May the stars guide us home - a Finalizer story

by cliffdiving

Fallen out of favor after Kylo Ren's ascend as Supreme Leader General Armitage Hux has lost his place of prominence within the First Order. He and his crew onboard of the Finalizer are sent on a mission to the Outer Rim to investigate a series of strange disappearances clearly meant to get rid of them. What they find there will change their fates forever.

10. Into danger

The past is a ghost that haunts us. Ghosts must be banished.
Emperor Palpatine

---

The Zi'daya captain's urgent message prompted Selene to action immediately. Without so much as a glance at Hux, she was through the door, firing questions at Shi'seko in their own language.

Hux took a moment to collect himself. Her accusation, that he was trying to take more than she was willing to give, hit an uncomfortable nerve. He had really taken his anger at the Hutt - and if he was honest at himself for falling prey to her provocations - out on Selene. And that after having despised the derogatory way his father had treated women for years.

It had been alarming how easily Trilla had been able to narrow in on an apprehension, he had not even realized he felt. The bright star of Ellesmee, the galaxy's most sought after bachelorette sleeping with Brendol Hux' bastard, Snoke's butcher. Oh, he knew all the little names people called him behind his back. The Hutt's reaction was probably only a small taste of what people would say, if this ever got out. And the insecure part of him that had wondered from the start, why she even let him touch her, began to suspect that Selene would one day regret this.

It should not have mattered, since whatever was between them could never be more than a short-lived tryst. But it smarted. Much more than it should. Because as irrational and ill-advised as it was, he could not help wanting her to want him. The wild way she had reacted to his touch earlier in the hangar had been heady. As had been the warm feeling of her laying her head on his chest afterwards. This constant need to reaffirm her attraction to him was more than a little worrying, though.

Especially, since it seemed he had been right in suspecting she was keeping things from him.

When he stepped into the command shuttle's cockpit, everyone's eyes were trained on the holoscreen, showing a dark-haired man in his forties, wearing the Zi'daya colors, his background nondescript dark walls. His blue eyes held more than a hint of panic, darting around nervously and sweat darkened the hair at his temple. "If anyone hears this, please sent support immediately. We have lost all outer space surveillance at once. Half of the defense torrents are down. Something is out there and it's…" Horror flashed over his face, his breath misting the air. "They are coming." The screen turned black suddenly.

Her golden eyes troubled, Selene addressed their pilot, urgency in her voice. "This shuttle has hyperspace capabilities, doesn't it? We have to go there straight away. The coordinates are…"

"We will do nothing of that sort," Hux interrupted her. "We will return to the Finalizer, analyze the situation as protocol dictates and then decide the next steps."

His words made the other occupants in the cockpit look at him. Both Opan's and Shi'seko's eyes flitted to his maltreated lip, although their reaction was quite different. While Shi'seko's gaze hardened, Opan just raised his eyebrow. It would have been too much to hope that one of them was gullible enough to think that he miraculously bit himself in the five minutes he had been alone with his Co-Commander.

"Oh, now he adheres to protocol," the tone of Selene's voice was scathing. "How long do you think we should wait to make sure everyone is definitely dead?"

Hux ignored her remark and addressed Shi'seko. It was clear she was too upset to think this through rationally. "How old is this recording?"

The grey-eyed captain glanced at his commander for a second, but answered him. "A little more than two hours. It seems they sent it out over an open channel, since the direct lines were all down. Unfortunately, it took some time until someone caught it there between all the background noises."

"So that attack will have already happened by now." Hux surmised. "I expect the station does have some military defenses?"

Shi'seko threw another glance at Selene, obviously unsure, if he should answer that question. She did not react for a moment, busying herself with glaring out the viewport.

"Yes, a ring of defense torrents and ten Tri-Wasps," she snapped finally.

"Well," the General said. "then you could perhaps explain to me, how a shuttle with only basic cannons would be of any additional use in this situation instead of taking a stardestroyer there."

The gaze his Co-Commander levelled at him could have cut glass. He returned it calmly.

"He is right Selene," Shi'seko murmured. "We will help nobody by just rushing in without thought." The Zi'daya flinched, as his Commander's angry glare landed on him.

"Fine," she ground out between clenched teeth, "it seems I am overruled."

Hux gave the pilot the order to return to the Finalizer as quickly as possible, before motioning to the others to join him in the main room of the shuttle.

Sitting down on one of the seats there, he levelled a cool gaze at his Co-Commander. She had sat down as far away from him as possible, anger still visible in every tense line of her body.

"Any information you can give us about this mining station?" Hux inquired. "How far away from here are the coordinates? How many people are stationed there? Any additional defenses to the ones you mentioned?"

He had his suspicions about the mining station, but he was not above forcing her to spell it out.

Indeed, she could not meet his eyes, instead staring at her hands that had clenched on her lap.

"Not far. Venya station is actually in this sector. Two star systems further out from here." Her words were hesitant, as if she was forcing herself to go on against her better judgment. "In total more than 20.000 people live and work there. Commander Pa'lenna is an experienced station commander. I have known him for years."

"And what are you mining there?" Hux' voice turned deceptively light. "Adamantium by chance?"

A mining station with 20.000 people was no small enterprise. He was not sure, if he should admire her guts to do something like that illegally in First Order territory or shake his head at the recklessness. Well, that certainly explained what kind of deal she had with the Hutt. Protection in exchange for a share of the yield. Remembering the obvious wealth of the Hutt's property, he wondered how much the Zi'daya payed her. His eyes narrowed, those were credits that technically belonged to the First Order.

Selene's eyes flashed, as she looked at him again. "You enjoy catching me at something like this, don't you?" she accused him.

"Immensely," he answered truthfully, not even trying to hide the amused twitch to his lip at seeing her squirm. The movement made the small wound she had left there throb slightly in pain. "I do wonder how you will try to wiggle out of it, though. This is First Order territory after all."

She scoffed. "Technical, yes. In reality I doubt Pryde has even flown more than one patrol out here."

Hux was unimpressed. "Then you were free to address High Command with a request for more support." His smile turned a little predatory. "But you would have needed to notify them of the adamantium deposit, of course."

"Oh, and gotten what? A pat on the back for my troubles?" Selene's face was fierce. "That is my kriffing adamantium. I found it."

"No, you are stealing it from the First Order," the General clarified, watching her reaction.

"It is not really stealing, if it is just lying around, nobody claiming it," his Co-Commander grumbled.

"Now Selene," Hux gave her a feigned disappointed look. "I am sure you can do better than the excuse of every third rate criminal in the Galaxy."

He suddenly became aware that Opan and Shi'seko were just watching their exchange curiously. And he had again slipped up by using her first name. But then Opan would not be worth his credits as an Informations officer, if he did not know by now there was something going on between them.

Selene shook her head. "Not now. Can we discuss this later?" She got up from her seat, staring out of the viewport impatiently. "Kriff, why is this taking so long?"

