Allegiance | Kylo Ren

LXXXIX

I snapped out of my horrified daze and stepped aside quickly.

"General Hux." I flashed him a salute as he passed, and at the sound of my voice he paused. His eyes lingered on me for a long moment, and I held my breath until he looked away, regretting giving him the chance to recognize my voice.

Poe swore loudly as I uttered the name, and I heard him scrambling around for something—probably to alert the Resistance that the General was still alive.

Hux's shoulders seemed uneven as he walked; his once perfect posture was now sloped—a clear effect of Kylo's lightsaber. The ugly scar that no doubt ravaged his skin was covered by his jacket, but there was no need to see it to understand what kind of crippling injury Kylo—Ben—had given him that day.

It was a wonder to me that Hux was alive at all. He had been dealt a ghastly wound, and left alone and bleeding on the ground for a considerable length of time.

Not only that, but you ordered the execution of your best doctor. Maybe if you hadn't, your shoulder wouldn't be so messed up.

I glared daggers at his back, feeling hatred course through my veins at the very thought of what he had done. I didn't have time to reflect, however, as I had to get back to Poe and get out of here while I still held the codes in my mind. I squinted, trying to refresh the memories so I wouldn't lose them.

"Hold on a moment, Trooper." Hux's voice made me stop in my tracks. "I have a message for you to deliver."

I stood quietly, grateful that my helmet was disguising my hateful stare.

He eyed me for another moment before continuing. "Inform the mission planning committee to suspend all missions until our guest has finished their stay."

"Our guest?" The words left my lips before I could hold them back, and I cringed, praying that he wouldn't be able to match my voice to my face.

Hux's pale eyes were piercing. "Yes, our guest will be arriving soon. We will need all personnel on hand until he has left—only the best security measures will do."

I wanted desperately to ask more questions, but I couldn't risk it. Instead, I gave a quick bow and departed quickly. I could feel his eyes boring holes into my back as I left.

"Poe, they're preparing for something big." I whispered desperately as I navigated through the halls.

"How big are we talking?" Poe sounded concerned.

"Huge. They're suspending—" I broke off as I passed two troopers in the hall, waiting until I was out of earshot before I dared speak again. "They're suspending all missions until this 'guest' is gone."

"A guest?" Poe's voice was thick with confusion. "Who do you think it is?"

"I think it might be him." I whispered, my heart pounding. "Snoke."

There was a long pause, and then I heard Poe swear loudly again, followed by the sound of muttering.

"Poe, I can't talk any more right now, but I'll try and get some more information while I'm still here. Be on standby in case I need a quick extraction."

"Be careful, Callie." He warned as I pushed open the door to the conference room.

A few familiar faces were sitting at the oblong table, and they looked up as I entered.

I saluted them before speaking. "I have a message from General Hux."

They nodded, granting me permission to deliver the message.

"He gave instructions to suspend all missions and planning until after our guest has completed their stay here on base. He wants all troops and personnel on site for the entirety of our guest's visit."

The officials exchanged irritated glances.

"That's a bit short-noticed." One of them muttered, and another agreed with a roll of their eyes.

"And inconvenient." The woman at the end sounded irritated. "I understand suspending missions, but planning, too? We'll be wasting valuable time."

They seemed to have forgotten that I was still standing there, but I didn't remind them. Instead, I stayed in place, trying to piece together information from their annoyed comments.

"Do you think we'll have time for one last planning session before he arrives?" A sharp-faced woman drummed her fingers on the table. "If he's not here yet, we might as well get some work done."

"He could arrive without warning." Another argued. "If Hux catches us planning while he's here, he won't be happy about it."

One of the officials, a man at the end of the table, seemed to remember that I was here. He waved his hand at me to dismiss me, not seeming bothered by my obvious eavesdropping.

I was just a trooper, anyway.

I pushed the door open and began walking quickly down the hallway, heading in the direction of the stairs that led to the roof.

"Send a message back to base that there's no need for Ben to access the First Order servers." I spoke rapidly, checking over my shoulder to make sure that I was alone. "Snoke is on his way here, now. While he's here, I can implant a tracking device on his ship, and we can use that to keep track of his location. Use the other delivery pod to send the device down, and I'll have it done in no time."

"Okay, hang on, Cal." Poe's voice was muffled as he relayed the message. There was a long pause before he spoke again. "Callie, stay where you are."

I froze, halfway up one of the staircases. "What? Why?"

"Organa has called an emergency conference. They're gonna talk this out before they decide anything."

"There might not be time for that." I warned.

"Just hang in there, I'll let you know as soon as I get word from headquarters."

I settled uneasily on a stair, my foot twitching impatiently. Nervous energy was flowing through my veins, making me vibrate with anxiety.

What was taking so long?

"Callie?" Poe's voice made me jump.

"Yes?"

"You're sure it's him? Snoke?"

"I don't know who else it could be." I snapped. "Not many people are important enough for a full base lockdown."

"Okay, it shouldn't be long now."

I pulled my helmet off as I waited, finding relief in the more abundant air flow. Somewhere in the base, that poor boy was scrambling around desperately to find some armor. I almost giggled at the idea.

The humorous feeling evaporated quickly as I remembered what was at stake here. I was rapidly growing tired of waiting. I could almost picture the conference room back at the Resistance base, full of various people arguing about what was right or wrong, and what the plan for proceeding should be.

The floor vibrated under my feet, an all-too familiar sensation. It was the ramp lowering on the loading docks, opening the base for an arriving plane. I closed my eyes and exhaled slowly.

"Poe, tell General Organa that he's here." My whispered words shook violently. "Snoke is here."