KYLO

She looked so much older than how he remembered her; his mother, so fragile despite her confident stance before him. If she hadn't looked so tired, Kylo would have yelled or threatened her. Actually, he wasn't sure what he would have done, but he was angry. He was mad at himself too, for even caring that his mom was tired.

She watched him with that sad expression he remembered so well from his childhood, as though she felt sorry for him. His jaw tensed. He despised being looked at so openly, without his mask, his face on display for everyone to see and his eyes betraying the pain or confusion he felt inside sometimes. She'd never truly cared and had abandoned him when he needed a family the most. Maybe the the score was even now; she'd abandoned him and he'd killed her husband, his father.

Kylo hadn't moved from his spot since Hux had left, after his mom had called them 'boys.' It was like his childhood all over again; his mother joining sides with Luke, shaking their heads in pity as they watched little Ben have another one of his uncontrolled outbursts. Now it was Hux she was siding with. Since when had Hux and his mom become such good friends? The Resistance crew had only been here a day! And what had happened to Hux's loyalty, after Kylo had saved his life?

Kylo gripped the side of the console near him, waiting for his mom to say something. How did Hux now have Force sensitivity, anyway? Did it have something to do with the way Kylo had healed him?

"It's not something new that he just got," his mother said, reading his thoughts. He turned to her. She'd always been able to do that, sneak into his thoughts without any effort. It was because she was his mother and they were connected in the Force in an uncanny way, mother and child.

"What do you mean?" Kylo asked her. He couldn't read her thoughts as easily as she could read his. She had a Force-sensitive mother's instincts, which he didn't have. She'd always been distant to him, even when they were in the same room together.

"Force sensitivity can't be given or taken away," she said. "It's always there. Hux has always been Force sensitive."

Kylo dismissed this with a shake of his head. His mother moved closer to him and he pushed himself away from the console that he was leaning on, then walked towards the door. At least they weren't talking about his dad, or how Kylo should turn to the 'Light.'

"Hux has never had any Force sensitivity before," Kylo said, stopping near the door. "I healed him, from a fatal wound."

"That's not possible-"

"It is," Kylo turned, his tone fierce. "It may be difficult for you to accept that I did something other than kill and destroy, but I brought him back from death."

"Even so, Ben, someone can't just catch Force sensitivity from being healed." She paused. "It makes sense now, why Snoke chose him and kept him around all these years."

Kylo looked away. His mother was making no sense. Snoke just liked to keep Hux around as a pawn, someone to abuse and order around.

"Who were Hux's parents? Was he adopted?" his mom asked.

Kylo walked out without answering her. She could go ask Hux herself. Of course her interests would turn to Hux and not her own son. She'd sooner show interest in a rock, than him. Hadn't it always been that way?

"Ben, wait," he heard her call behind him, but it only made him walk faster. If he stayed any longer he'd trash the place and she'd only look at him with that sad, yet condescending, expression that she and his father had always been so good at. Poor Ben, he'd gone to the wrong side, Luke had failed him... No, they didn't blame Luke, of course not. It's fine that they sent Kylo away from his home, fine that Luke trained him up to be powerful, then tried to kill him for succeeding in his training, fine that Snoke abused him in his youth...

Kylo pulled out his lightsaber and ignited it. He slashed into the nearest control panel, next to the elevator, with a loud cry. For a second he thought his mother was behind him, with that judging look, always disappointed, like Snoke had been. But Snoke was gone and now Kylo was Supreme Leader. It was time to take that title back.

TEMIRI

Temiri threw his blood-stained uniform in the waste disposal chute. His clothes from Canto bight had been cleaned and returned to the room, so Temiri gladly changed into those. It felt way better to wear them than the stiff uniform, which had Star Jumper's blood on it now. Today was Temiri's birthday and he was too old to have attachments to pets. Star Jumper wouldn't have been happy here anyway, there was no place for him to run and be free. Temiri didn't want any more attachments. His friends were gone too. They hadn't been with the Rebels and families who came on board with the rescue team from Cantonica. Oniho and Arashell didn't have families. They were probably at the stables, when the attack happened.

A sudden pain struck Temiri's chest. The three of them had planned to go to the peasant market for his birthday, to buy materials to build mini lightsabers for their Luke Skywalker figures.

