#hello i'm catching up on star wars news

[arc-trooper]

honestly disney already abandoning their sequel era for all these different shows set way beforehand 🙊

#ironically its tbb that's covering the sequel trilogy's ass #i do miss star wars resistance though so I may rewatch that before rebels tbh #hello i'm catching up on star wars news #i didn't even know a trailer for ahsoka came out <3 #the VISUALS are whatever cause I can tell they use green screen #and after the mandalorian's use of the Volume i'm really not impressed by greenscreen anymore lmao #BUT. if it's Filoni's story/vision/direction I will follow #mando 3's story has been miiiiiddddd mid mid mid (TO ME) but I ASSUME that's mainly on favreau's part tbh LOL

[layla4567]

May the force be with you

Cal Kestis x GN reader

Summary: Y/N has started to have feelings for Cal but doesn't know how to confess, maybe a love letter will help.

Warnings: Fluff time 😎

A/N: Hello, I apologize for not having included the "readmore" before (in fact I don't know if I did it correctly because they had never asked me before) and another apology if the story is not very accurate to the Star Wars universe (I'm not into it )

• • • • • • •

Maybe you always had those feelings for your friend. From the first minute you saw that red head and freckles like a strawberry. Yes, that must have been it. These feelings were not new, but even so in recent times they have intensified. Oh, yes indeed.

It all started in the last most recent mission. They were on the Mantis trying to look for the tombs of the three wise men. The map already had the exact coordinates, the destination was Dathomir. They got off the ship and headed towards some dark caves. It was wet and Cal had to light the way with his saber. You were lagging behind and the shadows were wrapping around you like a thin gauze, you ran in fear to his side and squeezed his hand, Cal turned his head towards you in surprise but then gave you a warm smile. He knew you were scared of the dark.

The faithful BD1 was clinging to Cal's shoulder. We went deeper and in a moment the place seemed more illuminated, the walls were no longer rocks but fat roots that rose from the floor to the ceiling. BD1 made a beep and quickly got off the redhead's shoulder and ran towards some kind of climbing wall and stopped looking at both of you.

"Looks like here is". Said the freckled boy with his hands on his hips looking up.

The white droid made an affirmative metallic noise, Cal smiled widely.

"Okay little one, hop on"

The boy stretched out his arm and the small droid climbed up to him to cling to his back. Then he saw you without stopping smiling

"Ladies first"

Cal extended his arm like a gentleman inviting you in as you bowed briefly, laughing. You held on tightly to the wall and started climbing it with Cal underneath you. He tried not to look up, blushing slightly. When you reached the top you saw him climb and with each step the muscles in his arms flexed and bulged, you had to shake your head to concentrate on something else.

Unfortunately the route did not end there, they had to cross to the other side and climb a wall that reached another rock. You approached the edge, you thought about whether you could jump but the gap was very long, you swallowed worriedly. Cal came to your side, reassuring you.

"Hey don't worry, I'm here with you"

His closeness and his affectionate squeeze on your arm made your cheeks redden and a chill ran down your neck. Of course he had no idea about all these sensations that were going through your body.

"I'll cross first, so you can see how I did it, okay?"

He offered generously and you nodded. For him it was easy, he was much more agile and flexible than you. Even when he was a simple worker he could jump and do pirouettes, you can't. With the grace and ease of a monkey he arrived at the other side in a second, then he looked at you with a nod of head inviting you to cross. You were still afraid, you tried to see how he did it but it had been so fast. Seeing that you were hesitant, Cal shouted at you, encouraging you.

"Nothing will happen to you, trust me, if you fall I'll catch you."

Those words, that simple phrase melted your heart. Now you were sure, you were in love with him. The tenderness with which he said that made you want Cal in your life more than ever so he could protect you. A little calmer you approached the wall and after steadying your feet you began to move to the right, always concentrating on not looking down. Don'tlookdowndon'tlookdown. Cal followed your every movement with religious attention, prepared for any possible fall. When you were about a meter from the edge of the other rock Cal advised you to try to push yourself to the right and jump. Your face contorted into a mask of terror, jump? Was he crazy or what?

"Just trust me!"

Of course you trusted him, you would even trust him with the most powerful weapon because you knew he wouldn't hurt you with it. You took a deep breath and followed his advice. You took a clean and jerk with your entire body flexed and jumped to the right, stretching your entire body and your arms trying to grab the edge of the rock. With horror you saw how your fingers barely touched the surface and you began to fall. An anguished scream calling your friend's name came from your throat, tearing the silence of the place. The freckled man quickly positioned himself at the edge of the rock as if his life depended on it and held you firmly by the wrists. The two of you looked at each other for a few seconds while your body hung and swung in the air. You were scared, but Cal was frowning with effort and huffing, but he couldn't stop a mocking smile from appearing at the corner of his lips.

"I promised you I'd catch you didn't I?"

A nervous smile appeared on your face. Very carefully he lifted you up and placed a hand on your back so you could sit up. Being so close to him created revolutions in your head and hormones. His gaze inspecting you up and down for possible injuries as he asked you over and over again if you were okay made you feel weak, your legs felt weak as if at any moment they could shake and fall with your knees hitting the cold, hard floor as you hugged his waist and you gave him looks with the eyes of a lost puppy, drunk, needy, desirous and burning with love saying "I am yours"

As your breathing quickened slightly Cal seemed satisfied with his inspection and they continued on their way with BD1 in the lead. You were still a little distracted by all your intoxicating and somewhat lewd thoughts about your friend that you didn't realize he was walking away so you shook your head and trotted after him.

The second time Cal gave you butterflies in your stomach (without him even knowing) was in Kashyyyk. A holocron had guided us there for the same reason, to find information about the Zaffo. Already on the ship we were preparing to land, Cal put on some of his ponchos because that day was cooler, you didn't want to be a weirdo who spies on people but you couldn't help but look askance when he put on his poncho in front of you. It looked so cute on him. They jumped off the Mantis that had already boarded and landed on the ground. It was a quite jungle place full of bushes and wild plants. You headed again to a kind of cave but this time illuminated because it had no roof, Cal and BD1 never left your side. You could see that there was a giant spider web on the ground, how disgusting.

"Be careful, there may be giant spiders here." Cal said, pointing to the spider web that you had seen and a look of concern tried to appear on your face but you suppressed it.

Another time you had to climb a wall, by this time you had already practiced jumping and climbing so you could handle this. When they reached the top they saw a kind of machine that Cal touched with his hand and a long rope was deployed above you, a zip line.

"BD1 would you do the honors?"

Cal looked at the droid that was on the ground, when it did a small cartwheel and then jumped on the redhead, Cal laughed amused.

"Wait, wait, do the honors for what?" You asked suspiciously and confused.

"Oh right, I hadn't told you. We will cross to the other side with the help of BD1"

The freckled redhead pointed to his little droid friend and he jumped up to grab the cable. BD1 beeped letting them know it was ready and waiting for them to grab onto it. You stepped back, if there was something that scared you more than the darkness it was heights, you had a lot of vertigo. Cal turned to look at you and saw you so serious and scared that he approached you worriedly to take your hand. And there the butterflies began to flutter in your stomach. He guided you towards the zip line slowly with tenderness, love and patience as if you were a child.

"Come, hold on to me." Cal raised your arms to put them behind his shoulders. My God, you felt like you were going to faint. You shyly wrapped your arms around his neck as he wrapped his strong arm around your waist, pressing you closer to him, you gasped in surprise.

"I'm sorry". He said modestly

"No!, I mean, It-It's ok"

Your head was on the opposite side of his, looking back and although you couldn't see his face you felt him smile in amusement.

"Alright, are you ready?"

Resting your head in the crook of his neck you nodded wordlessly. He affirmed his grip and when he told BD1 that they were ready you closed your eyes squeezing them. BD1 moved quickly and soon you felt that your feet were no longer touching the ground, you screamed scared but you knew that nothing would happen to you having Cal by your side. You opened your eyes a little and adrenaline invaded you, your hair was shaking from the speed and your breathing was short, you felt a rollercoaster in your stomach. When they reached the other side you felt a little dizzy as you got out of Cal's arms, you staggered a little still in shock and he quickly grabbed you by the shoulders.

"all in order?"

Cal looked at you attentively looking for any sign of discomfort but you were smiling almost laughing, the zip line ride had been more exciting than you thought and soon fear gave way to excitement. You looked at him and nodded, your hair was messy. He laughed and gently smoothed your rebellious locks that were sticking to your face, gently brushing them aside. The soft touch of his fingertips on your face and forehead sent an electric current again, this time throughout your spine. And damn, he didn't even know it and maybe he never will.

And here you were now, sitting at the desk in your room with BD1 staring at you sitting on the table to one side and with an old paper like a papyrus and a pencil in your hand and your mind blank. You sighed frustrated, you thought it was time to confess to Cal but you weren't good at talking, expressing your feelings. When you wanted to speak to him you couldn't find the right words. But you were better at writing than talking, a love letter would be an easier way to put your feelings in order without the pressure of seeing Cal face to face. Or so you thought. You still didn't know how to start the letter.

Dearest Cal

You huffed in annoyance, it was too formal. After all, he was your friend, not a stranger. You tapped the tip of your pencil against your head, thinking of new ideas. BD1 next to you had no idea what you were doing, you certainly didn't understand his language but it wasn't difficult to figure out what he was saying since the white droid looked with his head tilted at the paper and then looked at you.

"I'm writing a letter to Cal." BD1 looked at you as if waiting for an explanation.

"Yes, to Cal. A...love letter". The little droid jumped excitedly, you laughed.

"It's been a while since I had to confess my feelings to him but I didn't feel up to it, so I thought a letter would be easier. But don't tell him anything, promise."

BD1 nodded his head standing firm which made you smile tenderly. You closed your eyes and exhaled air through your mouth. You decided you wouldn't think so much and just let the pencil guide your hand. After letting your emotions and thoughts flow, the letter looked more or less like this

Cal I hope this letter reaches you on time and is not too late. I can no longer hide what I feel for you, I think I like you. And not as a friend, I really like you. I don't intend for you to feel the same way about me, I just wanted to let out what I feel and clear my mind and heart. Your always friend, Y/N

You put your pencil down shakily as you folded the paper into four. With your heart pounding in your chest like a drum, you could only hope that Cal wouldn't take it the wrong way, and even better, if he also felt the same as you. Suddenly you heard footsteps behind you and your friend's voice calling for his company droid. Pale, you quickly and clumsily shoved the paper into your pocket just before Cal entered your room.

"Hey here you are, I looked for you all over the ship!". He came up behind you as you turned around in your seat with a forced smile, dying of nerves inside. On the other hand the droid gave a happy beep. Cal noticed you and added, smiling.

"And it's good to see you too, we'll wait for you for dinner"

You responded that you would be there with an awkward laugh. Cal walked away from your room and you breathed a sigh of relief again, BD1 was still attentive to you.

"Here, take this to Cal, leave it in his room where he can see it please. I'm counting on you."

You handed him the folded letter and as if he were an agent on a special mission, the little robot ran towards the freckled man's room without being seen. You stood up laughing but then the smile faded from your face. What if Cal didn't feel the same way? You tried to push away those harmful thoughts. You took a deep breath to calm yourself and bravely left your room. And may the force be with you

The dinner was exquisite, the atmosphere was warm and familiar. It really felt like a united family. Cal couldn't stop making jokes and you laughed at everything he said or did with dreamy eyes. This did not escape Cere's attention, of course. After dinner you offered to wash the dishes with her.

"It seems like you and Cal get along well." She said casually

You stood looking at her confused with a plate in her hand and the sponge in the other dripping soapy water.

"Cal gets along with everyone, he's like that.". You said downplaying it

"Yes, but I could notice that he spends more time with you or looks at you in a peculiar way. Mmh, I wonder why that is?"

"What? Seriously?"

You couldn't help the astonishment that formed all over your face and voice. Cere had made you fall into her trap.

"Ah, I knew it! You like him, kid!"

"Whaaat? Me? pftt, I don't think so"

You cleared your throat and forced a strangely high-pitched voice that wanted to sound disinterested. But Cere wasn't stupid and placed a hand on your shoulder.

"I meant it. I've seen how Cal gets closer to you than the rest. Talk to him, I think the feeling could be mutual"

This fanned the flame of hope within your heart. You thanked him and went outside to practice with your cane. Cal was already in his room. You remembered the letter. You trembled nervously and ran out of the ship.

The sky was a beautiful twilight orange color. The afternoon breeze made your hair wave. You firmly gripped your staff and began to swing it in your hand, attacking and blocking an invisible opponent. Meanwhile Cal was sitting on his bed thinking about resting for a while when he saw a paper on his nightstand. He took it and unfolded it, when he began to read his heart began to accelerate. He quickly searched the entire ship looking for you, seeing you practicing outside he decided to approach. You were trying to spin your cane in front of you and wave it at the sides of your body but you were hitting yourself or dropping the cane.

"You're doing it wrong"

His deep voice behind you made you jump and throw the cane onto the grass. Laughing, he approached you and with the Force he attracted the cane that you dropped to his hand. He always boasted about his gift. Cal stood behind you, pressing his body against your back. Your breath hitched for a moment. He placed the cane in your hands, taking you by the elbow and guiding your arms forward. His head was close to your neck and tilted forward a little so he could see your hands. His chest pressed against your back made your ears turn red.

"Hold the cane firmly and do it like this"

His breath tickled your neck and shoulder and made you feel electricity. Cal guided your hands by placing his on top of yours. His hands larger than yours maintained firm but gentle contact and together they moved as if they were a single wave, as if they were practicing a dance learned by heart. When you were finally able to do the maneuver you wanted to do with your cane, he congratulated you without leaving you and you turned your head to look at him happily. When you turned to look ahead he took advantage of this and got closer to your ear.

"I already read your letter"

His whispered voice near your ear made your mind go blank and you worriedly bit your bottom lip hard. You turned to face him with your eyes lowered.

"Yeah about that, I-"

Cal grabbed your cheek forcing you to look at him, you could feel your cheeks burning as you opened your eyes enormously.

"Shh, You don't have to say anything. Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I was afraid, afraid that it wouldn't be reciprocated. You are the sweetest being in the galaxy and when I'm with you I feel complete and I didn't want to-"

You started talking so fast and you were getting so nervous that Cal closed the distance by grabbing your cheeks with both hands and crashing his lips against yours. It was a tender kiss, his shy lips barely touched yours for fear that you would reject him. He broke the kiss, looking at you expectantly.

"Don't stop." You exalted with drunken love eyes and his lips

Cal placed his hands on your hips and you moved your hands up to the collar of his shirt, deepening the kiss. Now his mouth covered much of yours with more confidence, but it was still delicate like everything about him. From the ship Cere looked mischievously from the window

• • • • • • •

#cal kestis #bd 1 #jedi fallen order #cal kestis x reader #cal kestis x you #cal kestis x y/n #fluff #x reader #imagine #one shot #fanfic #fanfiction #star wars #fallen order #jedi survivor #jfo #cameron monaghan #gn reader #gender neutral reader #x gn reader #x gender neutral reader #x you #y/n #x y/n #star wars fandom #star wars fanfiction #star wars fic #star wars fallen order #star wars survivor

[kaminocasey]

Dream A Little Dream of Me (Part 1)

Summary: Your reality is different than theirs. But hopefully, you can use that to your advantage and help put a stop to the Clone Wars. If catching the eye of a certain captain is also in the mix, then that's also a plus, right?

Pairing: Eventual Captain Rex x F!Reader

Warnings: 18+ MINORS DNI; Insomnia, Angst, alternate realty type of thing

WC: 2.1K

A/N: This is a bit different than what I normally write. But, hopefully in a good way! Also, it’s been a hot minute since I’ve written for Rex. Can you believe that????

Part Two

You hear your cell phone ringing from the living room as you make pasta in the kitchen. It’d been snowing all day so you’d had the lights in the living room off so you’d be able to see the snow fall over New York City. It’s your favorite thing living in a highrise in the Upper East Side. You’ve also had The Clone Wars playing all day. Your favorite show. The show that brought you the most comfort.

You sit the spoon down in the dublé and go grab your phone, bringing it to your ear and answering as you return back to the stove, turning slightly toward the tv in time to see Captain Rex tell the men of the 501st and 212th that they need to take down Pong Krell.

“Hello, mom.” You sigh, just hoping she hasn’t called you to fight with you.

“What are you doing up so late?” She chides you. It’s more lighthearted than critical this time. 

Honestly, you’ve not looked at the clock all afternoon. But you glance at the time on the stove. Surely, it’s not that late- Oh. It’s 2:30 in the morning. 

“You’re the one calling me.” You roll your eyes. 

“Because I knew you were up.” Her voice sounds tired on the other end. 

“How would you possibly know that?” You stir the pasta one last time before tucking the phone between your ear and your shoulder, going to strain it. 

“Because I know you.” She chuckles. “What are you making?” 

You sigh again. “Pasta.”

“Finish making it. Put it in the fridge and go lay down, sweetie.” Her voice softens.

You don’t sleep much… and when you do, it’s not restful sleep. You’d been diagnosed with insomnia at an early age of ten. The doctors had said it stemmed from your anxiety and ADHD. Now, you take all sorts of medication, but you’d stopped when the last one knocked your ass out for over 24 hours, causing you to miss an entire day of work and they fired you the next. You’d rather not sleep and have a job than let that happen again.

“Fine.” You murmur, grabbing a box and putting a bit of olive oil in with it and shaking it up once you close the lid. 

“Do you want me to sing to you?” She asks as you click the tv off.

When you and your mom get along, which isn’t often, you really get along. She’s sweet, caring, kind… but if you’re fighting… well, let’s just say, you’d rather deal with Lucifer, himself. 

“That would be nice. Thank you.” You murmur, putting the phone on speaker before going back to your bedroom and plugging your phone in, crawling under your fluffy comforter. 

You try to get comfy, closing your eyes. “Alright. I’m in bed.”

“I remember when you were little and you would come crawling into-” She starts but you interrupt her.

“Mom. Sing.” You smile with closed eyes. 

“Right, right. Sorry.” She chuckles before starting the tune that she would sing to you as a child. 

Stars shining bright above you

Night breezes seem to whisper "I love you"

Birds singin' in the sycamore trees

Dream a little dream of me

You think of the warm glow of the moon. A comfortable bed of sheep carrying you away into dreamland, counting them as they pass by you in your mind. 

Say "Nighty night" and kiss me

Just hold me tight and tell me you'll miss me

While I'm alone and blue as can be

Dream a little dream of me

There’s no way this is going to help you go to sleep. You made peace with never being able to sleep peacefully again a long long time ago. 

