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I wake up in my human form, curled on my side. Fires rage all around me, and the hangar bay is empty. No one is alive.
I scan for Hux, for Phasma, but I see neither of their bodies around. I can only hope they survived whatever just happened.
I run for the throne room.
More fire greets me as I enter, and Hux turns, cold with rage as he stands over the limp body of Kylo Ren. For a moment, his hand twitches towards his blaster, and then he hisses, and nudges Ren instead.
Ren wakes up with a start, and immediately has his lightsaber in hand, though it is not lit yet.
"What happened?" Hux asks quietly.
"The girl murdered Snoke." Ren says. I turn, and there is his body, crippled and emaciated. With that power gone, his body is nothing but a shell. "She took his escape craft."
"We know where she is going." Hux tells Ren. "Crait."
"Then let's get all of our troops down there, and finish this once and for all."
"Finish this?" Hux's voice has gone quiet with rage. "Who do you think you are talking to? The Supreme leader is dead."
It clicks then.
"We have no ruler-"
"Hux." I interrupt him, voice thick with regret, and he turns to see me down on one knee, facing Kylo Ren. It is clear the man has decided he is in charge.
"No..." Hux whispers to me. I cannot look Ren in the eye any longer, and stare instead at the broken bodies of the guards around the room.
Hux kneels, lowering his head in deference. The impact of it is sobering. He wanted to be free... and now...
"Long live the Supreme Leader." He says hollowly. It breaks my heart.
~~~
I find Captain Phasma's body floating through space, caught where the starboard wing was severed from the Supremacy. Her helmet has shattered, revealing an eye, but the fighting is over. She is peaceful in death. I take her body in my claws and push off a piece of wreckage, gliding back to the half of the Supremacy that is still functional.
I land heavily on my two rear limbs, settling Phasma's body in line with the scores of Stormtroopers that were killed. Her armor is so bright, even with the lights dimmed in low power mode.
"She's dead." I tell Hux. "Phasma is gone."
"This day takes a heavy toll." He says quietly.
I stare down at her body. She had been my friend, a comrade in arms. We had fought together, and then in the end, she had died by accident, killed before she could even be aware of what had happened.
The hangar I've arranged the dead in is broken - the power is low and there's a soft alarm warning me that the air is leaking out. I pace along the line, gently taking the helmets of every Stormtrooper off, and setting them in a line against the wall, a fair distance from the bodies. The helmets are printed with the identification numbers for every man and woman here, so we can accurately report the death count. I also remove their armor, revealing the black kevlar undersuits they wore. It is long, tedious process, but I do it anyway.
When the armor is off, I walk once more to the top of the line, and open my jaw. I exhale a stream of fire, lighting the body before me in flame. And the next. And the next.
I stand amid the burning ranks of the dead and stare at the lines of helmets until the bodies are nothing more than ash.