But that all seemed so distant now. Maybe becoming one year older did make a difference. It seemed like an entire year had passed since he'd first arrived on this ship. Had it only been a few days? He felt like a different person.

Temiri picked up his hat and walked into the washroom to look in the mirror. He was just barely tall enough to see into it. When he saw his reflection, he decided not to put the hat on after all, even though it had been cleaned too. His hair was washed and combed back and it made him look older, which was what he wanted.

His clothes didn't seem to suit him anymore, either. But they were comfortable at least. He tilted his chin up and stood taller. The Resistance was here now. Oniho and Arashell would have been so excited to be here and meet them. Temiri would be excited on their behalf, he decided. The First Order and The Resistance were going to fight a war against the robots, and Temiri wanted to help.

The sound of the bedroom door opening startled him. Someone was here.

He hurried out of the washroom to see.

"Dusty!" Temiri cried when he saw the round robot. He jumped down onto his knees and tried to hug the droid, but the attempt only off-set Dusty's head and made him angry.

"Sorry," Temiri got up, realizing he was acting like a kid again. He didn't want to act like a kid. It was his birthday and he was older now. Some boys at his age were already taking up the throne as kings, on other planets.

Dusty beeped something about needing help and Temiri ran to get his boots.

"Sure, Dusty!" Finally, Temiri had someplace to be. "I'll help you!"

***

The white robot wouldn't roll. Even though he had the same round body as Dusty, there was a heavy center keeping him in place, making it impossible for Temiri to roll the droid forward. "We have to switch him on," he said, getting up from the carpet, where he'd been kneeling to try and push.

"No!" Dusty beeped.

"Why not?"

Dusty's answer didn't make much sense, but had something to do with revealing their location.

"I can't move him," Temiri said. "He's kind of heavy."

Dusty rolled around then stopped in front of the white robot. The room they were in belonged to one of the Resistance soldiers. Temiri saw the logo on the bag near the bed when they'd come in.

"Are you sure it's okay for us to be in here?" he asked Dusty.

Dusty had a screwdriver out now and was removing a small door on the white robot's body. Temiri sat down on the floor beside them.

"Is this your friend, Dusty?" he asked.

"My brother."

"Brother?" Temiri's eyes went wide. "I didn't know Robots could have brothers!"

Dusty reached inside and pulled out a small computer chip, then handed it to Temiri.

"What's this?" Temiri looked at it, then put the chip in his pocket.

Dusty closed the robot back up, then rolled to his other side and switched him on. There was a small humming noise inside of him, but he didn't move.

"What's his name?" Temiri asked.

Dusty responded but Temiri didn't understand. "I'll just call him Beeps." Temiri patted Beeps on the head. Suddenly the door swished open, and Temiri saw a Resistance pilot standing there.

"What...?" the pilot said with a look of both confusion and anger. Temiri got up and ran. The pilot grabbed him, and with one arm swung him back into to the room.

"Whoa there," he said, setting Temiri down in front of him. "Slow down, buddy." The pilot set his hands on Temiri's shoulders and looked him in the eyes. "What were you two doing to my best friend over there?"

Temiri stared at him with wide eyes, not sure what to say.

"What's your name, kid?" the pilot asked.

"Temiri."

The pilot smiled. "Hello, Temiri."

HUX

When Hux stepped into the Captain's Ready Room and saw the destruction everywhere, he knew Kylo's talk with his mother hadn't gone well. Sparks still flew from the exposed wires and burned metal. Hux sighed. Where would they go to fix all this? Their maintenance crew on board was limited and all the repair stations in the Galaxy were likely now compromised by the Ruling Order.

Kylo stood with his back turned to Hux, looking out the view window at the back of the room. He had a new helmet on, identical to the one he'd had before.

"Supreme Leader..." Hux said carefully, not sure what response he would get. He didn't want to fight with Kylo Ren, not when he was still unsure of how much power he himself had, or if this was just a temporary thing and his powers would disappear unexpectedly.

Kylo stood tall, always intimidating, which was something Hux liked about him. He owed Ren his life. That's why he had no desire to kill him earlier, when he'd had him in a choke hold. It hadn't felt right.

