Consultation
Kylo Ren spends the next half of an hour trying to reach his Master. Every time, he's met with a wall of looping static:
Bzzt!
Bzzt!
Bzzzzzzzt!
He nearly chucks his comlink into the wall, but then remembers that his Master gifted this to him. His comlink is the only comlink in the First Order that has a direct line to him without needing to go through one of his staff member's. Even the illustrious Grand Admiral Sloane has to go through at least one secretary to secure an audience with Supreme Leader Snoke.
He tosses it on the desk and lays back on the bed with a frown on his plush, chili-red lips.
Great, he's probably in another system that hasn't progressed farther than the wheel! And I have nothing to do, except maybe check on Hux? He is my aide-de-camp now, regardless if he's still the Old Man's lieutenant. Can he be both? Technically, he still is until he's forwarded his resignation to the Old Man. But what if Borrum refuses? He can't refuse me; I'm the second most powerful man in the Order, right behind Master. But he might, and then I'll have to kill him. I'll have to be really subtle about it, so Hux doesn't find out. Maybe, I can like give Borrum an aneurysm. I'm pretty certain that's what happened to the Tenel's grandmother–
"LORD REN!" Hux bursts into the room, clutching a datapad to his chest like a love letter. Kylo jolts from his bed with a look of utter confusion for the ginger's manic energy.
"Yes, lieu–aide-de-camp?" Am I really going to have to say all that? No, I'll use "aide" or his last name, even the FO isn't tyrannical when it comes to shorthand.
"I sent my resignation letter twenty minutes ago, and while I was waiting for a response, I decided to comb through the database and the handbook regarding aide-de-camp. And there's nothing!" Hux is beaming with all of his slightly crooked teeth.
"Uh, yeah, I kind of just lifted that rank from the Empire." He rubs the back of his head, not knowing what else he should confess.
"I don't know if you remembered this, but the first ten years of the First Order were quite chaotic. None of the adults were certain what they should keep or toss from the Empire, particularly with ranks. When I first went to the Academy, I found out from the other cadets that they changed the ranking system about five times by that point. By the time I was fifteen, the ranking system changed one last time before settling on what we have now. Although, the Allegiant General is pushing for the official induction of Grand Marshal, so another change is in the future!"
"Yeah, it was crazy times…" Kylo lies through his straight teeth. "So why does this matter now?"
"Because the ranking system will have to change again to include aide-de-camp, which was cut in the third round of changes." Kylo continues to stare blankly at him.
"And this matters to me how?"
"You get to draw up the new guidelines regarding this new rank."
"But it's not new. It's been around forever!" Even the Sith and Jedi Lords way back in the Old Republic used it!
"Technically, yes, but not in the current ranking system."
"Can't I just copy and paste this from the Imperial Handbook?" Wait, is it even in there? I never actually read the entire thing in its entirety, not even the Rebel commentary.
"You could do that. But this might be the only time you get to create something from scratch. You can write anything. Like one of the duties of an aide-de-camp would be making you tea in the morning! Or, the aide-de-camp only answers to the Master of the Knights of Ren. But it would also mean you would have to probably design a new uniform for this rank…"
"Really now?" Kylo sits up straighter.
"Yes, you could just copy and paste the lieutenant uniform and make it darker, change the plaque, or even take away the hat. It just has to be appropriate for the rank and doesn't break the law."
"What if I made nudity the uniform?"
"Unfortunately, that wouldn't be allowed since I would fall under public indecency." Hux laughs nervously with his eyes closed, missing the concerned look Kylo sends his way.
I'm starting to think that I'm going have to be one to teach him to love himself. Not sexually, of course. Because I'm his superior, and they frown on fraternization here, but I'm not really part of the military. I'm above it like Master, so it wouldn't be technically illegal for me to have carnal relations with him. It would be frowned upon, and maybe Hux would do the frowning. Maybe, he'll look away shyly as I close the distance, bite down on his lip, and solemnly recite that fraternization. But he would admit that he's always wanted this… No, no, no, no, this is not the time to fantasize!
"So nudity is out. Would I be allowed to make environmental variations on the uniform? Your current uniform can't be comfortable in certain environments like deserts or swamps." Kylo moves away from his thoughts.
