A Plan
Rey and Kylo waited for the ship in silence, the pair of them standing at a casual parade rest as the wind whipped around them, the harsh chill nipping at their faces and turning their cheeks and noses pink.
Once the aircraft landed in the snow, Kylo perked up slightly, watching with intense interest as the door opened, and Hux swiftly stepped outside- looking around until his eyes landed on Kylo. In that moment, any and all professionalism was quickly abandoned, the two of them quickly running towards one another and wrapping their arms around each other tightly, Kylo burying his face in Hux’s neck as he let out a shaky exhale. “I missed you.” His voice was hardly above a whisper as Hux’s grip tightened around the Sith.
“I missed you too.” Hux smiled- an expression that Rey had never seen on the General’s face. And the two of them stood in an embrace for a good long while- until Rey casually coughed and brought both of them back to attention.
“Right- uh.” Kylo looked down awkwardly, detaching himself from the hug with a light, almost wistful sigh. “Hux. How many ears are on board?”
“Yours, mine, Rey’s, and Phasma’s.” He replied, nodding as he turned to get back on the ship.
“Excellent. The time to begin the plan is now.” Hux’s eyes widened slightly at Kylo’s words, but nodded nonetheless nodded as the three of them boarded in silence, waiting for a moment as the ship took off before anyone said anything.
“Ren- I hope you know what you’re saying we should do-” Hux’s voice was the first to break the tense silence, only to have it be interrupted by Kylo.
“You’ve said many times now that you would be willing to commit high treason for the good of the First Order, general. Don’t tell me your position has changed?”
“Of course not- I just didn’t expect it to be so soon-”
“Perhaps you were hoping I’d forgotten about it. Are you less willing than you told me you were, general? If so, please do tell me. I’d much rather have to strike you down now than have to strike you down later with our plan in ruins.”
“...Of course I’m willing I’m simply apprehensive. What if he finds out?”
“Snoke is ultimately powerless against the might of the First Order. My Knights of Ren are still less than willing to comply, but they will follow me as always.” Of course. Rey had thoughts back to what Kylo had said on Ilum- Snoke is weak. Blinded by the glory of the days of old, afraid of progress and change. His regime would be an unstable one. It would be best to get him out of the way before his attachments to the old Sith Order result in a major casualty.
Hux sighed, shaking his head, glancing at Phasma, who was being… abnormally silent, before turning his gaze back towards Kylo. “Fine. We’ll begin now. As per our agreement, all Stormtroopers are conditioned to obey you, me, and their captains alone. They will no longer accept orders from Snoke. If we are… proceeding as decided six years ago, you’ll be needing to make contact with General Organa, correct?” Kylo nodded. “Very well. Once you finish that, you and Rey will “steal” a TIE Fighter and make your way to the Resistance base. I will report to Snoke, you will give the Resistance his location, and the Resistance will use their firepower, and you and Rey, as needed to destroy him.” The pair of Sith nodded at that, Rey’s arms crossed against her chest as she thought about the circumstances she’d been thrown into- taken away from the Resistance, only to rejoin it six years later? Curious. She ultimately decided against saying anything on the matter, though- it’s not as though her opinion differed from all theirs.
Kylo’s attention was brought towards Phasma. “In order for this to be convincing for Snoke, Captain, we’ll need you to station troops we won’t mind losing in the hangar. We’ll need them to shoot at us, and we’ll need to shoot at them.”
“Right. I’ll group the degenerates together when that day comes.” Her voice was crisp, controlled by her helmet.
“Thank you- rey, do you have any questions? You’re terribly quiet.” Kylo’s attention was brought to her, and she looked at him with a sigh.
“Just one- FN-2187. What if he attempts to make me stay with them again? Presumably, we will be returning to the First Order once this is done.”
“For the time be, we need to make sure they think that we intend to stay with them. So. If FN-2187 asks, yes. You are staying with the Resistance. You don’t have to tell him when you leave again.”
“...Right. Thank you.” She nodded and leaned back in her seat slightly, sighing. These next trials were definitely going to be far more difficult than anything she had to do on Ilum.