressure doesn't bother him. He's too used to Kylo Ren and Snoke. ]

( May I help you? I don't believe we've been acquainted. )

[ Never mind that the mental link within the nest could easily give him answers. ]

[snaphiss]

[Prying into Mara's mind will reveal the tall black walls and smooth panels of the Imperial Throne Room, quiet and cold and contemplative. Safe, but the pressure continues to build.]

( Mara Jade. I talked to a man name Kylo Ren recently. You're familiar with him? )

[exhuxperation]

[ Hux doesn't make it a habit to pry too much. People have secrets for a reason. But there's the brush of minds and the curiosity is strong. Being met with the mental image of something so obviously Imperial only ratchets that tugging interest up more. ]

( Well met. I'm very familiar; we've worked together for a few years now. )

[snaphiss]

( He told me to contact you if I ever needed assistance. )

[Which, uh,]

( I don't need assistance. But since we're now allies, we should... get to know each other. )

[There's a slight twinge of impatience at the phrase. 'Get to know each other', like they're going to have tea and biscuits, ugh. She has no time for such vapid niceties.]

[exhuxperation]

( Did he now. )

[ More amused than anything else– at least Ren had enough sense to send her to him just in case. It made his life easier if he didn't have to intervene and spread that message on his own. ]

( If you've managed to handle a conversation with Ren without him flying off the handle, it seems doubtful you need assistance. Still, it is as you say. Would you rather meet in person? )

[snaphiss]

( We fought, but it was over a misunderstanding. )

[There's no reason to hide that information. He may know it already. And, in reality, Mara is more liable to be truthful with people who pay her small compliments every now and again. In deference to that, more than anything else, she uses his title.]

( Where would you like to meet, General? )

[exhuxperation]

[ So she hadn't completely missed out on Ren's temper. But, she came out on the other side with a seemingly ok outlook on him, so it can't have turned her away completely. Interesting. ]

( Common area. There's caf that isn't nearly as suspect as it is aboard starships. )

[ He's not one for pleasantries, but he's testing the waters. There are enough flags giving him information and he's not going to turn that down as he makes his way to the cozy shared space. ]

[snaphiss]

( I'll see you there. I'm the redhead. )

[She makes her way down to the common area and on habit finds a seat with a good vantage point of the door, with her back to the wall. It's the best place to be in case of an ambush ora trap. Not that she expects one from this General, but she doesn't not expect one either. Surviving means not trusting anything as a given.]

[So she sits in her little corner and nurses her mediocre caf.]

[exhuxperation]

[ Somehow that tidbit is surprising. Hux is used to being the only one with such a hair color, especially on the brightness scale.

Still, it makes it incredibly easy for him to spot Mara as he comes over with his own caf. It's not a needed drink, but there's a comfort in the familiar. He sets his mug down, sliding into a seat that's a polite distance. ]

Mara. [ And a formal incline of his head. Flowery introductions are left for diplomatic situations. Not the usual. ] You sounded like you were familiar with Ren. How do you know him?

[snaphiss]

I don't know him, [Mara lies, maintaining the boy's privacy at all times. Whatever happened, whatever caused him to change his name, that's his business.] That was the misunderstanding. But we reached an accord.

[It's all the information she's willing to divulge at the moment.]

I'm more interested in how he knows you. You said you worked together, but you're obviously military. [And Kylo Ren obviously is not.]

[exhuxperation]

I see. [ He's not sure he believes that, but he'll let it slide. ]

We've known each other for a few years. Before that though, I'm curious– what is your opinion of the Empire?

[ Trying to describe the First Order to someone with no Imperial sympathies could prove to be difficult. He's already gotten some hints that she could be amenable, but it's worth the clarification. ]

[snaphiss]

[A stake of fear goes right through her, and it's easy enough to feel. Who told. Why does this man think it's relevant to her what the Empire was? She has very clear and real ties to the Empire, the old Empire, the real Empire. Why else would he ask? He could know something, or have some interest of his own, but it feels like too much of a coincidence in a universe so vast and getting vaster.]