Stars fading but I linger on, dear

Still craving your kiss

I'm longing to linger 'til dawn, dear

Just saying this

You yawn slightly, turning over to face your phone, getting comfier as you focus on the coolness of your pillow against your warm cheek. 

Sweet dreams 'til sunbeams find you

Sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you

But in your dreams, whatever they be

Dream a little dream of me

“I’m sorry, mom. I don’t think it’s working this time.” You open your eyes to pull your phone back up so you can end the call but are met with the unfamiliarity of a different bed than yours. In fact, it can barely be considered a bed. You realize it’s a bunk and when you turn to see the rest of your surroundings you’re met with… clones?

You know these men… You’ve seen them before. 

“Morning, sleepy head.” The clone you know as Tup smirks. “You’ve been out forever.” 

What? This can’t be real. You know this is just a tv show. 

Oh. You’re dreaming.

Of course. Duh.

“Yeah, welcome back to the land of the living.” Hardcase chuckles. 

You’re still not able to form words. This is a little too freaky. Why are you so aware?

“Hello???” Jesse waves his hand in front of your face.

You blink twice, feeling your lips move to say something. 

Say something, dummy. 

“H-hello.” You murmur, sitting up to look at the near identical men around you. 

“Why are you being so weird?” Fives asks you, curiously.

“This can’t be real.” You stand up, suddenly feeling slightly panicked. 

“Are you alright?” Fives comes over, putting his hand on your shoulder.

You can actually feel it. You pull away, even more freaked out than before.

“Hey, let’s get Kix down here.” Fives turns toward Tup, who nods and takes off out of what you now recognize as barracks.

Fives turns back toward you and as you look around at all the men, they all seem really concerned for you. Which is somewhat sweet, when you think about it. 

“Hey, doll. Why don’t you sit back down?” Fives tries to guide you back down to the bunk and kneels in front of you, searching your eyes. 

Unable to help yourself, you reach out and poke him in the cheek and he gives you an amused smile that you know so well from all the times you’ve watched him. His skin is warm and soft and you let out a breath that you’ve been holding in since you “woke up”. 

“F-fives.” You look at him. 

He nods, grinning. “That’s right, mesh’la.” 

You look around. “Hardcase. Dogma. Jesse.” 

They all nod when you say their names, the sweet concern never leaving their handsome faces. 

And then you hear the doors open and all the breath feels like it’s left your lungs. The man you’ve loved since your first watch. 

Captain Rex. 

God, he’s even prettier in person… How is that even possible? 

He murmurs your name and your world stops spinning just for a moment, your heart pausing with it. He knows your name. 

Of course he knows your name. This is your dream.

“Tup said you might not be feeling well?” Rex asks and Fives moves so that Rex can kneel down in front of you.

The breath in your throat hitches and you get slightly dizzy. You notice that he smells like warm vanilla with a hint of the ocean, as he gives you the softest look any man or person has given you. It’s nearly intoxicating. He looks into your eyes and suddenly, you want to thank your insomnia for giving you this moment. 

“Are you alright?” He’s still searching your eyes and you realize you need to get it together and play along with this dream or these men are going to think you’re crazy.

You rub your eyes and stretch. “Yeah, sorry, Captain. Just woke up from a weird dream.”

He lets out a sigh of relief, looking up at Fives who also seems to be okay with that answer. 

“Good. Glad to hear that it’s nothing serious.” He pats your knee as he stands up and immediately you stand with him. 

He looks to Fives. “We’re shipping out to Umbara in the next hour. Meet Generals Skywalker and Kenobi down in the hangar in 30.”

Umbara…? Umbara… Oh no. 

“Um, Captain? Captain R-rex.” You stutter over your words, still not able to get over the fact that this man is standing in front of you.

You follow him out of the barracks. You feel like you need to say something. If you can warn them about Umbara… about General Pong Krell turning toward the dark side… maybe you can help them win this battle, right?

“What is it?” He smiles down at you.

Oh, wow. That smile really still has quite the effect on you, making your heart feel like it’s melting right through your body and you have to remind yourself to breathe. 

“I need to tell you something. About Pong Krell.” You fidget with your shirt, nervously.

“Alright. What about the general?” He stops walking to give you his undivided attention.

“Um… He’s… He’s not who he says he is.” You struggle to find the right words, knowing that if you just outright say the general is a Sith, you’re going to look crazy. 

You need proof. But you don’t exactly have any. 

“What do you mean?” Rex asks you, tilting his head in confusion.

“Rex! There you are.” A familiar voice is behind you and you spin around to find Anakin Skywalker walking toward you and the captain. 

“General.” Rex greets him.

“Are your men ready for the briefing?” Anakin asks.

“Yes, sir.” Rex nods. 

“Good. Walk with me.” Anakin smiles then looks at you and greets you by name. 

Does everyone here know you?

“H-hello… uh, general.” You give a weak smile.

Rex starts to say goodbye but you try to speak up again. “Dude.” 

Then, you remember that you’re speaking to a general and a captain and that’s probably super disrespectful. 

“Uh, apologies captain.” You try to keep up with them as Anakin’s commlink goes off and he steps away to answer it.

“We’ll talk about it when we get back.” Rex gives you a reassuring smile and you shake your head. “General Skywalker is the one on the mission with us. There’s nothing to worry about.”

“No. Krell is going to lie and send Anakin- the general away so that he can try to get the clones killed.” You tell him, firmly.

Rex looks over at Anakin and then back at you, clearly confused. “W-what… How do you know this?” 

How are you even supposed to explain your knowledge of these things? You can’t just be like “Oh yeah, I know this because none of this is real and you’re actually just a tv show.” right? 

“I’m someone you trust, right?” You murmur, looking up into the brown eyes that you’ve daydreamed about plenty of times. 

“Of course.” He nods.

“Then, Rex… I’m begging you to trust me on this… please.” You sigh. 

Even though you’ve technically just met this man, you feel like you’ve truly known him for so much longer. Does he feel that way about you? 

“Alright.” Rex murmurs, glancing toward Anakin again. “I trust you. But what can I do?”

“Leave it to me.” You nod, smiling up at him. “Good luck. Be safe.” 

“You’re not coming with us?” He asks, confusion painting his face again. 

“Oh… Am I?” You still don’t know what your role is here. 

“Kix is gonna need all the help he can get.” Rex winks, your stomach flipping at such a simple gesture as he joins Anakin once he gets off the call. 

You’re a medic? Oh no… You don’t know the first thing about being a medic… What if you can’t help and these men get killed because of you? You’ll just have to stick next to Kix for the time being… Hopefully you can sort of learn as you go? Maybe you’ll get lucky and they won’t actually need your help.

When you wake up, you’re still not exactly well rested. If anything, you feel even more tired. But man… What a dream. You got to see your favorite clone captain, got to meet the clones you spend countless hours a week watching. Hopefully, you’ll get lucky and dream of them again.

Then, you remember that you were going to try to help them… and you’ve been pulled from their reality a bit too soon, your chest tightening at the thought. 

Rubbing your eyes as you sit up, you pull your phone off the charger and shoot your mom a message: 

You: Thank you for singing to me. That actually helped a lot. Think you could do it again tonight? 

She answers almost right away.

Mom: Of course, sweetheart. Have a great day!

As you climb out of bed to get ready for work, you can’t help but think about what your next dream could possibly hold tonight.

TAGS: @twistedstitcher27 @rebel-finn @grievouus @madameminor @dumfanting @rain-on-kamino @corona-one @tecker @ladykatakuri @brynhildrmimi @the-sith-in-the-sky-with-diamond @zoeykallus @maulslittlemeowmeow @littlemousedroid @arctrooper69 @rexxdjarin @agenteliix @padawancat97 @hated-by-me @sleepingsun501 @quigonswife8 @idlenesses @redheadgirl @dnxgma @themcuwriter @ashotofspotchka @sunshinesdaydream @crosshairsimp73 @ariadnes-red-thread @rosmariner @heyitsaloy @starstofillmydream @high-ct5555 

#tcw rex #captain rex x reader #captain rex x you #tcw rex x you #tcw rex x reader

[tarisilmarwen]

Rebels Rewatch: "The Wynkahthu Job"

The space = ocean metaphor really getting stretched here.

Hoo boy, here we go.

Hondo's converted the Imperial shuttle he stole into his new pirate ship. Mostly by way of strapping cargo crates to the top like it's a minivan lol.

Love how literally no one but Ezra is happy to see Hondo.

"But it all worked out in the end right?" It in fact did not work out in the end my love, you lost the Phantom and nearly fell to your death in a gas cloud.

Azmorigan wiping his earwax off onto the door panel, gross.

Yeah no I'm with Hera on this one I wouldn't want to work with him either.

I SHOULDN'T LAUGH BUT HONDO'S BLIND JOKES ARE ACTUALLY KIND OF HILARIOUS.

Right so, Rebels kind of leans into this whole aesthetic of depicting space with ocean and seafaring metaphors, which I guess ties back into the whole idea that Star Wars is Space Fantasy, not science-fiction, imbued with the romanticism and swashbuckling adventure of weekly serials. We have knights and princesses and pirates, the most iconic weapon is a sword (Ezra's first lightsaber in particular is kind of akin to a rapier, and his fighting style evokes fencing), we have ancient wayfinders (bo-rifles and Lasat culture) and migrating pods of whales. And now we have a shipwreck being slowly drawn in by a whirlpool.

It's a pretty cool reoccurring element.

Ezra still looks a bit uncomfortable with Hondo's affectionate shoulder wraps.

I love that they brought AP for this mission, he's always hilarious.

Oh good we're at scene the first of my least favorite part of this episode, Ezra randomly being an ass for no real reason. It's especially jarring and grating after the maturity he showed last episode so frankly I'm just kind of going to wander away from that plot thread and ignore it whenever it happens, it's dumb and I refuse to entertain it.

There isn't even any real lesson learned??? Ezra never apologizes for being a shit and Hondo proves he is actually a good and loyal friend by coming back for the finale so what was even the point of this contrived piece of conflict? Nglh.

"This is your plan!" "I have factored that in. Without me your chances would be almost zero." <33333 I love him.

Hondo and Azmorigan play off each other hilariously.

Keen-eyed can spot Melch running around the corridors in the background.

I'm remembering why I tend not to like stories centered around or heavily featuring Chaotic Neutral characters, all the times Hondo's double-crossed someone gets very tiring and hard to keep up with.

"You attacked an Imperial ship." "We do it all the time." "Exac--Really?" I DIED. I LOL-ED AND I DIED.

That sighing eyeroll from Ezra in the background there ha ha.

I really am going to have to refrain from quoting Hondo every single time he makes me laugh, but this line about how they used to get none of the truth is hitting me right in the funnybone.

The gag with the door is great too.

Oh! The whole nautical swashbuckling adventure vibe I mentioned? Yeah, now they're gonna fight enchanted skeletons. In the form of the sentry droids.

The cable ziplines make this feel a little like a heist movie.

Ignoring this whole exchange...

Oohhh they are taller than Zeb, that's scary.

AP-5 FORGOT TO INCLUDE THE SENTRY DROIDS IN HIS SCENARIO CALCULATING LOL.

Hello Darktrooper precursor.

AP-5's sullen disappointment when Ezra tells them the first sentry droid got blasted lolol. AP you could have saved everyone a LOT of headache by just forewarning them about the droids.

This whole exchange. <333

Ezra that "I'll catch up." was dangerously close to "I'm right behind you." and also the last time you used that phrase you found Maul lurking in a pit. Do not tempt karma like that.

The sentry droids show a remarkable amount of strategic intelligence shooting the cable out rather than continuing to fire at Zeb and Ezra.

Worried Sabine be worried. :)

"It's okay! Zeb's got him! [Ezra]"

*raises eyebrow*

Interesting specification, Sabine.

This bit is pretty awesome.

And wow that was a quick climax.

Eyyyyy Melch is fine! And taught Hondo a lesson hopefully, lol.

This episode frustrates me because on the one hand it is HILARIOUS and I love the spacemariner and swashbuckling aesthetics of it but on the other hand *gestures to all of that*. With some tweaking this could have been the funniest episode of the series but as it is it just winds up landing as a mixed bag.

We're back to form next time, though, and we really don't stumble again for a good long streak. We're also going to start running into more and more episodes I've already liveblogged through. As I said previously those recaps will likely be shorter, unless I find something I really want to ramble about.

#star wars #star wars rebels #rebels rewatch #liveblog #ezra bridger

[bluberimufim]

Your suffering is a price too steep for me

Hello! I took out a wisdom tooth today and after such a tragic ordeal (it was extremely easy and quick), I have decided to ease my pain (I'm literally fine) by posting a new snippet!

This is the biggest one yet (about 1k words) but I love this scene so so much and I want to share it with you! It was in the snippet poll a couple of weeks ago. It was the "Seth and Theo arguing about the war" one.

taglist: @little-mouse-gardens @wildswrites

No trigger warnings today!

Now, every time she and Theo strolled through the hospital, she felt the other healers’ eyes on her. Their voices lowered to whispers as she passed, but she could hear them rattle on enthusiastically when they walked out of her field of vision. Theo found it very funny. “Ever since I healed that soldier, they won’t leave me alone,” Seth grumbled. “They’re giving me a headache.” “Well, I think they’re adorable,” Theo replied, looking over her shoulder to make sure the healers they’d run into were no longer within earshot. “I like their enthusiasm.” Seth looked away, her eyes fixed on the windows that filled the corridor with light. She could barely wait to return to camp. “They’re healers,” she sighed. “I have… complicated feelings about that.” Theo placed a hand on her shoulder and they both stopped in the middle of the empty corridor. The sunlight made her eyes shine, like two red stars. “I know,” Theo said. “I know how you feel about them.” “I don’t want them to feel the need to heal people. I’d have preferred it if they’d never discovered the potential of their own magic. So many of them are so young…” Seth paused, furrowing her brow. “But also… I can’t stop thinking about how things were when I was on their side. I still remember the Master Healer Lady, encouraging all those girls to give up their souls to any soldier that needed them. And seeing Asha do the same, knowing that, despite it all, she’s still enforcing it, makes me feel… small.” Theo squeezed her shoulder. “I can’t say I fully understand what you feel, but-” “Even if a single healer can prevent dozens of deaths, I’d prefer it if none of them ever saved any lives. No one deserves to have magic like this.” Theo stretched her arms out to hug her, but Seth stepped back, grabbing one of her wrists. “Why aren’t you ever like this at camp?” she asked. She was neither angry nor sad, just put off by her behaviour. “Why have you suddenly stopped ignoring me?” “Seth…” “No, Theo. Why are you behaving as if the past few months never happened?” Theo sighed, ripping her wrist from Seth’s hand. The small medal she wore over her chest jingled with the sudden movement. “Can’t I spend time with you? Can’t we talk normally anymore?” “Why do you only do that when we’re here?” Theo sighed. She looked to the side, avoiding Seth’s gaze. “When we’re here, I can pretend that we’re not in the middle of the war.” “You’re the one who wanted to come!” “I know!” Theo shot out. When she turned to Seth, her eyes seemed to spark for an instant. “I know it was me! I know I dragged you here with me! You don’t think I think about that every day?” “I chose to come! I came for you! If you’re so desperate to pretend you’re not in a war, why don’t you go home? It’s not as if the Goddess of Time can find you there.” Theo’s shoulders lowered with a sigh. She choked on her next words. “I… I hate the war too,” she murmured. Her hand flew to her medal, and she turned to look at how it glistened in the light. “I hate it so much…” “Then go back home.” “I can’t!” “Of course you can! If we ran right now, the Goddess of Time wouldn’t be able to catch us.” She reached towards Theo’s hand and squeezed it reassuringly. “We’d be safe from her. At home.” “And the rest of the time?” “Extend your dominion to the whole town. Make all the people subject to your divinity. I don’t care. Come home.” Theo shook her head, but she still held Seth’s hand, hidden in the fabric of her embroidered healer’s cloak. “I can’t.” Her voice was weak, as if she was on the precipice of tears. “I can’t. They need me. I believe I can end this war.” “By killing more people?” “More people would die without me. At least like this, they have an advantage, even if it is… even if it hurts me a lot.” “Screw them! Let’s go home!” “And let the war go on? And let more people die?” Seth sighed.

“I don’t give a damn about the war. Let them all die. Let the war go on forever. I don’t care.” She brought Theo’s hand closer. “As long as you’re with me, in peace, I couldn’t care less. I don’t mind the war if I’m not looking at it. It isn’t hard.” Theo pushed her away and took a step back. “You’d let this violence continue for years and years just because it’s not directly in front of you?” Seth straightened her spine. She knew that Theo hated what she was saying, and it felt like being stabbed through the chest “Yes. As long as you’re with me and the war is far away from us. Yes.” “I can’t believe you’d let the war go on for such a selfish reason! We finally have a chance to win, to stop the deaths of all these soldiers and healers, and you say you want none of that because you want me by your side. Don’t you see that, for the first time in decades, we can be, finally, once and for all, at peace?” Seth looked into her flaming red eyes, now covered in shadow. “At the cost of your suffering?” “My suffering is nothing compared to theirs. My Mother created me with her own hands to fight in this war and this is what I’ll do.” “Even if it kills you?” She took a step closer. “Even if you end up like Dora?” “Yes. Because I’ll have ended this war.” “What about me.” “I’ll spend the rest of my life with you. As soon as the war is over.” With no reply, Seth began walking in the opposite direction. She held her cane more tightly than usual, pressing it against the marble floor with such force she thought it would crack. She felt as if she was going to fall at any moment. “Your suffering is a price too steep for me,” she said, turning back, already a few steps away. “To me, it can compare to nothing.”

(Sorry for the weird break in the text. Tumblr wasn't letting me post otherwise...)

First time Seth's cane gets featured in a snippet?? Iconic

Also, Theo saying "I'll spend the rest of my life with you once the war is over"??? Sure you will, girl. All 5 minutes of it.

I genuinely love this snippet!! It was so fun to write!!! Seth is such a selfish character and she's got a kind of... unhealthy attachment to Theo, I'd say? And this has already been shown extensively (i.e. Seth hunting down a goddess for 30 pages to look for Theo), but this is the first time she's verbalizing the extent of her possessiveness. Literally, her only motivation is "be with Theo".

I hope you enjoyed today's snippet! Because I did! Have a great whatever time of day!

#Seth: I can excuse war but I draw the line at hurting my friend #Theo: You can excuse war?? #if you are wondering: no! Theo's death will not make Seth more well-ajusted! #she will not work through that! tbh she gets kinda scary after it #girl pls seek a therapist #writeblr #writing #my wips #devourer of souls wip #snippets

[dickarchivist]

Hello, Grave Squad! I have a question for all of you.

