the darkest night ♛ kylo ren (2)

chapter twenty seven ♛ a reconciliation

"Pilot, set coordinates for Naboo." I order, briefly watching stars pass the window over the pilot trooper's shoulder.

"Yes, ma'am." Is his grunted response. I click my tongue and turn on my heel, entering the belly of the ship where my two companions rest in isolation of each other. I glance at Lieutenant Avalon first, only to be met with a cold, hard glare. I clear my throat and avert my eyes, choosing to take the seat beside Sybil.

The ship shudders as we slip into hyperspace, and not one of us speak a single word in the 30 minutes it takes to reach my former home planet. When I feel the ship beginning to slow, I make a beeline for the cockpit to escape the tense, uncomfortable silence, only for tears to spring to my eyes as I once again gaze upon the planet of Naboo. The swaying, verdant treetops and hissing waterfalls over the lush mountainside where the palace, my former home, rest invoke an overwhelming sense of longing in me that I had not previously realized had been there. With the relief that entering Theed's atmosphere brings me comes the sickening realization that in my past few months with Ren, I had not expected to see it ever again.

"Prepare for landing." The pilot warns over the intercom, and I place my hand at the head of his seat, unable to bring myself to sit down in the name of safety if it means tearing my eyes away from our lowering into the city center. As we near the ground, I immediately recognize a decorated Queen Nikana Lei awaiting our arrival from the top of the grand steps, surrounded by her handmaidens, bowed and covered from notice in sapphire blue frocks. A smile begins to grow on my face, but I am jolted forward by a rude thump on the back of the shoulder.

"That doesn't look like remaining in character to me." Sybil grumbles, and our plan finds its place at the forefront of my mind once again. The ship lands in the brief moment that I had glanced away and I immediately lose my footing, only to be caught by my partner in crime with a roll of her eyes. I finally turn over my shoulder to face those in the belly of the ship. A handful of troopers and a severe Lieutenant Avalon watch the pair of us, waiting for instruction. Sybil swiftly places her mask over her head once again, then turns to me and nods. "We're ready, Commander Escara. We will follow your lead." She encourages through the voice modifier, with barely telligible feeling. She places what is meant to be a comforting hand on my forearm, but I understand the hidden warning lurking in the contact. The threat on my life made on the circumstance of Marco's death only a couple of hours before is echoing in my mind like a chilling mantra, and once she realizes her point has been communicated, she gives my arm one final squeeze before letting go.

The ship's inhabitants quickly clear out of the way as I march to the door, practicing the intimidation expected in the actions of a commander of the First Order by fixing each and every one of them with a cold stare. I stop just before the exit, swallowing my nerves down one last time, then step into the light where I am visible to all onlookers.

"It's showtime." Sybil whispers, and with that, we are marching down the stairs, towards the women who had been my sanctuary for six years.

I take the familiar steps with my shoulders straight and my head held high, fixing my face with my own version of the heightened sneer often adorning Hux's rat face. I glance only twice over the populace, acting as if I believe them beneath me, before clasping my hands at my stomach and stopping directly five feet in front of Nikana, one of my dearest friends, whose face is painted white, silvery-blonde tresses fixed in elaborate braids which hold her secretly-protective head piece in place. I pretend not to take notice of a grinning Sheva at her side. I smirk.