Hux was useful.

He was respected by the men and his plans worked far more often than they did not.

Still, if he didn't stop acting like such an ass, Phasma was quite certain their Supreme Leader would kill the man.

"General Hux, what causes rebellions?"

Kylo Ren's voice was beautiful without the mask. Many of the female soldiers lamented that he disguised it. The voice and how he so often covered his face in general. She had sent more young women to a few hours of re-education because they let themselves be distracted by the sight of the imposing knight striding by than she could count. She suspected that he either didn't care or that the man was merely… unaware of it.

A waste of a perfectly good male specimen to her way of thinking.

"Sire?"

"What causes rebellions."

Hux blinked. "Ignorance. Savagery. Lies spread by our enemies."

Supreme Leader Kylo Ren leaned forward, placing his fingertips on the table. That was one of the changes so far. Snoke had always reclined negligently in his throne and spoken to them thru holograms that towered above them or made them stand before him in his throne room.

Kylo Ren had a conference room where his officers were seated at the same table. Though it was clear that it tried his patience, he did his best to listen to them.

"No, General, rebellions are born in fear and suffering. They rise out of starvation, of not having the tools and income you need to put a roof over your head and that of your family. Of not being able to secure something so simple as a bacta patch and watching your child sicken and die because of it. How would spending funds on building yet another version of the Death Star do away with any of these underlying problems?"

The officers fell silent and watched as Kylo rose from his seat and began to walk around the table behind them, his hands behind his back. "Emperor Palpatine overthrew the Old Republic and tried to hold power thru fear and domination. That led to the rise of the Rebellion. The New Republic let itself be torn apart by infighting and the corruption of senators and diplomats who were supposed to serve the needs of their people but used their positions of authority to line their own pockets and thus the ones that actually cared to make the galaxy better were thwarted by their own allies. That gave us the chance to take hold and grow, but how will we maintain our power if we just continue to do the same thing? To make the same error of trying to strangle the systems into submission?"

Hux and a few others look put off by the line of thought, but Phasma and most of the others turned their heads to follow him. Maybe he was using the Force. Maybe it was just that soft, velvet baritone of his.

Or maybe it was because he was making sense.

"We will keep our might, we must. People think they want freedom, but they don't. They want to be led. They want to be ruled. But they also want security. Safety. We will give them that, but not just by military might. We will crush those that prey on the weak. We will tear down the palaces of the slavers and the ones who force others to work for them for whatever meager scraps of food they can gain and little else. We will bring comfort to those who are suffering and help them build the infrastructure they need to find financial security.

"We will not try to force their loyalty thru fear, history has shown that such methods only work for the short time and soon you are fighting an uprising when people grow weary of being beaten down. We will win their loyalty by making them trust us. Until they trust us to keep the food in their bellies and the clothes on their backs. Until they have more faith in us than they do in their own parents. Until just hearing the mention of the Resistance or a possible uprising has them striking back because they do not want to lose what we have brought to them."

A smile touched the corners of Phasma's mouth, but she banished it quickly. She was still recovering. Still walking with a cane. Still unable to be fully mobile and functional in her armor and the lack of it made her feel uncomfortably exposed. She told herself not to show any emotion, but she thought she saw Kylo's head turn her way every so slightly for the barest moment.

"I want new ideas. No more star killing or planet destroying weapons. We want more efficient weapons that can make surgical strikes that limit the amount of collateral damage. People put too much value on the wealthy and ignore that the majority of the populace is made up of commoners. Of those who yearn for someone to make their lives better. The more of them we protect and shield, the more of them we keep safe, the more of them we will have to support us when we come for the masters who refuse to bow and replace them with people loyal to us. I want our medical and logistics officers finding new ways to help work on the people the same way our mechanical and weapons engineers work on our military strength."

He came to a stop so that he could star out over the stars. "Make this happen. Help me build this new order of ours. We will control the Galaxy not because they fear us, but because they cannot imagine a life without us."

The dismissal was clear. They began to rise and file out. Phasma did her best to hide her wince as she rose from her seat, taking up the cane she hated.

"Commander Phasma, I wish you to stay."

Her heart plunged. She had been beginning to feel a sense of purpose and hope again for the first time since she had come to in the med bay only to find out the severity of her injuries. But she had been expecting this. What use was she now to the Order?

"I'm not retiring you, Commander. Sit down."

