maskormenacelogs | [open/closed]

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[open/closed]

WHO: Armitage Hux & various
WHERE: various places
WHEN: April 7th- 14th
WHAT: training, board games, etc
WARNINGS: mentions of spoilers for TLJ, etc

i. closed to ahsoka tano

He was fairly sure her last blow was going to leave a good bruise on his side but he managed to stay on his feet nonetheless. It was only when she suggested that they take a break did he finally lower the wooden practice sword that she had given him for their practice.

It was early in the morning so they had the park to themselves which was ideal for their training despite the chill in the air. He set the practice sword on the nearby bench as he looked at Ashla. He didn't know a great deal about her aside from that she clearly was trained very well in lightsaber combat. Her movements were precise and practiced.

"So where were you trained?" He wasn't going to beat around the bush. Given what information he had found out about her, she seemed to be from around the time the Jedi Order existed or shortly after it. However, he had a feeling she was something different than a Jedi.

ii. closed to kylo ren

"I can't believe there isn't a Death Star or...something."

He frowned as he looked at the board in front of him. This game was primitive and simplistic after he had spent almost a lifetime conquering entire star systems but given they were stuck on this primitive backwater planet, they just had to make do with a simple board game.

"Otherwise I could just take out Australia from orbit which would wipe out a significant portion of your forces." He had never heard of Australia before now but the thought of destroying an entire continent wasn't exactly something he would mind. It wasn't as if he had heard of Australia before today anyway.

iii. open: de chima- around the city

As busy as he was, errands were a necessity. He often spent late afternoons around the city, it helped clear headaches after long meetings earlier in the day.

He also had several projects that he was working on that meant needing to get supplies. It's totally normal to be buying jeweler's tools and other bits of electronic tools and equipment, right? Oh yes.

Feel free to run into him around town doing his totally normal, not at all odd errands as he downs the large coffee he always seems to have in hand.

iv. closed to ash

"Alright, I believe you have my accent down. Have you been studying the history of the galaxy I sent you?" He sat on the couch, leaning back with legs crossed as he looked at Ash standing before him. With what he had planned later, he needed to know that the droid would be prepared for what he had planned. The last thing he needed was the rebels suspecting that he was anywhere else and trying to find him.

"And I assume you have a working knowledge of important planets and systems, as well," he added as he raised his eyebrows with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Remember, if you win this game there is a prize in it for you."

v. wildcard

[live on the wild side, choose your own adventure. feel free to hit me up at

illuminations if you want a prompt of your very own.]

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Ash stood with his back to Hux, spine straight, engaging the "Empire" protocols, as he's come to label them, adjusting his tie in the mirror. He caught Hux's eye in the reflection, and turned. The movements were still a little too stiff, a little too precise, but he carried himself with more confidence now that he'd been under Hux's careful tutelage. He could probably fool anyone who wasn't looking too closely.

"I have. The Core Worlds are where the wealth and power lies. Coruscant, Corellia, Chandrila, Hosnian Prime. Well. Formerly."

His voice, too, had taken on a more confident air. Not haughty, but formal. Close enough to Hux's that Ash thought he had a chance at winning the little game they'd set up.

"I can do it. I'm sure I can."

He wasn't sure, could never be one hundred percent sure of anything he did, but the Hux persona would be sure. So he was sure.

"Good. I have every confidence you'll win this game," he said pleasantly. No one in the Rebel Alliance or Resistance had spent any significant time with him, he was sure that little things would go unnoticed.

"And why was the New Republic destroyed?" He had to make sure Ash knew this information backward and forwards. It was more than memorizing facts and dates, he wanted to make sure Ash could convey his own attitudes and repeat the correct vocabulary.

Ash frowned, contorting his face as though he'd just seen something truly disgusting. "The New Republic was corrupt. They spread chaos and disorder throughout the galaxy. Things will be better, with them gone."

Or so the histories Hux gave him said. K-2SO said something slightly different, but as Ash had told the other robot, Hux was his friend. K-2SO was not.

