Control. It is what mattered to him most. He had craved it; having the ultimate control over HIS First Order. Not Ren's but his. Hux had worked his ass off to get to the place where he was WITHOUT the Skywalker legacy. Without the nepotism. He didn't have Snoke's help, no one had helped him to get the point where he was. He had started out as a Storm Trooper; gradually working his way up and when his time to shine had came it was stolen by a weakling... The same weakling that went on to betray his master and killed him.

Hux could overlook Ren's betrayal to Snoke. He had pretended to care about Snoke dying on the hands of Kylo but deep down he was glad the old miserable bastard was dead. The thing that did bother Hux was Kylo Ren had betrayed his master for a girl. For love... It was all the proof Hux needed to see that Kylo should have never able to lead his beloved First Order.

Hux had always mistrusted Kylo but the last of couple of months he had started to doubt Kylo's allegiance to the cause. It happened one day when Hux was walking outside Kylo's room and he could hear him talking to someone. A woman... Hux had figured that maybe it was one of the officers, but he had observed Kylo's actions for a while and could not see a woman exiting the room. Another time Hux was passing by and he could hear that Kylo was talking to somebody again, but the odd thing was... Hux couldn't see WHO Kylo was talking to. It was like he was speaking to a ghost.

Hux thought that Kylo was going crazy or something until he confided to one of his high ranked officers, speaking of Kylo's weird behavior. They had informed him about a possible Force Bond existing between Kylo and this unidentified person. Hux thought it was nonsense, ridiculous to think this Force Bond thing was real. However, the minute... The minute Kylo had wavered attacking the Resistance ship, Hux knew EXACTLY who the unidentified woman was.

The girl. Rey. The one Kylo had taken with him for interrogation a couple of months ago instead of going after the droid. Now he knew Hux had begun silently planning a mutiny... He thought it would be best to wait a while; a couple of weeks, maybe even a month before going into attack. He would take his time planning and when the moment was right he was going to strike.. And so he did, first containing Kylo's trusted army, The Knights of Ren.. Hux had thought of everything but the one thing he did not count on were the Storm Troopers resisting the mutiny. That had been his only miscalculation and he would see to it, by FORCE, that there weren't any other.

Hux has made it to the control and proceeds to talk to his staff.

Hux to officers:

'Give me an update, now'.

Officer:

'The shield is still active, Sir... The rebellion ships are still out there but are not firing... yet.'

Hux:

'They are awaiting orders... but from who? The Endeavour is miles away'.

'What about The Knights of Ren?'

Officer:

'We are searching the ship sir but we haven't found them yet'.

Hux, grabbing the Officer by the neck in a vicious manner:

'I'LL GO LOOK FOR THEM MYSELF'.

Hux:

'In the meantime, alert me at once if the situation changes. 'You three' and he points to some Storm Troopers.. 'Follow me'.

Unknown to Hux even the soldiers loyal to him were starting have doubts. They could see Hux was starting to lose control of his ship and army. The thought of 5 Resistance ships being able to fire at any moment troubled people as well.

It was a classic case of someone getting into a powerful position but not knowing how to deal with it. The worst thing was that Hux had become increasingly paranoid. At the beginning of his mutiny he had pulled several Storm Troopers aside and has asked them to prove their allegiance. Hux or Kylo?

If he thought the soldier took too long answering he had them executed immediately. It made even the most loyal soldiers to Hux begin to question his motives. In fact, some of them were even starting to miss Kylo Ren.

It's not like Kylo Ren was loved very much by his troops though... Kylo Ren was no picnic as a boss either. Everyone knew it was better to avoid the man especially when he had one of his epic temper tantrums. There was a substantial difference between Hux and Ren, a difference no one could ignore. Sure Kylo had manhandled a couple of people for incompetence but he never butchered his own men. Hux, so it seemed, went into a frenzy fueled by paranoia and seemed to regard anyone, even his own soldiers, as enemies.

Kylo Ren was suprised at the sight of Rey standing before him with the traitor and pilot. Had the Resistance come for him? To save him or to finish him off themselves? Kylo looks at Rey and knows the answer almost immediately. The girl looks like she is about to burst in to tears in any moment.

Kylo starts to limp towards Rey... Rey, is in shock, she didn't expect to find him like this. Beaten up maybe but not smeared with blood all over his face. Kylo has one hand at his stomach, to stop the bleeding but it didn't seem to help much. Blood was gushing all over his gloves.

As he makes his way towards Rey, Finn and Poe see that Kylo hasn't switched off his light saber yet. It almost leads to an altercation between The Knights of Ren, and Poe, Finn. Finn and Poe reach for their guns because they are unsure of Kylo's motives. The Knights of Ren reach for their weapons in order to protect their leader.

Moments later they hear the sound of metal hitting the floor, it's Kylo's light saber. Kylo is still limping towards Rey and midway he reaches out to her with one arm. Seconds later his body tumbles forward barely being caught by Rey as she takes him into this arms, his head across her chest.

Kylo looks up to her..

'Why.. did you come here? Hux... He'll, he'll..'.

Kylo's sentence is interrupted by him coughing up blood. Rey feels even more concerned for Kylo and pulls him closer. She knows that won't help much but in her mind, at that moment she wants to do anything to help.

Rey:

'I had to see ... I couldn't... '

For some stupid reason beyond logic Rey doesn't speak any further. She doesn't finish her sentence and is not able to say that she loves the man she is currently holding in her arms.

Kylo:

'You... You must go... He will come back. LEAVE'.

Rey:

'No. I'm not leaving you... Not this time'. She wants to say 'NOT EVER' but she swallows her words.

Kylo:

'I ... said leave. I don't want him... to find you'.

Poe to Finn:

'Gee Finn... How could we have EVER missed the signs? Look at them (and he points to the two). Match made in heaven, two stubborn idiots. Rey. We need to be leaving... anytime is fine'.

Even if Kylo is on the verge of the dying he has heard everything Poe has said and he looks at Rey. Could it be? Could it be that she wanted to save him out of love and not out of some misguided altruism?

Finn almost laughs at Poe's sarcastic comment and then says:

'I agree, Rey. The sooner we go, the better. And you...'

Finn looks at Kylo.

'You desperately need some medical assistance'.

Poe;

'Alright... Finn and, uhm Knight one, help me carry him'. Knight two and Rey, walk behind us.'

Poe gives Rey his gun and says:.

Poe:

'Don't be afraid to use this if you must' and he gives her an assuring nod.

And so, Poe, Finn and Knight start carrying Kylo through the halls of the ship.

Finn:

'Jesus Christ; he is heavy. May I suggest that next time we go save a murdering psychopath we take a wheelchair with us?'

Poe, struggling to carry Kylo himself:

'Duly noted, Finn.. Now, let's hurry up and get off this creepy ship, OK?'

The group of friends knows that the most difficult task is at hand. It was one thing to find Kylo but to get him off the ship unnoticed and unharmed... How on earth were they going to be able to pull that off?

End of Chapter 4