you keep dreaming and i'm scheming

[mismanagement]

Who: Maketh Tua, Rey, Henry Percy, Lance Sweets, Nick Valentine.
What: Some needed conversations.
Where: Guard Post
When: Nov 10
Warnings: tbd



It's a normal day, so far as Maketh knows. She's got a mug of good coffee, reports that only need marginal corrections before they can be filed, and no one has killed anyone yet. The day is young but she's hopeful. And in a relatively good mood.

She looks up with a faint smile.

"Oh, hello. I wasn't expecting you."

Comments

[mismanagement]

"You know nothing about command," Maketh hisses, fists clenched tight. If they fight right now, Rey will win. There's no question. There was never a question. "You are acting like a child--how dare you say that! I am a good officer!"

[circumitus]

Despite Maketh's offensive approach, Rey does not falter. It wouldn't be the first time. If Maketh needs to blow off some steam, then that's what she'll do. Rey can't stop that.

"You say that, but your actions and goals do the exact opposite. I'm not the only one, either. Nick worries for you. As does Henry. People are doubting in your ability to make sound decisions that don't just reflect the very people you were trying so hard not to be."

Even if she doesn't believe Rey, the reality will come crashing down sooner than later.

[mismanagement]

"I am an officer of the Imperial Court!"

She's shouting this time, shaking with the rage of it.

"Get out of my sight."

[circumitus]

There it is again. Those words. It's clear where this is leading, and Rey isn't budging.

"You're not. That's what I'm trying to tell you. You are Maketh Tua." Her jaw clenches. "And I am not your subordinate that you can talk to like that."

[mismanagement]

"I am an Officer of the Imperial Court!" She says it again. She'll say it as many times as it takes. Louder and louder until her voice cracks. Her hands are shaking and she forces them to lay still against her sides. Do your duty, soldier. And stand up straight, you are a disgrace to the officer corps. "I am an officer--!"

[circumitus]

It's the sort of thing that Rey sees all the time. The programming that any human mind can be subjected to. This woman is a product of a militarized state and it shows.

"You are Maketh Tua," Rey interjects. And, against her better judgment, she takes Maketh tight by the arms. Trying to reach out to her in every way she can. "You are not a number, you're a person. And--"

Don't.

"--you're--"

Stop.

"You're the woman that I love," Rey snaps through the needles in her throat. "I will not lose you to this."

The way Maketh looked at her when she stepped into the room, how she spoke to her... It made her feel something that she never felt before. A fear of that warmth turning into cold hatred. And Rey can't stomach the thought of that. If it means swallowing her own greatest fear, she'll have to do that. One step at a time.

[mismanagement]

Maketh snarls, trying to jerk her arms free. Rey's hands are relentless and steady. Unwilling to yield even to the best of Maketh's logic, Imperial logic, she holds. She holds even as Maketh swears and kicks at her, even when she gives up pretending to be civil and does her best to try and rip Rey's throat out with her teeth.

"Get off me!"

[circumitus]

She's fighting still. Rey steels herself for when Maketh attacks. Gripping her arms tighter. When it's clear that Maketh is going for the throat, Rey hurls herself forward, her body a battering ram slamming Maketh into the wall.

"No," Rey growls through clenched teeth. "Stop this. You're disgracing yourself and the Guard."

[mismanagement]

The blow knocks the air out of her, but Maketh doesn't stop. She bares her teeth, wheezing. "You don't get to--talk about disgrace. You betrayed me!"

[circumitus]

Oh no, not this again.

"You chose them over us!" Rey yells, hands around Maketh's wrists and holding her in place. She can kick and writhe, but Rey has her pinned like a vise. "We fucking trusted you, but you would sooner let us all die just so you can have something to fight! TELL ME I'M WRONG."

[mismanagement]

"You are a soldier!" Maketh yells, jerking against Rey's hands uselessly. She kicks instead. "Act like one!"

[circumitus]

Rey holds on, feet rooted to the ground and unmoving despite Maketh's attacks. She'll tire herself out eventually.

"No. You're done. Stop this."

[mismanagement]

"Let go!"

This is foolish, childish, Maketh wants to kill her. Why doesn't Rey see sense?

"You--you are supposed to be on my side!"

[circumitus]

"I am on your side. That's why I can't let you be fucking used like this!"

Sometimes, hard decisions have to be made for the sake of the ones you care about. Even if it seems against them.

You always hurt the ones you love.

[mismanagement]

"You are not on my side!" Maketh spits, eyes narrowed tight. She twitches against Rey's grip. Can't break it. "Get out of my sight."

[circumitus]

"Dammit! If you'd just listen to us instead of them...!" Her hands squeeze Maketh's wrists. "You'd realize that the one you think is your tool to be used is using you against us! Why can't you fucking see that?"

Rey would fight by Maketh's side. But she will not fight for Hux and his kind, or their Empire's ideology.

[mismanagement]

"I know where I stand with Hux!" Maketh spits, furious. She hates being made to feel weak in Rey's grip. Utterly insignificant. "I have always known where I stand with him. His betrayal I have anticipated. Yours was not. Clearly I was being foolish!"

[circumitus]

"STOP LYING TO YOURSELF," Rey screams at Maketh's face, loud and clear. "I can't stand hearing this shit anymore! All this talk about being an officer of the Imperial Court, you can't just say that and then tell me that he's not got you wrapped around his finger! That you haven't turned your back on us -- on the people who love you, and for what? Why? You can't have it both ways, Maketh -- you can't be their officer and lead the Guard. It doesn't fucking work like that!"

Her grip still steady, but she's shaking now. Frustrated, hurt, angered. She wants to shake the sense into Maketh, to rip the ones who've afflicted her with these ideas to pieces.

[mismanagement]

Once, she would have cowered before the noise, before someone as strong as Rey and the sheer weight of her rage. That was before she was an officer, a soldier, and Maketh refuses to feel like she is small. Not now, not for anyone.

She leans forward, teeth bared. "I am doing what is necessary! If you cannot see that, then get out of my way."

[circumitus]

This is pointless.

Rey takes a deep breath, but it doesn't do much to put her nerves at ease.

"If that's what you truly think, then I'm shutting you down. Your weapon, Hux -- I'll find them and destroy them. That's a promise." Her jaw clenches. "As for you, you have no more authority here to order me like that. If you are with them, you are not a Guardsman."

[mismanagement]

Oh, she'l try. She'll fucking try.

Maketh goes very still. Her eyes are wide and furious, hands shaking. She can't fight back, not like this, but soon. She needs to counter, get back on top. Protect her assets.

"You--traitor. Get your hands off me."

Rey is being foolish. She'll see this soon enough.

[circumitus]

It's over. Rey knows what needs to be done, and Maketh isn't making it any easier. Her silence gives her a moment of clarity. She'll need to have Maketh watched. Her weapon sabotaged. Take away everything she worked for that led her to this.

If she's going to do this, she needs to move fast. Not give Maketh the chance to act and make this worse.

"I loved you," Rey tells her again, her words mist, feeling defeated but not deterred. "I still do. That's why I have to do this."

With that, she slams her head against Maketh's face. The force hard enough to knock her out.