What's your favorite planet you've ever been to, and why did you love it so much?

Happy New Year 🍾🥂

Wraith: Gul Gatton was my favorite. Small outer rim planet. Conifer forests with lakes and an ocean, the flower and plant life is gorgeous as well, but it's main attraction for me was the bees. They're pink, blue, or white, fuzzy, and make delicious honey that reflects the color of the bees... except the white, their honey is golden as is standard. Docile, social little things, they're a wonder.

Ghost: Gul Gatton was nice, yes. Glee Anslem was my favorite. Soft sandy beaches, gentle waves, warm weather. Felt like a vacation.

Specter: Ban and I liked Kallar. It's-

Athena: That's where I'm from! It's cold, but so pretty! The rivers are full of fish and the trees are good for climbing!

Banshee, a soft chuckle on his lips: That's what we like about it too.

Athena: Not including Kallar, for me, my favorite is Coruscant. I like watching the lights, listening to people laugh. It's pretty here, in a different way.

Dax: I think... hmm... I don't think I have a favorite planet, but the first thing that came to mind was, well, Dathomire. I didn't live there long, I was... maybe two or three when the Jedi came for my brother and I, but my first memory is smiling with Krazus there, in the fog, catching glowing bugs.

Phantom: I liked Kamino? It rains there a lot, but that's what I like about it. No matter what, I could find peace in the rain. Coruscant is great for the night life, but... Kamino's my favorite.

Stone: Lothal. I think the animals there are interesting.

The planet Wraith is talking about is one I made up! It's not part of star wars Canon.

#from the archivist #grave squad clones #clone oc banshee #clone oc ghost #clone oc specter #clone oc phantom #clone oc wraith #jedi oc dax'malkin #jedi oc athena bello #clone oc stone #asks for grave squad #take it to the grave nye 2023

[rooftopwreck]

ooh ooh, 58 for the Spotify wrapped fic idea thing!

Hello, Hello TJ! I have two ideas for this!

The First one is a sequel to the angsty Modern AU Dreamuse Break Up I came up with for @ghostboyjules where in this one there's reconciliation, healing and a hopeful ending. Oh, just thinking about it makes me 🥺

The second one is set in 1989 where Hob thinks he got stood up. It's more of an introspective look on how Hob's feeling, starting to get a little drunk and melancholy as the day stretches into night as he waits in The White Horse.

I'll dive into the first scenario instead bc I have an actual idea for it than the second which is mostly just Hob having some sad lonely drunken musings before his night gets worse (he doesn't know about the pub shutting down yet rip)

My mind is complicated Find it hard to rearrange it But I'll have to find a way somehow Overreacting lately Find it hard to say I'm sorry But I'll make it up to you somehow

Years after their mutual break up, Dream and Calliope happen to run into one another (haven't decided should it be a quiet balcony at a Gala or something more mundane). They have polite (albeit stiff) conversation, making nice and catching up. After that they can't seem to stop happening across one another, it's almost as though it's fate.

They continue to make polite conversation each time. Once, Dream makes a dry remark, it makes Calliope laugh. Dream is simultaneously delighted by her joy and overcome with a sense of grief. He takes his leave shortly after but not before Calliope suggests it would be nice to keep in contact again.

Dream struggles with the love he had for Calliope, their falling out, his own failures in their relationship, how they seem to get along better than ever despite their interactions are tainted by shadows of their past and how it feels the same but also very different. She feels different but also the same. He wonders if he's changed at all and if the man he is now is worth her time despite everything that's happened.

Seeing her again brought back old grievances, not against her but himself. He considers making amends if he wants them to start again as friends. He has missed her dearly.

Did I miscalculate this? Let's just go back to basics Forget about what's come and gone 'Cause I hate to see us like this Breaking up on nights just like this We should be shooting for them stars of gold

It is good to see him again, Calliope thinks. It might have been good to hom too, she thinks. That is until he suddenly froze up and backpaddled out of the conversation at the speed of light, but never in an undignified way, just as he used to. After so many years, she thought she had a good enough read on him, that he did not hate her as she initially thought, that he was comfortable with her. Perhaps she is mistaken, perhaps she is too hasty in her desire to have Dream warm up again, perhaps he was reminded of their past and remembered he would rather not reconnect.

Calliope wishes they could put aside their past and work towards something new. They've both changed a lot, they're not the same as they once were. Their relationship will not be that of the past. It can be something new if Dream comes around to the idea.

So tell me you want it A thousand miles away from the day that we started But I'm standing here with you just tryna be honest If honesty means telling you the truth I guess we lost our focus And it's killing me that we could go to war like this But I'm standing here with you just tryna be honest If honesty means telling you the truth Well I'm still in love with you

They make tentative steps together, navigating this new friendship. Sometimes, they make more mistakes than they do progress. Sometimes, they make leaps and bounds, bonding in a way they haven't before. It is good, they are good. Things are alright, they're more than alright.

Dream has not smiled quite so much in a long time. Calliope's eyes twinkle brightly as she teases him. Her smile soothes something inside him, it settles him. It is not to say she has lost her spark, but it is a warm, almost banked fire, instead of one that rages wildly. He feels at ease, like he belongs.

He freezes. He had not intended this to happen, but between their conversations and not-dates since they first reconnected, he's in love with her. He had been, but it's different but still the same. He should leave. He needs to go, he cannot burden her with this. This was not what Calliope had desired when she suggested they keep in touch. He's fucked this up again. He needs to go.

Calliope's hand settles on his and pulls him back. She calmly asks him not to panic and run, to please talk to her if there is something wrong, to be honest.

So, he does. He's still in love with her, new and different. He's fucked up their friendship by carrying this torch, if he hasn't already, then he will. He doesn't know what will happen next, he's terrified of losing her again after just having her back in his life.

Oh, we'll be alright Oh, it'll be alright Oh, we'll be alright Oh, it'll be alright

Calliope cups her hand around his and gently says she loves him too. Whatever comes next, they'll figure it out together. This time, they'll be alright.

#thank you for sending a number!! i cant believe the numbers worked out nicely that i can give them a better ending 😭😭😭 #fic idea kinda just turned into quasi fic musing oops! (haha muse-ing) #I hope you had some fun reading this monster. i am clearly no writer but i enjoyed doing this immensely 💜 #asks #tj_dragonblade #v's chatter

[nobody-expects-the-inquisitorius]

Masterlist

Hello there, and welcome to the fabulous catastrophe that is my blog! I primarily post Star Wars-related content and I'm an Inquisitorius lover at heart, so expect a lot of screeching about my favourite evil blorbos. Sometimes Good Omens, SWTOR, Riordanverse and other fandoms make a brief appearance too. Heads up, I do occasionally post/reblog NFSW content, so you have been warned. Aside from that, you'll find OC headcanons, overwhelming affection for fictional villains, digital artwork, snippets of upcoming projects and maybe some actual fanfiction once in a blue moon. I'm always happy to chat, especially if it's about fandoms, so feel free to drop me a message any time! Enjoy!

[linktree]

Frequently used tags:

#my art - exactly what it says on the tin

#morgan is horny on main again - general nsfw tag, not a comprehensive list

#morgan's live slug reaction - liveposting books/shows

#headcanons - OC ramblings, meta, fic commentaries, etc

#incorrect quotes - comprehensive list of incorrect Inquisitorius/TBB quotes

#cosplay - cosplay stuff

#join the dark side we have shitposts - also what it says on the tin. shitposting and memes

#morgan speaketh - personal tag

Taglist

OC Masterpost (coming soon)

My Artwork (posted on AO3 for better quality)

Star Wars Drabbles

Eye To Eye Ahsoka Tano is no ordinary prey.

No Way Out One way or another, this ends today, and Kino Loy knows that.

New Dawn In Ferrix, time answers to one man, and one man only.

Silver and Gold The Jedi Temple Guards are nameless, emotionless, to all but those amongst their own ranks.

Far Above, Far Below The son of Dathomir reflects on his past losses.

Hold On Tighter A lightsaber wound to the stomach would be enough to spell the end of most people. It’s a good thing that the Grand Inquisitor is certainly not most people.

The Promise Of Freedom Daal isn’t the first to haunt Screecher’s Reach, and she won’t be the last.

Stars On The Dark Horizon | Bad Batch Drabbles

Drifting On The Winds Even the most intelligent member of the Bad Batch sometimes loses his way.

(Don't) Hold Your Breath Crosshair has been moments away from drowning twice in his life. And the second time, it's the hand that had first reached out to catch him that's holding him underwater.

#pinned post #because i really needed to sort one out lmao #star wars

[sonorousabyss]

hello Sonor!!! can i ask for a romantic star wars (x male) pairing? I'm male and gay, i'm an intp and aquarius (if thats relevant). I've got short black kinda fluffy hair, and I'm 160cm. My hobbies include dance, researching, writing and listening to music. My love language is words of affirmation :) People say that I'm quite distant and in my own world a lot of the time, and I don't get talkative unless it's about my interests. I always wear quite plain colours and usually it's something that is comfortable rather than fashionable. I hope this isn't too much information, I got a bit carried away :p have a nice rest of your day! :)

Thanks for the request Anon! It wasn't too much at all! This one actually went rather smoothly thanks to what you provided. You've got Tech from the Bad Batch. Hope you enjoy!

You two... are a menace to society.

As for your initial meetings, it was hit-and-miss.

Tech is well known for his habit of rambling off about things he's learned, and due to how often you're in your own mind, it's likely that you didn't hear what he said or pay that much attention on more than one occasion. That said, you didn't discourage his habit either, and it was probably this fact that drove him to find something that you would react to.

It became an almost daily thing. Whenever you encountered him on and off missions, he'd recite something new he'd learned to see if it would catch your attention, recording your reactions on his datapad so he could make more accurate predictions for his next attempt.

When he finally managed to find something you were enthralled by? He was absolutely elated.

Conversations between you two could last hours, much to the chagrin of some of his brothers. Rarely were they ever boring- at least to the two of you- and eventually, discussions of that nature became a regular thing between the two of you.

That said? I wouldn't say that talking was all you did.

Given that research is one of your hobbies, it's more than likely that you'd also spend time researching with Tech. Just being around you would have been enough to satisfy him, but whether you're actively looking into something together or just browsing on your own devices, he'd be sufficiently entertained.

Most likely encouraged you to join him and the rest of the Bad Batch on a few occasions. Just one mission wouldn't hurt, right? It'd be fun. Besides, it's not like you'd be with a whole platoon.

Pure chaos ensued. Maybe a couple explosions, but the mission was a success, so no harm done right?

Your dressing habits bordering on the plain side wouldn't bother him in the slightest- or the rest of the crew for that matter. They were known for being unorthodox, so you showing up in something comfy instead of a designated uniform? Wouldn't bat an eye. It's probably something they find endearing about you.

With you two being together? He's absolutely done research into fabrics and such that you like as part of a project to get you something to match his armor that he knew you'd actually like to wear.

Sure, as your boyfriend he's already crafted a pair of headphones that match him so you can listen to your tunes as much as you like, but with a matching jacket, everyone would know which squad you rolled with.

Not shy about complimenting you at all. You're his magnificent boyfriend, and he will make sure you know as much.

So words of affirmation? He's got that covered.

As for other love languages, he keeps an eye out to see what works and what doesn't. Like physical touch? He's run his own little experiments, getting a feel for what your boundaries were and when it was best to avoid it.

When you're sitting in the cockpit of their ship, he has a tendency to rest his arm on your shoulder as he leans forward to show you something on his data pad.

This is both something he's been known to do casually, and something he's done during missions.

Doesn't even realize he's doing it. It's a wholesome little quirk of his.

If you're down for cuddles he'd 100% be down.

Just as you tend to be in your own little world, I feel like he can be as well. You're probably the one that reminds him to be more detailed in his reports to the crew, so, for example, any damages the ship sustains will get reported instead of just what he deems important or life-threatening.

That filtering of information isn't always intentional but can cause problems, so there may have been a few squabbles earlier on. Issues always get resolved quickly, though.

If you were to ever spend time researching things that could prove useful during missions, know he's encouraging you to share with the crew and have your moment to shine.

When you two put your heads together there's little you can't handle.

Save maybe keeping track of Omega. Holy smokes that child is a beacon for trouble.

Good luck with this one, cause where he and his brothers are? Things are certainly interesting.

This is probably the quickest matchup I've done, to be honest. So if you've managed to get this far? Thanks for reading! May the force be with you, and may your day be as pleasant as the ocean's abyss is deep.

For those who are new here, I take requests. You can find my rules here.

#star wars matchup #tech bad batch #bad batch #bad batch matchup #tech x male reader #star wars #tech x you #bad batch x male reader #romantic matchup #headcanons

[mscattitude]

"Leap of Faith" - Dick Grayson/Nightwing Standalone piece

Originally written as a canon character audition for a DC roleplay server, I'm posting it here for your reading enjoyment. Recommended to read while listening to this song:

There he stood before the Big Top, its height towering further than he remembered. The canvas hardly moved in the early autumn wind, illuminated by fairy lights strung around vibrant peppermint stripes. The smell of buttered, cheap popcorn wafted in the air, doing its best to hide the nose-wrinkling odors coming from the animal enclosures in the back. Jolly carnival tunes, playing repetitively from within the colossal tent, brought smiles to visitors’ faces coming to witness the thrilling acts of Haly’s Circus. Children were laughing, adults were chattering, and there were smiles everywhere. Smiles, and happiness.

For a moment, one could forget they were in Gotham City.

Haly’s Circus, a beacon of hope.

Every hero had an origin, and here was his.

Dick Grayson’s fingers clenched in the pockets of his dark leather jacket as he stared ahead into the lit up entryway of the tent, allowing all paying and eager showgoers to walk past him as he found himself unable to step inside just yet. It was his first time visiting his childhood home in ages, many years passed since Haly’s Circus last set foot in Gotham. Dick had already gone to say his hellos to Pop Haly, who greeted him as fondly as Dick had hoped.

‘Entrance fee is on me, kid ,’ he said, ‘ and don’t forget to come say goodbye before you leave .’ 

Big heart in an aging body, Pop Haly hasn’t changed a single bit. It was one of the reasons this merry band of traveling performers and gypsies stuck together for so long, regardless of the circus’ financial success. Pop Haly was stability in a microcosmos of carnivalesque chaos. 

He was always welcome here, Dick knew that.

Yet, as he eventually stepped inside, he felt like a complete stranger.

Bruce didn't know he was here. Neither did Alfred. Nor did any of his allies in the endless war for justice they'd bled and shed blood for. No, tonight was a different kind of battle, one which isn’t fought with escrima sticks, fancy gadgets or magnum bullets. Tonight was a battle of mind, of memories from a past he'd avoided for too long. A test, hopefully turned testimony, to a healing process years in the making. The final capstone to accepting a traumatic past.

As the spotlights switched on and centered on the ringmaster, Dick’s taut expression broke into a silly little smile. The booming voice welcomed everyone, welcomed him , to Haly’s extravaganza - and Dick was more than delighted to attend.

Nearly everything was as he remembered: The clowns running around the stage and weaving through the crowd while performing their ridiculous gimmicks, the awe-inspiring and bone-chilling trained animals jumping hoops and enacting balancing tricks, the tightrope walkers marching the thin line high up in the air, the jugglers throwing and catching dangerous and mundane objects alike at impossible distances. The crowd roared in applause, swept away by the charms of the circus - hook, line and sinker. Dick felt, if only for a moment, like a kid again. He recalled all the endless rehearsals, the strain before each show, and how satisfying it was to be met with the sounds of cheering and clapping after it.

Several of the spotlights dimmed, and it was time the star attraction to take center stage: The brand new flying trapeze group of Haly’s Circus; the new Flying Graysons, a respectful homage to the original. He watched the trio wave to the crowd from the upmost platforms, dressed in signature colors of old: A pair of adults, a man and a woman in their 30s, on one platform and a younger man, around his teenage years, on the opposite one. Dick could tell they were putting on their best smiles as they were introduced. He lingered on the boy, and the way his eyes twinkled to the shimmer of the spotlights.

Dick remembered how nervous he was the first time he performed before a live audience. The countless times he perfected his smile in front of a mirror, made sure his eyes popped with enthusiasm and that his costume fit every nook and cranny of his adolescent body just right. He also remembered the tightness in his chest, and how sweaty his palms were as he stood there, right there , where the young trapeze artist was currently taking a bow. They were both taught to face fear with a grin.

It was the exact same feeling he had when he first donned his Robin costume and caught a glimpse of his own reflection in the Batmobile’s windows, right before heading out to his first case with Bruce.

He had trained what felt like a lifetime, yet he thought he would never be ready.

The first fly bar swinging his way, the young acrobat on the platform caught it with a confident flair as the older male performer mounted the opposite catch bar. The stage was set.

“Breathe,” Dick whispered as if it was right into the boy’s ear, the latter about to leap off the platform. Dick’s breath caught as the boy finally did, and his eyes followed the motion arc attentively, unaware he on the edge of his seat.

The boy pushed back and forth to gain momentum right before the drums indicated it was time for the big trick: The Full Twisting Triple somersault.

‘You count to three, and you let go. You don’t think, you don’t hesitate. You just jump, and reach your arms forward.

I’ll be there to catch you.’

With his mother’s words echoing in the forefront of Dick’s thoughts, the young man let go of his fly bar. Gasps everywhere, it was the peak of the performance, the very earth stood still as the boy twirled one last time in the air, and then -

The older man’s arms reached out right on time, catching the boy’s arms in his own and brought him back to the safety of the other platform. The crowd, released from its flabbergasted suspense, cheered in deafening applaud. Dick, who had been half standing up to this point, slouched back into his seat and let out a breathless huff. The boy didn’t fall, the line wasn’t cut.

None of them were harmed.

Not this time.

Not while he was here.

--

Standing high on the rooftop of another one of Gotham City’s skyscrapers, the clouds had finally rolled in and rain began to pour. Dick Grayson, donning his costume, stood at the very edge of the upmost platform. He looked down at the city below, at all its lights and noises, and how far down the fall seemed to go.

Three .

He stood poised, perfected. He was Nightwing, the first Robin, Boy Wonder. Every muscle in his body tensed, ready for the leap. There were no bars, no safety net. Was he ready?

Two .

He used to think there was no one there to catch him. Every mistake he would make could cost him his life, and he was all alone as he jumped from that height. His training was his promise of safety, his instincts were his bars.

One .

