albinomilksnake | STAR WARS: possible spoiler warning

[Nevertheless, her observation makes him growl in frustration, a dog craving to please his own master while having to watch another eat in his stead.]

The Supreme Leader will already know that I have awaken, even if the General does not.

[Weakness or not, it would be worse to lay on the hospital bed instead of going straight to him for orders. It was the curse of his connection with Snoke -- he was at his beck and call at all hours of the waking day. There is no choice in the matter. He must go.

Standing is nearly impossible, and he has to hold himself on the bed just to take steps.]

[The sigh she exhales is unintentionally amplified by the automated radio transmitter embedded in her helmet. He is resolved, and much as she dislikes the idea of him aggravating his own miserable state, his will-- as is so often the case-- is also her own.

She lifts a heavily plated arm, saying nothing, making no move to come closer: he will close the distance if that is his wish. He is strong enough.

He must be.]

[Ren continues to pull himself along the cot until he runs out of cot to hold. There's a brief pause when he spots his reflection is Phasma's armor, free hand reaching up to his face. Gloved fingers brush the long scar there, the light and fire in his eyes dying almost as suddenly as it had sprung to life.

He had barely survived, there is no question about it now. The ice of the snow soaks his robes, mixed with too much blood and charged with the power of his lightsaber. He can map the deep cut on his torso now, straight down to his leg alongside the other various stab wounds that he had gained from his last fight.

An inhale cuts the silence, chased by a shaky exhale as he reaches for Phasma's plated arm to clasp as firmly as he is able. It's done. There is nothing more he can do but face the Supreme Leader and search for the guidance he so desperately craves.]

Captain.

[It's a halting reply.]

How long have I been indisposed?

[He is marred, that was clear well before he rose to his feet-- but she sees the contempt in his eyes as he studies himself in her armor. For all her battles and the injuries sustained throughout, it's a feeling she understands well. Her voice isn't soft (never soft) and yet the viciousness so generally employed by the captain is nowhere to found when she finally speaks, keeping him held upright with the strength of her forearm alone.] They are what make you - never forget where your enemies failed to extinguish your life.

[And then she adds, curtly:] One month, subtracting the span of a few days.

[One month.

He swallows, audible but without looking up at his assistant. Being confronted with his own mortality so soon hadn't been in the cards. His power was so prevalent that the idea of someone else being capable of cutting him down was inconceivable.

And yet, the combined struggle of a traitorous Stormtrooper and a no good scavenger orphan managed to nearly kill him.

The more he thinks about it, the more he dreads marching himself to the inner sanctum.]

Then I suppose I owe you my life.

[It's quiet, in a way he doesn't mean for it to be. If only he had his helmet.]

It was General Hux that found you. [The correction is gentle, but firm. She claims nothing that isn't hers; her pride has always been tempered, more so than either of her companions more often than not.]

I was...indisposed. [Tempered, but not infallible. FN-2187 proved than much all too easily; the memory tastes as acrid as bile on her tongue, muscles still wound beneath the weight of her armor.]

[There's no audible backlash, but its impossible to miss the way his face screws up in displeasure. Of course it had been Hux, and no doubt he delivered a most gruesome report to the Supreme Leader. How could he hope to defend himself when he was clinging to a Stormtrooper trying to stay upright, after a month of being indisposed himself?]

Is he in pursuit--

[Kylo Ren stutters to a stop as a spasm runs from his upper spinal column straight down to his knees. His muscles were obviously not quite ready to do so much moving.]

--of the girl?

No.

[There's something else-- something sharp to her voice when she says it. A sign she's less than fond of the idea of chasing down something so insignificant as a scavenger from a backwater planet, no matter how capable she might have proved to be. Snoke has but one apprentice; he does not need two.] Hux does not think her valuable enough to risk more firepower when we must adopt a more conservative approach.

He has devoted a small reconnaissance team to the task until our path to Skywalker has been secured.

What?

[A surge of anger chased by adrenaline and the abrupt shadow of the Dark Side enveloping him gets Kylo Ren to stand straight, gripping Phasma's pauldron for stability purposes only.

However, judging by the way his arm shakes, he very clearly would be breaking something if he had the capacity to do anything but stand there and snarl.]

That ignorant--they are in possession of the map to Luke Skywalker! The Sumpreme Leader's instructions were explicit! If she reaches him--

[The stab of pain in his side only serves to incite him further, and he instinctively reaches for his lightsaber. When he finds nothing there, he is forced to tangle his hand in his robes.]

He cannot be permitted to train that girl.

STAR WARS: possible spoiler warning

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