#battleforbatuu6

[enkisstories]

Okay, I admit this is great fun with franchise characters, who have known heights, but I still wouldn't want to do it for each of my sims.

[enkisstories]

At their fourth vacation day Finn and Poe were able to play on the swings without that conjuring up images of space battles. Poe wasn't fumbling for the controls of his "vehicle" anymore and Finn didn't scan the vicinity for targets.

They were getting better, and they finally had time for themselves, too, but there was still some lingering tenseness, that probably wouldn't go away as long as the First Order existed.

For now there was the ceasefire and the awareness that they could squander the leftover distress signals from the Komorebi mission as fireworks.

[enkisstories]

Ben: "...and when it's finished, the fungicide will also clear the mind of an infected who takes it. It can get administered orally as well as dermally, so we could load up the Millenium Falcon with it and spray the whole town in one go to clear the infestation."

Rey: "Risking getting shot in the process by the faction of Ryloth' military that is under Godmother's control..."

Ben: "Right, we'll have to think of something regarding that. But first we'll have to test the fungicide anyway."

And that was a problem, because there was the residual risk that the fungicide would kill the host along with the parasite. Even if the host survived, the aftermath of a sentient giant fungus' consciousness having lived rent-free in their brain might leave them mentally damaged.

But test their invention Koi Squad had to, there was no way around it.

Armitage: "I'm quite fond of the mental image of us forcing a fruit of Godmother's down Ben's throat to get him possessed and then using him as test subject. In the same vein I'm aware that people-testing is out of question for you, and I accept that. But what's left?"

...

Rose: "According to the simulations, the risk of death or lasting damage is minuscle..."

Poe: "But not zero."

Rose: "Being a rebel isn't about camping in the woods. For some it is escaping being pusued by the First Order and certain death. We talk about hope a lot, but way too often our life is about..."

Rose: "...making tough decisions."

Rose: "This better was worth it..."

BB-8: [You have to stop doing that to him at the end of every mission. People might get the wrong idea.]

Ben: "BB-8, start recording! And somebody slap an MRT-headset on Hux!"

Godmother (through Hux): ₶Ʉ₹₮$…

[enkisstories]

At times Koi Squad had looked anxiously at the Allium dirus plants in the botany lab, as if they'd jump them any moment. Armitage Hux wasn't prepared to actually get jumped, and most definitely not by Rose Tico. He staggered backwards a little, meeting his "attacker"'s impish glance with an expression of (not unwelcome) surprise.

Rose: "Rey called a meeting. Upstairs! We can finally go upstairs again!”

Armitage: "A meeting, so. Will there be flyers "Why going outside wearing untested breath masks in the middle of a townwide infestation of mind-influencing spores is a bad idea"?"

Rose: "Aw, don't be grumpy! Everything went well!"

Armitage: "I still don't understand how you people click. What those two hotshots did was dangerous."

Rose: "What's not to understand here? One of us had to go, better two, so that they could aid each other. And Finn and Poe volunteered."

Armitage: "Sneaked away without telling anybody, more like it."

Rose: "Well, how would you have went about testing the filters?"

Armitage: Have the droids enter the house of some not yet possessed townsfolk, press the masks on their faces and drag them outside to see what happens next. Record everything for a later analysis.

Armitage: "Uh... I'd cleared my throat and looked portentously at Rey."

Rose: "And then she'd shaken her head, asked for a humane suggestion and Poe and Finn would have went anyway."

Armitage: "You utter... illogical... short-sighted... risk-loving..."

Rose: "...rebel scum?"

Armitage: "Nah. That insult has long stopped working. You guys are proud of that monicker."

[enkisstories]

On Batuu John Spilph had only ever known Rey Palpatine as a shining beacon of hope, who swooped in, saved the day and returned to being an elusive enigma again. And Armitage Hux had at best been a scary face on TV, not even a real person. It had been doubtful whether Hux had even been aware of Batuu's existence.

But now that John was sheltering both in his factory, the larger than life hero and the looming menace had turned human to the point where the entrepreneur felt comfortable to casually chat with them over meals.

John: "Caroline once said that I bring out the best in her. Am I right in assuming it's the same for you? Is there a certain someone for whom you put the General aside and looked what else there might be to you?"

Armitage: "Wouldn't that be a story? But, no. I allied with the Resistance to bring down Kylo Ren. Working together with them turned out to be a greater challenge than fighting them, though. For the first time since I was three years old, there were no demands or expectations, just acceptance. Such a soft lifestyle! Laughable, really. I mean, corn syrup on a stick and chocolate Vaders? C'mon! But it also was enticing, in a way. I felt… sheltered."

John: "That's how Daniel must have felt when he came into my household. I bet he was at his most vulnurable when the crystal started to whisper to him, making it easy to corrupt him."