Fortunately, the familiar dagger-shape of the Finalizer came into view then. When they touched down in the hangar, Selene made for the shuttle doors at once, Shi'seko at her heels, obviously anxious for more information from her crew. Hux stood up to follow her, but Opan gave him a meaningful look. "We will have to deal with your lip first, if you don't want to send the rumor mill running."

The blue-eyed captain stepped up to the shuttle's first aid station and got some bacta, disinfectants and a small mirror out of the cabinet. Passing everything to his General, he raised an eyebrow. "I suppose you won't tell me, how you invoked her ire that much?"

Hux looked into the mirror, frowning at the blood still gathering on his lip. She had taken quite the bite out of him. He prodded at the wound, before deciding to put some bacta gel on it. The sting of the disinfectant making him flinch, as he dabbed it on, he ground out. "I might actually have earned that one, to be honest."

Real surprise showed on Opan's face at that admission. "Mmm, I thought you were adamant not to pursue this, Armitage."

Hux sighed, rubbing his temple for a moment. He knew from the start that his dalliance with his Co-Commander was inadvisable, but talking about it only made him more aware of the fact. "I was. But she is…" He trailed off, not sure, how he should explain Selene's ability to make him forget all common sense.

"Oh, I can imagine." There was definite amusement in Opan's cool gaze.

"Really? I thought your preferences lie elsewhere."

The captain chuckled, "That I am not interested, does not mean I am blind," he turned serious again after a moment. "As your Informations officer I do have to warn you, though. If Pryde gets wind of this, he will have a field day." He gave Hux a hard look. "And I don't have to tell you, there is the distinct possibility that she will use this to influence you."

"Believe me, I know, Tritt." Hux picked up the unused medical supplies and put them back into the cabinet. He hesitated for a moment before turning back to the other man, his voice reluctant at his confession. "Does not mean I am able to stop myself from indulging."

He could have pretended that he would do the reasonable thing and not touch her again, but if today had shown him one thing, then it was how deep his weakness for her already ran.

"So, I guess that means all those little rumors about the Zi'daya are actually true," Opan commented dryly.

The General did not acknowledge that with an answer, but something must have shown on his face, because Opan chuckled again.

When they left the Command shuttle, Selene appeared immediately, Shi'seko, her second in command and her wing leader following behind her. At least she seemed a little calmer now, as she addressed him. Probably her crew had told her as well, that just rushing in would have been madness.

"We tried to contact Venya Station. No answer so far. All connecting systems are down." She trailed her hand through her hair in worry. "I suppose, we should send in some of your surveillance drones to get an idea, what we are dealing with."

Hux fell into step next to her, leading the way to the command bridge. "You want to send them from here?"

"No," Selene sighed. "But after what happened to the Victorinox anything else would only be an unpredictable risk."

So she was able to act reasonable from time to time. When they reached the command bridge, he gave the corresponding orders to Lieutenant Baska, asking Selene to provide the exact coordinates.

She nervously walked up and down, as they waited for footage. This would take some time, as two TIE-Fighters needed to make the necessary hyperspace jump and drop the drones in the vicinity of the mining station.

"No unexpected contact," Baska reported after a few minutes. "Footage should be available in a few minutes."

Indeed the holoscreen flickered not long after, the image of a barren, rocky planet appearing. The mining station was located directly in front of them, the visible low buildings probably living quarters. Most of the station seemed to be located underground.

"Any recommendation where to start?" Hux asked Selene. She nodded and pointed at a large building in the middle. "That's the main building. You can probably get in through the hangar. It is located on the eastern side."

Hux gave her a curious look. "You know the station quite well."

Selene's face remained tense, as she stared at the screen. "Yes, I was involved into the construction and planning."

So it was really a personal project of hers. He should have known that she would be the one, who had planned something that risky. But then she nearly got away with it, didn't she? If not for those disappearances and the attack today, no one in the Order would have suspected a thing.

A loud gasp from Major Shi'seko made him look at the screen again as well. The drones had entered the hangar. And there were three people lying on the floor motionless.

"Lieutenant Baska, vital signs?" Hux inquired. "Negative, sir. Body temperature is far below average as well." The Lieutenant's voice was calm, as he flew the drone closer to the bodies. "No rigor mortis yet, it seems. Time of death cannot be more than a few hours ago then."

"But why are there still bodies?" Selene's voice was not more than a whisper, her eyes wide and shocked.

"They probably had no time to feed yet," Hux commented quietly, so that only she could hear it. His Co-Commander threw a look at him that told him she did not appreciate the remark. He wondered, if he was correct, though. If it was the case, it meant they were a lot closer to their enemy than ever before.

As the drone flew deeper into the building, more and more bodies appeared. There were no visible signs of violence on them; they actually looked, as if they had just fallen down, where they stood, their faces strangely empty of any emotion.

The shock on Selene's face had turned into anger and determination by now. "We have to go down there," she said fiercely.

"I agree with you, Commander," Hux answered. "But only with some security precautions." He turned towards Lieutenant Tosla. "Lieutenant, inform Captain Trach that we need one of his squads as aerial support."

He threw a glance at Major Shi'seko. "I suppose you have flown out here before, Major? It might make sense, if you join him with one squad, then."

The blonde pilot nodded. "I will ready them." She left towards the bridge entrance.

"Captain Fallon, we need one battalion of stormtroopers divided between three shuttles, one of them my command shuttle. And two additional battalions at the ready. And Doctor Kline should sent us one of his medics." Everyone they had discovered so far had looked beyond any help, but perhaps they would be able to find out, what had caused those deaths.

His gaze met his Co-Commander's, as he had expected, she was just opening her mouth to protest. "And before you ask, yes, I will allow you to accompany me."

"Allow me?" her voice was incredulous.

"Yes, allow you," he remained calm. "You actually need to have an evaluation that you are battle ready to be allowed on ground missions. And I have seen you shoot a blaster."

His last remark made Captain Khi'sheko laugh out loud, obviously aware of his Commander's shortcomings in that area.

Selene narrowed her eyes at him. "That was one time in a training situation."

"Well, we will just have to hope there are no moving targets then."

That made even more composed Shi'seko chuckle slightly. "Very funny," his Co-Commander grumbled.

"Be it as it may," Hux gave Selene a serious look. "This comes with two conditions, though. You will follow my orders without question, when we are down there and if there is any sign of battle you will fall back to the shuttle."

"What?" her golden eyes flashed angrily at him. "You can't be serious."

He smiled at her coldly. "Believe me, I am. I want your word on it or you stay up here."

She pressed her lips together in very clear anger. "Armitage…"

Hux realized it might not be a good idea to have a discussion with her being that incensed in the middle of the bridge with dozens of people in hearing distance. He swiftly took her arm and guided her to the side for a little privacy.

"I thought this was a joined command," she snapped at him. "Nice of you to immediately forget that, the moment a dangerous situation arises."

