A/N: Again, Hux's take on this day is in the Star Performer chapter 'Communication Protocols'. I don't recall if Krevens Harborworks was mentioned in the Pacification backstory, but it was part of the general structure of First Order core worlds, so it was nice to work in a mention of them.


Hux sought him out after Kylo was done with the paperwork. Kylo's first impression was that Hux had returned for him out of politeness and possible collaboration. But then Hux gave a careful examination to the woman who had been helping Kylo requisition clothing and have it delivered to his newly assigned quarters. Hux ordered a replacement datapad for himself and made unnecessary small talk as he watched her for signs of distress or anxiety in regard to Kylo. He assumed Kylo was a monster. Kylo was silent.

When Hux was done, he said to Kylo, "To the bridge then. Shift change will happen shortly and we should inform Captain Peavey of our course."

Once they were within the elevator, Kylo sniffed. Something was filtering through his mask. Of course, he didn't have the filtration level turned up much. With a precise touch of the Force, he altered it to let in more of the scent. He looked to the side at the cup the general had been carrying when he'd come to the quartermaster's office. It seemed to be the source. "What is that?"

Hux looked at him askance. What is he doing? "It is tea." Is he going to break my cup like the datapad?

Kylo inhaled hard enough the vocoder related the sound as a hiss. It wasn't normal tea. "It's different. Bitter."

It's taurine tea. Of course it smells like taurine tea. Why does he care? Does he want some? I'm not sharing. What does he think this is? Why is he looking at me like that? Even stormtroopers have more manners. Eyes front and center, like they should be. Hux scowled at him and took a deep sip. Stars, that's hot! Might as well drink it before he does something to it.

"Taurine," Kylo said. It made sense now. He would have dismissed it had Hux's thoughts not continued to project noisily between them. Kylo turned to face forward.

So what? It's taurine. It's not on the banned substances list. It's not even restricted to have. It's just illegal to get it. What of it? He doesn't know where I get it. It's none of his business. Maybe I should think of something else if he can hear me. Numbers? Schedules?

"I have a special dislike for those who consort with smugglers."

"I have a special dislike for those who don't mind their own business!" Hux snapped at him, his voice loud in the confined space of the elevator. There was fear there, and concern. Someone Hux cared about might get in trouble, but he didn't think about them enough for Kylo to catch their identity. If he's still reading my mind, then maybe I can project things in particular? He focused on images and sensations to accompany his next thoughts: Defecate of vacubreather. The contents of severed intestines. Rigor mortis.

"You have made it my business." Kylo breathed out heavily. He stalked out of the elevator, ignoring Hux's exultant thoughts at having driven him away. Yes, Snoke's efforts to continue his training had really kicked up a notch.


Command changeover at shift change had a ritual to it. Kylo stayed out of it. So did Hux, to his surprise. He'd expected the man to stick his nose into everything, but he stayed out of his subordinate's way and waited until Captain Iegoh had left the bridge before answering a question so obvious on Peavey's face that no one need be a mind-reader to see it.

Hux led Peavey to where Kylo had been looking out at the storage area. For a few moments, all three of them looked out. The freighter had left. A new one was arriving. These were First Order vessels from Krevens Harborworks with crews of workers or maybe technicians. They were low quality ships, but probably fine for what they were doing – ferrying material from the Unknown Region Kuat Entralla shipyard station to here at Starkiller.

Kylo assumed there was an exchange of cargo that happened at the shipyard, from the Republic freighters to these, because non-Order ships and crew were not allowed to see Starkiller Base. The penalty was death, although he wondered if any had made it here to suffer it. Snoke had a third of the fleet present at the shipyards in defense of the Supremacy as well as the choke point (and one short jump) to Starkiller. It seemed excessive, but Snoke's wisdom outstripped Kylo's on all fronts.

He turned to face the general and captain. At this, Hux spoke, giving a proper introduction as he should, introducing the lower ranking person to the higher first. "Captain Peavey, this is my co-commander, Kylo Ren, Master of the Knights of Ren."

Co-commander? ran through Peavey's mind with confusion. It was not a recognized rank or title.

"Master Ren-" Hux began.

"Lord Ren," Kylo corrected. "Snoke's apprentice." He was not a Jedi and he couldn't tell if Hux was assuming he was or just taking the title from 'Master of the Knights of Ren'. Hux took the correction in stride without devoting any of his characteristically loud thoughts to it.

"Lord Ren, this is Captain Peavey, ship commander."

They nodded to one another. Peavey asked Hux, "What does co-commander entail, sir?"

"He is my equal in rank." The words came out easily, but Kylo felt the resentment Hux had at having to say them.

"Equal …?" Peavey continued to be confused. He glanced over Kylo, noting the absence of any markers of rank or pretense of a proper uniform. He'd seen Knights of Ren before and heard of them by rumor, but he didn't know where they fit, if at all, in the hierarchy.

"Yes," Hux told him. "He does not have command authority, but in all other matters, he should be accorded the same respect."

"My commands will be obeyed when I give them," Kylo said.

Peavey blinked twice and snapped his eyes to Hux. A pissing contest, Peavey thought unhappily.