She did so, not sure what to expect now. Even more confused as the Supreme Leader came over take the seat next to hers.

"You may not be able to wear your armor or go into battle any longer, but you are still a skilled and seasoned officer. You have a natural talent for recognizing the abilities of others and the men respect you." He sighed.

The Supreme Leader… sighed.

"And you are something that the rest of my officers are not."

She frowned, she couldn't help it. She was puzzled, tilting her head slightly. "What would that be, Sire?"

"A woman. I have always been taught that I did not need to know anything more than how to force people to my will, bend them and keep them under my heel, but I am coming to realize that is not always the wisest course of action."

"So it seems. If I may… you seem to be…"

"I will not be angry with you. Speak your mind."

How to put this. "Your ideas, I like them. They sound… wise. Intelligent. There is a sense in what you are saying."

"Who knew that I would actually learn something from watching my mother all those years?" Those dark eyes in that narrow but strong face, a face too young to have so much responsibility, studied her. "Can I trust you to keep what we discuss in confidence?"

"Of course, Sire." And she meant it.

"I have need of a woman's wisdom. Especially if I am going to make any of this work."

XXXXXXXX

"Are you certain of this?"

"You have trusted me thus far, Sire. Have I been right?"

Kylo Ren looked at the reflection in the mirror, his expression remarkably like that of a young boy being told he had to eat the rest of his vegetables. "You have. How is it that we never realized you had a natural skill at this sort of thing? Clearly you have been wasted on being a storm trooper."

"Oh, I don't know about that." She made her way over, her gait with the cane still somewhat awkward. "I suspect that all that time I spent terrorizing soldiers will prove quite useful eventually. Now, she has all the questions and knows not to stray from them. All you have to do is… sell the answers."

"Sell the answers and not strangle anyone."

"Remember what is riding on this, Sire. Pull this off, and we may very well deal a devastating blow to the Resistance on more than one front."

XXXXXX

Rey came into the room, her skin damp with sweat. She had been practicing her moves using a practice faux saber she had carved from a branch she had found outside of their makeshift base. Rose tripped to a stop behind her. "What is it? What's happened?"

The command staff of the Resistance looked grim. All except for Leia. She looked… sad? Worried? Concerned? "Our attempts to win systems to our side are becoming increasingly more difficult of late. Kylo Ren's change of tactics are doing a great deal to remake the Order's image."

"We've known that for a while, now. But he can't keep it up. Not with his temper."

The officers exchanged more grim glances as Leia held a hand out to her. "Come here, Sweetheart. You need to see this."

The General was starting to scare her. Rey walked over, Rose trailing in her wake. Leia put a hand around her shoulders, pulled her close, and gave the communications officer a nod. A hologram flickered to life, showing an intimate seating arrangement. On one side sat a dusky skinned woman with a full mane of dark hair and wearing a skirt that barely had enough fabric to be upgraded from 'belt'. She smiled with too-white teeth as she sat across from…

Kylo Ren.

"What is this?"

"An interview."

"A what?"

One of the generals growled. "It's what famous and prominent people do when they want to promote themselves or their ideas. Usually popular musicians or politicians."

"Oh, I suppose that makes sense. I mean, he is the Supreme Leader, isn't he?"

Leia nodded. "But this isn't what Sith usually do. Palpatine didn't bother with interviews, nor did Vader or Snoke. They just work from the shadows and sent their lackeys out to forward their orders."

The woman shifted in her seat, uncrossing and recrossing her legs and leaning with one elbow on the arm of her chair in Kylo's direction, which managed to display a generous amount of cleavage.

"If she's not careful she'll pop out of the top of that dress." Leia didn't sound impressed.

"Now, Supreme Leader, I'm very curious about the work the New Order is doing on Jakku. Of all planets… it's rather remote and not of any clear social or economic value."

Kylo gave a nod, looking decidedly uncomfortable. "He looks about two seconds from either killing her or doing that sleep thing he did to me that one time."

"Jakku has a significance to me." Since when? "There people there have a hard life, trying to eek out an existence the best they can with little to no resources. Re… someone I know grew up there. Was abandoned there, actually, as a young child. She survived, but I still can't decipher how. What she endured there, the life she had to suffer thru, no child or innocent should have to put up with that. We're trying to help those who want something more than a life fighting over scraps to find a way to rebuild their lives. Mainly with moisture farms, water is extremely scarce there, but also by helping them find new markets for the scrap metals and components they get from the wrecks left behind by the war between the Empire and the Rebellion. My engineers have also found mineral deposits and are helping them set up mining facilities. I'm trying to make sure that no more young girls have to face the possibility of perhaps giving in to the… less savory appetites of others just to secure enough food on which to live. Maybe help them avoid being so weakened by lack of water and food that they fall easy prey to those who would harm them."

