A/N: So it's the last chapter! I'm so excited to finish this. Thank you everyone who's read this, I'm so glad I've gotten the chance to share this story with you.

Anyways, like I promised, there will be a part two, and I will be posting the first chapter after I've survived all my finals.

Part two will be called Star Wars: Vengeance. All our favorites will be returning, as well as some introductions to some new(ish) faces!

I do solemnly swear that we've only scratched the surface of what's in store for our lovely characters.

But for now, the conclusion of Star Wars: Variance.

Lelouch sat in his customary seat, exhaustion pulling at his eyelids. He had slept little in the two weeks since Larissa's capture. Most nights he had been looking for a any subspace message from Larissa. For the first few days Lelouch had been hopeful, knowing that any attempt from Larissa to contact him would just have to wait for the right moment. But as more and more days had passed, it'd become painfully aware that Larissa's message wasn't coming any time soon.

Whatever time he hadn't spent looking for the ever-elusive message, he'd spent avoiding Luke Skywalker. Despite CC's ability to shield them Luke Skywalker's Force abilities, it didn't stop Skywalker following him, Kallen, Li and Tohdoh everywhere. Except for the few places Lelouch had determined were forbidden to him and his apprentice, Luke Skywalker seemed to always be trailing one of them. It made things difficult, especially considering the amount of secrets such a person like Lelouch had. The only good thing had come this situation was that Leia seemed to be as suspicious of Skywalker as he seemed to be of Lelouch. What Lelouch had shared of what he'd known of Larissa journey to his system to Leia had created a rift between the two siblings, and Luke Skywalker had not seemed inclined to share any information at all.

The only person Lelouch still had yet to have a grasp of was Skywalker's apprentice, Rey. She was an enigma, a wild card. While at first Lelouch had assumed that in the dispute between Luke and Leia, Rey would automatically side with her master. But Rey seemed to also have a very close relationship with Leia, and in this, she stayed firmly in the middle, though through the stories that Kallen and the others had managed to gather, he had learned that Rey had been close to Han Solo, and had also been there when Kylo Ren had ended his life. According to Kallen's reports, the young man who'd also accidentally shot Larissa had also been there. Kallen had kept the icy shoulder to the man they'd learned was called Finn, a deserter stormtrooper, even after a young pilot by the name of Poe Dameron had been thrown into the mix.

"I don't care if you were aiming at Kylo Ren, you hit my friend," Kallen snapped from across the table. "Who the hell taught you to aim anyways?!"

"The First Order," the dark man, Finn, said reluctantly.

"You were a stormtrooper," Kallen said in disbelief. "No wonder you're a shoddy shot."

Finn's eyes blazed. "Now listen here-" he began.

"Enough," Leia said firmly. She turned to Lelouch, who had, up until that moment, been watching the argument with amusement. "Zero, there's someone I'd like you to meet." At her gesture another man stepped stepped forward. His was skin tanned, closer to the Japa natives in his organization, and he had messy dark hair, and was wearing the flashy orange suit common for Resistance pilots. "This is Poe Dameron, one of the leaders of our fleet. He's just arrived, and I thought it would be prudent to introduce him to your leaders, since we are to be sharing sources."

This was going to be an interesting conversation. "Then I suppose I should formally introduce the head of my guard and my flight division, Kallen Kozuki." Lelouch indicated Kallen with a wave of his hand.

"Hi," Kallen said shortly.

"You're a pilot?" Finn asked disbelievingly.

"Like you could fly anything, trooper," Kallen snapped.

"Uh, it's totally true," The man, Poe Dameron said quickly. "Finn can't fly, but he's got killer aim, or a least on a spaceship he does." Poe reached forward and extended his hand to Kallen. "I hear you've got some stellar flight systems here."

Kallen smiled, though somewhat reluctantly, too and replied, "You haven't seen anything until you've flown a knightmare frame."

"Yes, we've heard about these, knightmares," Leia replied. "I would really like to see the specs for the these machines, if it isn't too much to ask."

"I'll contact the head of my weapons division and set up a meeting," Lelouch promised quickly, and moved the meeting other conversation topics before Kallen could start another argument with Finn.

Rey had not been present for the conversation, but even if she had, Lelouch doubted if she would have intervened. Rey seemed to have the unique ability to blend into her surroundings. She wasn't imposing, or noticeable truly in anyway. Like many that had come to Lelouch, she had learned how to hide in plain sight. It was during those nights, when he thought of Rey, that he wondered how she and Larissa might have gotten along, if things had been different. Rey and Larissa were alike, in many ways, and they were very powerful in the Force, or so CC had told him after encountering the girl.

