The earth was trembling under their feet as they hustled through the forest, trying to maintain the formation. There wasn't much time left before the battle station, or rather the whole planet, blows up – in the distance, they could already spot the gigantic tear that lanced the soil like an ugly red wound. But there was no time to look around – they had to strive forward, faster, more recklessly, jump over branches and lumps of earth, they had to find Kylo Ren before he dies on the snow somewhere in the forest.
Hux was furious. Never before he had to fight the time, to fight against all odds, to fight for his life, scuttling forward in the dark, searching for a needle in a haystack. No; he was used to planning and estimating risk in situations where he had plenty of time to think and decide about the next move. He never actually took part in any serious battles as a lower rank soldier (a secret not many people knew – he wasn't an actual appointed general) so he didn't even realize the value of a human life. This is what made him furious – why bother and search through the crumbling woods for one dying man who is a pathetic, weak copy of the famous Darth Vader? Snoke could produce dozens of them. Kylo Ren has always been a failure.
He shaded his eyes with his arm to look around. They couldn't have gone too far, not if Ren was hurt. The search party already reached the enormous crack in the ground which revealed boiling lava underneath, ready to blow up any second. Hux was ready to give up, turn around and head back to the ship when he noticed a lifeless, black-clad body lying on the other side of the crack.
'Troops! Get the medical capsule to the other side of the crevice, immediately!'
Stormtroopers rushed forward. Hux followed in a small distance and gathered his thoughts.
Kylo Ren… from the moment they met Hux knew they wouldn't be much of acquaintances. Obviously, there is little room for friendship or any familiar feelings this high in the ranks, but all he hoped for was that they would at least agree on some things when decisions were to be made. But no, Kylo Ren always had his own plan, mapped out on the spot, without any consultation or analysis. Hux had to be always prepared with an alternative in order to catch up with the capricious mood of Snoke's pet, and he could say nothing, even when the plan was obviously faulty. Like the one with escorting that Resistance pilot with 1. Say: one. Stormtrooper. Or the one with leaving the droid behind when they practically had it.
Hate brewed in Hux when he stepped over a fallen tree, cut – presumably – with a lightsaber. Kylo Ren was immature, reckless and violent, all he did was swinging that saber back and forth and destroying his ship, scaring his men all the time. This was Hux's job and privilege, damn it! He was the general, he earned it! Hux kicked the nearest pebble with resentment and continued forward.
He could see Ren's motionless body lying in a pool of blood that soaked through the snow. He hurried and passed the group of stormtroopers to be there first and draw wild satisfaction from the fact that now he, general Hux, was finally towering over Kylo Ren. Once tall and intimidating, always masked, now just a pathetic shadow of a man, vulnerable and at his mercy. Hux smiled – he liked the idea.
He gestured the stormtroopers to stop and kneeled by Ren, ready and almost excited to enjoy the sight of him withering by his feet. Instead, he felt an unpleasant ball of stress and disgust forming in his stomach when he saw the blood smeared all over Ren's body and pooling by Hux's shoes at an alarming rate. He reached and turned Ren's head to look at his face and felt a sickening stab of shock upon seeing the giant jagged wound running through his face and neck. That was enough. One more look and Hux would throw up in front of his soldiers – and that was something that could never ever happen, so he stood up and commanded, in somewhat shaky voice, to put Kylo Ren into the medical capsule and get the hell out of there.
'I despise you', whispered Hux through clenched teeth right into Ren's ear when the stormtroopers passed him with the medical capsule.
'Go and talk to Kylo Ren. He's awake. Find out what exactly happened, assess the state he's in.'
'As you wish, my lord.'
Hux bowed and hurried away from the Hologram Room. He admired the Supreme Leader but the conversations with the hauntingly real holo always made him nervous. It was almost as if Snoke could pierce his mind and soul through the distance, and there were things Hux did not wish to share with his superior.
They were now on board of the giant Star Destroyer, floating through the space on their way to the First Order's operational base. Kylo Ren has been in the medical pavilion for days, submerged in bacta and cut off from the world. Hux hasn't seen him ever since and was reluctant to face him now to gather the information Snoke asked for.
It was mostly because the days without Ren on board or in charge have been the most efficient and operational time he remembered in a very long time. Everything was in order, people were focused and nothing was destroyed. And now Hux was to demolish that peaceful state and wake the dragon from his sleep. He rolled his eyes and nodded to captain Phasma who happened to have a patrol. Now, that was someone to admire; a soldier so devoted to the cause she spent all of her free time perfecting her combat skills and stamina. A true crown jewel of Hux's efforts in recreating the clone army.