The woman interviewing him looked about ready to melt. "That is… wonderful." She brushed aside a tear before it streaked her makeup.

"Did he really do that?" Rey looked at Leia, confused.

The general nodded. "He did. Keep watching."

"What about the Resistance?"

"What about it?"

The woman looked a bit nervous. "I hate to bring it up, but it is lead by your mother."

He'd gotten better at controlling his emotions. He only grimaced slightly. "It is. I would like to think that a peace could be reached, but too many see Leia Organa as a war criminal." Rey inhaled sharply. "Even if an accord could be reached, many would call for her execution. There's a very selfish part of me that hopes it doesn't come to that. She's a proud woman, my mother, and she is a hero even if not seen so by the current day. I would hope that she would have the chance to go peacefully, but if that cannot happen, I hope the Force grants her a dignified death in battle. I don't want to see her decapitated in a public display."

"Of course not. How could you?" The woman looked down at her data pad again, clearly going over notes. "I… if you wouldn't mind, Supreme Leader, I would like to get a bit personal."

"That last question wasn't?"

"More personal, actually. You are… young for someone to have so much responsibility on his shoulders. The daily grind of a Galactic Leader can't be easy and even loney. Many are wondering what the future holds for Kylo Ren. I know there are a lot of eligible women would wonder if they might not find a place in that future. If you will forgive me for saying so, you are currently the most eligible man alive."

Rey saw Ren compose himself. The questions made him uncomfortable. "I'm not exactly… available."

"Is it like it was with the Jedi? A life of celebiacy?"

He shook his head. "No, and don't let the histories fool you. Plenty of Jedi found a way around that particular rule. My being here is proof enough of that. Vader married his wife in secret and hid their union from the Temple for some time, only being caught when she conceived. No, I'm not available because I have someone." He frowned, reconsidering. "I should have. It is a complicated matter."

"Is it one you could share?"

"You would need an understanding of some principals of the Force."

"I'm sure our audience wouldn't mind knowing more."

He seemed to consider it. Rey saw his eyes flick briefly off to the side, perhaps checking with someone?

"The Force, it is all around us. Inside us. It binds all things together after its own fashion, but sometimes it does more than that. Sometimes there is an actual Bond between two individuals. Two beings sensitive to the Force itself." Rey could practically hear the capital B in Bond.

"How do you mean?"

"This type of Bond, a Force Bond, unites the pair. It… connects. It starts small. Glimpses of one another. Random thoughts. Feelings. At first you have no control over it and it flares open at the most inopportune times. Over time it grows and eventually you can control it. It lets you know one another's thoughts and feelings. Warns you when the other half of the Bond is in pain or danger. You always know the truth about them because there is no way to lie between minds. It's…" he seemed to struggle with the word, and Rey couldn't tell if it was a genuine pause or some affectation. "It is very intimate. And permanent. There is no way to break it while both parties are alive. Only death can sever a Force Bond, and when it does, the one who survives lives with that pain and emptiness for the rest of their lives."

No. He wasn't doing this. He wasn't saying this. Not in a public broadcast sent out to every possible system! Rey shook her head in silent denial, the blood draining from her face. Leia's other arm came up to wrap about her, holding her in a motherly embrace as if expecting the half-trained Jedi to collapse.

The woman interviewing him seemed… touched. Almost envious and somewhat sad. "So… essentially you're…. married?"

"To be honest, marriage vows are no where near as solid. Those are broken all the time. My own parents were considered one of the Galaxy's greatest romances and they couldn't make it work. This is… more."

"But it is fair to say that you have a wife. The New Order has… a First Lady?"

"Rey," Leia's voice was soft, "calm down. You're breathing so hard you're going to faint."

"I would go with… Empress, myself. First Lady sounds too close to the Republic's way of thinking. And some systems even elect their queens."

"Empress." The woman seemed to taste the word with a smile on her lips. "Well, that will certainly leave a lot of women disappointed, myself included if I'm being honest, but when do we get to meet her?"