He shouldn’t think. Even if he did dare to think, it didn’t matter. Because he still leaped, feeling the weight of his body being pulled by gravity, and how heavy this burden he thought he had to face all alone felt like. This symbol, this legacy, this hope . In times past, he felt like all he had left to look forward to was the grand splat.

But Dick learned, as he had taught others after him, there was always someone there to catch him. And as he noticed the sirens of the GCPD in the distance, the roaring of the Batmobile’s engine as it raced through the streets, the voices of his allies chiming through the comm piece - he knew.

He was Dick Grayson, the flying, the brave, the strong. He was Nightwing.

And he will never be alone ever again.

#dick grayson #nightwing #batman #the robins #flying graysons #the flying graysons #richard grayson #fanfic #boy wonder #batfam #batfamily #dc #dc comics #robin #dc heroes #Spotify

[angelchanisaweeb]

Introduction

Hello!

Salutations, friends, travels, and all those present.

I'd like to welcome you. My name is Angel. She/Her, please.

I'm sure we'll find something here that interests you here.

I'll have a bit about me, (most of) my fandoms, and my personas/self inserts and my fandom and non-fandom ocs.

I do roleplay sometimes. Usually only with friends, but if you're fine with doing short and simple stuff I'm sure we can give it a shot! Please keep in mind that I have a life, and a busy one at that. So, I may not have the most time in the world. And if I don't like roleplaying with you and I don't find it fun I will tell you so (politely) and stop replying. Here are my rules. Also, I don't usually censor and am generally okay with darker topics, but please let me know what you have in mind before we start.

I'm just a silly little fae that loves stories and bats. Hope you have fun! Don't be scared so ask me something or start up a conversation!

Here's my Carrd

There's lots (and I mean lots lol) of info after the cut if you're interested^^

A BIT ABOUT ME

Name: Angel Lovelace (online persona, what I've gone by for years)

Gender and Pronouns: Girlflux | She/Her

Sexuality: Omnisexual (or maybe omni-sapphic)

Triggers: None really. Except for people being creepy toward me

Squicks: A specific type of body horror: where you like- get blown up from the inside like a balloon. Idk, I just don't like it.

Favorite animal(s): Cat, bat, snake, fox

Favorite color(s): Purple (2nd is blue, 3rd is black)

Favorite song: (currently) Catch a Falling Star

I listen to all kinds of stuff, so anything I vibe to. Pop music (from all over the world), classic rock, metal music, folk music (from all different places, not just American country music), opera, jazz, electronic, a little rap, you name it.

Fact: I know a little ASL and a little French

Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw | [Harry Potter]

Camp Halfblood Cabin: 20 - Hecate | Percy Jackson

Panem District: District 8 | [Hunger Games]

Divergent Faction: Eurdite | [Divergent]

Genshin Element: Anemo | [Genshin Impact]

Nen Type: Manipulation | [Hunter x Hunter]

Bending Element: Air | [ATLA]

Ability: ??? {TBA} | [BSD]

Breathing Form: ??? {TBA} | [KNY]

Blood Demon Art: Illusions | [KNY]

Quirk/Meta Ability: Sensory Override: User can manipulate senses, and sometimes memories | [MHA/BNHA]

Night Raven College Dorm: Ignihyde (or possibly Pomefiore) | [Twisted Wonderland/TWST]

Unique Magic: ??? | [TWST]

Feel free to ask questions!

--------

FANDOMS

Aaron's Absurd Armada

Alice in Wonderland

Alice in the County of Hearts

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Babblebrook

Black Bulter

Bungou Stray Dogs (not far far in lol)

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba

Descendants

Diabolik Lovers

Divergent

Ever After High

Five Night at Freddy's

Genshin Impact

Harry Potter

Hazbin Hotel

Helluva Boss

Hunter x Hunter

Julie and the Phantoms

Link Click

Lost

Marvel

Maze Runner

Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir

Monster High

My Hero Academia

Obey Me!: One Master to Rule Them All

Once Upon a Time

Percy Jackson

Pirates of the Caribbean

Seven Wonders

Sk8 the Infinity

Spy Family

Star Wars

Stranger Things

The Coffin of Andy and Leyley

The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.

The New Legend of the Monkey King

The Vampire Diaries

Twilight

Twisted Wonderland

(I'm sure I forgot a lot of them and a lot of fandoms I'm not that far into, so I didn't list them. Stuff like Attack on Titan and Haikyuu!!!. But you ask me if I'm in any of your fandoms! And if I remember anymore, I'll update my list.)

--------

PERSONAS & SELF INSERTS

HARRY POTTER

Name: Angel Lovelace

Blood status: Pureblood

House: Ravenclaw

Birthday: January 10th, 1979

Is American. Transferred from Ilvermorny to Hogwarts in her second year (the Golden Trio's first year)

PERCY JACKSON

Name: Angel Lovelace

Godly parent: Hecate

Fatal flaw: Cowardice

HUNGER GAMES

Name's the same unless said otherwise, k?

District: 8

Usually not a tribute. Usually the niece (or sister or smth) of a victor.

BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES

Capitol citizen. A first year at the University and one of Dr. Gall's assistants. Friends with Tigress and Hilarius Heavensbee.

DEMON SLAYER

Species: Demon

Age: 128 (chronologically), 14 (biologically)

Blood Demon Art: Smth to do with illusions

Was training to be a demon slayer in life, but a demon got her best friend and she kinda lost her faith in them. Never took the test.

DESCENDANTS

AK or VK: VK

Parent: Red Queen (or Queen of Hearts if we're only doing og animated ones)

HAZBIN HOTEL

Sinner or Hellborn: Sinner

Death date: It changes from time to time, but it's either 1888, 1924, or 1986

HELLUVA BOSS

Species: Imp

Job: Informant and hitman

Affiliation: IMP

BABBLEBROOK

Location: Harrington (I think... the town near the inn)

Job: Librarian

Very good friends with Maybell. Also friends with Mrs. Pippetwhistle, the haberdasher, and Bridgette. Has bats and cats around the library.

MY HERO ACEDEMIA

First - Hero

Age: 15

Class: 1-A or 1-B

Quirk: Sensory Override - Can manipulate senses and sometimes memories

Second - Villain

Age: 19-24

Affiliation: League of Villains, Shie Hassaikai, Paranormal Liberation Front, Poppyseed Circus, among others

Quirk: Sensory Override

Doesn't really commit to anyone one thing or ideology. Just drifts from place to place selling information for entertainment. (Not that kind of entertainment, chill. Think Undertaker from Black Butler, wants jokes and stories. Also likes to play pranks and stuff yk)

TWISTED WONDERLAND

Year: Second year

Dorm: Ignihyde (sometimes a Pomefiore transfer)

Class: 2-E | Seat 18

Unique Magic: "Make a Wish" Basically shows the target illusions. Sometimes puts them to sleep.

Club: Film Studies

DIABOLIK LOVERS

(I've only played the first game and the beginning of the second, so sorry if these are bad. That being said my personas for this are works in progress)

First-

Age: ???

Species: Vampire (possible has demon connections)

Worked in the manor for years as a dresser (made everyone's clothes) and sometimes an advisor of sorts. Admired Cordelia for her beauty. Knew/knows lots of secrets and very fond on manipulation.

--------

FANDOM & NON-FANDOM OCS

Work in progress, but I kinda have them scattered all around lol

Looking back, they're all so cringy 😭 I d e s p e r a t e l y need to update all of them lol and the stories too because like- ugH

I also have a Toyhouse account that I never use, but I should get around to. Anyways, here's the link.

ANywAys-

I'm crying looking back on my old stuff. Tempted to just delete lol. And I still need to find all my roleplay ocs, the ones I made spefically to rp with. And I still need to do my Twelve Cities stuff. The Twelve Cities is a story I'm working on, if you care.

--------

WOW! That's a lot of my stuff lol. Anyways, if you made it this far, congrats! Have a cookie 🍪

Well, I hope you have a good time. Come visit me whenever!^^

[masterjedilenawrites]

Hello!

I was wondering if you would set me up on a blind date (I love me the clone men, including the Bad Batch)! I am an INFP who loves to write, do artsy crafts/projects, read, and make desserts. I am very family-oriented almost to a fault as I am in need of some space lol. I take my job seriously and find myself invested in whatever I'm a part of. My passion is being helpful to the people around me even in the little things.

I'm nerdy for sure. Kind of a dork, but good at keeping it on the DL until I know a person well enough lol. I enjoy learning about other cultures and trying new foods.

Anyway, I hope you're having a good day, and it's been really fun to see the matchups!

There sure are a lot of us INFPs on here huh? 😄 Well, I've been trying to get this one clone on a date for weeks now and finally got him to agree. I think it worked out having you available for a date, because I think the two of you will really get on!

Your date is...

✨Rex!✨

While you may be good at keeping your dorkiness under wraps at first, Rex sure isn't. For all his confidence as a leader and a soldier, dating really trips him up, and the only way he knows how to handle himself is with awkwardness and silliness. You'll catch him stuttering, fidgeting, blushing, and choking on his drinks all night.

But he is also oh-so-sweet about the whole thing. He outright asks you from time to time if you are comfortable, if you're having a good time, if you want to keep the date going. The more he sees you at ease, the more he'll start to relax himself. And if you guide the conversation to topics you both are passionate about - like your love for your families or your jobs - then you'll really see his personality shine.

Rex needs a kindred spirit as his partner. Though he was very apprehensive about this date, he was pleasantly surprised to find you had so much in common and value all the same things. He goes home all giddy and lets his mind wander to the possibilities any future dates could bring, like an actual relationship and maybe a family? He'll of course leave the choice up to you, he definitely doesn't want to push, and he definitely understands it'll be difficult to date a soldier like a him.

✨

Want to be set up on a blind date with a Star Wars character?

#star wars #blind date #match game #blog-versary celebration #i hope you enjoyed your date! #the clone wars #captain rex

[funforahermit]

Right, here it is by popular demand, the transcript of the most adorable video on instagram, starring Rhys and his goats!

-Watch the video here-

Hello!!

Just a quick moment to say hello. Well I've done that. Uhm, on a Saturday. Here I am, out on the coast here in New Zealand, with my goats. So you might wanna say hello to these guys.

*Smoochie noises on the goat's nose*

Say hello! Uhh, we've got a couple of Anglo-Nubian... kids.

*super warm-hearted little laugh*

Look, here they are. So this one is... What's your name? You're Barney, aren't you? That's Barney. And the other one's Fred. There's Fred at the back there. They love climbing on the rocks. So uh, I just thought I'd make your day by seeing a bit of that... natural... hilarity. Nothing brings more joy than a couple of larrikin goats. Look at them, they're gonna get try as high as they can up there. Because uhm, that's their natural thing to do. Look! And as they get older, they'll probably even... maybe even get up the cliff. I wonder if... if goats were used, uh, in any of the wars, as sort of undercover, abseiling, behind enemy lines, uh, tactical... unit.

Some questions here, any questions? What are we looking at. "So high", "goat"... "You are the goat!" Thank you.

Uh... "present", good, everyone present, who's present?

"Join them in their climb to greater heights" Yeah, I think I'd probably hurt myself

*quickest change of mind ever*

Yeeahh I could probably get up there! Let's see if I can get up there.

*starts putting phone down on a rock or something*

Set this up like this. Here we go.

*walks over to cliff, starts climbing*

[To the goats] Come on, who can get as high as me? Look! I'm higher! Come on!

*clicking and whistling*

*climbs*

Uah... That's pretty good!

*points at foothold*

Look at that up here, look at this bit!

*proceeds climbing*

*slips, but catches himself*

Uahh! I'm fine!!

I'm up here, look!

*tries to lure the goats*

*whistles*

Come on!!

*Fred and Barney nope out*

Ah you guys, you're just.. you're too pedigree!

They've buggered off!

*half climbs half jumps down*

*comes back to camera*

Oh they've buggered off. They couldn't quite get as high as me. Typical.

*sighs*

[to the goats] Don't feel bad, guys.

[to camera] They're only young. I'm still training them. Ahh..

*sniffs*

*reads something on screen*

*laughs*

I feel like this is the footage we'll see on the news! Look. I'm well aware that I could have slipped there. But, there're actually handholds, and uh... Don't do this at home. Kids. Always do it on... the sides of cliffs. And, I'm army trained, don't forget that, so I've got uh, I've got the moves.

Right. What else are we saying here? "Can you please do the helicopter noise" Come on!! I need a microphone for that. Uhm... It's just not as good without the mic.

"Best X-Files episode of the modern era"!! Wow! I'm assuming you not mean... you don't mean this:

*moves camera slightly to show the goats in the background*

You mean the one I did. Thank you, I really appreciate that. I actually had someone come up to me in a bar once and say "wh... why did you do that?!", like I ruined X-Files. And I've had other people say it's quite a legendary... I, I loved it, myself. Uhm, because it was right up my alley. Monster of the week. Uh, it had comedy, and, the best part was I... got to do it! Blew me away that I was part of that world - a world that I've always been fascinated with, possibly obsessed with. That's the paranormal.

Uhm, "Love your socks." Oh! So you must have seen those when I... These are actually my sailing socks.

*films his foot*

They're... supporting Team New Zealand, which actually won...

*is distracted by goats*

Oh look at them there!

*something amusing happens off camera*

Ah!! Ya clowns! They could actually be clowns.

*picks up walking stick (?)*

Well I won't keep you here, 'cause I know this is probably boring.

*resumes reading though*

Uh, "Jumanji 3?" Uh, good question. Can't see why not. Nothing official yet, but uh, they'd be silly not to.

"Loved Short Poppies" Thank you. So did I, loved making it. Uh.. it was a while ago now. I wanted to make more, but really, it really was just one series, uh, a documentary on the lives of, uh, of some New Zealanders. Uhm, it kinda, it finished. I've thought about doing another one, maybe, where are they ten years from that point? Uh, that'd be fun. But um, it's a lot of work. You know, and uh, TVNZ just don't really, uh, know what they're doing with television.

"I love you" Oh thank you! If you could leave your details, that'd be great, 'cause I'm really into... into love, I need a lot of it.

You loved Voltron, good,

"Jumanji 26" Well that's... that's probably pushing it.

A dragon on a flag, "thoughts?" Love it. Love Wales. I mean, after all I have a Welsh name. Definitely got background there.

*looks over at the goats*

Oh look at these guys!

*mystery device says "WORKOUT RESUMED"*

Oh! My workout's resumed. Don't know whether you heard that.

*films goats*

Hey guys!! Shall we get going back?

*"WORKOUT PAUSED"*

*goats eat the greenery on the cliff*

You're actually not allowed to eat a lot of that! Okay?! Come on! Come on, stop eating that. Let's get going!

[To camera] They eat anything. And I've got some...

*is interrupted/drowned out by "WORKOUT RESUMED"*

Oh the bloody workout keeps resuming, I don't know whether you can hear that, but, you know...

*sniffs*

*takes a step*

*trips (which is fair because he's looking at his phone not where he's going)*

Ooh!! Keeping fit. I've got some food in my back pocket, so I can make sure I get them back in the pen. Otherwise they'll be off for the day.

"Where do you live in New Zealand?" Hoho, that's a secret location. It's uh, on the coast. But you'll never find out.

"You wouldn't swear at me, would you Murray"

*laughs*

Oh you guys. Such classic moments.

Uhm... "Model planes"? I love model planes. Uh, haven't had time to make one lately. Last thing I made was uh, a Kübelwagen

(he doesn't say that right, but I looked it up and it's German so... 'xD)

It was a little... I did that in, uhm, lockdown. No, what was it? Quarantine. So many new words these days, isn't there.

"Dan is my favourite." Ah well, I just don't believe that. You can say that, but, I know it's me. What about Buttons? Any Buttons fans here? We just did a podcast yesterday. Uh, so he's working on it today. He was supposed to come up, we were gonna go on a, uh, a river adventure, but he decided to stay home and edit the podcast, so... Uh we're doing a live podcast too, during the comedy festival here, so we'll be streaming that, uhm, and Dan will be via a zoom... a zoom screen.

"Buttoooons!!"

*trumpet noises*

*trips again*

Oop. There you are, there's a sound effect.

Uh... god, they love the rocks. Speaking of rocks, I might head home and grab myself a gin and tonic. So, all the best, have a fancy weekend,

*"WORKOUT PAUSED"*

*nods*

Workout paused. Uh, workout will be resumed again very shortly

*reads something clearly amusing and/or pleasing but doesn't say what it is*

and yeah, we'll work on getting some more merch down

*reads even more and looks very happy <3*

I love you guys, uhh, take care, and uhh, yeah.

Goat on.

*smiles like he knows what he's done*

Have a goat day.

#i bloody love him #rhys darby #the goats vid #long post

[lemongingerart]

The escape, part 1 till 4.1

THIS POST IS TO COMPLETE ALL CHAPTERS ON TUMBLR! I've shared these chapters of my fanfic in links before, but never the full text. So nothing new to read, alas... (but, I'm working on the publication of arc 2 very soon, I swear 😇)

Summary: The first arc of my Armitage Hux x OC fanfic, working title "shattered ambitions, rebuilt into dreams." or, "chocolate cookies and tarine tea" depending on my mood 🤔💁.

Rating: Explicit. This is the NSFW version (first 2 chapters are SFW). So, Minors, do NOT read or interact. 18+. Family, friends and colleagues, please don't read this. :'-)

Tags & warnings: TRoS fix-it (kind of), Hux!lives, Hux doesn't like Kylo, Not a Redemption Arc, maybe a little bit, shameless OC insert (there are cliches but entertaining ones imo), slow emotional burn, medium sexual burn, Enemies to Enemies With Benefits to Lovers, Hux is a villain with villainous thoughts at first, but let's see what a different environment will do, Choking, Virgin Characters, Masturbation in Shower, and out of the shower too, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Past Child Abuse, Very short suicide mention.

I will add tags as we proceed in the story, please let me know if I forgot one!

From chapter 3 on: mentions of choking, non-consent actions, vague sexual thoughts From chapter 4 on: NSFW - mentions of sex, non-consent plans, masturbation, Hux is a manipulative asshole and a shy coward at the same time. Has shady plans. I love him.

A/N:

Hello there!

I wrote this little fanfic about 2 years ago, to get my very vivid daydreams under control. I wasn't really planning on publishing this, but it feels wrong just to have it catching digital dust on my drive. So recently, I picked it up again and started to flesh out the parts that were still missing. I haven't finished it at all, but at least the first arc is done, so I can update that one on a regular basis!

