CHAPTER 41
THE TRAITOR

THE Supremacy was split in two.

It happened within an instant. After evacuating themselves from the Raddus and into transport ships, the Resistance was sure they were in the clear. Vice Admiral Holdo stayed behind on the Raddus to distract the First Order, but after DJ sold out Finn and Rose for a prize, General Hux commanded his troops to fire at the transport trips. In an effort to dispel the First Order's attack, Vice Admiral Holdo rammed the Raddus into the Supremacy at lightspeed, causing the ship to split in two.

The result left the whole ship in flames. The Supremacy's cargo exploded in thin air, and their escort troops were destroyed, along with Captain Phasma. Luckily for Pacey Blando and Gerardo Mason, they had been on their way to the hangar to instruct their own groups of cadets. The explosion had sent them across the ship, most likely killing their troops in the hangar. Gerardo had blacked out for a few minutes, leaving Pacey to carry him to the other end of the ship for shelter. They boarded an escape shuttle with other lieutenants, and when he finally woke up, it was Gerardo who immediately asked where Raena Nhagy was. The couple remembered hearing from another sergeant that the last they saw of her was heading to meeting with Snoke. They prayed to the gods that she was okay.

Back in the dim throne room, General Hux watched the lower half of Snoke's body fall to the ground. He huffed an angry sigh, looking around at the chaos engulfing the room. The Red Guard laid lifeless. Snoke's form was torn in two pieces, with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. Flames shot up in different portions of the room, but Hux still shook with fury. He turned to his right, noticing an unconscious Kylo Ren on the floor. Raena Nhagy laid beside him, and Hux took note that both had their arms were outstretched towards each other, hands just barely meeting to touch. The general shook his head before kicking Kylo's knee.

The commander woke up with a jolt, using his elbows to shake himself awake. He looked up and met Hux's eyes. "What ... happened?" The general asked, his blue eyes flaming.

Kylo gasped slightly at a pain in his side. With gritted teeth, he lied, "The girl murdered Snoke." He stood up from the ground, looking over his shoulder to see his past-lover still passed out on the floor. Kylo's forehead was still throbbing from striking his skull into hers. "She tried to kill Officer Nhagy, but ... she'll come back in a few hours."

"The girl took Snoke's escape craft," Hux informed as a burst of sparks reigned down on the floor.

Kylo's eyes scanned the explosion covering the room, almost not believing the sight. "We know where she's going. Get all our forces down to that Resistance base on Crait. Let's finish this." Kylo began to walk away from the general, but not before hoisting Raena Nhagy from the ground and carrying her away. His arms roared with pain, but he held it together.

"Finish this?" General Hux seethed, knitting his brow together. "Who do you think you're talking to? You allowed a scavenger to threaten the life of a trusted officer of our army! You presumed to command my army! Our Supreme Leader is dead! We have no ruler!"

Suddenly, the general halted his words. He felt the wind being knocked out of him as his hands went to his throat. He couldn't breath. He gasped for air, staring at Kylo Ren with one hand thrust out towards him. He held Raena with the other arm. "The Supreme Leader is dead," Kylo fumed, "and your plan to bring back Raena Nhagy allowed her to form an alliance with the Resistance. She has been working as a spy against us, because of you and your idiotic plan."

Hux felt his eyes roll back to the back of his head at the revelation. He heaved out, hoping to gain air that he couldn't find. Kylo balled his hand into a fist. Hux clawed at his neck with his hands, but it made no impact due to his gloves. Kylo's words were true, and that was the hardest thing to bear for Hux, even more than the chokehold he was experiencing right now.

•••

Kylo Ren had declared himself as the new Supreme Leader.

He ordered trusted troops to follow him onto the command ship, while others were told to gather in TIE fighters. A few groups of lieutenants and officers had already escaped in a shuttle, but most of the lower-level troops were killed. Kylo commanded them to head straight for Crait, and they came in full assault with their M6 walkers and Superlaser siege cannon. He then instructed a group of troopers to escort Raena's unconscious body on his command ship, while having General Hux follow him onto it.