This time Rey was certain it was an affectation. Kylo Ren managed to summon an expression of saddened weariness. "I am uncertain. Our Bond hasn't matured enough to allow me to find her, and being kept apart as much as we have has done nothing to help that along."

"Kept apart? Where is she?"

"In the grasp of the Reistance, which means under my mother's influence and that of other people who have known me since I was a child but don't know me nearly as well they think. Filling her head with and doubts and lies. That I can feel, the conflict in her when it comes to what is between us and I know they are the reason."

The communications panel went up in a shower of sparks and the hologram flickered out. If she'd had a working light saber she would have hacked it to pieces.

"Rey!"

She wrenched herself from Leia's grasp, a single finger pointing at where the hologram had been, speech failing her.

"Rey, it will be all right."

"He called you a war criminal!"

"He isn't the first and I sincerely doubt he'll be the last. People have always had an impressive way of twisting the truth to their point of view."

"General, I believe the larger concern is that we have a potential security risk. For all we know, this girl has been feeding information to Kylo Ren, whether she meant to or not. And if what he claimed about this… Force Bond is real, then he may eventually be able to track us thru her."

"Well I'm sure as hell not letting you kick her out! That's exactly what he wants. It would deprive us of one of our most valuable assets and leave her without any support whatsoever! This isn't a battle he's fighting with troops and blasters! This is politics and public perception! He's setting his New Order up as a beacon of security, safety and compassion while at the same time making us look like the villains who've managed to kidnap his young, innocent and impressionable bride!"

So that was why she was in charge. The rest of the officers did not look happy with the idea, some even looked ashamed that they had been considering expelling Rey from the Resistance.

"Now, Rey's had an extremely trying morning and this crap is likely to get out all over the base by last meal. So why don't we let her try and get some privacy so she can wrap her mind around my son's latest idea to screw us all over and we can figure out how we're going to find a way to quash this nightmare before it gets rolling."

Rey felt a tug at her wrist and looked up to see Rose. The other girl gave her a tentative but hopeful smile. "Come on. I know where Finn and Poe hide the liquor. You look like you could use some."

She gave a soundless chuff and left with the only female friend she had that was her age. Without Rose she'd just be stuck with Finn, Poe and Chewie, who were all great, but all the testosterone got to be a bit much. They stopped at the boys' quarters where Rose snagged Poe's unopened bottle of Corellian Brandy and ignored everyone as they went back to the room they shared.

Only Rose was comfortable enough around Rey to bunk with her.

The little engineer grabbed two cups and poured a little in one. "Here. Drink this one fast, to take the edge off."

Rey tossed it back, coughed a few times, and handed the cup back. This time Rose filled both about half way. "I can't believe he just… told people. I mean… wasn't his story that I killed Snoke? Now I'm his tragically misplaced bride?"

"Don't know who he got to work for him, but they're good." Rose hopped onto her bunk. "I mean, I'd only seen images of Kylo Ren with his armor and helmet on. Who knew he was that good looking? I know he's the enemy, but… wow. No wonder he started being seen with his face showing. Do you know how many time times I've been on a planet trying to keep a low profile and heard girls cooing over him lately? You probably just became their number one most hated."

Rey drained the brandy and poured herself more. "You don't think less of me? About the Force Bond, I mean?"

"Did you mean for it to happen?"

"No. Snoke said he did it to us, but I don't think that was true. I've been reading the books I stole…"

"You stole books?"

She sighed. "Skywalker didn't really want to train me and I needed to know how to control what was inside me, so I stole some ancient books from the First Jedi Temple before I left. One of them had an entry about this sort of thing."

"What did it say?"

"That you pretty much have to do it to yourselves? I think it happened when we met and he was trying to interrogate me. He was in my head and I fought back, ended up in his instead. When I escaped and then later went to find Skywalker, he just started…showing up."

"What was it like?"

"The first time I tried to shoot him and ended up blowing a hole thru the wall of the hut I was using. Made the natives terribly upset. Then there was the time it popped open when he didn't have a shirt on."

Rose perked up. "Really? What's he look like under all that black?"

"Massive. And… solid. I don't really have much to compare him with."

"Wow. And you two are like… linked… mind to mind." Rose touched the forefingers of her hands together repeatedly, her eyes wide. "That's…"

"Annoying. Disconcerting. Terribly inconvenient."

Rose shrugged, her expression apologetic. "Hot."

Rey poured herself more whiskey.