The initial fic started as smut, but somehow I've written more action scenes than lemons. And worldbuilding. And fluff. And character development. So, this has no genre? There *is* a main plot, but there are filler episodes as well to just explore the character's interactions, or just because I like to add easter eggs to my version of this vast Star Wars universe.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it! And bear with me, English is not my native language. I never thought myself to be a fanfic writer at all, but I sincerely hope this is as entertaining for you as it is for me. Constructive comments are always welcome! I love to hear your thoughts and learn what I can improve!

(Also the first paragraph is kind of heavy, but it's the character's fault I swear!)

Chapter 1 - escape destiny

First Order star destroyer Steadfast , 35 ABY.

Allegiant general Enric Pryde was not a fool. From the moment he and his armada came out of the unknown regions, to reinforce the current First Order military fleet known to the galaxy, he knew. His guidance was needed for the survival of the order. 

He had watched those two immature boys for some time now, seeing how their positions within the First Order had changed. He knew that Ren was the one illegally seizing power and trying to sidestep Hux, just because he could. He saw the rivalry grow, leaving Ren and Hux bickering over the most futile decisions. It was corrupting the order, as the emperor had foreseen. 

After Snoke’s fall, there was no clear vision left, no straight path to victory any more. At least not without him, that is.

He knew his chance to seize command would come soon. Ren was now too occupied with the Jakku girl, and Hux's frustrations towards Ren’s chaotic behaviour grew every time they collided. Pryde was not happy either with the self-proclaimed supreme leader’s decisions, but at least he could use them for his own good. Hux, on the contrary, was barking like a caged Akk dog, bitterly knowing he’ll be the first to fall after his failure at Starkiller base. His misstep on D’Qar, letting the dreadnought Fulminatrix get destroyed, left a second stain on his career as well. 

Pride inwardly smiled. Hux used to be a prodigy, but he lacked experience and was too frustrated with his loss of power, and that caught onto him. And now, it appears he has no backbone to cope with the sticky situation he was in. It was like Hux's late father once mentioned to him, back when their paths crossed in the unknown regions. His son has no spine and is not made for this life. 

Thinking back at that particular conversation, it was actually surprising he lasted this long. 

Lately, Pryde noticed that Hux even stopped stating his concerns to Ren. He seemed beaten, or at least, that was the impression he was trying to make. And Ren, he was growing more and more insane. That boy was even worse to work with, a loose cannon on deck, only kept there by the emperor because he is supposed to be some part of a prophecy. Pryde suspected that the emperor’s plan for Ren would soon become clear to him. He hoped it didn't involve him having to keep answering to that short tempered idiot.

He stopped his trajectory when he arrived at the middle of the bridge, and peered outside through the front view.

It was only a matter of time for him to take over from those two foolish boys playing toy army. And then, nothing would stand in his way to shape the universe to the vision of the one true emperor. Pryde’s own flavor included, of course.

But first, he needed to catch the culprit who got word to the Resistance about Exegol. Although Hux reassured him that his men are trained well and fully indoctrinated with the first order's philosophy, he had his doubts. Lately, rumours reached him about Phasma being the one who had assassinated Hux’ father, Brendol. The fact that Armitage Hux and Phasma had been seen together more frequently, before her demise, was another big red warning sign for him. 

He had decided to keep a close eye on both of them already a while ago. Now, Phasma was eliminated, and the spy continued leaking information. 

He assumed Hux's changed behaviour towards Ren was no coincidence either. He had seen the ginger boy in action before, scheming and working his way up. He was not to be underestimated, and the fact that Ren was taking every actual decisive power out of Hux’s hands, wasn’t going to be digested well by the latter. 

Yes, the leader of the first order's army and former supervisor of Starkiller base was his number one suspect.

The hiss of the bridge's main entrance woke Pride from his speculative thoughts.

A trooper squad approached the Allegiant General, bringing forth a prisoner.  “Sir, we have found another one. As requested, we brought her here”, the first trooper reported. “Ah, the emperor will be pleased", Pryde replied. He turned to another officer standing to the left of him and replied: "Officer Trach, can you prepare the test?” Trach nodded curtly and turned around.

The handcuffed girl looked at Pryde with fierce amber eyes and spilled a waterfall of angry words: “Let me go! I didn’t mean to slice into the system, I was just experimenting! I didn’t do anything wrong, you’ll see! There wasn’t anything interesting to find anyway!”. She slightly heaved from the outburst.

Pryde looked over his shoulder and looked down upon the rather short prisoner. What a... rude chatterbox..., he amusingly thought. Such noise for such a small girl.

“Oh, but you’re not here because you didn’t do anything wrong. It’s because of what you might do in the future,” he responded, his face sporting a wry smile. Trach had joined his flank, and Pryde took the test device from the officer. The two troopers, who were escorting the struggling girl, routinely forced her on her knees, not waiting for Pryde’s orders. One of them took her right arm and pulled up her sleeve. She tried to fight back and snarled: ‘Hey, let me go! You’re hurting me!’ to her assaultants, who were struggling to keep her pinned on her position.

Pryde approached her, pulling back her head by her hair. She groaned, but found the strength to spit straight in his face. The allegiant general backed up, letting out a low growl. He wiped away the spit from his cheek with his gloves. 'You insolent bi-…' he started saying, instantly pushing the test device to the skin of her arm and definitely applying more force than necessary. He kept his distance this time, making sure he wasn't going to be covered in spit a second time. She looked him in his eyes, as if she could strike him down glaring. He chuckled, this was one of the reasons why he didn’t delegate the tests, whenever his schedule permitted it; he liked what was coming next. She was a fiery one, full of life, but not for long. 

He pressed the trigger with force, and enjoyed the way he saw her face flinch. Her eyes went teary and lost focus. Ah, he savoured that feeling of power. “You see, eventually, everyone ends up the same way.” he stated with a sly smile, releasing the trigger and giving back the apparatus to Trach.

The girl fell limp and landed face first on the immaculate deck.

Pryde turned around and went over to the center of bridge, reminiscing about moments like these, when the test subjects started to lose their consciousness. These tests were a great reminder of how he could toy with the lives he overpowered. And power, he craved.

“Report me if the midichlorian test confirms the reported values” he routiniously said. Trach nodded and took the device elsewhere.

At that exact moment, Pryde heard the repulsor doors to the bridge open again. He turned around, seeing his number one suspect and adversary approaching. 

He raised his eyebrow, confused and intrigued by this new turn of events. General Hux was limping, his leg hastily bandaged. Blood was already seeping through his uniform pants, the wound clearly caused by a blaster shot. 

Pryde noticed that the general looked even paler than usual, and somehow he lost some of his annoying pride and charisma. Not that he had much of both left lately. Of course, given the situation, he didn’t expect anything else from that overconfident boy. He always thought he was worthless, only thriving because there used to be a void in the first order’s leading positions. It appears he's not resilient enough to cope with a few setbacks , he mused. As I expected. 

He could admit though that Armitage was smart, smarter than his father, but Pryde had lived longer than him. He saw how the galactic empire had brought order to the galaxy, by ending the clone wars. He saw dozens of people with ambition come and go. The higher their aim, the greater the fall. The emperor saw through them time and time again, together with his counseling. This time, it was Hux’s turn to fall and - finally - his own time to rise.

 'It was a coordinated incursion, allegiant general', Hux recited, his voice trembling either by anger or by fear. Maybe both, Pryde considered, thinking back about his earlier train of thoughts. 'They overpowered the guards and forced me to take them to their ship.' 

Liar , Pryde thought, feeling strangely satisfied. This was it. The opportunity he was waiting for. Hux's half-baked excuse was exactly what he needed; he just presented Pryde with perfect leverage to bring him down . It seems I was right all along, and even if he's not the spy after all, I will make sure everyone believes he was. This is the perfect moment . 

 'I see', Pryde responded dryly.

 'Get me the supreme leader,'' he requested his communication officer. 

That exact same moment, he took the blaster from the nearest trooper and swiftly turned around, shooting Hux right in the stomach. His target’s body immediately flew backwards and landed several meters further, carried by the force of the blast.

The allegiant general was thrilled by the rush of action, but quickly tried to hide it from his subordinates. He still had it in him. He had to play this game to the end…

 'Tell him I found the spy,' he stated to the communication officer. 

A sense of pride and self indulgence overcame him. 'Throw the traitor's body in the trash compactor, where he belongs', he loudly stated, making sure he was heard by the very soldiers Hux had recruited and had overseen their training for decades. 

He eliminated his first rival, now it's time to move onward to the second one, Ren. 

Pryde turned towards the empty void of space, feeling the adrenaline rush slowly fading from his veins.

'Sir, what about the girl?' He heard officer Trach ask. Pryde looked up to him and turned to the side deck. He almost forgot about her. The captive was still on the floor, staring with wide eyes at the place Hux had stood, just half a minute ago. She looked pale, as if she saw a ghost. Heh . He thought. Seems like she lost that boldness already. It only took just one kill for her to witness, just that bit, to silence her. As I expected from a mere civilian.  He replied: 'Lock her up as usual. Until the results are confirmed, we don't know if she can onboard the shuttle’.

What the kriff… What's happening? First I get abducted by some creepy hooded individuals, then I seem to be on some dank first order flagship, and now this bastard forces me down and gives me this shot from a device that looked way too fragging big to be medically responsible… which was shukking painful by the way… and my head is spinning so hard.. .

Miko shortly lost her consciousness from the blood that was quickly pulled from her veins. She didn't feel the smack when her head hit the shiny black durasteel floor, everything went dark for a few seconds. 

When she regained her sight, she saw two black boots turning away from her. A moment later  after the deafening sound of the blood rushing in her ears stopped, she could hear the typical sound of a repulsor steered door opening. She didn’t feel completely conscious yet, but the adrenaline rushed her senses on full alert in no time. Someone had entered the bridge, she assumed, as that old bastard was not paying attention to her any more. 

Good, maybe she could come up with some plan, or at least get a clue of what the frack was going on here. 

She righted her head and turned towards the newcomer. Her whole body was loudly complaining, refusing her to fully lift up her head, so she turned it to the side. She couldn't really understand what they were saying, her ears were still buzzing. But somehow, she could feel the tension rising fast. It was like the atmosphere was getting electrically charged. She saw the older one of the duo, the one that just kriffing harassed her, turn around again, stepping away from the younger one and taking the blaster from the trooper next to him.

W-whoa...wwait! Don't shoot! She tried to yell, but nothing came out. She had tried to reach out with her hand, as if she could stop the grey-haired bastard from shooting the red-haired douchebag, but her body just didn't respond to her commands like it should. 

The officer fully took the shot and his body violently flung back to the bridge's main entrance. 

D-did he just kill another crewmember like it was nothing? I… I knew the  'worst order' had a fragging bad reputation, but... this? 

Miko suddenly felt sick from watching someone die in front of her, even if it was probably someone she hadn’t wanted to get to know better, anyway. She never witnessed something as life-threatening as this before, and wished she never would, again. Her stomach turned. A cold blooded murder, executed by the officer who took interest in her. 

Great .

She heard someone ask a question that probably referred to her presence, but her mind wasn't able to register what exactly was going on. The troopers that had pressed her on her knees, now pulled her on her wobbly feet. She was slowly getting able to move again, but all felt like she was in some kind of bad dream. One took her by the handcuffs, while the other went to drag the lifeless corpse to the trash compactor.

Miko was roughly pulled forward through the hallways of the Steadfast . The two first order troopers were now walking next to her, one on each side. The right one was holding the cuffs tightly. When she looked the other way, she saw the other trooper with two boots in his hands. He was disrespectfully dragging the dead officer forward, like he was sweeping the floor. The trooper to her left scraped his throat and started talking to his comrade: “the trash compactor is closer, let me first throw him in”. The other trooper nodded curtly. She shivered. She knew the First Order was bad news, but this was much worse than she expected. How am I ever going to get out of this frigging hellhole?

I have to come up with a plan , she desperately thought.  She had to try to look around for some way out.

The group turned down another hallway, reaching one of the many trash compactor entrances that existed on the resurgent-class star destroyer. She heard the other trooper sigh. Was this business as usual for them? Or were they affected by this wicked situation as well? She wondered. Their black visors and stiff armor hid their expressions very well, it was impossible to tell.

She felt a lump in her throat, thinking back about what happened on the bridge. Should I have a last look at him? She thought, somehow feeling sorry for the shot down officer. She turned her head and shoulders to catch a glance of him. However, the trooper that was holding her in check, suddenly reacted to her maneuver, and roughly pulled her cuffs towards him.  But instead of pulling her back in line, she lost her balance, falling backwards with a swirl, right onto the lifeless corpse.

Miko froze. 

She was staring right into the empty blueish green eyes of the man that was just shot and killed. 

Her cuffed hands had landed on his chest, and the physical contact with this corpse made her feel like she was going to throw up. She desperately closed her eyes to ignore the sensory overload and felt a cold chill, like a shockwave, go through her. This was how she was going to meet her end too, right? A dead lump, ready to be composted on this stupid war machine. How did this all happen so fast? And - by the fragging stars - why?

Her hands were pulled up once again by the trooper, but she felt so limp, she couldn't find the strength to react. The situation went south so quickly, and there was no escape whatsoever, she hopelessly thought.

She felt movement beneath her, and opened her eyes again, expecting that the other trooper had started pulling the still warm body. But instead, she looked in the exact same blueish green eyes again, staring back at her . 

What the fr-...? 

The presumed-dead officer quickly pulled his hand from beneath her, reaching out to the trooper holding her handcuffs, swiftly grabbing the trooper’s blaster from its holster. He shot the other trooper in the chest, before the blaster was even removed from the holster. The framed trooper turned around in confusion, receiving a shot in the stomach himself. 

In a mere few seconds, Miko found herself on the ground in between two lifeless troopers, a man who was very much supposed to be dead sitting next to her. 

She looked at him in shock, not understanding a bit from what had just happened. 

To her surprise, he looked as confused as she was. The burn from the blast was apparent on his otherwise spotless uniform and she could’ve sworn that he was really absolutely dead just seconds ago. Not that she had any experience with laying on a dead body at all, but still.

“What did you do?!” he half whispered-half shouted her way. 

“What did I do? I witnessed you die back there!” she responded with the same hissing voice. The officer ignored her reaction and started touching the hole in his uniform. “It pierced through the blaster protection, as I feared…" the man frowned. "Why were you present on the bridge?” he sternly demanded. 

Miko felt even more confused and slightly annoyed by his commanding tone. “What do you mean? And I have no idea why I was there! That creep took some painful blood samples from my arm and was going to lock me up, that’s the only thing I know!” She responded, slightly raising her voice. 

He looked at her, one eyebrow raised. “Did he by any chance say anything else?” 

Miko tried to recall the situation, but everything went so quickly and the blood loss made her memories blurry. “Yeah, he said something about some midi-what-the-hell-ian values he was going to check”. She crossed her arms, scanning his face for answers. 

The first order officer stared back at her, nose twitching, as if she had caught some rare disease. He then started rubbing his chest again in slow circles. His hand clenched at the fabric for a fraction, before he quickly stood up and started walking further into the hallway and away from her, his back straight. 

“Hey! Where the frag are you going?” Miko shouted. He didn’t respond, didn't look back at her or slowed down. He acted as if she wasn’t even kriffing there. 

She didn't like this attitude of his at all.

Miko stumbled and almost fell, having trouble standing up with her hands cuffed. But she quickly ran after him and grabbed his arm, hoping to get some response out of him. She didn't like the idea at all, but he was probably her only chance of survival, so she wasn't going to let him get away just like that. 

He suddenly turned and looked back at her with a menacing glare, as if touching him was way off limits. She backed away and forgot about her plan, surprised by his reaction and taken aback by his piercing eyes. Luckily, he paused for a second and looked back and forth, as if he was overthinking the situation.  

He sighed. “Follow me if you want to get out of this ship”, he coldly replied.

Chapter 2 - escape from Steadfast

What’s this? Why am I on the floor? And why is this odd fuzzy hairball staring at me like she had just seen a ghost? And why in the order's name is she on top of me? Hux thought in disdain. He was confused, disoriented and absolutely not comfortable with having someone invading his personal space. 

He tried to clear his mind and focus on the past events. Wasn’t he on the bridge of the Steadfast ? 

Pryde . 

He remembered. 

While his eyes were adjusting to the hallway light, he saw 2 troopers slowly reaching for the girl, unaware of him regaining his consciousness. This was the moment he needed to act on. 

He reached for the nearest trooper's blaster and swiftly shot both soldiers. The girl automatically moved to the side, making way so he could get up on his knees. 

Hux stared at the white armored bodies. What a waste, I had to shoot a total of five troopers in one day, he thought. 

He paused and gulped down the nauseous feeling he got from the turn of events. Not that any of them mattered to him any more.

The girl quickly told him what happened. He cursed inwardly. If what he suspects was true, he was just saved by a force sensitive. Ugh , he absolutely hated the thought of being saved by someone with the likes of Kylo Ren. Apart from his rivalry with the latter, he wasn’t a fan of anything that couldn’t be scientifically explained either. 

It seems that she is not aware of her abilities, though , he noticed. For now, let’s keep it that way. I don’t want to give her any ideas. But why is Pryde picking up force sensitive people? One is already too much! He felt his frustrations rise again, thinking about the self-proclaimed supreme leader and the way he used that Force power to lash out at him physically. He unwillingly touched his neck, remembering his latest encounter with Kylo.

He tried to regain his composure. Let’s evaluate the situation later, she might come in handy right now.

He looked at the two troopers he just shot. My first priority should be a swift escape, which will be much easier as long as I'm presumed dead,   he reasoned. He took the blaster from the floor, started walking and eventually called the girl to follow him. “We should get to the lower hangar, my shuttle is stationed there. I was planning to depart, so it should be fueled up by now” he stated, increasing the pace.  

He suddenly stopped in his tracks. If the girl was the only one leaving a trace, no one will know he’s still alive, even after his escape. That would give him a significant tactical advantage. He should come up with a plan to reach the shuttle without being noticed.

The girl, obviously still confused about the whole situation, walked right into him, giving him a bump in the back. 

“Watch we’re you’re going!” he hissed. She was looking back into his eyes, anger showing in hers. She pointed a finger to his chest, her hands still cuffed.  “You’re hard to keep up with, you’re at least 2 heads bigger than I am, and then you frigging stop out of the blue! What do you expect to happen!” She silently shouted back. 

Hux felt his anger level rise. This whole day had been full of stress and frustration, and this brat was only adding fuel to the fire. She should learn her place, or this is not going to work well, he thought, while grinding his teeth. She bothered him already twice in this short timespan, and with such insolence. 

But he also knew that he didn’t have any better options, and he had manipulated people into serving his purpose in the past. He had to make this work, for his own sake. 