Armitage: "You started to rub off on me... a little. But then Rose bared her fangs, did what needed to be done, with no regard to my feelings in this matter, and the illusion of a happy rebel utopia in the woods got pierced. I wasn't even angry at Rose, but at the way the world works, after all."

Rey: "It doesn't have to remain an illusion. We can make it real. I'm working my ass off to make it real."

Armitage: "No. You can't. A military victory over the First Order is impossible."

Rey: "That's not decided yet!"

Armitage: "Is, too. My words just now didn't come from pride alone, I told you a fact. When we camped at Moonwood Mill, I managed to gain full access to your network. I saw the truth, but never told you. You have zero chance."

Rey: "Armitage, you... I see that you are not lying. I can feel it in the Force, too. But that only means that we have to find a different way to win!"

Armitage: “Hm... How determined exactly are you in this regard?”

Rey: “You still need to ask?"

Armitage: "Alright... To defeat the First Order, you need to free us from ourselves first. Are we in agreement about that?"

Rey: "Yes. We never fought for territory, or resources, or from a thirst for power, but always first and foremost for the people!"

Armitage: "Good. Then I will tell you now what Ben hasn't shared with you guys yet: The First Order is breaking apart over Ben's redemption arc. We are in a state of civil war. As Grand-Marshall and third in the command chain, I hereby propose a formal alliance between our faction and the Resistance."

Rey: "Allying with the rancor's claws against its fangs?"

Armitage: "It's that or anihilation at the hand of whoever wins the civil war, because we won't toss our weapons to you guys' feet. But if you help us through this crisis, then after the civil war we will listen to you... blood of Palpatine and rightful successor to our throne."

John: "So it'll be the Second Order all over?"

Armitage: "The what now?"

Rey: "That's what Governor Sonderan named his movement, back on Batuu, when the planet was under First Order rule. He introduced reforms, a slow change, that would leave nobody with the impression of having lost. Reality forced him to abandon that path, though, and to go full on rebel."

Armitage: "Why can't I shake the feeling that when you say "reality", you really mean Kylo Ren..."

John: "Yes, him.”  (turning to Rey) “ I can’t stomach the idea of the Resistance I, however briefly, fought in myself, joining forces with Kylo Ren. But if you have claims to the throne? And those shitheads would voluntarily follow you? Rey... Princess Palpatine... you should seriously consider that!”

Rey: “I refuse to act as a figurehead, so I’d stay in power for like two hours.”

Armitage: “Considering that I needed three and a half minutse to finish off the New Republic, two hours is something I can work with.”

Rey: “That comment was more than inappropriate!!!”

Armitage: But you didn’t outright tell me “No”, either. Let’s bring this up again at a later time.

[enkisstories]

Armitage: "Wake up, rebel scum!"

Poe (waking up): "Oh, I'm so glad! It was all just a dream! I'm still on the Finalizer! ... No, wait, my arms are free..."

Looking up, Poe also spots Armitage's turquoise pendant, that the General hadn't yet worn back at Jakku. And neither had the pilot known Hux' first name or had Finn went by a name at all. Yet those names are clearly edged into Poe’s mind, and in special places, too.

Poe: "Oh, shit. No such luck, after all."

Still on Ryloth. Still very nearly having killed each other and Rose. Over a flirt. Granted, having parttaken of Colonel Cahill's fiendishly strong wine had led to the fight, but the underlying conflict had long been brewing.

Armitage: "You sure love yourself a First Order man, ey? Should we get Ben here, too?"

Poe: "Can we pretend you're still your pre-defection selves and then you kill me quickly?"

Finn: "Poe... At least look at us! Please!"

Finn: "Please?"

Poe: "Goodness, Finn, I don't know what to... How mad exactly are you at me now?"

Finn: "How could I be mad at YOU, when I started this mess?"

Poe: "Because you were merely intoxicated. Me, I was selfish. I wanted to have my cake and eat it. See, ever since we left Batuu, I harbored feelings for both of you.”

Armitage: *tickle, tickle*

Poe: “Noooo... you’re only making it worse... now I want you to go on...”

Poe: "I was so relieved when you got arrested and were finally out of my life. It was finally over! I could be the boyfriend my Finn deserves! But then you returned and it all started anew. That’s why I said I hated you “for existing”.”

Finn: "And you thought I never noticed you flirting with Armitage? Poe, dearest, I hate to break to to you, but between us you are not the brains."

Poe: "Yeah, it showed! Everything came crashing down, when you flirted with each other, leaving me with nothing.

I freaked out. I already pictured you two getting married! And I saw myself all alone, having lost everything. Just because I couldn’t choose."

Armitage "But we have chosen, while you slept. We decided that we will to be together..."

Poe: "Yeah. I figured you would."

Finn: "...with you, idiot!"

Poe: "Wh...at?"

Armitage: "As long as everything around us is utter chaos, we agreed to share you.”