"Tilt your chin up a little bit more when you talk about the New Republic. Remember, they are beneath contempt, nothing better than a festering rot. You are the embodiment of the best of the old Empire and the future of the First Order," he instructed as he watched Ash.

"We need to go over known members of the Rebel Alliance and the Resistance. You need to know what they are capable of, even here."

Ash corrected himself instantly, raising his chin and narrowing his eyes. Hux's words seemed a bit harsh, but he supposed it was normal, in a war, to really hate your enemies. And what Hux had said about the New Republic did sound fairly awful.

He turned and began a slow pace across the living room floor, clasping his hands behind his back as he recited the names of the enemies he'd been given.

"In terms of the Resistance, there are only two known members present: Poe Dameron, and FN-2187. The former is a pilot, who made an ill-guided attempt on your life and tried to trick TK-622 by impersonating an Imperial officer. He is dangerous, charismatic. The latter, a stormtrooper who defected and joined the Resistance." He paused in his pacing, looked down for a moment. Then revised himself. "A traitor."

"Look up. Never look down, it shows weakness and uncertainty," he corrected. "Straighten your back more, shoulders back." He had learned proper posture for an Imperial officer since practically the moment he could walk, it was that ingrained in him and he had to make sure Ash's performance was as polished as possible.

"And what do traitors deserve?"

Once again, Ash immediately corrected himself, pushing his shoulders back, his spine straight, his chin up. When he had looked down, it had been exactly what Hux said. A moment of weakness, uncertainty. Hux never displays such things. Therefore, the "Empire" protocol cannot include them.

He turned, pacing back the other way, catching sight of his reflection in the mirror. He didn't turn his head or even his eyes, but internally, his attention stayed focused on the periphery. He really did look like Hux just now.

"Nothing less than a coward's death," he sneered. Behind his back, his hands gripped tighter. "But we cannot make a move against FN-2187 here. Breaking the uneasy truce has been shown to lead to... Unfortunate consequences." Such as Poe Dameron's aforementioned attempt on Hux's life.

So much for Fulcrum being on top of information, right? She still hadn't heard about the Hosnian System or what he had done, but then again, she had been keeping her head down for some time now. There were too many things she didn't know about and too many people from home from the wrong timelines.

Perhaps she should get out more. Break her routine. And she did have a daily routine now. She would get up far too early in the morning, come out here to run and train a bit with Hux, out in the park. She would then head to her favorite coffee shop, get loaded up on Caf and Sugar, and then either go to the Ink Parlor or to NeoJedha, depending on the day. From there, running again, and.... home. Alone.

How sad was it that she actually liked mornings best?

Moving to take a seat on her laid out sweater, she stretched as they took their break, a brow raising at the question. "Mmm, the Jedi Academy." She said, deciding that, though she was in Ashla's form, she hadn't been hiding that she was Force sensitive. "And my Master. I think I learned a great deal from him, even if my style differs greatly."

A faint smile pulled at her lips. She needed to bother Anakin more, while she could. Perhaps losing Obi-wan had kept her from trying to open up more to Anakin as well.

He assumed that Ren was aware of what Force users were present and so far she hadn't posed any kind of threat. If she was a Jedi, she certainly didn't act like one. There was none of the typical arrogance, at least.

"Who was your Master?" he asked, curious as he took a seat opposite of her. He was going to be sore later but he didn't care. The bruises would heal, these sessions helped him keep in shape since he wasn't walking several miles on his star destroyer per day anymore.

"You don't refer to yourself as Jedi though," he pointed out. He was aware he was prying but it was too intriguing for him not to comment on.

"Yes, it would be unfortunate. I think it's only a matter of time before Dameron does something remarkably stupid again to break it, however," he commented with a frown.

While he would love nothing more than to watch Ren twist Poe's mind until it broke into little fragments, he also had other things he wanted to accomplish here that didn't involve the pilot or the traitor.

"Anyway, I have thought of another way we can make the game more fun. Do you think you could fool another Imperial officer?" he asked, the frown suddenly replaced by a smile.