He looked at her with cold stern eyes, then turned his head towards a hallway with an open door, leading to the hangar. “We need to get to my ship and make sure we can take off. We have to get authorization from the control tower first,” he stated.  She sighed, tried to cross her handcuffed arms and replied with a sceptical look: “And how are you going to pull that off?” 

Armitage thought he felt a vein in his brain pop, not used to receiving such answers. He refrained from the urge to verbally lash out to her and forced himself to think about the situation ahead. 

He brought his gloved right hand to his chin. She did have a point. He had to give up his cover, if he wanted to try to convince someone. He could go back to take the trooper’s helmet, call control tower, and hope that the microphone unit would cover up his voice. But using his authorization code was a great risk. Most of the troopers knew him all too well… he implicitly recruited and oversaw training for most of them, after all. He was the image of the army's propaganda. News of his demise had probably already spread, so using anything related to his identity would most certainly ring some alarms. 

His shoulder was pounded upon again, so he looked down with slight resignation. The girl was holding her hands to the side, wanting to put them on her hips, but not able to do so due to the handcuffs. “Leave that to me”, she whispered with a sly smile. 

He pulled one eyebrow up again. “What do you mean?” he responded with a slightly cynical voice. 

“Can you guide me to an access port somewhere?” she smiled enthusiastically. 

Her reaction looked somewhat childish in his eyes, and that really didn’t give him any confidence. But his plan was too risky anyway, so he could at least give her the benefit of the doubt, he considered. 

Hux pointed her to the nearest access point. She sat down on one knee, looking at the port. He was feeling very sceptical about this. How can this girl do anything with that access port? Without a scomp link, she can't even access it, he wondered. He saw her looking over her shoulder, whispering something. She’s not going to do some force magic, right… he thought in disdain, furrowing his brows.

‘PC, you can come out now’, he now heard her  whisper. A tiny droid crawled out of the neck sleeve of her jacket. It had 2 visual sensors and 4 motoric ones, it resembled something animal-like. A small reptilian type of animal, including the bulging eyes and flexible tail. The thing found its way via her arms to the access point, turning to use said tail as the communicator, the scomp link. She whispered instructions to the little droid, before she pulled out a small working pad from her gear. She started scanning the screen with full concentration and started slicing, clearly forgetting his presence.

Hux was intrigued by the droid, he never saw such a small animal-like model. The way it swiftly moved the access point’s turning wheel was peculiar, but most effective. If he was head of the infiltration division, this model would make a great asset. 

If I was still in charge… but that’s all over and done now. He gulped. 

If… only I'm able to get to Ren . The stakes were high, too high for his liking, but he would do anything to make the idiotic force user disappear. 

The droid made a squeaky sound.  The girl turned to Hux again. “All done!” she exclaimed, enthusiastic about her presumed success. He was still sceptical though, her enthusiasm only making him feel less confident. Does she really know what she's doing? She sure doesn't act like it , he wondered. But… if she really achieved changing flight plans and authorizations without notice, she could disable the surveillance cameras as well. She might even be able to diminish the amount of troops in the hangar, too , he reasoned. The longer he was presumed dead, the better. 

He asked her if she could pull that one off, and she responded positively. The droid squeaked, and she focused back on the access port. 

Hux was nervously pacing through the hallway, and although it took her and that droid only two minutes, it felt like eternity. The more dead moments like this, the more chance they could be discovered. 

He felt his heart racing from not being able to do anything, his mind starting to come up with all kinds of worst-case scenarios. He took another swing, and saw her standing up and putting two thumbs up in the air. Good. Urgent time to leave.

 “Okay, let's advance and check if your little trick worked. Walk before me and pull up your hands.” he stated. 

“What? Why?” she responded with a low tone, clearly finding his request suspicious. “I’m going to transfer you as a prisoner to the shuttle”, he explained with a hissing tone. “Oh-okay, I can go with that.” She said with a voice full of doubt. 

As if she had another choice , he thought scornfully.

The droid retreated back into her jacket, its lean form making sure it wasn’t visible from the outside. Hux removed the bandage from his left leg. The bleeding hadn’t entirely stopped, but the white fabric was way too obvious. The black hole on his chest was clearly visible, too.  “Walk closely before me, so they don’t notice the damage on my uniform,” he added, while disposing of the cloth. He took the confiscated blaster and pointed it on her back, coercing her to start walking. 

The duo marched over to the hangar deck. Hux scanned the hangar. Good, it seems the dock was manned with minimum capacity. Maybe her slicing efforts actually had their results.  

Apart from that, he spotted nothing out of the ordinary, which was a good sign. It indicated that the news of his presumed death had not reached the hangar personnel yet. If he was lucky, none of them would think back about this moment or even notice them. They had to move as subtle as possible. 

He slowly picked up the pace, but tried not to go too fast so that he had to limp. The shot wound in his leg was slowly starting to take its toll. They passed a few of the hangar crew members and he sternly nodded to a trooper that saluted him. He hoped none of them would see the sweat on his forehead. Or wonder why he was there and no pilot was with him. It’s been a while since he flew himself, after all. 

They walked on the ramp of the shuttle and he opened the cargo doors. Without looking up, they both stepped inside.

(small bonus doodle because I love awkward situations and they need more attention)

Chapter 2 - escape from Steadfast (II)

Hux closed the shuttle door as fast as possible and let the girl free. He let out a breath. He didn't prefer to be in risky situations at all. Being on the bridge, executing battle strategies was his forte, not actually being in the field. 

He marched to the cockpit, the girl followed in his wake. He swiftly sat down and started to power up his shuttle. “Prepare for a swift jump to lightspeed” he stated, without looking her way. She slowly looked around,  taking in the environment. “O-ok” she absentively answered. 

He paused, wondering how much flight experience she was lacking. 

“Put yourself in that chair”, he pointed out. She quickly sat down and put her hands on her knees. 

She’s clearly not used to space travelling, he mused . A real planetary brat.

The ship's motors started roaring to life. Moments later, the ship took off, and Miko was pressed against the back of the seat. She had a hard time taking in what was happening, but was finally feeling relieved to see the stars. It gave her some hope that this nightmare could be over soon.

Hux turned to her: “we’re going to jump into hyperspace as soon as possible. I’m setting up the hyperdrive, can you give in the coördinates?” he asked her. 

“Where?” she replied, absolutely willing to help to get out of there as fast as possible. 

“at 3h” he responded. 

Who the hell talks in hours? She wondered, reminding herself she picked him up on a military base after all. She sighed and closed her eyes for a second,  in an attempt to find some inner peace.

First, he treats me like kriffing trash, he doesn’t believe I can slice the system, then he drags me into this ship with a fucking blaster pointed at my back, and now I have to know how a shuttle works? This man is giving me grey hairs! She thought instead, frustration starting to grow. 

She found the hyperspace panel and started looking through the pre-filled values. “Anywhere?” she asked, turning back to him. 

“Would you just choose something already?” he shouted back. “Why are you shouting, I can hear you when you talk, sir whatever!” she responded angrily, pressing the confirmation button. If he’s going to treat me like this - again - he’s not going anywhere! She stubbornly thought.

“By the sarlacc pits, they locked on us!” Hux shouted, while the shuttle was violently shaken. Miko closely held onto the chair behind her and momentarily closed her eyes. When the shaking stopped, she remembered his words. “By the sarlacc pits”, who says that anyway? She wondered. This guy is a kriffing relic. A next shake threw her out of her train of thoughts again and made her focus on the present.

  “The coordinates are ready!” Miko called back. Hux pulled the hyperdrive gear, the stars quickly changing into blue lines. 

“Phuh, that was friggin close!” Miko sighed, letting herself fall into the co-pilot’s chair. 

“We’re not out of this yet” Hux said while glaring at her from the side. “Prepare to jump back” he added. 

“But… no! I don’t want to go back! Why should I…” she argued. 

“Just do it already!” he angrily shouted. 

She hesitantly went over to the controls again, but at that exact moment, they were pulled out of hyperspace, reaching their destination. She looked out of the cockpit’s window, staring into empty space. Hux started turning the ship around. 

Right at that time, a squadron of first order TIE-fighters appeared from hyperspace. 

Hux cursed inwardly. The squadron opened fire and hit the shuttle a few times, giving Miko a hard time to stand. Red warning lights blinked on the right control board and if Miko wasn't panicking yet, this would certainly do the trick. The TIE's turned and a second salvo followed. Hux did his best to avoid the little buggers, but he was no trained pilot, unlike their current opponents. 

Their shields held back most of the shots, but some hits got through, making alarms go off all over the shuttle’s cockpit. 

“Wha…. They can jump through hyperspace? And they are tracking us?” Miko whispered, taken aback. 

“Put in some coordinates, now!” Hux shouted towards her. “O-okay!” she whispered in confusion. She quickly pressed the control and entered one of the preprogrammed destinations. The shuttle took another jump to the designated coordinates. While in hyperspace, he turned towards her and stood up straight. He righted his back and looked down to her with a menacing glare. His hair was slightly tossed up from angrily turning back and forth between looking at her and at the navigation panels. 

“Now, listen carefully this time. Once we arrive, jump back to the place we just came from, and then directly jump back to the Steadfast . Once there, we’ll jump again to a random spot, and so on. At least four times. And this time, do it, without hesitation!” He shouted, pointing his finger at her. 

You can’t just throw orders at me like that! She angrily thought, frustration growing and her head getting furiously red. She stood up, trying to face him on a more even level, and replied: 'I'm trying to get out of this hellhole as well, you don't need to shout at me!' She knocked away his hand and turned around. She could feel the frustration radiating from him as well; she could hear him breathe heavily and gritting his teeth. 

Miko took a deep breath and tried to calm down. She did realise he clearly knew more about this tracking mechanism, so her best chance to survive was to listen to that self-righteous idiot.

The moment the shuttle jumped out of hyperspace, they immediately jumped back to their previous location. At her right side, she saw a flash of one of the TIE-fighters landing at their location, just before the next jump was executed. She swiftly gave in the coordinates of the Steadfast’s location. “Ready!” she shouted in Hux's direction.

The third jump took them only seconds, this time no pursuing ship was seen. Another alarm was sounding and she saw Hux gritting his teeth and adding extra pressure on the steering handles. They came out of hyperspace right before the Steadfast. Miko was still entering the next coordinates.  "Hurry up! They've spotted us!", she heard him shout, while she finished the procedure.  "Done!" She exclaimed, at which Hux immediately reacted, initiating the fourth jump. 

The required fifth and sixth jump followed, and to be absolutely certain about losing their pursuers, they did another few. 

The duo arrived somewhere before a nebula, at the edge of the unknown regions. Miko was completely worked up, but the sight before her made all the tension in her body disappear. She was marvelled by the sight of the clustered stars and dusty space clouds. She had never been in outer space, and this was the first time she could actually pay attention to its beauty. For a moment, she forgot that she was in a first order ship together with some easily angered, high-minded and conceited officer. She forgot about the alarm wailing on her right side. 

“We should debate a strategy” she heard from her back, pulling her mind back into reality. Hux sat in the pilot’s seat and turned his gaze towards her. He waved his hair back in shape. He still looked like he was angry at her, but it seemed like he had found his composure again.

He stepped over to her side, checking where the alarm came from. The next thing she heard were his fists landing on the lower control panel. “This is unthinkable! The navigation unit was hit. I can’t access any of the preprogrammed coordinates any more!” he waved his hands out of anger and stepped to the other side. 

“I’ll check it out,” Miko replied quickly, willing to help. She felt a bit guilty for not following his orders. It's because of that, they were in this mess after all. 

She thought she could hear him let out a frustrated growl while he passed the spot she was standing in.

Her droid friend appeared out of her jacket again and crawled over to the data port, looking at the damage as well. Hux sat down and pressed his fingers to his forehead. He let out a long sigh. 

“The board is fried, there’s nothing I can do… it's already a miracle we could perform those last jumps. It must’ve been fried right after." Miko brought her hand to her chin. "Maybe I can check if you have access to the HoloNet on this ship, so I can look for a place to go? We can still use the direct input with coordinates,” she suggested. He didn’t look up. “That’s no option. You’ll give away our position if you do so” he responded.

 “I can put up a proxy…” she started replying, the corners of her mouth curling upwards. Her droid came to sit on her shoulder, ready to help her out. 

“They will still find a trace, trust me. I know what my men are capable of” he interrupted. He absentmindedly scratched his hair.

“From what just happened, I don’t think they’re your men any more...” Miko muttered inwardly.

Hux stood up, gave her a menacing glare, and walked out of the cockpit, leaving her there on her own.  

Great. I can add hard-headed to the list , she sighed.

Hux was losing it. He was just shot twice, left for dead but apparently saved by a naïve girl with authority issues and possibly with force powers. He didn’t know which part was worse. 

Now he was stuck in a shuttle with limited resources, having nowhere to go. He just lost everything he worked, lived and stood for. And there was no way to get it back. The only thing left was his resentment. 

First Ren, and now Pryde. They took everything from him. His life's work went up in smoke, just like Starkiller base.

If there’s anything he was still willing to achieve, it was orchestrating their demise. 

But he was practically powerless now. There wasn’t a way to get into the first order again, wasn't there.... 

He paced around in the small central wardroom, rubbed his face and tried to weigh his options.  Going back to Arkanis and using his family name could work to a certain degree, but even if he could convince the cadets on Arkanis, he had no chance against the both of them. He was the spy after all. Come to think of it, he had made sure the cadets knew how to deal with traitors. A cold shiver ran through his spine, remembering how effective and cruel his orders were towards them. No, Arkanis wasn’t an option. 

He couldn't think of any other option within his connections within the First Order. The chance was too high that they would side with either Ren or Pryde. 

But what other option is left?

Hmm. maybe the enemy of my enemy, can become my ally. If only for getting to Ren and Pryde, I’m willing to switch sides. For now. And when the opportunity presents itself, I’ll take back what’s mine. 

He stood still. If that defected trooper FN-2187 and Dameron were still alive, he might have a chance. He saved their sorry lives after all. But how to find and contact them… and first, how to get out of here...

He sat down at the table in the wardroom and thought about his options. They were stranded and they only had the navigation history of the jumps they just did, before the navigation memory unit was wiped. From what he recalled, none of them were nearby an inhabitable planet. On the other hand, it’s not like he had time to check the surroundings, so maybe they could give it a try and jump back. They have to wait for a few days to use those coordinates anyway, to avoid getting caught. 

The fuzzy hairball came in. Right, I almost forgot about her. He rolled his eyes. He realized he had no idea if there were enough provisions for one, let alone for two people. He should check that first, to be able to estimate if this was the time to get rid of her. 

She stood before him with her arms crossed and started talking: “It seems the hyperdrive got a hit too, PC is looking into it. He said we can’t use it at full speed.” 

He sighed. Another setback . He felt a cold rush climbing up his spine. How did he end up in such a sightless situation? He hated the feeling of not being in control. 

She came to sit down on the bench in front of him, and leaned forward, elbows on the table. “How did they track us through hyperspace and how did we just manage to escape?” she hesitantly asked, looking at his face like he was fishy. 

He sighed again, sat back and started explaining. He had other things to do, but he felt that explaining how superior his research division was, could at least brighten his mood a bit. 

“It's a First Order standard procedure to lock on any hyperspace trace their sensors catch. The fighters do the same.” He leaned forward as well, looking her in the eyes. He made notice on how her amber irises slightly dilated when he locked his gaze on them. Good, I have her full attention .  “We developed active hyperspace tracking, it’s very effective in pursuing targets. But if you travel backwards, you make use of that same path, making your backward jumps nearly untraceable. The technology can do some extrapolations, that’s why we had to jump the whole trip back to the Steadfast and then further on. Once they found out what we were doing, we did more than enough extra jumps to lose them.” He put up a wry smile, self-content his plan worked. It was one of his theories after all, but it wasn't tested before. 

But then he was reminded of his current situation. “Too bad we can’t travel anywhere now”, he grumbled. 

“We can travel to my place if you want?” the girl responded, cocking her head to one side. He looked up, a very sceptical look on his face. ”Your home planet? And how are we supposed to do that? The navigation is fried, did you forget?” he said, clenching his fists under the table. She's definitely not the brightest , he thought, again. He was starting to feel annoyed for the fourth time in a row now. He could feel that the combination of her presence and the recent turn of events were slowly making him lose his otherwise unbreakable self-control. 

She crossed her arms, leaned back and stated: “I know the coordinates by heart”.  

What? Who in the whole galaxy knows coordinates by heart? It’s a 48 long digit code! Hux thought, not believing her one bit.

“Are you serious?” he said, more like a statement. He couldn't take her seriously, and this definitely was not the time nor the place to mess with him.  

“Of course! One should always know how to find their way home!” she happily responded, a smart smile on her face. 

Hah, that’s funny, he thought: “You never left the planet” he dryly stated. 

“S-So what?” she responded, slightly pouting and blushing, probably feeling caught. His assumption was correct, it appeared. But still, knowing such a code by heart? That would be very unlikely.  “Why would you learn such a long code by heart if you’re never even going to use it?” he said, disbelief in his voice.  

“We can use it right now, can’t we?” she immediately countered, leaning her head backwards and starting to raise her voice again. It seems that he was not the only one who wasn't in a good mood around here. Her behaviour wasn't helping Hux to keep his calm at all. 

"Then let's hope you don't make a mistake so we don't crash into a sun, for example." He replied, the tone of his voice increasing. 

"Since the fragging hyperdrive is only working at a fraction of its speed, we don't have to worry about that, right?" she threw back at him, almost shouting.

He sat back again, breathed through his nose and tried to control the rising anger. He let out another exaggerated sigh. This girl was going to make him lose his cool sooner or later. This was worse than staying with Ren in one shuttle.

The little droid tripped from the cockpit onto the girl's seat, eventually settling down on her shoulder. 

The girl broke the loaded silence first and tried to make some progress on the plan. “Okay, suppose if we go there, what are we going to do?” she asked him. “I don’t want to get my people involved in your personal vendetta,” she added. 

How can she know about that? Is it that obvious? Hux wondered, feeling surprised and even more annoyed because he apparently couldn't hide his motives from this girl he had never met before. 

He huffed. 

“I’m planning to turn myself in with the resistance” He stated. “I have valuable information that can bring down the leaders of the first order, in exchange for my immunity.” 

She looked at him, turning one eyebrow up. “And you think they will just let you walk in there?” she responded.  

“I have been providing them with information the last months, and 2 of the resistance's key figures know about my identity. I’ll take my chances if I can get Ren and Pryde to pay.” He said, not able to hide his disdain for both. 