"That's true, the First Order officer uniforms are best suited for ships. And since I'm your only aide-de-camp, it wouldn't break the budget to have variations so long as the design is simple."
"I have plenty of credits, so I'll just pay for them out of pocket." Like hells I'm going to let him waltz around in boring styles, but I do need to make sure it doesn't draw too much attention. Last thing I want is for him to have a literal target on his back.
"I'll pay you back; the Commandant left me a generous inheritance." Hux offers without hesitation.
"Hux, my salary is greater than the Allegiant General's." It also helps that none of his knights will receive salaries since they'll just be his mindless tools soon, but Kylo needn't tell Hux that.
"Is that going to be one of the rules pertaining to the Master of the Knights of Ren's aide-de-camp?" Hux teases like a cheeky fox.
"No, it's going to be: 'The aide-de-camp is not required to pay back Lord Kylo Ren.'"
"We're going to have to make it sound more eloquent, but the general idea is sound."
"It's a good thing you're here then. I hate editing."
Grand Admiral Rae Sloane knows that progress, for the First Order, requires putting faith in the youth, and she has put most of her faith into Armitage Hux. He, literal bastard of a metaphorical bastard, exceled in the Academy, setting records that most remain unbroken to this day, but, after graduation, Armitage made rather questionable decisions.
One of his first questionable decisions after the Academy was to join the Intelligence division. He worked under former Admiral Yage who was directed by Supreme Leader Snoke to give the lad missions that he could only fail. How was Armitage supposed to procure the Darkstaff within a week? Or the Eye of the Sun in less than two days? Or the even more unreal Mortis Dagger?
Failure mounted on top failure; it didn't surprise her that Armitage figured out that he's been set-up to fail, but what surprised her was his response. He chose to leave and enlist in a war that held no importance to the First Order, and then he came back. A few years of an alien war turned the fresh-faced nineteen-year-old to a more experienced twenty-one-year-old.
The hardness that Armitage acquired from the war aided him in his trial. Nearly all but two wanted to convict him for treason since he did abandoned his post. Wisely, after she turned off the feed to his cell, he confided to her about the full details of the Yuuzhan Vong War. From her point of view, the galaxy as they know it would've come to an end and most of humanity would've been enslaved if not for him. She defended him vigorously to Snoke without completely informing him of the war, and Snoke decided to declare him innocent.
Now, seven years later, Armitage has made another questionable decision. And she fears that this could destroy him just like Emperor Palpatine.
"Grand Admiral," Borrum begins respectfully as always, "it appears that the Master of the Knights of Ren has appropriated my lieutenant, and Hux has given his wholehearted consent for this change in employers."
"Yes, his resignation letter has his normal earmarks; I don't think Ren has coerced him into this." Armitage is far too strong-willed to fall for the half-Sith's mind tricks. She pushes the datapad displaying Armitage's resignation away with pointer and middle fingers.
"But it's all rather sudden, isn't it? They've only known each other for a few days!" Borrum's blue and white holo crackles from his strong disappointment.
"I doubt this is from youthful lust, at least not on Armitage's part." The boy's first love was a pfassking vampire bat-looking monster. He hasn't made any romantic overtures toward anyone, not even Cardinal. His sexuality clearly does not lie in the human realm, so Ren couldn't have seduced him.
"And I question if Lord Ren has baser lusts since he spends a majority of his time in a rage." He counters, not believing that Ren is completely human.
"I've read General Eclipse's reports, but has he exhibited such behavior on your ship?"
"This morning, the morning patrol of Stormtroopers have found evidence of Ren's destruction, thankfully it was just localized to Armitage's floor."
"Perhaps, Armitage is keeping him on a tight leash." And as the dry remark leaves her plain lips, Borrum's sharp eyes widen and flares his papery nostrils at the notification on his datapad.
"General?" She allows no alarm in her voice.
"I must request to end our meeting for now." He sets his lips in a grim line.
"Request granted." She intones without hesitation. He shuts his comlink off causing his small holo to disappear from her desk.
His alarm couldn't be from Ren destroying equipment, unless Ren has decided to destroy the hyperdrive, so who else could cause it? Snoke. But how? Ren's already aboard Absolution, but that would only serve to aggravate Borrum, not alarm him. Unless, Ren has hurt Hux. But how would Snoke benefit from that?
