TWO: Little Problems

Hux was aware that the stormtroopers were gossiping and for once he wasn't actively discouraging it. There were whispers, giggles and more whispers and the subject was…Ren. The General had watched the images himself, seeing the tall, powerful black-clad shape of Ren back away from a smallish bird-like creature that had proceeded to attack him and bite his leg. Sure, Ren had killed it afterwards but the damage had been done. The vid was doing the rounds of the ship and it was certain that it would make its way to the Supremacy.

Of course he should stop it in its tracks, ordering the troopers to erase the images. It was bad for morale, bad for discipline bad for… Well, it wasn't actually bad for Hux because it undermined Ren and thus strengthened his own position but there was always the lingering suspicion that Snoke would blame him for Ren's humiliation. He thinned his lips as he thought and then dismissed the thought.

Maybe he should get one of those porgs as a pet. It would certainly annoy Ren and that would be worth the effort on its own. Though Millicent, his rather brilliant and loyal cat, would certainly not approve…

He dismissed the nonsense and made his way to the Bridge to take the morning report.

-o0o-

A porg!

How the Kriff had he turned into a porg? How was that even possible?

He turned round-waddling slowly, he thought angrily-and raised his arms. Wings. Whatever.

He summoned his lightsaber and the weapon flew through the air and hit him hard in the head, knocking him to the floor.

Everything went black.

Eventually he regained consciousness and he blinked. Dazed, his vision spinning, he wondered whether this was just some hallucination caused by his treatment by Snoke, whether this was some exotic punishment the Supreme Leader had devised.

Unreasonable anger rose in his throat, clearing his vision.

The Supreme Leader is wise. That is what he had boldly stated to Han Solo, his father, just before he had murdered the man. A man who wasn't a good father but who had risked his life to try to reach him. And he shouldn't feel guilt for the action…but he did. Terrible guilt.

And Snoke knew.

So he could try to get to Snoke and ask his master to save him. But he knew that Snoke considered him weak, a disappointment, a pathetic boy in a mask. Would Snoke make any effort to alleviate his…condition…or would he confine just him to a cage as an amusement…or worse, simply kill him?

If he could change into a different species, he could certainly change back. He just needed to know how. And to do that, he needed an ally.

He scrambled up, his side still hurting and head throbbing. Somehow he needed to get out of here. The door hadn't sensed his presence and…

He had locked it.

He groaned (a warbling noise, he thought sourly) and focussed on the Force, then launched himself up, reaching for the door control…and then he fell back to the floor. Hitting the floor hard, he tried again…and on the third time, he remembered to try flapping his wings and that held him up long enough to focus the Force to smash the lock. He was just bouncing on the floor again as the door opened.

Scrambling up, he bounced to the doorway. Poking his head round the door, he scuttled into the corridor, checking there were no stormtroopers around. Apart from it being humiliating, there was the small matter of them possibly treating him as an animal and capturing him. He paused and focussed, allowing his altered senses to access the Force, seeking the familiar disturbance of Hux. He knew the man well enough and he was the best option…because Ren didn't have friends. His closest allies, his brothers, the Knights of Ren, were off Snoke-only-knew where and in their absence, his enemy was the closest person Kylo had.

Except the man was on the Bridge and there was no way he could get there undetected. His only hope was to make it to Hux's quarters and wait there. And hope he could find some way of communicating with the General.

"What's that?"

He jumped. As he had been considering, two stormtroopers had rounded the corner and were staring at him with curiosity and not a little menace.

"I believe…that's a Porg…" one said, walking closer. "You know like the one that beat up Ren?"

Kylo bristled with anger. That was what they were saying?

The other stormtrooper walked closer and inclined his head, inspecting the small shape facing him.

"What's it doing here?" he asked.

"It's really cute," the first guard said, crouching down.

CUTE? Kylo thought he would explode with rage.

It got worse as the first stormtrooper tried to reach out and scratch him under his non-existent chin. He promptly bit the man's hand.

"OW! That thing bit me!" The stormtrooper was shaking his hand-his glove had prevented any real injury- as he recoiled, scrambled to his feet and kicked Kylo.

