The Rebel Queen - Poe Dameron

Chapter XVII: Revisions

Maligma

Somewhere in space, aboard the Fulminatrix...

"If you do this, you will damn us all! You saw the vids. You watched Hosnian Prime be reduced to nothing but sand and dust at the hands of that- that sun eater! And still, you offered us up as the next feast."

"There's no stopping it now. How long did you think being in the dark would keep us safe?"

"It kept us safe till now, wasn't that enough?"

"Staying inactive is complacency. I will not let my legacy be that of our mothers. I won't watch as another war unfolds."

"So you choose for your people to die in one instead?"

"Our people have been at war for decades. They just didn't know it. Living in constant fear, a fear that forces us to think only of war, is a war yet to happen."

"I cannot let you do this. You have taken our future from us."

"The future isn't set in stone. We may yet live through this."

"Is the plan in motion?"

"I sent my best man to deliver my answer."

"And where is he?"

"Off-world."

"Calista, the Senate, do they know?"

"I left instructions with Senator Kiddé should anything happen."

"I won't ask for forgiveness for what I must do...but know that this breaks my heart, Lenora."

The screams woke her from her dissatisfying sleep. They were always loud and never singular, each outward cry belonging to a faceless Thessi man or woman or child she could never fully picture. Despite their lack of physical form, these ghosts were real enough to cement their screams of fear in her ears every morning. That had become her normal after the civil war started. The insurrectionists that survived the razing of Karas and were transported to Illis for imprisonment coined a new term for her; The Butcher of Karas City.

A soft chime sounded out from her communications device on the desk a few paces away from the First Order issue bed she slept on. Sleeping on rocks would have had just the same effect on her back. As Maligma stood, several of her bones popped on their own accord. Space had a cruel way of reminding her of her age. Perhaps the rocks would have been kinder.

After grabbing the sheer robe that was draped over a chair, she huffed before answering the call. The holo-vid projected in the centre of her room with a burning, blue light.

"Speak," Maligma said with hooded eyes and no interest.

"Duchess," the spy kept his voice level as he jumped straight to the point, "Telos incursion unsuccessful."

Maligma moved her gaze slowly, still blinking away her fatigue, "Field report."

The officer cleared his throat, "Classified."

Maligma was holding her wits by the edge of her tongue, "By whom?"

"Unsure. Only those with the rank captain or higher have access."

Maligma ended the communications abruptly, before stalking out of her quarters, informally dressed, with a bone to pick.

"Captain Canady!" Maligma spat his name out with no respect or decorum. Canady was startled, but only for a brief second. He adjusted his spine so he stood taller. She despised that simple action. In many ways, it was an insult dealt without uttering a word.