To be honest Lelouch wasn't entirely sure what to make of the whole situation, including the ragtag team of interesting misfits that was the Resistance. More than anything Lelouch wished that Larissa was here, that she was with him in this venture. That she could comment with amusement on the dispute between Finn and Kallen, debate with her mother about what strategy would be best when taking on the Britannian forces. Larissa had always been a breath of fresh air, someone who was able to think and react on his level, someone who had come to be his confidant, the family he'd never been able to have. Larissa had always seen him for exactly the man he was. The fact now that she was lost to him weighed heavily on Lelouch's mind, so much so distraction was too easy for him these days.

"Zero," Li said softly, waking Lelouch from his thoughts suddenly, and Lelouch glanced up at the waiting crowd. The hologram appeared to be a modified knightmare frame, which he remembered Rakshata and the other scientists in the Resistance trying to come up with a knightmare that could fly in the vacuum of space and possess a hyperdrive. If they were successful, the Resistance and the Black Knights might finally have the technology capable to take down the Britannian government and fight successfully against First Order.

"Whatever you need Rakshata to get this completed," Lelouch said. "Get it done."

"Of course Zero," The tanned woman said quickly and brushed the other scientists to the side, her white jacket billowing behind her.

"If these things do end working, it's gonna change everything," Poe said. "Thank you, Zero, for helping us like you have."

"It's been my pleasure to honor this cooperation, I just hope it comes to a fruition that benefits all of us." With that, the conference ended. The Resistance members congregated over by the screens Zero had given them in the control room, except for Leia, who still sat at her place next Zero. She had a tablet in her hand, but the words on the screen weren't moving. She seemed to be as distracted as he was. As if sensing his stare, Leia looked up. Despite having no true ability in the Force himself, Lelouch still could tell what, or more importantly who she worried about.

Lelouch leaned in and touched her shoulder gently. "We'll find her, I promise."

Leia gave him a grateful smile. "She's a resilient girl. I know she'll be alright."

"You would feel it if she were harmed," Lelouch ventured softly.

"I didn't feel it when she lost her memories," Leia whispered, "and I couldn't feel her all those years here." Lelouch felt a moment of regret for not telling Leia the truth behind Larissa's memory loss. Leia was her mother, and she deserved to know what had happened to her child. But he was still far too wary of Luke, and Lelouch had not gotten this far in life by not being cautious. He could, however, keep giving Leia pieces, and hope that eventually she'd figure it out herself.

"You can't blame yourself," Lelouch said softly. "It's obvious whatever happened was beyond your control, and beyond Larissa's. Let's just hope that the future is something in our control."

Leia smiled. "You are very good with your words, Zero. I understand now why you've managed to amass so many people behind you."

"It's a gift," Lelouch said quietly. Leia smiled again, and opened her mouth to reply when a young Resistance technician stepped forward, her slight frame looking even smaller against the backdrop of the bustling control room.

"What is it Lieutenant Connix?" Leia asked, shifting forward. The young Lieutenant looked uncertainly between Leia and Lelouch. "It's alright Lieutenant. Tell us what you came up here for."

Lieutenant Connix took another breath, and shakily looked down at her. "I've just received a communication, General Organa, from one of our contacts in the Vairath system. I know it isn't protocol, but I felt you needed to see this- right away." The girl looked terrified, as if she wanted to be anywhere else but the place she was currently standing, and the way that she was looking between her general and Lelouch, gave Lelouch an odd feeling, one he didn't like.

"What did the report say?" Leia asked quickly, her voice sharp, but calm.

The Lieutenant looked down again at her tablet. "The report says that Kylo Ren attacked their main military base with the Knights of Ren. Almost everyone, including the ruling cabinet was slaughtered, and there are other reports indicating the system has already fallen to the First Order." Leia was silent, and her expression was grave at the news of her son's crimes.

"Anything else?" Leia finally asked after a moment, clear she wanted to be done with the conversation.

"In the reports," Lieutenant Connix said haltingly. "There were several mentions of a ninth member, a girl, with previously unseen powers in the Force. She was carrying two red double-bladed lightsabers." Lelouch's head snapped up. That sounded like Larissa, too much like Larissa to be a coincidence. Lelouch couldn't fathom why Larissa would be on the planet of a First Order incursion, unless she'd used it to try and get away. But there was something about the tone of the Lieutenant's voice, and the way she'd delivered her message that made Lelouch pause, and with good reason as the young woman finished her report with a shaken, breathless voice. "The reports say that the young woman- led the assault." Lelouch eye's widened at the implications of her statement. He had no doubt in his mind that the woman they were referring to was indeed Larissa, but Lelouch was having trouble fathoming her motives for leading a First Order assault. What was she playing at?