He shook his head. "I didn't forget it. It is just a fact that I have a lot more military experience than you have. And I expect you to be professional enough to acknowledge that."

When she looked, as if she would fire up at those words again, he added. "Whereas I can admit that you are by far the better diplomat. It is only prudent that we share our command according to our strengths."

Her eyes turned a little less angry. "Oh, are you admitting to a weakness now? Who would have thought I would see that day."

Hux stared at her for a moment. "Stars Selene, you of all people should know that I do have my weaknesses." He gave a self-depreciating laugh. "And it is certainly not a small one."

Why did he say that? He could as well give her detailed instructions how to manipulate him best.

The effect his words had on her were surprisingly obvious, her gaze softening and all fight leaving her at once. "That is not a weakness," she murmured.

"Isn't it? It feels like that, though." He had to look away from her. "And who tells me you are not using this to influence me? What are we even doing?"

"You have to believe me. I would never use this…" she stopped, obviously unsure herself what to call it. "attraction or whatever between us to manipulate you."

"Really?" he raised an eyebrow. "Not even to get out of trouble regarding the mining station?"

"No," her golden eyes were earnest, as she met his. "But we should talk about this in a more private setting." She looked down on herself. "I will have to go to the Evenfall to change. I guess the preparations will take some time. You could accompany me there."

When they returned to Shi'seko and Khi'sheko, she gave him a short nod. "Fine, I promise to follow your orders, General." Both men gave her a very surprised look at those words, Khi'sheko saying something in Zi'daya to her that made her roll her eyes at him.

Hux gave a few more orders, before accompanying his Co-Commander to her ship.

He had to admit he was more than a little curious, not having been onboard yet. The bright halls decorated in etchings of tall, elegant trees and wooden accents were a far cry from the utilitarian First Order style. His eyes widened in a little shock, when Selene led him to her quarters, though.

"Has somebody broken in here?" he inquired, as he took in the chaos, clothes and papers strewn everywhere in the rather small room. The only free space was her bed at one side of the room that was covered in dozens of cozy looking blankets in various colors.

He imagined snuggling under those with her, preferable naked, for a second before catching himself. Kriff, he had to get a grip on these little fantasies. Besides, he did not think he could ignore the disorder in the room for a longer amount of time.

Selene just looked around and shrugged. "I don't have time to tidy up." She started to search for something in a heap of clothes. Hux refrained from telling her that this would surely be easier, if she just hung up her clothes, but it was a near thing.

His gaze snagged on one of the only pieces that she actually had put on a hanger, a flowing black dress, on which little lights seemed to move constantly. It looked like the night sky woven into cloth.

"Are you planning to go to a ball?" he asked her.

She laughed and straightened, after obviously having found, what she had been searching for, her mech armor. "I am the heir to a starsystem, you know. Sometimes some event where I have to look representative comes up suddenly. That's why I always have a gown with me."

Then she started to unbutton her blouse. "Wait, are you undressing?" Hux asked incredulously. She gave him a look. "Please, it is not, as if there is anything, you have not seen by now."

Her yellow skirt followed her blouse to the floor, leaving her only in her lacy underwear. He had to take a deep breath at the sight, fighting the urge to touch her. Stars, she was beautiful, all feminine curves and soft golden brown skin. Part of him had known so from the second, she sat foot on his ship, but it hit him again in moments like this.

And he was actually allowed to touch her. At least he hoped that it was still the case, after their confrontation earlier.

The knowing smile on her face telling him she was quite satisfied with his reaction, seemed to indicate it, thankfully.

"You know, I have been thinking. We could continue doing this. I mean it is a stressful, dangerous mission. We deserve to relax a little here and there."

"What?" of all the things he thought she might discuss with him, he would have never come up with this.

"Just sex, when the mood strikes us. No strings attached." Her gaze was expectant, as she regarded him.

"I don't know, what is worse," he murmured. "That you are honestly making that suggestion or that I am seriously contemplating agreeing to it."

But then a whisper of doubt made him hesitate. That offer was a little too good to be true. "What is in it for you, though?"

"In it for me?" she gave him a confused look. "I just said it would be only sex."

"Please," he scoffed. "I think we both know, that if you are just looking for someone to take the edge off now and then there are a lot easier options."

Selene gave him a slightly desperate look. "Most men would just have jumped on that offer. But you have to force me to spell it out, don't you?"

Actually, he did not really understand what she meant, he honestly wanted to know, why she did not tumble into bed with someone uncomplicated like Trach or a guy from her own crew.

Selene's face lost all playfulness then, a vulnerable look on it for a moment. "Perhaps, against all better judgement, I just can't help myself." Her golden eyes were very soft and wide. "I guess you are not the only one with a weakness."

His heartbeat might have stuttered a little at that admission and something strange fluttered in his stomach. He did not have a lot of experience with this whole sleeping with each other with no strings attached, but he had an inkling that this was actually not the correct way to start this.

"I could ask you the same, though," his Co-Commander said. "You already know the answer," he finally gave in and twisted a fine strand of hair that had come out of her braid around his finger. "I am regrettably unable to deny you anything on that front."

While it might be madness to agree to this, Hux could not help the thrill going through him at the thought of having her skin against his regularly. Perhaps he could allow himself this one little indulgence. He was no fool after all. His deeds in the name of the Order had garnered him more enemies, than he could count. Especially after destroying the Hosnian System. And his odds of surviving this war had turned from 'not promising' to 'depressing' the moment Kylo Ren had become Supreme Leader.

There was also something else. As petty as it was, a not so small part of him reveled in the feeling that it was him she wanted in her bed and nobody else. Ren, Pryde and his fellow generals could look down on him, as much as they wanted, it did not change the fact that he was sleeping with a woman, they could not even dream of touching. It was the same feeling of vindictive triumph he had felt, when he had become a General of the First Order, after years of ridicule by his fellow cadets at the First Order Academy. The possessiveness towards her those thoughts sparked should have worried him, but he ignored the slight unease.

"We will have to be more discreet in the future, though," he cautioned Selene.

She grinned cheekily, "So no calling you sweet honey pie on the command bridge?"

---

Selene watched as bemused exasperation flitted over Hux' face at her comment. "Could you please take this seriously?" he chastised her.

"Don't worry," she said, a lot more composed than before. "I have as many reasons as you do to keep this under wraps." There was something that looked surprisingly like hurt in his eyes for a moment. Mmmh, interesting. It seemed her Co-Commander's pride did not deal well with being her little First Order secret.

It made her wonder, what exactly Trilla had said to him earlier. While she had originally thought, that he had been angry with her, because he had realized she was hiding something from him, the nearly nonchalant way he had dealt with the information about Venya station seemed to indicate something else. After all, he would probably have been within his rights to deny her any help from First Order side. But it did not seem to have crossed his mind to do so. Not that she did not know there would be some kind of reckoning for the transgression later.