She frowns and chooses the most pragmatic option: to perform her duties and hope that Hux won't need rescuing.
After a morning of writing, Kylo decides it's time to break for lunch, and Hux is happy to comply since they've roughly drafted nearly twenty pages. Throughout the morning, Kylo has learned that Hux has a sharp eye for loopholes and an amazing memory when it comes to the First Order military/naval hierarchy. Nearly half of the rough draft is dedicated to the hierarchy since aide-de-camp would be a new rank with fairly nebulous, for now, powers.
I feel like Hux would've made a great legislator considering how much detail he put into the interactions between his rank and the other ranks. Yet, he has to do this because the FO military model can't handle newness so well, not without said newness validating its existence and detailing its interpersonal relationships of superiors and inferiors.
He sighs as he waits for the last piece of his masterpiece lunch to finish cooling: steamed buns with chicken and garlic fillings. Usually, he would make sweet pork dumplings, but given Hux's unique allergy to mammalian meat, he had to adapt. He also made hot and sour soup with tofu to complement the buns.
He hears Hux humming along his music player as he goes through a datapad containing his comic books. Kylo would've never suspected Hux to be interested in that, but Hux so far hasn't ceased surprising him. He wonders briefly, and with some dread, what other surprises Hux will spring on him.
KNOCK! KNOCK!
Kylo frowns and bets that the offending knocker is Cardinal finally here to check up on Hux. He decides to remain in the kitchen, not wanting to see the handsome man be so sweet on the ginger.
"Um, Kylo, could you come over here a moment?" Hux's voice raises his voice, urging Kylo to leave the buns and check on the ginger. The viewscreen currently displays the security feed from the door's perspective. At the door, two of his Master's Elite Praetorian Guards are station there. He recognizes them to be the First Guard since both carry their signature electro-bisentos.
"So what are two egg-faces doing here?" His green eyes look away from his Master's crimson and faceless protectors and to Kylo's human face.
"Egg-faces?" Kylo arches a black brow.
"Their helmets are smooth like eggshells." Hux explains with a quirk of his pink lips.
"Why are they here?" Kylo voices his thought.
"I thought you knew." Hux admits. They stare at each other silently for half a second. Hux exhales and then decides to disable the security to his door. The door slides open without resistance.
"Armitage Hux, the Supreme Leader requires your presence now." The First Guard announces, and, once again, Kylo hates how he can't read their minds. He's not certain if it's the equipment or its part of their training to keep their minds close to everyone but his Master.
"In a way, your knights will be a lot like my protectors. The difference being that my protectors are humans without any Force-sensitivity and thus allowed to keep their personalities." It's one of the first assurances that he can remember after bringing his fellow co-conspirators to his Master.
"Understood." Hux turns his attention back at Kylo. "Save my lunch for me."
"Will do." Kylo promises, balling up his fists to prevent himself from lashing out at the guards. His Master made it very clear to him that his protectors are not Kylo's playthings.
"He will be returned." The right First Guard states cryptically in a blander manner than their Master. Kylo makes no comment and hopes that Hux will be returned promptly. Especially in his cutesy apron and his fuzzy slippers.
Author's Comments- Here are the links:
I finally found an image for Armitage's apron; he looks like an adorable househusband in this, which is something the First Guard have to deal with in the next part: a href=" /images/I/81JWePzck._SY606_.jpg"Link/a
Here is an image of Hux's slippers. Originally, I was going to go for animal-themed ones, but it would go with the aforementioned apron: a href=" wp-content/uploads/2018/12/9. "Link/a
This might be the only series where I'm actually going to try and flesh out the Supreme Leader and the other higher-ups (well, the ones with names and that I actually know about) in the FO, which also includes the Elite Praetorian Guard. I actually like the look of the Praetorian Guard, even though I keep questioning how they can see well out of their helmets, I guess they have some Iron Man helmets. And I am excited to characterize them, much more than Snoke. Then again, Snoke has about as much character as smoke, which was probably the intent of the creators. In nearly all of my other stories, I'm content with leaving Snoke alone and usually writing/killing him out of said stories, but I set myself a goal to flesh him and the FO out. Which probably means it's going to take me longer to write the next part.