Poe: “So you are interested...? Really?”

Armitage: “Quite honestly, I am a fish out the water in this team. I could focus much better if at least that “will we or won’t we” wasn’t nagging at me anymore, what ultimately would benefit the mission.”

Finn: “But with that kind of arrangement, things may happen between me and Armitage, too. It’s not very likely, but possible. You need to be aware of that.”

Armitage: “And when the war is over, we’ll re-evaluate the situation.”

Poe: “How romantic...”

Finn: "The only way out of this madness.”

Armitage: "Fair?"

Poe: *nods*

[enkisstories]

Armitage: "Status update: Poe and Rey got captured! BB-8 managed to put a bug on the prisoner transport, though, so we can track their position."

Daniel: "Should I dispatch the extraction team?"

Armitage: "Not yet. Do it when the Falcon launches... or if it doesn't launch, then at the last projected moment it should have done so. That's in nineteen minutes."

Daniel: "Roger. - C64, start a counter."

Armitage: "Meantime, Admiral Holdo, you'll need to know that after we've uprooted the crocus, we will immediately broadcast two public announcements. 

I'm sending you the full texts plus an additional document that’s for Resistance Command’s eyes only. The second file is what you'll want to pay attention to. Better prepare your followers for the potential shock."

Amilyn: "Not another superweapon... Please not another... Oh! A civil war in the First Order? That lines up with the erratic movements we've registered. So what would the second announcement be about?"

...

Amilyn: "That's... The lengths you go to to get Ben Solo off the throne... putting Rey on it!"

Amilyn: "So you may think you have stolen Rey - or “Princess Palpatine” - from us, but she played you! Rey will never be a figurehead. This is the end of the First Order. It's over!"

Armitage: "I know. For all practical purposes, this is a capitulation. As close as we can bring ourselves to surrender to a laughaubly weaker force, that is.”

Amilyn: “So to save face you surrender to Rey instead of to the Resistance as a whole. I see.”

Armitage: “I’ve fought as long as I could, but... in the three seasons I was with you people, I lived more than in the thirty-something years before.

And moreso, I found ways to create order for myself in the disorder that is life in the Resistance and the others, they... they let me. It may sound hard to believe coming from one so high up in our command chain as myself, but it was as if an invisible whip aimed at my back just wasn’t there anymore.”

Daniel: “He isn’t the only one to feel like this, not by a long shot. It started small, with individual defectors, like Finn and Gavin. But once torn, the net untied itself and then it caught fire, too.”

C64: “We’re burning, Admiral. The officers who feel like Master Solo and Grand-Marshal Hux? They may be the ones holding the capital, but theirs is not the winning side in the civil war.”

Holdo: “If that is the case, if you are really sincere, then you should strongly consider an alliance with us.”

Armitage: “Funny you should mention that, because that’s the third document I have prepared...”

[enkisstories]

One overpowered therapist later, Armitage Hux opens a secure channel...

"Daniel! How close are you to Ryloth?"

Daniel: "I am, in fact, in orbit. Disguised as a toxic junk disposal rig."

Amilyn: "Toxic junk! How fitting!"

Daniel: "I take that to mean that you are in place, too. What will I have to look for?"

Amilyn: "The exotic animals trader."

Daniel: "A species at the brink of extinction, no doubt."

Armitage: "Admiral Holdo. Long time no see."

From the evacuation of D'Qar, the chase, Snoke's death, Kylo Ren's power grab and Hux' subsequent defection... It seems like a lifetime, but it had been winter when they had arrived at Batuu and now it was only summer of the same year.

From Amilyn's point of view, the story sounds even stranger:

Amilyn: "Hux... Last time we encountered each other, Poe Dameron flirted with you in the middle of a space battle, then he staged a mutiny against me and sneaked on your ship. Next thing you left the First Order and did some confidential stuff on Exegol, together with Dameron. The aftermath of this quest led to you getting arrested and Dameron getting sent to a cure, that you both escaped from. Then next thing you two broadcast about a "joined Resistance/First Order operation" against a bigger threat...”

Armitage: “Everything’s correct so far. What’s your point, though?”

Amilyn: “I hope you two have sorted your battlefield romance out by now. Give me a status update on Godmother!"

Armitage: "We have a working and tested fungicide now, in a large enough quantity to cleanse the primary infection site. Rey, Ben, Finn, Rose, Poe and BB-8 are about to enter Crater Fortress, where they will deal with Godmother, but we've made enemies of both the local Resistance cell and the government. We are also uncertain how far reaching exactly Godmother's influence on aforementioned government is."

Amilyn: "What exactly does "tested" mean in the timeframe we're talking about?"

Armitage: "Basically we splashed each other with a sample and survived, leading to the assumption that it will be fine on a larger scale, too. Uh..."

Amilyn: "At least you are aware how irresponsible that was."