Selene slipped into her mech armor and put on her boots, watching Hux out of the corner of her eyes. No, the Hutt had found some kind of sore point that prompted him to lash out at her. There was no way that he had any feelings for her, wasn't there? Something about his tone, as he had admitted to having a weakness for her, had been strangely vulnerable, those green eyes gentle, as he looked at her. It had made all the annoyed anger she had felt towards him cool down a lot quicker than was possibly advisable. How one person could spark so many intense and conflicting emotions in her in a span of a single day remained a mystery.

Perhaps this arrangement between them was not such a good idea, as she had thought. But then she remembered, how easily he had returned to threatening her earlier. No, Hux would never really care for her in any form. A physical weakness yes, but nothing more. Besides, it was not, as if she was in any danger of developing any real feelings for him. She knew only too well, who he was and what he had done. No, this was only an unexpected attraction born out of some physical compatibility between them. Things like that happened. It would probably become tedious and burn out, before this mission was even over, no harm done.

Although that did not explain the fluttering sensation she had felt in her stomach, when she saw the pleased look on his face at her admission to having a weakness for him as well.

Selene pushed the thought what that might mean away nearly violently. Her preoccupation with her Co-Commander had allowed her to keep her mind off Venya station for a time. But now she could not keep all her worries from returning in force. She took a deep breath.

"Do you think…" she hesitated. "Do I think what?" the General inquired, his eyes searching, as he looked at her.

"Do you think they are all dead?" The Zi'daya heir was not proud of the way her voice gave out a little on the last word, but the fear that everyone at the station had died, had not left her since the moment, they had found the first body.

Hux' gaze held something like compassion for a moment. "As much as I would like to tell you something else, I fear we will have to prepare for the possibility, yes."

Nausea swapped through her. "Stars, twenty thousand people." She knew there had been more victims on the Victorinox, but as awful as it sounded this hurt a lot more. Those were her people after all. "This is my fault," she murmured. "I sent them here." She had thought the risks were minimal with the additional Huttese protection, but she had been wrong. And now twenty thousand families might wait in vain for their loved ones to return, because she had miscalculated.

"While I do have to say that it was inadvisable to build an illegal mining station in First Order territory, there was no way you could have known something like this could happen."

"But I knew this was dangerous territory. Before Trilla settled here, it was crawling with space pirates and ragtag criminals of all kinds. It was why we had the arrangement with the Hutts."

Hux raised an eyebrow. "But the lure of the credits was too great?"

The lure of what she could do with those credits had been too great. Selene had to look away for a moment. "What are you actually paying that impossible Hutt? Fifty percent?"

"What? Do you think I'm stupid?" She shook her head incredulously. "More like fifteen percent."

He tilted his head at her. "Then that are a lot of credits, you are making here."

Kriff, she thought, he would surely ask her now, what she had been doing with those credits.

Instead, to her surprise, he stepped closer to her and turned her around to slowly zip up her armor. He halted midway through so, his hands warm on her skin.

"I know it might be only a small consolidation, but I am sure you made the decision you thought was best for your people at the time. Moreover, deciding something else might have had different consequences. I do understand that you feel responsible for your people's fate, though." He closed the rest of the zipper on her back. "It is one of the things one has to deal with as a leader. Our decisions have consequences for other people."

"Is that what they teach you in the First Order?" Selene could not help asking, when she turned around to see his face. That had been nearly consoling and actually sounded not at all like First Order propaganda.

Something dark passed through Hux' eyes. "In the Order they make very sure that you are able to make the necessary decisions without consideration for other people's fate." He looked at her. "But I don't think you want to follow that path."

But do you? she nearly asked. She remembered how Tank had told her that Hux actually cared for his troops. She opened her mouth; intend to find out, when there was a short knock on the door. Khendrik only waited a second before opening the door, his eyes widening in surprise, at finding the General in her quarters. He was already in his mech armor as well.

"I wondered, if you needed help with your armor," he said in Zi'daya with a distinct note of disapproval in his voice. "But I see your Co-Commander has already taken care of it. Very helpful."

Blast it, he would definitely ask her about this later.

"Preparations are nearly finished," her sworn protector added in Basic. He gave Selene a questioning look. "Short briefing on the bridge?"

She nodded and grabbed her blaster, before following him out, motioning at Hux to accompany her.

As she entered the bridge, she saw that Elodia had manned the communications station, while Fayth and Shima were wearing their armor as well. "I thought I should do mission control," her aide commented, "I can still remember the construction plans from a few years ago."

"Good idea," Selene agreed. "You have already sent the plans over?" She touched a hidden point at her armor, making part of the fabric sweep over her head as a helmet and a thin visor appear in front of her face. She watched as the information began to flit over the screen in front of her eyes.

Hux' face lit up with a little awe. "You did not show me that last time. This is actually really impressive."

She laughed. "A girl has to keep some secrets." And she did not want the Order to know how advanced some of their tech really was. "As I said, your trooper's armor is woefully outdated."

Shima stepped up to her. "I thought, we should go down with twenty people. Enough so that two of us can accompany every First Order squad, if we have to split up." Selene nodded in assent and looked at Hux. "Ready?"

Ten minutes later the Upsilon class command shuttle and the combat ships left the hangar, after the Finalizer had jumped to Venya's coordinates. Selene nodded at Tank in greeting, the sergeant easily recognizable even under the stormtrooper armor. It seemed his squad would join them again on this mission. In contrast to last time, even she did not feel any motivation to talk today, her thoughts too occupied by what awaited them planetside.

She tipped her ear, establishing the connection to Elodia. "Any news from the drones?"

"No", her aide answered. "Security doors have been closed, so they did not get very far. You will need to open them manually to go further into the station. I sent all of you the current codes."

Selene looked at Hux and Shima. "After going in, we should try to make our way to the mines' command center. It is located in the middle of the building, close to the mining shafts. In an emergency the commander and all high-ranking personnel should have gone there."

Hux nodded at her. "We will first secure the hangar and then proceed there as quickly as possible." He was again just wearing his great coat, something that left her with a strange unease. Did the man think he was immortal? But then all the armor in the world would probably not be enough, if their theories about their enemy were correct.

The shuttle began to shake, as they entered the planet's atmosphere. Venya was actually not a very hospitable place, its climate windy and unwelcoming on the better days. Selene stared at the familiar grey, rocky landscape appearing in the shuttle's viewport, nervousness settling into her stomach. Please, she thought, let somebody still be alive and safe behind the security doors.

The command shuttle touched down next to the hangar, the other two shuttles following close behind.

"Secure the parameter and the hangar," Hux ordered, as the shuttle doors opened. Selene swiftly stood up and followed him outside.