He cursed inwardly. He wasn’t the type to play hero, he usually let other people do the dirty work for him. But now he was practically alone, only this girl was here, but she won’t be of much help anyway. He had to do this on his own, and this was the only plan he could come up with. It could work, but it was risky and he didn’t like it.

“I think I can get us into contact with a resistance faction if we’re at my place” the girl said, holding a finger on her lips and looking back to the cockpit. Her droid was following her movements. “I’ll put in the coordinates!” she said and stood up. 

“Hey, you can’t just decide on your own!” Hux shouted back at her, but she already closed the door to the cockpit. 

This girl was going to be the death of him. 

And how did she lose those handcuffs?

Chapter 3 - escape from the psychopath (I)

Armitage Hux went back to the cockpit, seeing the girl bowing down over the panel, putting in the digits. “Apparently, it’s going to take us 28 hours to get there, due to the hyperdrive malfunction” she mumbled. The little droid was walking over the cockpit’s dashboard, keeping an eye on Hux. 

She turned around, scanning him from head to toe with a questionable look on her face. 

What’s her problem now? He thought, feeling uncomfortable under her gaze. 

“Let me see that wound.” she said, walking straight to him.

He jumped back. No way he was going to let her come that close. 

“I’ll have a look myself!” he hissed. He pulled his uniform straight, as if he could remove the damage by adjusting it, and quickly stepped out of the cockpit, head high to keep up appearances.  He then marched through the wardroom and into the private quarters, locking the door. 

He let out a sigh he didn’t know he was holding,  wondering in the back of his mind what had actually just happened. 

Armitage carefully pulled off his uniform and the blaster-repulsive vest he was wearing underneath. It was pierced, as was expected from such a close shot. He was right to wear it that day; he knew the chance of being shot sooner or later was growing more and more realistic. It was the risk he knew he was taking, by leaking information, after all. 

On his stomach, right where the shot landed, he found new scar tissue, but it was way too shallow for such a blast. So it is true, she somehow stopped the impact from the blast. It must’ve happened that instant Pryde took the shot. But why? At that moment, she could not possibly know that I could get her out of there.  

He was puzzled. Now that he thought about it, he didn’t even know her name. And she looked pretty oblivious from who he was. How that's even possible, he couldn’t understand. 

And it utterly annoyed him.

Hux found 2 bacta patches in the first aid kit and applied them on his chest and upper left leg. The bleeding of his leg was still not entirely stopped and now that the adrenaline wasn’t subduing his pain receptors any more, he started to feel the continuous tingle of the burn. 

His thoughts automatically went back to the moment he regained consciousness in one of the many halls of the Steadfast . Only now, it seemed to seep through how the girl had been way too close to him. Physical contact has always made him cringe and there has been more of said contact than he has had in a very long time. 

All what had happened the last hours on that ship was catastrophic, and it all could be summarised to him losing control.  Losing control over his carefully laid out plan, his precious army and his own body. Feelings of resentment, hate, disgust and spite rose in his chest like a tidal wave.

He rubbed his face, trying to concentrate on the tasks at hand. He hoped the wounds would heal soon with the help of the patches, because he was starting to feel worn out already. He knew his body could take the damage, history proved that already. But he also knew its limits and the effects of blood loss, which were already making him feel light in the head.

He then took one of his spare uniforms from the wardrobe and decided to get back to the wardroom. He had to find out as much as possible about that girl and her home planet. He needed to know in advance what his options were.

Oh, and he should still check the rations.

Did he just flee away when I was trying to help him? Miko was perplexed. His behaviour didn’t really add up to what she observed during their escape. He was so full of himself before, and now he got out of here like he was scared of me helping him out... 

She went to look for the officer, but he locked himself up in what she assumed was the bedroom of the ship. She then started wandering around, to explore the shuttle a bit. 

Great. If that’s the bedroom, there’s only one. She let out a huff. It’s his private shuttle after all. How was she going to get through the next 28 hours?

She heard the door open and saw him step out of the room, wearing an immaculate uniform. He must’ve changed just now, she mused. He’s really keen on his appearance, it seems. What a kriffing self centered jerk. He sat down on the bench again and started tapping his fingers on the table, which slightly worked on her already overworked nerves. 

“What’s your name?” he asked bluntly. 

Oh, we didn’t introduce ourselves yet, that’s right!  

She realised, welcoming the conversation despite his uninviting tone. ‘I’m Miko Ylena, engineer at Tagge Industries, communication division on Utapau Four. So that’s where we’re heading.” She casually swinged her hand to the cockpit, stepped closer and went to sit down, too. PC walked from her shoulder onto the table.

“Hmm… that’s a first order plant, if I recall correctly?” he wondered. 

She replied: “In theory, yes. It’s been a family business and from what I understood, nothing has changed much over the years. First,  there was the empire, now, the first order. There is a garrison stationed to oversee the production, but Henry Tagge’s still waving the scepter. Which is a good thing for us, for now. If we do our jobs well and without too much hassle, we get paid enough to come by.” 

She looked at her gloved hands. She was still wearing part of her working gear. Somehow, someone had overpowered and drugged her on the way back home. She remembered some hooded individuals, but that's all. 

PC walked up to her again, as if the little droid felt her slight distress, and went to sit between her arms.

“We’ll have to lay low so those troops don’t spot me.” Hux said. 

She looked at him, quizzical. Her mind has been working overtime, she was full of nerves and definitely not thinking straight. 

“Why? Is your hair color that rare?” she blurted out, sporting a sly smile while thinking back. He did stand out in the crowd. She remembered that ginger hair as the first thing she had noticed, when she first saw him on the bridge of the Steadfast .

But at that same moment, she already felt bad for saying it. The officer closed his eyes and was audibly biting his teeth after hearing her reaction. Woops. He must’ve misinterpreted me… she realised. It seemed like reacting assertively was a way for her to cope with the stress of the situation, and maybe she shouldn’t have started smiling. It didn't seem to land well with him at all. 

On the other hand, why should she care? It’s not like he had been friendly with her. He ordered her around like she was a subordinate of him, and it was continuously besting her tolerance level towards him. She just wanted to get him out of her life as soon as possible, before one of them did or say something they might regret. 

What did she just say?

“What does my hair color have to do with this at all?”  Hux requested, annoyed. He felt his anger level rising again. “Do you even know who I am?” he added.

“No. Some officer that was shot because he was a traitor?” she casually answered, like it was nothing. She wasn’t looking him in the face, and he could only interpret this as defiance. He started fuming. Seriously? She even works in a first order alleged company and doesn’t know about me?  

“Don’t you know anything about the commanders of the first order?” he questioned with a lower voice. 

“nope, I’m not interested in politics” she replied casually, while she was inspecting her gloves, as if this conversation was of no importance.

What? Not interested in politics? How can she say that with such impudence? 

“Wh… “ he started his rhetoric, but apparently she didn't notice that he was going to reply, and she unintentionally interrupted him: “I never paid attention to those topics in the academy, it’s not like I have any say in it. And it's manipulated shit anyway. It's a former imperial academy after all. ” She crossed her arms and leaned back. “Why do you ask?” she added. 

Hux mind short circuited. “How can you know your planet’s coordinates by heart, but not know who I am?” He was baffled, and she still looked unimpressed. What’s with this girl? 

Under normal circumstances, people were either scared or cautious towards him. At least, for the last 15 years that is. This was a new experience for him and it didn't sit well.

“I’m General Armitage Hux, commander of the First Order army. I lead the training programme of the first order troopers as well as the R&D department. My research team developed technologies such as the active hyperspace tracking you just witnessed. I oversaw the construction of Starkiller base." 

He stopped right there, he wasn’t going to let her know he played a major role in the destruction of the new republic and their pitiful resistance. He needed her to believe he was worth something for the resistance, alive.  

”I was running for Grand Marshall,  becoming the most powerful person in the whole first order,  next to the supreme leader." he stated, pressing his index finger on the table to make his point. He was feeling a bit better hearing himself say those things. Especially after all that had happened these last hours.

She was still looking at him with that sceptical look. She took a breath, then paused for a second. In the meantime, that droid of her climbed back to his usual spot on her shoulder. “Should I be taken aback or just be disgusted?” she replied, crossing her arms. 

What?  

“Either way, do you know what they were planning to do with me?” she interrupted, trying to change the subject. 

Hux was sitting there, not knowing what to do and not really registering her request. How can she just change the subject and react like that? She just keeps addressing me like I’m some unimportant individual that just happened to be on her way… and why ‘disgusted’ anyway? He thought. He was still watching her like he didn’t know what to do with her. 

She broke the silence: “Look, general Hux, I don’t want to have anything to do with this. I never asked to be abducted. I was bored, but not that bored. So I’m going to drop you off at Utapau Four and point you to my connection. From then on, I’m going back to my boring life and you can do whatever the shit you want to.”

This girl is unbelievable, he inwardly sighed.   

“You do realize that you can’t just go back to your old life. The First Order just picked you up from there.” he said with a low voice. She replied angrily: “You mean they abducted me. They stunned me for fuck sake!” 

Why is she always swearing? He was starting to get seriously annoyed yet again. This girl is really going to bring out the worst of me . 

He breathed through his nose and thought back to her initial question, changing the subject back before both of them started shouting again. 

“From what I can deduce, they were testing if you were force sensitive. I have no intel on who requested this test and why it was carried out.” 

Actually, wasn’t he going to keep quiet about this? Again an example on how she's somehow indirectly messing with me , he realized. He cursed inwardly. Why couldn’t he be more of his manipulative self?

Miko responded: “Me? Force sensitive? What a joke! I should at least know by myself, then, right?” she said with a laughing voice. She was now leaning backwards even more, making him wonder if she was going to slide off from the seat soon and fall on the deck. That would teach her from behaving so... uncivilized , he amusingly thought. 

Hux wanted to call her out on her demeanor, just to get all the frustrations out of his system, but he refrained himself from doing so.

“Was a blood monster taken from you recently?” He asked instead.  

The girl looked at her droid, which looked back in return, as if the thing would know better. “Not very recently, a few years ago. It’s standard procedure to see if we don’t get polluted by the iridium.” she mentioned. 

“It’s feasible that those results were picked up by someone within the order.” Hux reasoned. He knew he had approved an order to build an automatic system to upload and interpret blood samples before. About 13 years ago, he himself had the directive to exterminate any force sensitive beings he could discover within the ranks, but that was under Snoke’s reign. This reeked of something different.

 It was highly possible that this system was still operational and reused for other purposes, unbeknownst to him.

“That guy, the one that shot you, acted like he was doing a routine job," she mentioned, “to lock me up for transport, as usual”.” she added, while mimicking the allegiant general.  

Hux shivered unwillingly when hearing Pryde’s reference, sentences full of elaborate insults addressed to the other general already forming up in his head. He subdued the urge to let them all out and tried to concentrate on what really could have been happening.

Hmm… if Pryde’s involved with force users, and Ren never mentioned it in the supreme board meetings, I can assume that Ren is not aware of this with a high probability. Is this some plan from that supposedly resurrected Emperor to use these force sensitives for his own good? Or maybe just kill them to get rid of the competitors? He didn’t like the first scenario one bit. Honestly,  he'd prefer the second one much more and finally get rid of those freaks. 

But first, he had to make sure this particular freak could be put to some good use.

He looked up again, seeing her questioning eyes directed back at him. They seemed almost yellow due to the soft light in the wardroom. They made him feel uncomfortable, as if they were piercing through his image and looking to read his mind. The fact that she was a possible force sensitive, didn’t help at all.

“I have no clue” he lied. 

This information might come in handy, but for now I need to keep her in the dark as much as possible, he mused. 

She didn’t seem to be happy with his answer, but she let it slide.

“What should I do then?” she asked him, as if he was the source of her problems. 

He hadn’t thought about her situation at all, it's not like he cared anyway. But maybe, if she was perceptive to his suggestions, there was something to gain for him as well. She did prove to be a relatively good slicer and that inventive little droid of hers was also on his radar. 

“Since the First Order might still be on the lookout for you, your best option is to disappear or try to join the resistance.” He reasoned. 

“But I can’t just leave my father and friends behind!” She half-shouted. 

“You do realise that if you stay, you’ll just be killed and probably kill them in the process” he coldly reacted. She’s not only stubborn, she’s also short sighted. This is going to be a very long trip, he thought again.   

He stood up and righted his back. 

“I’m going to retreat and take some sleep. We should discuss tactics afterwards.” he concluded. He went to his chambers and closed the door.

Some trivia!

Tagge industries: The Tagge family is a famous family throughout the whole saga (legacy and new), but I made up Henry. He's the only one with a normal name and he's probably the only moderate Tagge family member out there... he's a bit of an outcast 😂

Utapau Four: one of the 9 moons of Utapau. There are moons in canon, but I made up the whole moon's population and geography and so on.

Chapter 3 - escape from the psychopath (II)

Did he just leave me here, just like that?

Miko let out an annoyed sigh. She was exhausted, but the thrill of recent events was still raging through her body. She noticed that she had been reacting very assertively to everything, but then again, it’s not like she was ever abducted, tested upon, jumping through hyperspace and stuck on a ship. 

And accidentally saving the biggest prick in the galaxy in the process. From the grave he had dug for himself, no less.

She started wandering around the wardroom, finding out what was where, thinking which spot could serve best for taking a nap. They still had a long way ahead of them, after all. 

She found weapons, and the pantry as well. She dug through it, took something to eat and lay down on the bench. 

Her droid walked from her shoulder onto her stomach, turned around to watch her and sat down. 

At least the bench was long enough for her to lay straight. Or I am short enough, she mused. 

Back home, she was always the largest of her friends. The inhabitants of Utapau Four were shorter than the average human-like races. They originated from the Arkanian offshoot a very long time ago, bred for mining labor. Due to gravitational differences on the fourth moon of Utapau, before it was completely terraformed, their race evolved this way. She was a bit of an exception though, because of her mother’s genetic material, which was Corellian. 

She stared at the durasteel ceiling. If Utapau Four was no option for her any more, maybe she could travel to Corellia, to see where her mother grew up. Surely she could start a new life there, out of the frigging Worst Order's prying eyes.

Or maybe not. 

She didn’t know much about her mother’s past. The only memories she had, didn’t tell anything about who her mother used to be, before Miko was born. And her father was avoiding the conversation for years now.

I have to ask him one last time, before I leave. Maybe ask him about this crazy abduction as well. Some of his resistance friends might've heard something about it. It’s too suspicious. 

Kriff, am I really going to leave them?

The thought of having to say goodbye to her only family left, felt heavy on her chest. She never left the substitute planet, and maybe now, so suddenly, it was for good. This whole situation was still unreal and unsettling. 

She finally felt the fatigue taking over, having a hard time keeping her eyelids open. 

‘Hey PC, keep an eye on me while I fall asleep, will you?’ She requested her droid with a hoarse voice. The droid hummed positively as a response. She didn’t feel comfortable around that general, so she felt glad having her droid around as a bodyguard. The little droid looked up and then placed itself back on her stomach, while she slowly drifted away.

About 6 hours later.

Why is there trash on the table? Hux wondered. 

He just had given up on taking some rest, the recent incidents haunting his brain and ripping him out of his slumber again and again. 

He just did a few steps outside his cabin, and his blood pressure was already rising to the same agitated level as before he left for a break. 

He went further and opened the pantry, only to find that things were not in their initial place. 

He looked at the girl sleeping on the couch, striking lightning with his eyes. 

How could she make a mess of everything so fast? And not clean it up afterwards? He bristled and started to put everything back into place, his movements harsh. 

When he was done with the cupboard, he placed the jars on the counter to the exact spot they belonged, according to him. 

It took him quite some time, since the compartiment was slightly different from the one in his quarters on the Finalizer. But once everything was back in order, he felt his calm returning. 

If she ever does that again… he started thinking, clenching his hands tight. Stars, why was he so easily provoked?

Right at that moment, he heard giggling from behind his back. He turned around, only to find Miko silently chuckling. Her hair was even messier than before and her eyes were still foggy from napping. Combined with her snickering sounds, it made her look like she was drunk or high. Her little droid was nowhere to be seen. 

He turned his head down and closed his eyes for a minute. 

“Are you mocking me?” he asked with a dangerously low voice. 

“How can you focus on something like that? Aren’t you like - a general - busy with much more important things than how your stuff is put?” she said, obviously finding the whole situation funny, although there was a certain sharp edge to her words. 

Did she just taunt me even more? 

Insolent brat, he thought.

Anger started boiling up again quickly, since he hadn’t entirely calmed down from their encounter before. The girl seemed to cope with stress in a very annoying way. Or maybe she's always like that, he wondered in disdain. 

I should definitely get rid of her as soon as possible, he decided. The fact that she took a ration unbeknownst to him and moreover without permission, wasn’t working in her favor either. 

“Shouldn’t you focus on our escape plan or something, instead of combing your hair?” she added, letting out a snicker and rolling her eyes. 

He did wash up and combed his hair like he usually does when he starts the day cycle. It’s part of my status as an officer in a leading position, how could she just laugh that away?  

He started fuming. He had already realised he couldn’t treat her like a subordinate; his usual set of verbal threats were useless against her. And for a fraction of time, he didn’t know how to handle her. 

The idea only added fuel to the fire.

He suddenly hit both fists on the table before her, too enraged to be surprised by his own reaction. “Do not mock me! You shouldn’t stick your rude nose in someone else’s business!” he shouted, losing his cool but barely even noticing it. If she was a subordinate of him, or any other crewmember part of his flagship, he had her locked away already. And then put her on rehabilitation duty. Let the indoctrination programme prove its success. Such misbehaviour should be dealt with accordingly. But now, he had to use other means to put her in her place. If she wanted to argue, she was going to regret this, he angrily thought.

“I’m stuck in this ship as much as you are, so it’s my business too! You need to get your priorities straight” she shouted back at him. Her facial expression shifted from laughter to rage in a mere second. Her eyes were slightly wet, as if she was on the brink of tears.

Priorities straight? Does she even know what she’s saying? He felt like he was going to explode. 

“And oh, excuse me if I disturb your unreasonable need for order! Why are you even still wearing that uncomfortable uniform, if you haven’t noticed it yet, you’re not a general any more!” she added, volume rising.  

“Shut your mouth, you’re being blatantly foolish! You can’t possibly understand this! You didn’t even have any clue why you were abducted!" he threw back at her, "You were just going to go back to your pitiful old life, like nothing happened!” 

She was going to push him over the edge, make him lose his self-control and she was going to regret it.

Miko stood up and angrily faced him. He was still leaning over the table, so they were able to look straight into each other's eyes. 