The Empire is over. [She says it roughly, a contrast with her cool exterior from only moments ago.] What of it?

[exhuxperation]

[ Her rough answer tells him he's hit a nerve of some kind. Rather than her polished and neutral exterior from when they'd been communicating mentally, she's more guarded now. Defensive, even. Hux could press it bluntly, but he's not sure what her reaction would be. ]

The Empire is over, that's true. [ He starts off slow, wanting to be careful. ] I want to know your opinion on it, ended or not. It's relevant to how I know Kylo Ren.

[snaphiss]

[Mara doesn't like the feeling of being backed into a corner. She sneers, expression drawn.]

I'd like to know what you thought of it first, before I hear more about this mysterious relevance.

[exhuxperation]

[ At her sneer, he weighs his options. Sits back in his chair, takes a sip from his caf and then sets it back down. It's an obvious buy for time, but he's going to take it nonetheless. ]

I was four when the second Death Star was destroyed. My father served as Commandant at the officer's academy on Arkanis; he never gave up his loyalties even as the Empire declined. [ All the implications are there. ] I believe the Empire had benefits, ones that were sorely missed in its absence.

[snaphiss]

[Which is a far more reasoned, generous, and logical defense of the Empire then she's ever heard. The Imperials she's run into since the second Death Star are all die-hards, or worse, opportunists. This is someone who is willing to acknowledge the Empire declined.]

[So she sits back, and she considers.]

Its ambitions outstripped its capabilities, especially toward the end. [She says, careful, cautious. It's true, though, what she says. At least, she believes that to be the case. And that's a refreshing feeling, to speak on the Empire with only herself as a censure.] I was twenty-two when the second Death Star exploded.

[There's the slightest strain in her voice at that memory. Endor. The tension in her mind continues to spike, and she grimaces. Anyone close to her mind at that moment may see flashes of an explosion in space, screaming, and the interior walls of a prison cell.]

[exhuxperation]

[ There's no stepping around it. The Empire had declined. It had been trapped between two different sets of power, struggling to hold itself together as it stretched thin. Especially, as she mentioned, towards the end.

Brendol Hux had been devastated by the fall. He took out his disappointment on his son in a way, shaping him to be better. To make something better and outdo the Empire as much as possible. Hux had destroyed the Hosnian system in pursuit of order, but for some reason, it's leaving a bitter taste in his mouth as he thinks on it here. ]

Were you enlisted, at the time? [ His curiosity outstrips his manners. This normally isn't a problem, but he catches the glimpses of the explosion from a different viewpoint than a child's eyes. Someone who understood the enormity of the situation and felt crippled by it. Hux swallows thickly, can almost feel the tremors under his feet as he remembers Starkiller imploding, falling apart. Glory had and then stolen in the same breath. He stares down at his caf and then looks up at Mara, expression more open than usual. ]

We don't have to talk about this.

[snaphiss]

You asked. Afraid of what you'll hear? [Mara says, with more than a fair share of bitterness. The destruction of her life always brings out the worst in her, the anger, the fear.] I never enlisted. You won't find my name on any official records. At all. [Ever.]

[Which is all she's willing to say on the matter of her place within the Empire, and consequently, more than she's told anyone in the Nest.]

What does this have to do with Kylo Ren?

[She'd prefer to be distracted. And, now, she's completely curious. What truck would the child of Leia Organa Solo have with a sympathizer? Then again, what friendship could spark between Luke Skywalker and the Emperor's Hand? Hadn't that taught her that there are worthwhile people on both sides? Perhaps this is more in the spirit of that; Jacen is taking after his uncle.]

[The thought is a surprisingly calming, comforting one.]