The first thing that hit her was the cold wind, biting into her, as if it had claws. She shivered. Had it always been that cold on Venya? She looked around, her breath making little clouds in the frigid air. The pale sun was already setting, casting long shadows on the ground. It was eerily silent, she noticed. Apart from some curt orders and the marching steps of the troopers, she could not hear a single sound. Foreboding swept through her. While most of the life on the mining station did happen underground, there should have been at least a few people milling around.

The telltale sound of the TIE-Fighters flying a sweep over the station cut through the air, the Tri-Wasps following slower behind.

"No movements on the ground, the whole station seems empty." Briseis reported on their comms link. "There is some equipment left behind, as if in the middle of work, though. Whatever happened it must have been awfully quick."

Shima stopped next to her, his face showing the same worry she felt. "Something is not right," he murmured.

When they entered the hangar, after getting the all clear from Tank, her gaze immediately flew to the three bodies, they had already seen on the drones' footage. It took some willpower, but she refrained from going to them, watching the thin, grey-headed medic Doctor Kline had sent with them do so instead. She should probably let the experts do their work without interfering first.

Strangely, it felt even colder in the hangar than outside, although they were protected from the wind. While the overhead lights were still working, the shadows between the parked mining machines seemed darker than usual to her nervous eyes. An intense unease made the hair on her nape stand up. An icy draft whispered along the side of her neck.

As she looked around searching for Hux, she realized he had gone quite far into the building, his coat billowing out behind him, as he walked. And without any of his troopers accompanying him. When he always insisted on following all the security protocols.

Something was wrong.

"General Hux," she called out. He gave no indication that he had heard her, his steps not slowing down. "Hux," she called out a little louder, making a few steps after him.

"I've got a pulse, quick bring me…" the medic's surprised exclamation ended on a choking sound, prompting her to look back over her shoulder in alarm. For a long moment, her brain was unable to understand, what she was seeing. The hands of one of the bodies the medic had examined were closed around his throat, his own trying in vain to loosen the grip. Before anyone could interfere, there was a sickening crack, his head lolling to the side.

And then all hell broke loose.

Screams sounded, as blaster bolts sizzled through the air. Selene's eyes widened in terrified disbelief, as she saw dozens of people dressed in the Zi'daya colors or the miner's coveralls appear out of the depths of the hangar. Their faces as emotionless as they had been on the drones' footage, they started firing immediately. She barely avoided a bolt, ducking behind a parked mining car. Kriff, this wasn't possible. Those people had appeared dead. And why were they attacking them? Panic made her hands tremble, as she pulled out her blaster. She hectically cast her gaze around for the others.

Shima and Fayth were closer to the entrance, barely holding of a dozen attackers with the stormtroopers, using some mining equipment as coverage.

"What the kriff are you doing? We are Zi'daya and on your side, blast it," her second in command called out, trying to get their attackers to see some sense. The only thing it earned him was a blaster bolt nearly singing of his hair, making him dive behind his shelter again.

Whatever happened to the mines' staff, it was clear there was no reasoning with them and they could expect no mercy from their side.

The rest of the troopers and Khendrik were caught between the entrance and her, some of them already clearly wounded, as the others tried to give them covering fire. It seemed she had been lucky and nobody had seen her vanish behind that mining car.

"Selene," Elodia's voice was worried in her ear. "What in the blazes of the universe is happening down there?" Selene gasped. "I don't kriffing know. They were dead. And now they are attacking us." She stared at the people she thought she knew, still not comprehending what was going on. "It is, as if they are possessed."

The Zi'daya glanced in the direction her Co-Commander had vanished into. Blast it, she had promised to return to the ship in the case of battle.

But he had clearly not been himself and wherever he was going, he was all alone. And she was the only one at this end of the hangar.

Before she could even think her decision through, she was moving, her feet carrying her after him towards the entrance that led deeper into the building.

"Selene, where are you?" Khendrik's desperate voice reached her over their comms link. "I am alright," she answered. "Moving into the direction of the Command Center now. Hux went into that direction and he's alone."

"What?" her sworn protector's voice was disbelieving. "No, you will come back to the shuttle immediately."

"Negative. There are too many hostiles between my current location and the shuttle."

"Selene!"

She ignored him for the moment, silencing the connection with a touch to her ear, passing through the hangar' doors.

Cold closed around her, making her fall to her knees. She took a painful breath, the icy air burning in her lungs. Shadows moved in front of her face and suddenly she was not in the mining station any more.

The sun in her face made her blink, as she stared sullenly at an elegant white shuttle parked in Ellesmee's east hangar. This was just so typical, she thought, she was never allowed to do anything fun.

"This is the end of the discussion, Selene." Her mother's normally warm golden eyes held a hint of exasperation. "You can't accompany us to Coruscant. This is a delicate mission. Our days will be filled with negotiations and political maneuverings. We just don't have time…"

"And I will be just underfoot. You mentioned it." Selene gave her mother a pleading look. "But I won't. I promise. You won't even realize I am there."

"Now, my little bright star," her father tugged on her braid lovingly, as he passed her by, his bag in his hand. He had never gotten used to having servants carry his stuff for him. "Don't fret. We will be back before you know it."

"But I want to go to Coruscant, too." Selene complained. "I want to go to the great library, walk through the markets, see all the things I have only read about."

Elaine noe Sao'onserei gave her daughter an apologetic smile. "Next time, I promise. At the moment it is just not a good idea." The look she threw at her husband was worried.

"You already said that the last time," her daughter answered angrily. "Fine, I don't care. Stay there and don't come back, if you want to."

"Selene!" her father chastised her, but she was already turning away, running through the hangar.

No, a part of her whispered. Don't leave like that. Turn around one last time.

However, she could not change what had happened nor stop her memories from playing out. She watched helplessly through the eyes of her younger self, as she walked through the city, unaware that her world would go up in flames soon.

She needed to snap out of this, she realized. But the kriffing cold had seeped into every fiber of her being, overtaking everything else. She could not even remember how it felt to be warm again. And there was something else she needed to remember. Something important.

Warm. A memory tickled at her mind. Strong arms holding her close, as she snuggled comfortably on a warm chest. A hot mouth opening over hers, as she lost herself in a passionate kiss. Green eyes turning soft, as he looked at her. Armitage. She had to go after him.

With a gasp, she was back to reality, needles of pain stinging into her body, as feeling returned into her frozen limbs. For long moments, she remained on her knees, just breathing in. She finally got up slowly, leaning against the corridor's wall. Shadows moved erratically on the way ahead. Steeling herself, she stepped deeper into the station.

---

If anyone would have asked Tank, how he had survived countless battles in service of the First Order, when others had not, his short answer would have been that he had just been lucky. While that might be true to a point, all those instances of danger over the years had also honed his senses, making him realize, when something was wrong.

And all those senses were on edge, as they entered the hangar on Venya. He darted his eyes around alertly, trying to keep as much of the building and his squad in his view as possible.

"ZN-7785, stay close to me," he ordered Pyp, aware that the young trooper was quite unexperienced for a mission like this.