Raena woke on a hard surface, hearing the murmurings of familiar voices around her. As she fluttered her eyes open, she struggled with adjusting them to the bright lights. Tilting her head around, Raena realized she was laying on a bench with her hands cuffed behind her back. General Hux and newly acclaimed Supreme Leader Ren, along with other troopers, stood just feet from her. She was in the cockpit of the command ship, she realized.

"Thirteen incoming light crafts," Hux spoke, turning to face the leader. "Should we hold until we clear them?"

Raena blinked rapidly, sitting up as she heard Kylo reply, "No. The Resistance is in that mine, just as we predicted. Push through."

The sound of blaster bolts and gun fire echoed outside, but Raena still felt them thud in her ears. She went to rub at her throbbing head, but knew she couldn't with her hands behind her back. "What's ..." She sighed as the two officials turned to her. "What's going on?" Her mind was still in a daze.

"Well," Kylo scoffed with his back turned to her, "looks like sleeping beauty is awake."

General Hux immediately walked over to Raena, looking down at her on the white bench. His eyes were judgmental, but she saw the truth in them. Raena shook her head before viewing to her feet. "You don't have to say anything," she muttered. "He's probably told you. I know what I did." Raena then rolled her eyes, meeting Hux's stare. "I guess I should get used to being a traitor and all."

"You'll probably be happy to know that the scavenger and two rebels escaped unscathed." Hux sighed, shaking his head. "Why did you do it?"

Raena shrugged.

"Don't lie to me, Nhagy," he snapped. "Why did you ally yourself with the enemy? Explain."

Raena shifted her eyes towards Kylo, who now had his whole body facing her. She looked back to Hux. "Why would I automatically come back to the First Order after what happened?" She asked, and Hux nodded slowly. "I wouldn't have to ally myself with the enemy if someone hadn't tried to kill me."

Kylo narrowed his gaze. "You're alive now, aren't you?"

"That makes no difference –"

"Enough!" Hux shouted, sending Kylo a glare before turning back to Raena. "Giving you that serum long ago is making my choice right now difficult."

Kylo, with his body standing beside the pilot of the command ship, added, "We keep her with the First Order as long as possible." His mouth twitched slightly, and Raena thought she saw a glimpse of a smile. "If she's in the Resistance's hands again, she could turn over even more information to them. And like you said, General," he looked over his shoulder at Hux, "she's a valuable asset to our army."

"Commander – I mean, Supreme Leader Ren," Hux addressed, leaving Raena's brow to furrow, "what will everyone think if we have a traitor still staying within our ranks? I agree fully that Raena Nhagy is important to our military, but –"

"I don't care," Kylo interrupted in a bored tone. "No one will know anyways."

The sound of gunfire became more apparent then, and Raena instinctively got up, surveying the windshield of the cockpit with curiosity. Kylo had been distracted from the conversation because of the commotion outside. They were on Crait, accompanied by M6 walkers and a cannon bigger than any ship she'd ever seen. Ground shooters tried to penetrate their walker as ski speeders headed their way. Raena's eyes went wide when she realized they were trying to breach the base's door.

Out of nowhere, an infamous ship sped by the First Order's TIE fighters. The Millennium Falcon shot down every fighter in it's path with a blast of green bolts. Raena found herself grinning vengefully as the Millennium Falcon sped through the air, distracting the rest of the TIE fighters. Kylo saw Raena's short expression and ordered, "Take her to another room." A trooper stepped forward with a nod. "I want her out of my sight."

Raena spun around, mouth dropping with shock. "Hey!" She shouted as a group of stormtroopers grabbed her cuffed arms and escorted her out of the cockpit. Raena kicked out her legs, but it was no use as she was being dragged. "This is ridiculous! Let me go, you idiots!"

She heaved out a sigh as she caught Hux's defeated stare. "Blow that piece of junk out of the sky!" She heard Kylo thunder as she was pulled away. Raena was dragged out of the cockpit and imprisoned in a locked room on the command ship. Never did she think she'd be a hostage for the First Order again.

