Allegiant General Pryde turned his attention to Hux. "Any updates on Starkiller?"

"Of course, Allegiant General - we are making good progress and the power-cells-"

"I'm not interested in details, General Hux. Will it be ready on time?"

Hux had to pull himself together not to roll his eyes. "Of course, as stated in my report." And the report before that.

Pryde pointed his riding crop towards Hux and nodded. "Good."

At times like these Hux felt the urge to rip that stupid crop out of his hands and smack it across Pryde's face. Waste of time. Arrogant prick. He could feel the scabbard of his hidden blade against his forearm. One of these days he would take care of him - one way or another.

"Meeting adjourned," said Pryde and strutted out of the meeting room.

General Io leaned over to him. "Care for a drink after all that drag?"

He gave her a thin smile. "I'm afraid I'm on a tight schedule."

"One of these days I'll make you have a drink with me."

Hux rose from his seat and left.

-o-

He threw his greatcoat over his shoulders and made his way to his shuttle to return to the Finalizer. Suddenly a heavy hand landed on his shoulder, the memory of a meaty hand on his back made him flinch. He slapped the hand away and turned on his heel to see who had dared to touch him.

A heavily armoured group stood behind him - the Knights of Ren. Hux noted with a frown that their boots were muddy, they had left a trail of dirt on their way to harass him.

He crooked his eyebrow. "Yes?"

"The Supreme Leader wants to see you," said the tallest of them.

"Have holocalls gone out of fashion?" Why in the galaxy did Snoke want to talk to him? And why didn't he simply call him like always?

"Come with us."

"Alright." He followed them and was a bit surprised when they led him past several meeting rooms with adequate holocom stations deeper into the Supremacy. He quickly went over the past few days, had something happened that would warrant… whatever this is?

Nothing came to mind, he had been absorbed with rather unspectacular tasks. Whatever was happening, it was important to stay calm and collected. His wit had saved his neck a couple of times.

He tugged at his leather gloves. Whatever was going on, he would take no risks and keep a cool head. Maybe this was another attempt by Pryde to discredit him?

They passed by hallways with golden First Order emblems and Hux realised that they were bringing him to Snoke. Who else could reside here?

He straightened his back. This might be an opportunity. All he had to do was play his cards right.

Finally they reached the throne room and Hux made an effort to be impassive when he entered. Snoke sat on a throne in the middle of the room, there were black and golden flags hanging from the walls. In the back was a panorama window, he could see the First Order fleet gathering around the Supremacy.

Hux bowed. He saw from the corner of his eyes that the Knights formed a semi-circle around the throne.

"General Hux, it's good to see you in person," said Snoke with a grin. His voice sounded surprisingly brittle. His lean body was wrapped in golden robes, his neck looked too long for his misshapen head.

"It's an honour to be here, Supreme Leader," Hux said without missing a beat.

"So polite, so diligent," whispered Snoke. "But don't think for one moment that I don't know what you're really plotting."

"Plotting?" asked Hux with genuine surprise. "I don't understand."

His reaction gave Snoke pause. His grin faded from his lips. He looked over Hux from head to toe. "You were seen with my apprentice… he was leaving your quarters late at night. And lately he has grown impertinent. He is a blunt weapon, now where could have he gotten the idea to question my authority?"

"Supreme Leader, I assure you that I did nothing to instigate Lord Ren." It wasn't exactly a surprise that Internal Security had caught wind of their nightly visits, perhaps he should try to cushion the suspicion? The best lie was always a half-truth spiced up with apparent honesty. But here he didn't even have to lie. "It's true that we are on good terms, but neither of us has any intention to undermine your authority. I'm aware that my words alone aren't enough but it's all I have."

He couldn't read minds but what he had learned from Ren was that Force-users weren't good with hiding their facial expressions - perhaps it was because they relied on other senses more? Snoke narrowed his eyes and pressed his lips together, he was surprised just like back then when Pryde tried to get to him with Project Starkiller. And he had the same expression of uncertainty.

He had to be careful. "Supreme Leader, may I speak freely?"

Snoke smacked his lips. "If you must."

"I don't presume to know why you thought that I was plotting against you, but this is the second time I'm accused of something I didn't do. I'm certain rivalries are beneath you but I feel that I must speak out: Allegiant General Pryde hates me for reasons that lie in the past and I feel that he is behind this as well." Even when it hadn't been Pryde who had tipped Snoke off, it was an excellent opportunity to discredit him. "I freely admit that the hatred is mutual. This is our problem and we should deal with it amongst ourselves. But I feel that Allegiant General Pryde oversteps when he wastes your time with petty power fights. Frankly, it's unprofessional."

Snoke pulled the corners of his mouth down. "You dare to talk about your superior like this?"

Hux lifted his chin. Now wasn't the time to falter. "I do because I care about the Order. Not only do I see the Starkiller Project through, I'm also working on a hyperspace tracker because we need the crush the Resistance." He bowed his head and delivered the final blow. "Perhaps we can even find Skywalker with the hyperspace tracker once it's functional." There was no way Snoke wouldn't take that bait.

Snoke's frown changed into a wide grin, it split his face like a wound. "Oh, General Hux, now I see why Pryde is afraid of you. You are a dangerous man with a silver tongue. But you're right - I don't sense deceit from you. And it's true that Pryde is taking shots at you, even if he didn't know about this one. But clearly you're too valuable to be wasted for his vanity, if only for your ruthless efficiency."

Hux bowed again.

"Dismissed, General."

-o-

In his shuttle on the way to the Finalizer,Hux allowed himself to grab his knees and exhale. His hands shook a little from excitement. He inhaled and leaned back in the co-pilot chair.

"Tough meeting, sir?" asked the pilot cautiously.

"Quite," he curtly replied.

Hux looked down on his pad and pretended to read a report. Whatever had brought this on, he had to talk to Ren about it. He had to tell him to be more careful. It was odd though, that the Supreme Leader had even bothered to meet with him face to face. He could have just killed him and be done with it. He was concerned, deeply concerned about Ren. Otherwise he hadn't deigned himself to talk to a simple General like he was, Snoke had shown his hand to a nobody.

Hux couldn't shake the feeling that it was an important piece of information, he just couldn't use it yet.