“At least I had a life! You seem like you dug a big hole for yourself, that other guy got you hard there! And all you care about now is your appearance. Wake up, there’s no one to impress here!” she ostentatiously swinged her hands around, pointing to the empty space. 

“At least I have an impeccable appearance, you look like you haven’t washed for days, and what’s with those piercings anyway? I’m surprised you’re allowed to walk around with that at Tagge’s department! If it was under my supervision, this wasn’t tolerated!” he yelled, and she immediately yelled back: “It’s what they call style, mister general! But maybe someone of your age is not aware of that!”

“Are you calling me old?” She’s really going too far now, he thought somewhere in the back of his mind, too clouded by rage. His blood kept racing through his veins and each word that came out of her mouth only increased the pressure. 

This argument made no sense at all, the insults they threw at each other were downright pathetic, but he was too far gone and too hyped on the adrenaline of the past events to think clearly.

“Yes. And pale." She added, her face getting red from keeping up the volume with his shouting. "Have you seen any sunlight in the last decade? Lucky your hair stands out a bit, otherwise you’d really be mistaken for a corpse. If we land on my moon, make sure you won’t get sunburnt!” 

Did she really mock my hair? Again? 

Hux snapped. 

He instinctively and viciously reached out to her throat with his right gloved hand. He took her neck in a tight grip, starting to strangle her. The leather of his glove was making a scratching sound from the pressure he applied, which matched his angry breathing. 

He looked down at her reddened face with furious eyes. Her amber tinted irises were starting to change size, her expression going from angry and surprised to alarmed. It gave him cold chills, which provided him with an odd sense of satisfaction, somewhere deep beneath the raging anger.

She frantically grabbed his arm with both her hands and tried to shout, but only a feeble squeak came out. 

Silencing her felt good, very very satisfying, after all the recent tension buildup. This is what she gets from driving me mad, he thought, still so angry with her behaviour towards him. He wasn't sure if and when he would let her go, he was too far gone to think clearly now. 

She started to violently shake his arm and began to writhe with her legs, trying to get some grip so she could get loose. But he was towering over her, too strong and too enraged. 

She was harshly pressed against the backrest of the bench, Hux had stepped aside to discard the table and was now leaning over her. There was no escape from his pressing hand, and he could feel her throat moving, trying to swallow or maybe gag as a reflex to get her airtube clear.

His rough anger turned into a smoldering rage when the fire from her eyes was starting to fade and was turning into a desperate plea. Her leg movement slowed down until they fell limp. He could see her lips moving, begging for her release, but no sound came out. 

And then he felt something else than anger surging through his body. At this very moment he felt in total control. Oh, he missed that feeling. He took in the sensation like an addict finally experiencing the long-denied rush again. He could do literally anything to her, the way she crumbled under his grip. Anything. And the lower part of his body started thinking about doing something to her.

PC came out of nowhere. The tiny droid quickly jumped on his outstretched arm, instantly threatening Hux to give him a power surge.

Hux looked down to the suddenly menacing droid and snapped out of his trance. He abruptly loosened his grip, violently shook the droid from his arm, looked back at Miko with a bewildered look and stumbled back unceremoniously. 

The girl lay scrambled on the bench, touching her violated throat and heaving heavily to catch her breath. She turned to face him with squinted eyes.

Their gaze locked and instantly Hux was hit by a wave of cold sweat, the intensity of the amber made him breathe erratically. 

After a slight hesitation, he quickly turned around and stomped back to his cabin. He shut the door the second he entered. 

What the hell was that? He hastily wondered, trying to control his raging heartbeat. He rubbed his face, removing the sweat from his forehead.

He looked down. This has never happened before. He has always been in control of himself, he never lost his cool like this. He was the one who could drive another person insane, this was the first time it was the other way around. Well, at least after his father was removed. 

And in what way… What had just happened to him? I was always stronger than this. Was I going to murder her, out of rage, or… rape her?

He made sure the door was locked, took a glass of water and drank it down in one shot. He needed to stay inside, cool down, think about this incident and what to do next. 

I need a cold shower.

Chapter 4 - delicious disaster (I)

Miko coughed violently to catch her stolen breath. Her whole body was still shaking from the shock. She hadn't seen that outburst coming, but maybe she was too angered with his delusions of grandeur and stupid misplaced pride that were based on nothing but lies and evil deeds. She was so stressed and angered at him for leaving her out in the dark, it had clouded her mind. She hated how he was nitpicking on stupid details, as if this situation wasn't already hard enough for both of them. But, maybe if she thought this through, she should've known he was a psychopathic maniac. 

She never cared much for physical strength before, never needed it in particular because she was the tallest one at home anyway. Although Utapau Four was under First Order rule, Tagge's influence on the planet made sure she lived in a rather protected bubble. Consequently, she absolutely wasn't prepared for any kind of attack like this. 

She felt lucky she programmed her droid well.

She gently rubbed her sore throat. She could feel where the leather had left its marks. It already started stinging more, the moment she grazed her skin. This was going to bruise ugly.

She gulped. She decided she had to be extra careful with this man. He was definitely more dangerous than she anticipated. Maybe she should look into the armory again, to arm herself with something, anything, just in case. Not that she was able to shoot, but that won't matter if he came close to her. She hoped she wouldn’t hesitate too much.

Miko thought back to the moment he lunged at her and slowly started to feel confused. Something was bothering her, other than the fact that he tried to strangle her to death. His eyes went from pure rage to something else. When PC jumped on his arm, it was like he snapped out of some trance. When he did, he looked bewildered, confused, vulnerable?

But what bothered - scared - her even more, was that short moment before he let go of her neck. His grey-green eyes looked dark, glassy, and simmering hot. 

Kriff. What am I thinking? 

The cold water of the refresher was slowly calming Hux down. He tried to ignore what happened, but he knew the moment he was going to step out of his quarters, the situation was going to be very awkward. He should try to collect his messed up thoughts. 

That outburst reminded him too much about Ren, and he didn't like it one bit. This wasn't him, he should be above this. He has always been a master in self-control, since he's been in charge, up until now. 

And then, there was that other sensation he experienced, slowly creeping up on the skin of his back, giving him hot chills. 

He could feel his groin get itchy again, and turned the knob of the refresher to make the water even colder.

His mind involuntarily started drifting to the past. He hadn’t felt like this for a very long time. It’s not like he was immune to the hormonal reactions of his body, but getting the chance to actually profit from a situation and get his physical needs satisfied… that was another thing. 

There had been a few people he met when networking, trying to get to his money or get access to intel. He wasn’t stupid to give in to their feeble attempts. Fellow officers or even cadets had been trying to use him to get higher up in ranks. He disapproved of this behaviour, finding it utterly pathetic. Climbing up in the ranks and assuming a higher position should be done by knowledge, wits and politics. And, if necessary, by manipulation, but only if done well. Bribery in any form was something he had used as a tactic before, but never to get higher up. It always concurs with a significant backlash. There were always loose ends. 

Apart from that, he never was keen on the thought of having sex with a colleague itself, reminding him too much about what had happened in the past. A bed partner could’ve asked troublesome questions he rather wouldn’t like to answer. He unintentionally rubbed his stomach.

There had been a few times when he thought about getting his way though, unsurprisingly with people that were not part of the First Order. An escort on a diplomatic mission. The citizen that would've given him all, just to stop the military operation. That one feisty prisoner who had no respect for him. 

It seems he wanted to be the one choosing who he wanted to use, not being used himself. He was done with that. 

But eventually the situation never really lended itself for it. Although he made it to general, there was always someone above or beside him he had to report to. And his ambition and the future of the First Order were always a higher priority. 

But right now… he was alone, with a girl, all innocent and naive, on his ship, slowly travelling to possible hostile territory and they only had a few cards to play. He knew there was a significant chance that he wouldn’t survive much longer than a couple of days. 

And… she actually didn’t look that bad, he admitted to himself. She angered him utterly, but apparently that awoke an unexpected gnawing feeling in him. A kind of itch that needs to be stilled, or it would haunt him for the rest of his days. A sensation he tried to hide away for so long, but suddenly had broken free. 

The way her eyes shined like a blazing fire when she was mad at him or enthusiastic about who knows what, automatically popped into his mind. They were as strong as her idiotic will, passionate but also chaotic. All things he should despise, things he always despised in people, but, he didn’t want to admit it, they looked so attractive right now, like something he’s been missing for eternity. He wanted to get a taste of it. 

She was like a fire he wanted to contain just enough not to get it extinguished. 

Oh, and those hips. He suddenly remembered the way she stood in the cockpit, bending over the controls of the ship and checking out the issue on the navigation panel. He didn't feel how his fingernails were leaving marks in his palms.

He was completely lost in these disturbing thoughts, the cold recycled water still slowly streaming over his body. 

This was absolutely not the way he was supposed to be thinking to calm down.

Can I force myself onto her? He wondered. This might be my last chance to get this nonsensical physical need satisfied, without any consequences. There’s no career that I need to uphold this time. I could do whatever I want to her. 

He rubbed his face again, as if that would help him to start thinking straight. 

But is it a wise thing to do? Can I still manipulate her into helping me out on that moon of hers? It was her father she wanted to contact, if I recall correctly? 

Hux stared at the wall of the shower cabin for a few seconds. If that man knows his daughter well, he’ll most likely know something is up. 

He sighed and looked down, the water dripping from his hair, following the indents of his cheekbone, down to his chin then leaving his skin to fall to the sink. 

The risk was too big, and he was feeling like a coward again. But in the back of his mind, he was not sure if he could bring himself to not doing anything. 

He at least had to try, for his own sake, he wanted to convince himself.

Miko decided to camp in the cockpit’s seat. She had taken a blaster from the armory and had positioned it on top of her legs. PC placed himself next to the blaster. She was staring at the stars flashing by. Only a day ago, she loved the view, but now she felt a bit claustrophobic. There was nowhere she could go and hide from that asshole, the cold durasteel hull of the ship was now her confinement. She was disgusted by the First Order general’s assault, even if she probably provoked him. 

She was even more disgusted by what she thought afterwards, but she tried to ignore that particular train of thoughts, not wanting to go there again. 

He still lashed out at her like it was nothing, so he absolutely wasn’t to be trusted. She wouldn’t let him corner her again. She has always been in charge of her own persona and freedom, so in no way she was going to let him come close without her consent.

Am I ever going to grant him that? She couldn't help but wonder. 

Her head absolutely said no, but there was something nagging in the back of her mind. She never met a man like him. A kriffing self centered, merciless, fragging vain asshole, a breathing example of the Worst Order and every norm she despises. But when talking or shouting at him, she felt alive. It was good to get rid of the frustrations of the previous problematic events and if she was honest, in the life she led before; all of her friends back home were either too kind or too scared of her. This man was a challenge, and it was attracting her in every bad way there could be, she secretly admitted to herself. 

But, on the other hand, this probably could've happened with anyone she met outside of her home planet, she realised that much. The things that have occured the previous day, the adrenaline rush, and being locked up in the same cramped space together, probably have been influencing her, too. And then again, she never really met anyone taller than she was, which didn’t help either, but wasn't a particular reason to take an interest in him.

She knew she should stop thinking about things that never should happen anyway, and focus on what was coming ahead. 

What was she going to do? 

She stared into the stars, trying to collect her thoughts, but hopelessly failing.

#star wars fanfic #general hux x oc #armitage hux fanfic #general hux smut #not so much in these first chapters #it's actually more of a slow burn #but with smut

[tantive404]

Dear Author- Star Wars Rarepairs 2023

Hello wonderful author! Thank you so much for writing for me! This is my first year doing the Star Wars Rarepairs Exchange and I'm so excited to see what you have in store… I just know it will be lovely!! <3

DNWs: -Explicit sexual content. I'm okay with some things of that nature being tastefully implied, but I don't want descriptions of genitalia or sex acts. -Sequel trilogy content -Modern AU -Major Character Death between the characters involved in the ship (they can certainly threaten to kill each other though XD)

Likes: -enemies to lovers tropes, villain x heroine ships -forced or arranged marriage -Leia whump or angst-- I love seeing that girl vulnerable and in perilous predicaments, but still maintaining her strength of will and fighting back. -political intrigue (lends itself particularly well to tarkin x leia) and drama -power dynamics -captivity -banter

Ships:

Leia Organa/Wilhuff Tarkin I am OBSESSED with these two… Ever since I noticed the way he grabs her face during their scene together in A New Hope, something just clicked within my brain. I love their absolute hatred for one another, how they are each so devoted to their opposing causes, and how his desire to subdue her and defeat the Rebellion could manifest into a twisted obsession and desire… They have a great tension and chemistry, and some fun silly space banter. Feel free to lean into the darkness and creepiness.

Prompts: -Something exploring their dynamic pre-ANH, where Leia is working as a rebel spy and Tarkin is suspicious and attempting to catch her in the act of treason. A game of cat and mouse ensues. -Leia and Tarkin strike some form of deal in the hopes of each benefitting their side of the war. How might this develop their relationship? I'd love to see Tarkin manipulating Leia, and Leia's efforts to sabotage him. -Bad end to ANH… Tarkin lives, or the Rebellion loses, and Leia must deal with her grief and desire for revenge… meanwhile the Grand Moff decides he wants something more for the Princess than execution -Missing scene from her captivity and interrogation on the Death Star. Who knows what could have occurred between them behind closed doors?

Leia Organa/Darth Vader These two have the chance for layers and layers of DRAMA and irony. I love the possibility for a sweet twisted "knight and princess" motif, as well as Vader being SUPER protective and possessive of Leia, with her bringing out his more "honorable", "good" side… and Leia reminding him both of Padme and of his former self. I love Leia being a complete sass machine to Vader and being one of the very few people who is able to stand up to the Dark Lord… Perhaps he finds a strange sort of respect for her through that. Also, they're really just a very aesthetically pleasing couple. The size/height difference and the black armor against the white gown. They're truly a villain and a heroine who are meant to be pitted against each other.

Prompts: -Through some strange set of circumstances, Vader and Leia must put up a temporary truce and are forced to work together begrudgingly -Vader protects Leia from a more dangerous foe, and she comes to gain a strange sense of respect for him. -Vader is haunted by his memories of Padme and uses Leia as a fill-in for her of sorts…

Leia Organa/Wilhuff Tarkin/Darth Vader Something of a twisted love triangle where Vader and Tarkin are fighting for control of the Princess, and she is caught in the middle of them.

Leia Organa/Lord Tion Tion is a character who appears in the second episode of the Star Wars Radio Drama-- an arrogant, pompous Imperial officer and devotee of Tarkin who becomes Leia's suitor. Despite her disdain, she briefly permits his courtship to learn more about the Death Star… and everything goes disastrously wrong after he proposes marriage. As an enthusiast for Leia villain ships, I was in love with the MELODRAMA potential caused by this character.

Prompt: -What if the proposal/courtship was allowed to go further, and things turned out differently for them? It would be interesting to see Leia enter into a relationship with an Imperial in order to obtain rebel info…

Rogue One: Jyn Erso/Orson Krennic I enjoy the potential that the clash of these two strong personalities might bring, and the connection which they hold to one another's past. Where Leia and Tarkin will have a heavy amount of verbal sparring, I imagine Jyn and Krennic would have some physical sparring, too. It's also interesting to delve into his relation to her father.

Prompts: -AU where Galen's family returns with him during the construction of the Death Star, and Jyn grows up in high Imperial society, rebelling against the expectations placed upon her, and eventually catching Krennic's eye. -Alternatively, the Erso parents are made to offer Jyn as a bride to Krennic in order to ensure their safety… She's not happy about it, but wants to protect her family. -Something where they survive Scarif and have a chance to build a relationship from there… complex and hate-filled, of course.

[pianopadawan]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 💗

Hello there! Sorry for the delayed response and thank you for this message!

1) Witness Rated: M (see tags for warnings) Genre: Thriller Pairings: Firmus Piett/Original Male Imperial Character, Tiaan Jerjerrod/Conan Antonio Motti Summary: Two years have passed since the formation of the Galactic Empire. As a new era dawns, Ensign Firmus Piett and Cadet Tiaan Jerjerrod find themselves entangled in a series of gruesome crimes on the Outer Rim Planet of Axxila. Notes: This is the first installment of what is probably my most extensive serious Star Wars verse centered on the D'Astan Sector during the Imperial Regime (and later the Remnant Era). It centers mainly on Piett though Jerjerrod also has a pretty prominent role. I'm aiming to strike a good balance between political worldbuilding and character exploration for this one, so hopefully that comes across well. I also use this verse to explore a setting in which the usual lines of "good vs. evil" of the Star Wars narrative are very blur.

2) How to Have a Wholesome Imperial Friendship Under Penalty of Death Rated: T Genre: Humor Pairing: Maximilian Veers/Firmus Piett Summary: In which Darth Vader is in need of a new best friend, and Lieutenant Piett must not fail him. Surely, this officer's retreat on board the Halcyon cannot possibly go wrong... Notes: My first finished multichapter fic! This gave rise to a crack verse that is now alarmingly large in my mind and lives rent free alongside the much darker verse from Witness.

3) The Posthumous Log of Admiral Piett Rated: T (Rating might go up depending on how much Piett wants to write about his "private AT-AT time" with Veers.) Genre: Humor Pairing: Maximilian Veers/Firmus Piett, Tiaan Jerjerrod/Conan Antonio Motti and Third Wheel Lorth Needa Summary: In which Admiral Piett doesn't catch a break even in death, Anakin Skywalker's attempts at friendship cause havoc in the Imperial afterlife, Moff Jerjerrod makes poor decisions, Captain Needa wants an apology, and General Veers is not paid enough in spirit money to deal with this. Notes: Companion fic to my RP blog @ask-sad-ghost-piett, written in short installments and intended to be continuously updated.

4) Piett's Little Angel Rated: T Genre: Humor Pairing: Tiaan Jerjerrod/Conan Antonio Motti, Maximilian Veers/Firmus Piett Summary: Jerjerrod offers to watch Piett's beloved pet, Whiskers, for a few days. Surely, this will be a wonderful experience for everyone involved. Notes: First fic introducing Whiskers who has since become a very big part of this crack verse.

5) When the War Ends Rated: M Genre: Humor Pairings: Maximilian Veers/Firmus Piett, Tiaan Jerjerrod/Conan Antonio Motti, Lorth Needa/Success and Happiness in Life Summary: A seemingly minor decision on Captain Needa’s part alters the course of galactic history. Now, the Imperial crew faces a new realm of opportunities, including the much-anticipated marriage of Admiral Piett and General Veers. Notes: AKA Empire Wins Crack AU. Let Needa live his best life.

#my writing #veers x piett #admiral piett #firmus piett #motti x jerjerrod #galactic empire #star wars crack