On the other hand, thinking about Kylo Ren made him want to grind his teeth in a mixture of frustration and anger. There was no way Ren was going to tell him what happened on Starkiller and why the scavenger girl escaped with the missing stormtrooper. And there was no way Hux was going to listen to it. But the sacrifices were to be made, an order was an order and he didn't dare to disobey it.
Ren was standing by the permaglass pane, turned back to him, a huge but slouching figure staring into the endless space. He was dressed in simple, medical robes and Hux couldn't help but think to himself this was the first time he saw Kylo Ren in something other than black. He analyzed the possible ways to start the conversation so that he had the advantage but suddenly heard Ren saying:
'General. State your business, then leave.'
Hux felt a rush of blood to the head and only miraculously stopped himself from attacking Ren. He counted in his head, one, two, three, and resumed the conversation.
'Ren. The Supreme Leader sent me here to discuss your… failed mission on Starkiller.'
'Oh, I know that. It really isn't that hard to read your mind, even from here.'
Hux was internally startled. He's reading my mind? Right now? I was just thinking about punching him in the face…!
He cleaned his throat.
'The Supreme Leader wants to know why you let the scavenger and FN-2187 go.'
Hux sensed that there is an element to this puzzle that he missed, something that must have triggered Ren's slide downhill. He didn't seem the same after whatever happened on Starkiller. Kylo seemed to agree because he suddenly turned around and screamed:
'He knows EXACTLY why I did that!' After a quick pause, he added: 'I almost bled myself to death on that snow, there was no chance I could—'
Ren stopped in midsentence, resigned. Hux noticed that bacta did not heal the wound on his face completely – it closed a little, but other than that it was still gaping and almost made him cringe.
'You can make a holo in privacy and then hand it to me so I can forward it to the Supreme Leader, if you find talking about this in my presence so difficu—'
Hux could not finish the sentence; Ren, enraged by the suggestion, leaped forward to face him, amazingly fast and agile despite his injuries. Now there was nothing but few inches separating them as they eyed each other with hatred. Hux observed, not without distress, that there were drips of blood on his robe in the same place where he noticed the giant wound back in the forest.
'Listen up, general. I do not have anything to say about this situation, understood? Tell the Supreme Leader that I will contact him immediately once I leave the medcenter.'
'Ren, careful. You ripped your patch', remarked Hux. 'Not that I care.'
Kylo Ren casted a passing glance on his bleeding side, but didn't seem interested.
'Deliver that message to the Supreme Leader. I don't care whether he likes it or not. So long, general.'
Hux tightened his lips and thought about a comeback for a second or two, but all he could think of right now was I despise you. I despise you so much. He turned around stiffly and headed towards the exit door.
'What the…'
Hux heard Ren's low, obscure voice behind his back and dared to glance over his shoulder to see what's going on.
Ren was standing a couple of steps from him, slouched as though he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. He raised his hand and stared at the blood that covered it in an eerie, impersonal way. The side of his robe where he first noticed the spots was already consumed by a blotch of red.
Hux quickly estimated the situation. Ren was going to collapse in few moments and there was nobody else in sight that could help him. This would be the second time he saved his life. Kylo Ren owing him, twice? That established dominance. Definitely worth a shot.
He turned around and hurried to the tall figure of Ren, supporting him with his arm. He noticed with absolute disgust that the blotch of blood pressed against his impeccable black uniform, leaving a huge stain. He shivered, filled with repulsion.
'Go away, Hux, I can handle myself', snarled Ren, leaning heavily on general's shoulders. Hux winced under his weight but carried on. There was no turning back! He had to win this fight, this was all about power and who rules whom, and general Hux intended to come back from this war with the shield, not on it.
'Ren, you are passing out. I have to take you to a medical droid', he muttered through clenched teeth, trying hard not to give away that he's struggling with Ren's weight. 'We need you, so stop talking and collaborate.'
He could hear Kylo Ren chuckling silently.
'We need…? Oh. Well, what about you need?'
Suddenly the temperature in the room rocketed by 50 degrees. Hux was burning inside with an unidentified emotion.
'You need me to fuel your hatred, isn't it. This is what I am. The fuel for someone else's rage…'
Ren's head dropped as he mumbled the last words and fainted. Smudges of his blood followed them from the other room, Hux tried not to look.
This is exactly what he was thinking about earlier. Kylo Ren had one aim in his life: to disturb and destroy other people's lives, mess with their heads and tangle their thoughts. Hux stood there still and stiff, mindlessly watching the droids take care of him, and tried to make sense of whatever just happened. He felt exposed, naked even, and the flame of his hatred rekindled even stronger which only made him feel worse.
He woke up from the inertia, accidentally touching the disgusting blotch of blood on his uniform, and turned around to leave. Damn it, I really hate you.
Almost like a déjà vu, behind his back he heard Ren saying faintly:
'I know.'