When Lelouch glanced at at Leia. Leia's face was ghostly pale and her eyes were wide. Lelouch could see she was fighting the realization that she was far too smart not have realized the implications. "Are you sure?" Leia asked, and even Lelouch could feeling her practically vibrating with fear.

The young Lieutenant, opened her mouth to speak again, when Li suddenly stepped forward holding out another tablet. "We have video, Zero, from one of our sources there." Lelouch took the tablet quickly and tapped the screen. The security feed was a hologram, and it materialized above the screen, playing out before Lelouch and Leia. The first on the screen was what looked like a soldier in Variath system uniform firing outside of the recording devices range. The soldier was clearly terrified. He didn't make it all the way across the shown hall before he froze suddenly, his blaster flying from his hand. A figure, dressed completely in black, a raised, leather covered hand holding the soldier in place. The figure's dark hood was raised, so at first Lelouch wasn't sure who it was, but as the figure walked around the captive soldier, Lelouch caught right of the face, and the breath left his lungs in a rush.

It was Larissa. Her face was clear an unmarked, and her violet eyes were cold and determined. She quickly circled her captive. They appeared to to have a conversation, but the recording had no audio, and Lelouch couldn't tell exactly what was said, but from the terrified expression of soldier gave Lelouch little doubt about the manner of conversation. The soldier though, terrified, seemed rather uncooperative. Larissa's hand raised again, and the soldier went rigid. A strange, blankness came over the soldier's face and he walked over to one of the visible walls and placed his hand in a panel Lelouch hadn't seen before, but recognized as biolock, unbreakable except to the designated key DNA. A large bay door opened next to the man, and before Lelouch could blink a red lightsaber separated the soldier's head from his body. The headless corpse fell at Larissa's feet.

Leia made a strangled sound, and Lelouch was unable to look anywhere but the screen as several more figures appeared into the feed, the very same masked group who'd attempted to kidnapped Lelouch, and leading was Kylo Ren. The masked man gazed at his sister as Larissa's hand gestured towards the headless corpse, and something flew from the soldier's coat and into Larissa's hand. She offered it to her brother and he took it, striding through the now open hall, the masked men following behind Kylo Ren. Larissa made to follow, but paused, and looked up straight into the holo-recording, and then the hologram froze and disappeared.

Lelouch sat back, breathing hard. Leia was close to sobbing next to him. '

"Get all but leadership out of here, now," He said harshly to Li. The order was given immediately, and everyone but the leadership quickly left the room. Leia's hand was on her chest and and her breath was coming in sharp short pants. Kallen immediately stepped forward toward Leia.

"General, you have to calm down," Kallen said quickly. "Breathe please." She took deep breaths with Leia until the older woman had calmed down a little. Kallen looked at Lelouch then. "What the hell is going on?"

Lelouch handed the tablet to Li. "Show it to them." He didn't want to make Leia watch it again, but he doubted he could open his mouth and adequately explain what he'd just seen. As the small group watched the holo-recording. There were gasps of confusion when Larissa revealed face, and then cries of surprise when she took off the soldier's head. If there was any doubt who'd she'd been doing it for, it was made certain when Kylo Ren appeared next to her. This time the footage stopped with Larissa in the center looking up at the hidden holo-recorders.

"Oh no," Kallen whispered, looking like she was going to be sick.

"What does this mean?" Tohdoh asked harshly.

"It means that Larissa has turned to the Dark side," Leia said hollowing, and as she looked at the projected image of her daughter. Her eyes were full of pain and sorrow, and she looked away from the image, as if she couldn't bear to look at it any longer. Lelouch however, couldn't look away from the figure of the woman he'd once called his greatest ally. Something about the frozen hologram gave Lelouch pause.

As Lelouch studied the hologram of Larissa, the message suddenly became crystal clear. Larissa had known the holo-recorders were there. She could have taken them out before she'd even gotten into the compound. She'd let this scene be captured, she allowed it to be known exactly where she was, and what she was doing. The last look was a message, one that Lelouch could decipher all too quickly and clearly:

This is my game now, and we're going to play by my rules.

Lelouch looked around at the stunned faces of his command and of the resistance and realized all too quickly how crippling a blow this was going to be to all of them. Larissa had given them power, had brought together the Resistance and the Black Knights, had given them something to fight for, something to gain. But now, Lelouch mused with a distant sort horror, she might be the very thing that would tear them apart. Lelouch had always pitied the fools who'd gotten in Larissa's way. He'd just never entertained the idea that he'd be on the opposite side of Larissa, that he would be her enemy, and not her ally. And Lelouch had a feeling, a certainty that chilled him to the core.

This wasn't the end.

Larissa was just getting started.