•••

Pacey whipped his fist into the face of their shuttle's pilot, causing another lieutenant to scream, "What are you doing?!" Pacey ignored the male, immediately slipping himself into the driving seat. The pilot's body slumped to the floor, and Gerardo jumped over it to stand behind Pacey's seat. Pacey had never been that great of a pilot, and that showed as soon as his hands went to the wheel, but they had a plan he was going to execute.

Their shuttle, along with the other escapees, had been intently following the TIE fighters to Crait. The general requested this, in case they needed ground shooters for back up. Their shuttle had hung in the air patiently, but Pacey had an inkling of an idea of Raena Nhagy's whereabouts, and they were determined to find her. "She has to be in the command ship," he told Gerardo, pushing the shuttle forward into the air.

"What do we do when we get close enough to the ship?" Gerardo asked, clutching the pilot seat tightly.

As the shuttle sped through the air, Pacey took a short second to glance at his partner. "Can you jump, Ger?"

Gerardo's brow furrowed. "Yeah, why?"

"Because I'm gonna be within feet of that ship in about a minute," Pacey replied, whipping the wheel to the left, "and I need you to jump inside that loose door."

Gerardo bent down to look through the windshield as the officers surrounding them continued to scream for their lives. He saw where Pacey was pointing to. On the right side of the command ship, a door was loose off it's hinges, allowing powerful wind gusts through. If Gerardo could get close enough to jump on the ship thick wings, he would have a good shot at making it through the door. Or he'd fall to his death. Each result was slightly terrifying.

"I can do it," Gerardo nodded quickly.

Pacey grinned big. "I could kiss you right now, Ger."

Gerardo smiled and ruffled his boyfriend's hair before approaching the door of their shuttle. "How about we do that after we save the day?" Gerardo laughed as the screams around him echoed like ghosts. He looked out the window, seeing that they were close to the command ship. As the other Order members reached out to stop him, Gerardo waved his hand towards Pacey and jumped out.

It felt like he was flying in slow motion. The wind picked up around Gerardo's feet, sending him over the air. Pacey watched his partner from the windshield, his mouth tugging into a smile as he saw Gerardo land on the command ship's right wing. Pacey screamed with victory from inside the shuttle, flying it off to the side before anyone in the command pilot seat could see him.

Gerardo sprinted across the wing, exhaling heavy breaths. The hard air caused tears to form in his eyes and his hair to go flat, but he kept running. His hands were balling into fists. He could do this. He could do this. It was what friends did for each other. Gerardo jumped off the wing, landing onto the small step before the loose door. With a big smile, he slid open the rusty piece of metal and entered the command ship.

It took him a moment to realize that he was in the back of the ship, away from everyone in the cockpit. He looked around, spotting a stormtrooper locking a sealed room off. His stare met the trooper's as they turned around to face each other. "Hey, sergeant!" The trooper yelled, striding over to Gerardo quickly. "What do you think you're –"

Gerardo pulled out a small blaster from he back of his pants, sending a round of bolts towards the stormtrooper. The person fell down within a matter of seconds. Grinning wide, Gerardo looked at his blaster before sliding it back onto his belt. His eyes then darted around, wondering where Raena might be if she were on this ship. He hoped she was here, or this would all be for nothing.

He decided to check out the sealed room the trooper had been at. Gerardo approached the door, furrowing his brow on how to open it. The door had no window, and was only painted a bright white to match the walls. There was a console beside the door with a hand scanner lighting up. As if a bulb appeared over his head, Gerardo went back over to the unconscious stormtrooper and dragged their body over to the door. Picking up the person's hand, he slapped it onto the console, which caused the machine to light up.

The door opened instantly. Gerardo threw the trooper's body onto the floor again before stepping inside the room. Much to Gerardo's delight, Raena Nhagy sat in the corner of the dimly lit room with her hands cuffed behind her back.

•••

A/N: The end to Book III is coming in the next chapter, and it's a LONG one. Get your popcorn ready, fellas!!!!