Blast it, all that mining equipment made the hangar hard to secure. The shadows could hide anything. "All clear, sir" Happy reported, jogging back to them. "Everyone we found so far shows no vital signs," his voice turned gloomy. "Let's hope we don't join them soon."

As the Zi'daya and the medic entered the building, Tank could still not shake the feel of unease. Giving Pyp a sign to accompany him, he slowly walked along the parked mining equipment, shining a light in the space in between, his other hand on his blaster.

A shiver going down his spine was the only warning he got, as a sudden scream tore through the hangar, followed by the sounds of blaster fire. Grabbing Pyp's arm and dragging him down as well, Tank let himself quickly fall to the ground. And not a second too early, as a few blaster bolts hit the small shuttle, they had stood in front of, with a sizzle.

Tank stared at the smoldering holes they had left with wide eyes. Kriff, what kind of blasters did their attackers use?

"We have to fall back to the hangar entrance," he told Pyp, as they swiftly scrambled behind the shuttle for protection. "You go first, while I give you cover." The young trooper gave him a shaky nod, before turning towards the entrance. Tank went into a firing position and sent out a few bolts in order to secure his departure. With a start, he realized their attackers were wearing the Zi'daya colors. But hadn't Happy reported there had been no vital signs? What was going on here?

He managed to eliminate two of them with well-placed shots, wounding a third on the leg. To his surprise, he got up again immediately, as if he had not even felt it, dragging his bleeding leg behind. It was, as if they were immune towards pain.

Glancing in the direction of the entrance, he realized the stormtroopers and the Zi'daya had used some of the mining equipment to erect an impromptu barricade to take cover behind. To his relief Pyp was ducking behind it, as he watched.

Tank was just preparing his own run to the barricade, when a wounded stormtrooper crashed down only a few feet in front of him. One of his hands reached out to him pleadingly. "Sergeant," he croaked out.

"Clics," Tank was on his side in seconds, searching for a wound. He had to take a deep breath, as he saw the gaping hole in his armor at stomach level. Blood was seeping out of it violently. Kriff, he had to do something to staunch the flow. He quickly pulled off the other men's helmet, hoping it would help him breath. Clic's dark eyes were full of pain and fear, sweat glistening on his forehead, as he seized Tank's hand forcefully.

A small noise made Tank look up. Directly into the barrel of a blaster aimed at him. The world seemed to slow down, all noises strangely subdued, his attacker's blank stare the only thing he could see. "Didn't expect it to end like this," he thought absentmindedly.

A blaster bolt sizzled through the air suddenly, hitting the miner in the middle of his head, taking half of it with it, blood spattering Tank's helmet. He flinched, as someone fell to his knees next to him.

"Blast it, Tank!" Fayth grabbed his arm. "We have to get out of here."

He shook himself, returning to reality with a start. That had been damn close.

"Clics is wounded," he explained to the Zi'daya lieutenant. "We have to get him back to the ship."

Fayth' eyes glanced down at the trooper for a second, before returning to him. There was clear compassion in them. "Tank…I'm sorry. It's too late."

"What?" When the sergeant looked at Clics himself, he realized that his hand had fallen out of his some time ago. His dark eyes had turned blank and unseeing. "No."

He knew what First Order regulations stipulated in that case. Anyone dead or beyond help would be left behind. But those miners had appeared dead as well. What if he left Clics here and he came back under some sort of possession? Someone or something just using him? He deserved better than this.

"I know it's against regulations, but I can't just leave him here," he murmured. Fayth' gaze met his, determination in his brown eyes. "You won't have to. You carry him, I will give you coverage." He raised his blaster. "And now go."

Not hesitating a second, he hefted Clics up over his shoulder, making his way to the barricade as quickly as possible. Captain Khi'sheko cursed, when he saw him. "Blast it, there are just too many. We have to fall back to the shuttles." He fired a few shots over the barricade, securing Fayth' return as well.

"Retreat to the shuttle," he called out. The next minutes were hectic chaos, as they made their way back outside, only to be greeted by another wave of attackers that appeared from behind one of the buildings.

"Kriff, where is our aerial support?" Fayth asked the Zi'daya captain. A loud explosion coming from one of the defense torrents seemed to answer that question. "Held up, I would wager," Khi'sheko ground out. And indeed two TIEs whizzed over them a second later, locked up in battle with double the number of Tri-Wasps.

Reaching the ramp of the command shuttle Tank tried to make out all his troopers. Meg, Lyra, Happy, Pyp…they all seemed unharmed thankfully. He carefully laid Clics' body down on the floor inside the shuttle. Khi'sheko turned to their pilot. "Get us out of here, now."

"What?" Shi'seko had just entered the shuttle, his voice incredulous. "Selene is still in there. You can't mean to leave without her."

"You heard her, she is going after Hux in the direction of the command center." Khi'sheko shook his head. "There are just too many enemies between her and us. We will never make it. We will have to get serious reinforcements or pick her up at another location."

Looking around Tank realized that the General and his Co-Commander were indeed missing. "That is madness." Before Shi'seko could continue, one of the Zi'daya guarding the door was hit by a blaster bolt to the throat, going down, his blood pooling bright red on the floor.

"We are going to get us all killed." Khi'sheko snapped. "Selene knows those mines. If anyone can get out of there, it's her."

Shi'seko's eyes were desperate, as he watched another volley of blaster bolts hit the shuttle. "Blast it all!" he cursed and hit the wall angrily with his hand. He gave a nod to their pilot. "You heard what he said, start the shuttle."

As the shuttle began to shake, Tank sat on the floor with desperation in his heart. His gaze met Fayth's, his desolate feelings mirrored back at him.

---

The thing about real coldness, Hux thought, was that it only hurt at the beginning. After a time the pain vanished, leaving only numbness behind. And he drifted in that numbness, a very small part of him aware that something was wrong, that there was something he needed to remember, but unable to do anything about it.

When the shadows around him lessened, he found himself in a familiar room. His father's office on the Absolution showed signs of a man who did enjoy the finer things in life, a well-stocked bar, expensive dark wooden furniture imported from the Core Worlds and an open cigar case on his desk. The same could be said about Brendol Hux' face, the fine red lines on his nose and cheeks speaking of a few too many nights of indulging. The muscles of his massive body had turned more than a little soft, the once bright red hair sparse. The years had not been kind to him.

His flat brown eyes were narrowed at his son in distinct disapproval.

"I hear you are still stationed on the Victorinox, Lieutenant. Whatever you think you can achieve under that stuck-up bitch Orea."

There was, Hux thought, perhaps no higher compliment towards his Commander than having earned his father's disapproval. But then Brendol Hux had never liked self-assured, independent women.

"I have found her to be an inspiring commanding officer, so far," he only commented calmly, adding, 'More than you could ever be', in his head.