[exhuxperation]

No. Loss is an uncomfortable subject. [ For them both, it seems. His life went to hell in a handbasket as soon as that FN-2187 defected. Mara is tightlipped about her place in the Empire and he simply lets that go. It's a pain point, obviously, and the Empire still had secrets even after all these years. ]

After the Empire fell, fractions of it went into hiding. They built a new force, modeled much the same, but more unified. The Republic Senate made too many blunders in the time after Endor; this new force would bring order back into the picture. Both Kylo and myself serve that military body, though in different conditions. [ Much different. ]

I've not been told why he came to the First Order, except that he was under the tutelage of a Force user named Snoke, who subsequently doled out command from the top of the chain. That placed Ren on a similar rank standing as mine– he was to take care of anything Force related and I would handle the military. Split functions. We've been working together for about five years now.

[snaphiss]

[Mara narrows her eyes. It sounds different than the Imperial Remnant-- this boy is too young to be a part of that anyway. It sounds like something different, perhaps something the son of Organa Solo could work with. An Empire strong enough to reach up to the Emperor's ambition, without falling so fatally short.]

[It's... an idea, certainly. She's not sure how she feels about it, but she's not about to dismiss it out of hand.]

[She steeples her fingers, a posture those familiar with the Imperial Court would recognize.]

Tell me about this Snoke.

[exhuxperation]

[ At her change in posture, Hux feels a strange note of surprise. And then a sweep of anxiety– it's reminiscent of how Brendol would address him. When he was being tested on school, on military functions, or even if he were being asked why he did something the way he chose to do. Hux swallows the irrelevant nerves, taking another sip of caf. ]

I have to admit I don't know much about him. He's a benefactor to the Order, though one installed before I made my rank of general. [ Hux wouldn't have personally chosen Snoke to run things. Not at all. ] All I can say is he'd been training Kylo Ren how to control the dark side of the Force. To shape him into something stronger. Ren seems to have gone to him willingly, but I don't know what their arrangement was; you'd have to ask Kylo for that. Any Force conversations were normally kept from my ears.

[ You know, as a normal. As if the Force alone could procure troops, keep a ship running and living and winning. Dependency on such a thing, he finds, can be too much of a crutch. ]

[snaphiss]

[Mara senses the advantage, and immediately takes hold of it, subconsciously falling deeper into her impression of the late Emperor. Her voice becomes drier and colder than before, shoulders raising, head sloping. It's a posture that, to her, means ultimate control and poise. She's barely aware that she's doing it.]

And yet you put all your faith in him, and the lives of your allies...?

[An open ended question, meant to pry. She wants to get the information she came here for.]

[exhuxperation]

[ Instead of getting more impressions of his father, he starts to think of Snoke instead. How frail he seemed on the slab of a throne. And yet so powerful that he would have anyone lesser scrabbling for his favor. Still, Hux sits a little straighter in his chair, as if he were reporting to another officer. ]

I would see the Order's machinations through. If it meant following Snoke, then so be it. [ There's something unspoken though and it glints in his eyes. If Snoke had gotten in the way, he would have found a way to remove him. ] Ren's decisions were his own. Following Snoke seemed to have some worth to him.

[snaphiss]

How noble. [She says it without approval or disapproval, a rather banal statement.] And very loyal.

[But she sees she'll get no more information from him on this subject, so she turns the interrogation to something else. The thought is soothing, and her posture relaxes slightly. The pressure in her mind subsides.]

Tell me, General; what did your father tell you about the Empire?

[exhuxperation]

[ Noble? Maybe. An exercise of his willpower? That's a little closer to the truth. He had too much pride and investment to just let it all slip through his fingers. Snoke had proven to be useful, regardless how irritating he could be. ]

That during its height, it brought organization and law where it lacked. Standardizations, open trading routes, better transport. The power no longer resided in waiting for the Senate to make up its mind through tireless politics. Most of the documentation left behind seemed to support these notions, though I believe some parts my father saw through rose-colored lenses.