He bounced back and hit the wall with an embarrassing squeak.

Could this get any worse?

"Kriffing thing's dangerous-and it's vermin," the second stormtrooper snapped and raised his blaster. "I'll dispose of it!"

Kylo looked up and saw the stormtrooper target him. He raised his wing and focussed every ounce of Force he could access, shoving the man back a whole pace, throwing his aim off.

It wasn't the result he had anticipated, because Kylo was really really really pissed now and had intended the man planted about a foot deep in the wall. The man started and readjusted his aim-and in that moment, Kylo managed to shove the access panel to the ventilation system open and skidded in, hearing a blast echo behind him, the shock bouncing him forward and singing his butt. The stormtroopers were shouting but he didn't care as he accelerated along the metal floor.

Now he was totally pissed. Waddling painfully forwards, his butt aching, he carefully memorised the men's Force signatures so once he was turned back, he would revisit the encounter. Very very painfully.

But first, he had to find Hux and get the man to help him get restored to his human form again…

-o0o-

Hux had surreptitiously watched the vid of the porg attacking Kylo three times and it still wasn't getting old. He had carefully tuned out the whispers but there was a small sense of amusement as the Bridge staff were referring to Ren as 'the Porg killer'. Captain Peavey had frowned but the man despised Ren almost as much as Hux did so the two shared a slight nod and then Hux had returned to his quarters to continue working.

He checked the lock for booby traps, let himself in and removed his hat, checking his hair was still perfectly in place and then glancing around.

"Millicent? Daddy's home!" he called unselfconsciously. Millicent was abnormally smart, very precise and she was affectionate…in her own restrained way. So he waited for her to mosey in at her own speed…but when nothing happened, he walked through into his living area. He had taken the suite due to him as a General and had ensured that his quarters were light, clean and precisely ordered, with study, living area and bedroom with a spotless fresher. Millicent was a clean animal, accepting her domain but she always greeted Hux when he returned because he would deliver the acceptable level of attention and, of course, food.

What he hadn't anticipated as he walked into the living area was finding Millie standing stock still, her back arched and ears flattened back, her ginger fur puffed up as much as it could be. Her eyes were narrowed and he could see she was furious and ready to attack, the angry flick of her tail the most obvious outwards sign of her anger. And as he followed her line of sight, he could see she was facing off against a stubby bird that was backed into a corner. A low growl was issuing from her throat. Hux stared at the creature and realised it was a porg.

"Millie," he murmured, staring at the creature. It was a little different from the one from the vid, for it was white and black, not white and brown. And the little bird had a wound cut diagonally across its right eye, the scar a livid red against the white feathers. The porg jerked its head to look at him as he spoke…and in that moment, Millicent pounced. She gave a huge yowl and landed on the creature, digging her claws into its wing and back. Struggling, the porg gave an ululating squeal and tried to dislodge the angry ginger cat. Hux frowned.

"What…?' he murmured. How had a porg got into his quarters-especially since his lock definitely hadn't been opened since he had left this morning? Was it a prank from the troopers-or maybe some childish revenge by Ren? Sure, he wouldn't put it past the man to try to humiliate Hux in revenge for his own indignity. And then he started as the porg squirmed, raised its other wing and slapped the cat across the face.

Millicent yowled and swiped her claws across the porg's face. Squeaking in indignation, the porg backhanded the cat with his wing and swatted again, sending the ginger cat flying across the room. Millicent landed with a hiss and prepared to attack. But the porg shuffled forward, raising a wing and the cat rose a couple of feet in the air, hissing and spitting with anger. Hux's jaw dropped and he stared at the porg…

…a porg in black and white, with a definite wound to its side, a fresh wound across the right side of its face and what seemed to be a wound to its leg. And it seemed to be levitating his cat. He took a pace closer, glad no one could see and vowing that if this was a prank by anyone, he would space them himself. But there was a prickling in the back of his neck that he couldn't ignore and despite how insane it sounded, he had the eeriest sense of recognition.

"Ren?" he murmured.