Brendol Hux scoffed. "Well, we all know, what your opinion is worth. It is a pity that I have taken over the position at the Academy only two years ago. Who knows, I might have been able to make a decent officer out of you yet. Were it not for Sloane…" His angry glare turned inwards, obviously caught up in a memory.

Deliberately not glancing at the third person in the room, Hux felt the familiar burn of shame and anger at his father's disparaging words, heat rising on his cheeks. Tritt Opan had been one year below him at the Academy and he could not help but wonder, how the cool and collected young man had become Brendol Hux' newest aide.

The anger at his father's treatment of him in front of another person, loosening his tongue against his better judgement, Hux smiled coldly. "As you were able with those Resistance spies, who infiltrated the Academy and nearly blew it up?"

The older Hux' fist colliding with his face did not come as a big surprise. His father was nothing if not predictable.

"Opan, leave." His voice was furious, as he ordered his aide out of the room, before focusing on his son again. "You pathetic, little rat."

When he left the office some time later, Opan, who was sitting at a desk in the anteroom, gave him an assessing glance.

"You should go to the Medbay and have that treated."

Hux touched his fingers to his still slightly, bleeding lip. To his relief his father had restricted himself to just tearing into him verbally after that first blow. And he had learned to ignore his words long ago. As far as his visits to his father went, this had been one of the better ones.

Fortunately, he had been able to keep these visits to an absolute minimum in the last few years.

"It is nothing. It will stop bleeding in a few minutes."

Tilting his head for a moment, while scrutinizing him, Opan got up with an unreadable expression on his face. He went to one of the cabinets at the side, pulling out a few bacta batches and passing them to Hux, who nodded in thanks.

Watching him put on the bacta with a pensive look on his face, Opan commented dryly. "One should think, you would have learned to keep your thoughts to yourself by now."

Hux gave a sarcastic laugh. "And deprieve my father of a cherished tradition?"

The other man could not meet his eyes for a moment.

"And Lieutenant, is your posting all you have been whishing for?" Hux could not help asking, as he stopped at the door, before leaving the room.

Opan's blue eyes held more than a little darkness. "You know what they say, careful what you wish for, you might get it."

The shadows closed around him again, swirling and dragging him under.

The next thing he felt was such an excruciating pain on his back, that he was barely able to breath. The only thing keeping him standing was the way his arms were attached to the tent pole high over his head, his feet barely touching the ground.

No, part of him whispered, please not that memory.

"You know, I am not even really surprised boy," his father's cold voice sounding out behind him, made him tense up in terror. There was enough anger crackling under the coldness that he knew this was bad. "Being a conniving little coward is in your nature. Probably your mother's bad blood. I thought I could train it out of you, but it seems I've been wrong."

Brendol Hux stepped closer to him, his voice a whisper in his ear. "I will give you one last chance, though. Count the hits to ten just one time without fail and you are allowed to return to the training program."

The first blow of the belt on his backside made Hux cry out in agony again, but then he did try to count, oh how he tried. But his voice was giving out and his mind could not concentrate on the numbers. Then the pain became too much and he was going under again.

When he became aware of his surroundings again it was to a dark room, a whimper escaping him, as he lay in a soft bed. Something loud had woken him up. A warm hand touched his forehead. "Shhh Armitage, we don't want your father to hear." His mother's shodow moved quickly, helping him out of his bed and putting a warm cloak around him.

"There is nothing to worry about, my darling. We will just visit your grandmother a little earlier than planned." The light tone of her voice was feigned, even Hux, as young as he was, could hear the fear in it. As she put on his shoes, a sudden blinding light shone through the window. A loud explosion rattled the building. "Quick now." His mother grabbed a few bundles that had been lying on the floor. Before she could open the door to the room though, it was thrown open violently.

"What do you think you are doing?"

Brendol Hux stepped into the room, his voice a deep, angry growl, as he took in their packed belongings. "You little traitorous whore, did you really think you could run away?" His hand closed around Hux' arm painfully. "The boy is mine."

"No," his mother's face was terrified, but determined, as she stepped between Hux and his father, trying to loosen his grip. "I won't let you take Armitage with you." Her voice turned pleading. "The Empire has fallen, Brendol, this is madness."

"How dare you!"His father's shadow seemed to grow and grow until it filled the whole room, one of his hands rising up in threat. The darkness flowed around him, drowning him with its oily touch. He could not breathe.

Warmth touched his lips, a soft breath whispering against them. The sensation tingled from there through his whole body, making him painfully aware of it again. As he opened his eyes, it was to Selene's golden gaze directly in front of him. The fear in them was quickly replaced by relief. "Stars, for a moment I thought I lost you," she whispered.

He realized the warm feeling had been her kissing him, one of her hands on his nape having dragged his face down to hers.

"What?" he asked, but she swiftly put a finger to his lips. "Shh, we have to be quiet," she hissed, her gaze darting around. When he looked behind her, he realized why.

They were in a big, cavernous room, obviously built around a mining shaft at the far end of the space leading down into the mines. The shaft was shrouded in dark shadows, ominously lightening up with an intense blue light every few seconds. What made a disbelieving sense of terror whisper through him, was the rows and rows of people wandering through the room and vanishing inside there with shuffling steps, the expression on their faces blank.

So far, none of them seemed to have realized that they did not belong with them, as Selene had pulled him to the side behind some crates, but it was only a matter of time, until that changed.

Hux postponed all questions about what happened and how they had gotten here to later and grabbed his Co-Commander's hand. "We have to get out of here," he murmured. She nodded at him in assent, worry in her wide eyes.

They swiftly moved along the room's walls in the direction of the entrance, keeping to the shadows as much as possible. Finally outside, he gave Selene a questioning look, prompting her to lead him down one of the corridors. The farther away they got from the mining shafts, the warmer it got, he noted. Not that the air was not still icy, their breaths visible, but it wasn't the kind of cold that felt, as if it burned your skin, any more.

After making sure they were alone, he turned to the Zi'daya. "What happened?" he asked.

"You tell me, " she answered with an incredulous look on her face. "You just started walking out of the hangar with no care for what was around you. I called your name, but you did not even react."

"What?" Horror rose up in him. "The last thing I remember is leaving the shuttle and stepping inside the building." Selene's face was troubled. "Well, you walked through the whole building and a few security doors, you should not even have the codes for. And it did not even seem to faze you, that we were attacked. When I caught up to you, your face was completely blank. It took me some time to get through to you."

"And your first idea was to kiss me?" he raised an eyebrow at her in amusement. She narrowed her eyes at him. "Believe me, I tried a few other things before. The last alternative would have been a slap. Would you have preferred that?"

"Hardly," he said dryly. Then something else she had said, caught his attention. "We were attacked? By whom?"

"The mines' staff." Selene's eyes held a lot of disbelief. "All the dead people we saw in the drone's footage? Well, guess what, they have risen from the dead to attack us."