Kylo didn't answer so Hux continued. "Five planets have been completely wiped of life forms by this robot army. They're killing everyone. Soon there will be no one left in the Galaxy to rule over."

"Then we'll rule in a different Galaxy," Kylo finally replied, his voice metallic through his helmet.

Hux's shoulders relaxed. Ren had said "we'll rule," instead of "I'll rule."

"Suppose the Ruling Order expands to other Galaxies, as well," he said.

Kylo didn't reply and Hux wished he could read his mind.

Could he?

Hux stepped closer to Ren, who was still turned away from him, but not too close. He closed his eyes and concentrated. It probably wouldn't work, but he was curious. At first, he wasn't sure what to try for exactly. With his eyes closed, everything around him became more clear. He heard every sound, felt every life form on board, all the crew on the entire ship, like he was a computer console which could detect all the bio-signs on board. The ship came alive to his senses. Ren's presence was the strongest, both in proximity and strength. Hux reached out towards Ren with the Force.

In a mere second of unguarded openness, Ren's thoughts and emotions were readable to him. Ren was angry, at his mother and Hux, yet he was conflicted about harming them. He felt they were teaming up against him. The mask wasn't new. He'd had it from before. A back-up. But he'd stopped wearing a helmet after Snoke had told him he was just a child in a mask. Another weakness, in Snoke's eyes, and more disappointment directed at Ren, which had made Ren furious. But now he wanted to start wearing the mask again, to regain some of that concealment he needed to impose fear in his enemies and crew.

"What are you doing?" Kylo's angry words snapped Hux from his focus. He opened his eyes and stepped back.

"I guess mind reading doesn't work for me," he said quickly, hoping Ren would accept his lie. Seeing himself from Kylo's perspective, even for a split second, was unexpected. Kylo didn't see him the way Hux always believed he did. He saw Hux as a true opponent, someone worthy of his rivalry, someone in control of his emotions, which Ren admired.

Hux held his breath, waiting to see what Kylo would do next. Did he guess that Hux had gotten into his mind? Kylo didn't grab him in a choke hold or try to force the truth out of him. Was he afraid now, that Hux would do the same to him in return?

"We need our Supreme Leader back," Hux said, trying to look Kylo in the eyes, but seeing no hint of them in the mask he now wore.

"I thought you were going to be the leader now," Kylo challenged.

"I thought so, too," Hux replied. He'd wanted to be all powerful, for as long as he could remember. But Ren was part of that power. Snoke had always put them in competition against each other, but that was just wasted effort. Hux didn't want to fight anymore, nor did he want to kill off the most powerful man in the universe. They could be even stronger working together, rather than competing. Maybe that's what Snoke was afraid of. Hux believed in discipline and leadership, ranking and the Order of Command. There couldn't be two leaders. He knew what he had to do, what he wanted to do.

"You saved my life," he said. He was accustomed to kneeling before Supreme Leader Snoke, who'd been a horrible master to him. Kylo was Supreme Leader now and deserved as much. Hux swallowed his pride and got down on one knee, bowing his head in submission. Kylo didn't respond and Hux looked up after a moment, curious. He couldn't gauge Kylo's response, through the inanimate mask.

Then Kylo walked away from him, his cape trailing behind and hitting Hux in the face. Hux got up.

"Go, find an uninhabited planet in the outer rim," Kylo said. "For us to gather our troops on and prepare for war."

Hux nodded. "Yes, your Supreme Leadership."

"And prepare a speech. It's time we rise up and win back our rightful place in this Galaxy as the Supreme Order."

"Of course, Your Supreme Leadership."

With that Hux hurried off to fulfill his orders.

-----

Author's note: Alright guys I'm hoping to find out what Finn and Rose are up to soon. One thing I know for sure, Finn will not trust this alliance nor Kylo. The Rebels still think Temiri needs to be their leader, especially once they find out he's Luke's grandson and Rose may or may not have lost her family. I'm not sure what's happened in the Otomok system, but I hope to find out soon as I write. So I'll see you guys next week! (as for Kylo and Rey - and Reylo- I think the next time they're going to be in close quarters again will likely have to be at the next sleeping hours, I mean, they are sharing a room after all. Kylo didn't get any sleep the first time she took his bed, so will he have to sleep in the Captain's chair again? I'll post as soon as I can! Thanks for reading! <3