Look, not all Jedi were arrogant! Though she could admit that there was arrogance in a lot of them, to the point that it became their downfall. Not a topic she cared about.

Still, sitting there, looking over at him, she considered for a moment to not tell the truth or... do so? Perhaps it didn't really matter here, and she wasn't ashamed of her Master. At least not here. Even back home it wasn't shame but heartache.

"I believe you know him. Anakin Skywalker. He was my master until I left the order." Which also answered the next comment. Blue eyes turned to look at what she was doing, which was reaching out to her feet and stretching more. You should stretch too, in order to keep from being too sore later. "If I were still a Jedi, I would refer to myself as such, but as I decided to leave, it is best for me to leave the title behind."

He nearly responded to her advice before stopping at her mention of Anakin's name. He had never heard of her from Anakin but then again he was still getting to know the man.

"You were Skywalker's padawan?" he asked, not hiding his surprise. Though, if he thought about it, he could see how Anakin would be a good instructor. He had seen Anakin training with Ren and he had been patient with Hux, even allowing himself to be burned in the process. It was still strange for him to try to reconcile that Anakin Skywalker was the same person who would become Darth Vader in the future.

"Why did you leave? From what I know, padawans are trained to be loyal to the Jedi from an early age so it must have been something significant that made you walk away," he pointed out. He had learned about the Order from his father who had used the Jedi training program as the basis for the First Order's training program. As horrible as the Jedi had been for the galaxy, there were still things that could be learned from them.

There was the faintest of frowns that crossed her face as 'Skywalker's Padawan' was said. Hearing it from another voice at this age felt weird, but she nodded. Yes. She had been. Her biggest regret was leaving and not pleading for him to come with her. "For a few years, yes. He was a very good Master."

She stayed folded over, hands curled around the ends of her feet, looking up at him, frowning a bit more. Like she was trying to decide how much to tell someone. It's not as if the information would hurt anyone here, nor will it help, right?

Letting her feet go she sat up proper, letting out a sigh as well. "It's not as if we were trained to be mindlessly loyal but just trained in the ways of the Jedi Order and the light. The information we were given as we aged helped us understand their ways."

"Unfortunately, time does not stand still, and some old ways become obsolete. Others learned ways to use the Jedi for their own bidding. By slowly working around the old code with new standards, I believe the Jedi were blinded in some ways. Used in others. Something happened to open my eyes to that. I was framed for something I didn't do. The only one who would listen to me, to believe in me? Anakin."

"In the end I forged my own path." Unfortunately abandoning Anakin in the end. Something that still didn't set well with her, which might be why lately she found herself holding up on her own once again.

Alchemy is not undertaken without preparation. Ideally, a world of proper temperament would be selected. Artifacts of power were required, or else one began the arduous process of bending the universe to agree: your will demanded an object's importance.

This was no ideal world, and there were no ruins to plunder. And yet some measure of alchemical endeavor was still possible. Experimentation was required. And raw materials still had to be gathered. Without agents at his disposal, he would do so himself.

A Sith Lord in a consumer electronics store is certainly not normal. But he is there. Any time another shopper draws too close, the sensation of his aura causes them to accelerate away from him to escape the discomfort, like a comet flung from a star system's gravity well.

A shrink-wrapped memory stick detaches itself from a rack next to Hux, floating sedately across the aisle and coming to rest in Jadus' hand. Woefully insufficient specifications, but he would adapt.

Well, that was something. He followed the object to the Sith Lord, pausing as he took in the man's appearance.

Mask...lightsaber. Granted, Hux knew little of the actual differences between Jedi and Sith but he had a feeling this was not one of the Jedi. He glanced at the lightsaber again- that was a clear indication that they were at least from the same galaxy but most likely not the same timeline.

"So what are you?" he asked, deciding to be direct. Perhaps he should have been warier- he had grown up on stories about the terrifying and mysterious Sith Lord Darth Vader- but he refused to be intimidated by anyone anymore. If he was going to be Palpatine's successor he had to prove that he could face down a Sith if he had to.

