Help Me Understand

Let Love Bring You Home

"They're still not responding, sir," Vicrul reported. "The tracker is still inactive."

If Kylo gripped the table edge any harder, the whole thing was going to snap.

Before he could answer Vicrul, Admiral Pryde and the rest of the officers began filing into the room, taking their seats at the long, black table.

On cue, his knights took their positions, Vicrul and Trudgen in both corners behind Kylo, and Ushar against the wall to Kylo's right.

"Sir, I have a report on Squadron 8," Commander Canady announced.

It was evident by the look on his face that it wasn't a good report.

"The squad approached a ship that appeared to be a First Order vessel," he explained. "But when they were within range, the ship exploded. There were no survivors."

Explains why it was the set of coordinates they'd been able to locate. It was only because Hux wanted them to find it.

"Six stations have been destroyed as well," Canady reported. "Orinda, Vardos-"

"And none of our radars picked up an incoming attack?"

The commander quickly shook his head. "Zero disturbance detected before the attack, sir."

"How is that possible?" Pryde exclaimed. "Our technology is the best in the galaxy!"

"Circumventing technology that you oversaw the development of gives him an advantage," Kylo
muttered. "He knows how to get past it because he knows how it was created."

Canady nodded, looking almost grateful that the Supreme Leader was acting as buffer between him and Pryde. He cleared his throat, and straightened the data pad in front of him. "I think it would be wise to-"

"Sir."A young officer had barged into the room, out of breath and wide eyed. "We've received an incoming communication from an unknown source."

Kylo gestured to the holoprojector in the middle of the table. The officer quickly approached and connected it to the data pad before stepping back again.

A faint crackle and then the hologram was being displayed. And then Kylo's heart seemed to stop in place.

Her.

A hologram of her, wrists and ankles bound. Face bloody and bruised, tears shining on her cheeks. Hux's gloved hand clasping her jaw.

Kylo was grateful he had his helmet on, otherwise a room full of his subordinates would've seen the Supreme Leader with tears in his eyes.

She looked terrified. Truly terrified, something he rarely saw in her even when she should've been afraid. This was true, raw terror in her eyes, and it just about shattered him.

Kylo extended a shaking arm and twisted his hand to shut off the holoprojector. Chest heaving with uneven and increasingly unstable breaths.

Every person in tnat room was looking at Kylo, all varying degrees of frightened. Staring at the Supreme Lesder like he was on the verge of combusting. Which he definitely was.

One steadying breath.

"Getting those fucking coordinates is everyone's sole priority now," Kylo ordered. "I don't care what it takes."