"Yes, probably," Hux said in response to Kylo. I doubt anyone will have any choice in the matter, Hux thought in distaste. I'll sort this out with Edrison later. "Snoke said you would share our destination and mission."

Kylo had hoped Hux would have to work himself up to ask for the information in some humiliating fashion. He'd hoped it would be a request or phrased in some other way that admitted Kylo knew something Hux needed to know. He wanted some indication that he deserved respect. Instead, 'should be accorded the same respect' and 'Snoke said you would'. It boxed Kylo in a corner where refusing looked as petty as Hux was.

Kylo turned to Peavey. "How long until the ship has recalled all patrol units and is ready to jump to hyperspace?" Kylo knew full well how rude he was being to address Hux's subordinate right in front of him, without going through Hux.

Another snap of Peavey's eyes to Hux and a beat of hesitation. "A half hour, sir."

"Good," Kylo said. "Make ready."

"Make ready," Hux repeated off-handedly, observing the formalities with a disinterest he didn't feel. Dryly, he said, "At some point, we'll need to know the course."

"I will provide it!" Kylo snapped, the vocoder rendering his voice as more menacing than normal.

Hux's words were fine. His tone was borderline sarcasm. "My crew stands ready to follow the orders." My orders, asshole. Hux turned and marched himself off to a console. Peavey took a single, careful step backward, pivoted, and began to relay orders necessary for their departure.

Kylo glared after Hux, nothing immediately coming to mind that would allow him to teach the man a lesson. Leader Snoke was wise to caution him against using the Force on Hux. Otherwise, by now he'd have done so at least a half dozen times.

A half hour later, all was ready. He knew this because Peavey reported it quietly to Hux on the opposite side of the bridge, hoping Kylo wouldn't hear it. Hux turned and made it three strides toward Kylo before Kylo cut him off by looking down into the navigator's pit to tell them, "Set course for the shipyards." He knew they heard him. Neither of the primary navigators so much as looked up. Both of them wondered if he'd been talking to Hux.

Speaking of which, it briefly crossed Hux's mind to shoot him for the offense of attempting to give orders to his subordinates. Instead, Hux continued walking over to him, feeling no small amount of pride that no course had been set. Kylo swung his head to the man. Repeating his orders as a mind trick would look weak, just proving the point that they wouldn't do what he said unless he compelled it. He should have used it to start with.

Hux said, "As we were discussing earlier, while I'm certain you can force people to comply, but you gain no real loyalty that way." You will be sabotaged the moment your attention strays. Did Snoke teach you nothing?

Peavey was staying where he was as far away from them as possible. He was remembering a probably-apocryphal (but oft-repeated) tale of an officer filing a personnel complaint against Darth Vader for choking him. Then Hux's comment about how Peavey had never had to stand in front of Snoke. He wasn't sure what to make of Hux squaring off with an obvious Sith lord over protocol. It seemed like a poor choice of battles to pick. But, well, far be it from Peavey to interfere with a Hux's decisions.

Kylo stared at Hux, but this time the man's reaction did not devolve into fear. Hux obviously felt strong here. Protected. Surrounded by … if not enthusiastic loyalty, then at least conditioned obedience. Kylo had been standing here for a half hour listening to people's thoughts. They were strictly trained to follow orders from authorized personnel only and Hux had plainly stated Kylo was not authorized.

By the same manner that Snoke – once in charge and recognized as legitimate – stayed in charge, Kylo – once listed and announced as unauthorized – was going to have to fight his own (no, Hux's own) people every step of the way. Even the ones who didn't like Hux.

"If you prefer that I give you orders, that can be arranged. Set course for the shipyards."

"Leader Snoke was clear to me that you have no authority to give me orders." Despite that, Hux turned to look back at Captain Peavey, giving him one nod. Peavey began relaying the appropriate orders. Efficiently, the ship jumped within seconds. Hux turned back to Kylo. "His orders to me are to assist you in your mission. Until you disclose that mission to me …" Hux shrugged.

Kylo realized this was not a battle he was going to win – not without considerable consequences. He couldn't resist a last barb, though. "You're one of Snoke's foremost generals and he didn't tell you what this mission was?"

I'm one of his foremost generals? Hux responded stiffly. "It is not my position to question Leader Snoke's orders. Are you telling me it's yours?"

"No."

"Very well. We will be at the shipyards shortly. It is not a lengthy jump." Then I suppose we will quarrel again about the next leg of the journey. I wonder if I have time for a meal bar? The early morning meeting with Snoke had meant Hux had skipped breakfast.

Kylo was more accustomed to officers quaking in their boots when contemplating arguing with him – not thinking about snacks and dismissing him as unimportant. He knew he'd lost this one a long time ago. Continuing to fight was pointless. "What is the proper manner for me to relate our mission?"

Hux's answer was immediate. "In the ready room. As soon as possible. To myself as the ranking officer and Captain Peavey as ship commander, so long as he is not actively overseeing something."

"Just the two of you?"

"For the moment. I will assess who else needs to be pulled into a more detailed briefing. If all we're doing is ferrying you to the shipyards, then I hardly need to convene a council for it. If we're assaulting Coruscant," Hux said with half a laugh, "that will take a bit more discussion."

"Then let us convene."