Copper for the Charlatan

Old Scars, New Wounds

Something wrenched in her chest at the realization of it.

What if I don't come back? What if I never get to see him again? What would Kylo do? He has Phasma, he'll be fine. She blinked rapidly, dispersing the sudden welling of tears in her eyes. Don't be ridiculous. You're stronger than that scavenger. You're stronger than the whole damn Resistance. You're being an idiot. She hadn't expected to get emotional to such a degree. After being alone for so long, it was a strange feeling to care about someone else's suffering for her actions. It was like her mind and her body didn't quite know how to react- a disjointed array of emotions and responses going through her at once.

He pulled a data spike from beneath the console, unscrewing the end to remove its core. "All you need to do is swap this core into another spike and insert it into any port. You'll have ten minutes from the time of insertion for the program to go active. Is that sufficient?"

"Absolutely."

Hux waved the displaced officer back to their station and they both returned to his office. "Phasma has the shoulder plates ready, remember that the tracker is only going to send out one ping so it slips past their systems. Wait until you're sure to use it, and give us adequate time to near your location before uploading the program."

She lunged towards him, wrapping her arms around his waist, crushing him to her. "Thank you, Hux, for everything."

He returned the embrace and rested his cheek on the top of her head. "Don't act like this is goodbye, Ichara. If you think this could be goodbye then please don't go, there's other ways we could do this." his tone was more plaintive than he meant, but for a second he felt a stab of genuine fear.

"I need this, Hux. I spent my life preparing for this. I promise I'll come back. We're going to burn them from the inside out."

"You'd damn well better- I just got you back and now you're leaving me again. You're a horrid beast."

She laughed softly. "I'm your beast."

"That you are."
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"What are you smiling about?" Rey's voice broke her from the memory.

There was a softness in her voice when she replied. "I was thinking about a promise I made to someone very dear to me. I can't wait to see the look on his face when I keep it."

"What did you promise?"

"That I'd come back to him."

There was a jolt as the landing gear deployed, and Chewie's distinctive shout of shryiwook echoed from the cockpit. Poe popped around the corner "Alright, cuffs on, we're here."

"Do you mind if I pull these shoulder plates off and trash them? I really don't want to have to wear this hideous logo anymore if I don't have to."

"Suits me."

She walked over to the small trash chute, making a show of fumbling with the clasps for a minute. She found the small round tracker and flipped the little lever on the side before tossing them into the chute. The countdown had begun.

Hux woke instantly when his holopad chimed. He'd fallen asleep in bed with it resting on his chest, still clutched in his hands.

"There you are... " He transferred the coordinates to a star map. "Excellent, we're already on the Commenor Run. They're..." he laughed to himself when he zoomed in to see a more exact location. "Both convenient and fitting."

Officers on the bridge were surprised by his presence. It was 0730 and his shift didn't start till 0900.

"Set a course for the Alderaanian Graveyard. Contact the Horizon and have them meet us at these coordinates. We have a surprise for the rebels."
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