"If you fired on Australia, wouldn't that make the entire planet uninhabitable?" He asked lightly, amused- there was a particular expression that found its way onto Hux's face whenever he contemplated using superweaponry that Kylo couldn't help but be strangely fond of- here, at least, where it wasn't actually something he could do.

"You'll have to face me in battle instead."

A face he'd seen as he made a first skim of the archives. "General Armitage Hux." Anti-Jedi sentiment. Claims of a dominion held that the search had not yet corroborated. Possessed a blaster and a datapad.

And death. Like echoes of a grand choral finale.

He ignored the question. "How many died at your command?"

Edited 2018-04-09 22:10 (UTC)

"Actually, it's Supreme Leader Hux now," he corrected without hesitation.

Yes, he liked the sound of that. He had only been able to say the words silently for so long that being able to speak them aloud and with confidence made him feel as if it were really true. It was true here at least.

"Billions." He didn't flinch when he answered, there was no shame in his voice or expression. "They call me the Destroyer of Worlds."

"Depends on what weapon I decided to use and the magnitude of the blast," he said thoughtfully as if he was really weighing the options before looking up at Ren.

"I suppose I do," he said with amusement as he idly rolled the dice in the palm of one hand. Ren had held his own so far but it was clear to Hux that Ren was definitely not Supreme Leader material. Military strategy was not his strength. "What would you do if I cornered you in Australia and Southeast Asia?"

Titles. He was sure there were medals too, somewhere. He'd never bothered with either, given the option to abstain.

"Now, you lead so few. The experience should be instructive."

"If you know me, then you know that I am not that easily discouraged," he pointed out, tilting his chin upwards just slightly. He had helped build the First Order, he would build the new Empire.

"So that brings me back to my original question- who are you?"

"Personally?"

He smiled, looking down at the board for a moment before locking eyes with Hux.

"I would seek you out, cutting my way through whatever forces you put against me, and destroy you. But there doesn't seem to be a game mechanic for that, either."

"Oh?" Hux rolled the dice without any warning, hoping that Ren wasn't using his abilities to manipulate them.

"Well, then you'll just have to.... conquer me and destroy my forces," he said as he picked up his cards and looked over the board, biting his lip slightly as he looked at Ren from the corner of his eyes. "That is...if you're able to," he added as he moved his pieces closer to Ren's territory with amusement.

He wasn't surprised that Anakin would be the one to remain loyal instead of the Jedi. After spending even a little time around him had shown that Anakin seemed to be willing to put himself in danger if he thought he had to. Hux wasn't sure why Anakin would do that for him or welcome him without hesitation. It was such a strange thing.

And her words only confirmed that it was for the best that the Jedi were now wiped from existence. The galaxy had no need for such corruption. "I'm not surprised the Jedi would do that. Unlike many, I've had the opportunity to learn about the Jedi Order, how they operated. They must have taken you from a young age and then to abandon you, that seems cruel for those who decided to consider themselves the protectors of the galaxy." And now the Jedi were gone, thankfully.

"Skywalker is...certainly unique," he said after a pause. "I hardly know him but he has been willing to offer assistance without any expectation of repayment," he commented thoughtfully. It was something that he was still sorting through and trying to understand though her words did give him some insight on who Anakin Skywalker was. Definitely much different than the Darth Vader he had grown up hearing about.

Hux is not the only person running around De Chima on an errand run. Bela is out and about this afternoon, looking for supplies to apply finishing touches to her new store location. It has been a lengthy and tiring experience, but with help from others and a lot of hard work, Bela is almost ready to re-open Herodotus Antiques.

She just needs to buy some paint.

Which is why Bela finds herself in a hardware store thirty minutes before closing, hurriedly looking around for the perfect colour to match in with the look of her shop. In her haste, Bela had forgotten to take a picture for reference, so anyone who came across her would find Bela grumbling to herself and saying something along the lines of 'all of the colours look the bloody same.'

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errands!