Let It Burn

Is Your World Just a Broken Promise?

Leia Organa had been a part of warfare since she was hardly more than a child. Seeing Rey and Finn do what she had been doing at their age was painful – how could this be allowed? She understood what the Republic had thought of her insistence that the Imperial Remnant was not going to stop. They had all inherited this war from their parents' actions and had no desire to see their own children be part of another. Which obviously turned out great for everyone.

In any case, she knew that interrogation was an unavoidable way to gain intelligence on what the other side was doing. Getting her hands dirty was usually not necessary, but she didn't stop her agents just because it made her a little queasy – she'd been interrogated herself more than once. So when her brother returned with two high-value prisoners, she steeled herself to be present during the questioning of both of them.

Certainly someone else could do it and report to her, but things were too easy to lose in translation. An old Imperial and a Knight of Ren would be difficult to break, and anything they said might prove a valuable hint in ending this war. Her experience could help unravel these hints and she couldn't afford to miss anything.

She had met Beid Byehtho once, a long time ago. It shouldn't have been a shock to see how old he'd become, and how tired. But perhaps it was only shocking to see the once greatly driven man reduced to a prisoner – he'd clearly abandoned hope. He was ushered into the chamber where she waited and he barely made eye contact. If they'd hurt him already, she couldn't see any evidence.

"General," she said politely.

"Princess," he responded, a faint echo of the cutting way he'd once addressed her in their youth.

"You are under my protection here. If you cooperate, nothing unpleasant will happen to you," she began.

He snorted, and the guards between them tensed. "You cannot protect me from my leader's displeasure," he told her sardonically.

Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Are you not a valuable member of the First Order? I was hoping to get a good bargain for your safe return."

"I don't think he much cares what happens to me. You might get a good price for his Knight, though," he offered.

A frown crossed her face as she considered his response. Snoke did value his Knights but surely not more highly than his generals? His operations in the past had been more tactical than anything else. The Knights had been used to hunt down Jedi, not run the war. Even if it wasn't technically a war then.

"Alright. Then give me a reason to keep you alive."

He smiled then. "Get rid of these guards and we can talk."

The guards in question both stood up a little straighter and frowned down at the audacity of the general. But Leia was used to these kinds of tactics – and certainly prepared to defend herself. Pulling out her blaster, if only to appease her concerned men, she gave them a nod. "Come back in five minutes."

They weren't happy about it, but they left. She turned to look at Byehtho thoughtfully. "Make this worth my time."

"Snoke is dead," he said without preamble. The news was considerably surprising and she was beginning to contemplate what that might mean for the First Order and for the galaxy as a whole when he continued. "Kylo Ren killed him and took his place."

That piece of information left her momentarily speechless and her thought process came to a halt.

If Byehtho understood the strength of her reaction, he did not comment on it. In fact, he was not looking at her at all, staring off into the middle distance and almost wistful. "We shouldn't have allowed these ... Force-users to become so powerful. I expect he wants me dead or I wouldn't have ended up here. I'll tell you everything I know in exchange for protection."