Hux shook his head. "The dead don't rise." He gave her a pensive look. "I suspect they were not as dead, as we thought. The drones are not foolproof at detecting those things. If their heart rate and body temperature was low enough, it would not have registered."

"Mmmh, "she acknowledged." You might be right. You were pretty icy yourself, when I touched you. Still, I could not check. Unfortunately, they are not all as peaceful as the ones you saw so far."

"Where are the others?" he inquired. Surely, Shi'seko had not let her run after him alone?

Selene looked away from him for a moment. "We were separated during the attack. As far as I know, they had to return to the shuttles."

Her words reminded him of something. "And why did you not return to the shuttle?" He gave her a censoring glare. "Stars, Selene, you had one order. Blast it, you kriffing promised it."

"It seems, I am just bantha crap at following orders then," her eyes were fierce, when they met his again. "And by the way, what would have happened, if I had? As I said, you were all alone and clearly not in your right mind. You would probably be clambering down that mine shaft by now getting your life force sucked out of you, if I had not stopped you." Her tone turned sarcastic. "So thanks Selene that you went after me and saved my ungrateful ass."

For long seconds Hux could only stare at her, as her words really registered. She went after him. Against orders and despite knowing that it would be dangerous. His mouth opened, but he did not know what to say. Part of him was horrified at her recklessness and the other part…

Well, he did not want to analyze the feelings her putting herself at risk for him invoked in him all that thoroughly.

"I," his voice sounded terribly unsure. She decided to take mercy on him. "Don't mention it." She gave him a cheeky smile. "I am sure you would have done the same for me. If only to lord it over me later." She started to walk down the corridor and he followed her, his gaze still trained on her. The surprising truth was, she was right. He would have gone after her as well. And what in the blazes of the universe did that mean?

"You really think they are getting their life force sucked out of them down there?" the General asked Selene after a short silence, eager to talk about something else.

"It is probable, isn't it?" she answered. "There was that blue light again. And it was icy cold," she shivered. "Besides, I saw a lot of people go down there and nobody came up again. I thought about having a look myself, but…"

He frowned at her. "That would have been suicide."

"I figured the same," her eyes were somber. "Still, we have to stop them somehow."

"Sure," he said. "Preferably by firing the Finalizer's ion cannons on the place until nothing is left."

Selene rolled her eyes. "There might be still people inside we can save. I was able to get you out of whatever this strange possession is."

Hux was quite sure that had been a special case due to the connection between them, but he did not comment, reluctant to bring the topic up again.

"Where are we going?" he asked. "Command center," Selene touched one finger to her ear. "Elodia?" Her face turned worried, as she listened to something her aide told her. "Kriff no, tell them to stay, where they are. There is no way Hux and I can return to the hangar, there are dozens of enemies between us and there," she nodded. "Yes, he is with me and unharmed. Listen, we will have a look at the command center and then use the back entrance on the west side. They can pick us up there."

She had just ended the connection, when a terrible howl sounded out of the direction they were going into, making Hux freeze in primal terror. "What was that?" He drew his blaster.

"Kriff," Selene ground out. "Change in plan," she grabbed his arm and pulled him back the way they were coming from, starting to run. "Corellian hounds. Someone has realized there are intruders."

"You have hounds on your property?" he asked, incredulous. She gave him a wide-eyed look. "We had some problems with thieves a few month back. Trilla lent them to us."

"Oh, you got to be kidding me," he cursed, as they raced through the corridor, a few more howls joining the first. When they reached the entrance to the big mining room again, he hectically looked at her. "We can't go down there."

"I am not planning to," she called out, opening a small door next to it. As they stepped inside, Hux threw a quick glance over his shoulder. Two of their pursuers were already rounding the corner, their powerfully muscled bodies propelling them forwards quickly and their gaping maws showing a row of razor sharp teeth. They would probably be able to shoot two or three each before they reached them, but if there were more…

Selene threw the door close behind them. "Will that stop them?"

"I fear, whoever let them out, will also open this door," she answered. "There is a parallel shaft into the mine for maintenance. We can hopefully loose them that way."

Indeed, a few steps led down to a similar, if much smaller room, as the one with the mining shafts. A small mining car was standing on some tracks leading into a tunnel.

"You want to drive that thing down into the mine?"

"You have any better ideas? There is another emergency exit leading out to one of the outer buildings from there," his Co-Commander shrugged and hopped onto the car, bending down to the controls. "Blast it," she cursed. "I will have to hotwire it."

"Have you even driven something like that before?" he inquired nervously. He aimed his blaster at the door, the howls and scratches from outside more than a little concerning. "Sure," she murmured, as she tore of the metal casing under the wheel and grabbed a few wires, searching for the right ones.

As Selene had predicted, the door was thrown open suddenly, the hounds snapping at it each other in their haste to get inside. Hux used the confusion to fire at the first two, their pained yelps resonating in the room. Fortunately, their bodies blocked the way for the rest for a moment. "Selene," he called over his shoulder. "Hurry up!"

"I nearly got it."

Hux had to duck, as a blaster bolt sizzled through the air. It seemed they had some human pursuers now as well. "I've got it." Selene said triumphantly. "Hop on."

He quickly did so and the car began to move forward. And not a second to early, as at that moment the rest of the hounds had finally clambered over their dead pack mates and tore down the steps in their direction. Hux tried to shoot the first one, but the swerving movement of the mining car made his shot go wide.

"I thought you drove that thing before," he yelled at Selene. "Only as a passenger," she called back.

"What?"

She quickly accelerated, but one hound was actually swift enough to follow them, his powerful hind legs catapulting it up on the mining car, where it hang half on, half off snarling, starting to slow them down again. Hux wildly kicked at it until it let go, only barely able to avoid a bite.

Without the additional weight, their mining car raced down the tunnel at breathtaking speed, the rocky walls swishing past them. "Won't they follow us?" he asked Selene. "For sure," her eyes were focused on the track in front of them. "But there is a small side door around two thirds down the way. Nobody knows about that one. We can lose them there hopefully, if we let the car drive on without us."

He nodded. "And how do we get off the car?" Selene gave him a wild smile. "Take a guess."

"Wait, you can't mean…"

She put one of the pulled wires around the car's steering wheel, fixing it in place. "Only a few hundred meters now."

"Selene… " Hux complained. She took his hand. "Don't worry, nothing will go wrong." She grinned at him. "You trust me, don't you?"

Selene's golden eyes flashed excitedly and she pulled him closer for a moment, her lips pressing against his. "For good luck," she murmured with a wink. And then she dragged him with her over the side of the car.

Thye landed hard, rolling over and over again. Somehow he had managed to put his arms around her, cushioning her fall. When they finally came to rest, he was more than a little surprised that apart from a few scratches he felt quite unharmed. For a moment, he just lay there on the hard floor trying to catch his breath. Then he glanced at his Co-Commander. To his immense chagrin she was actually laughing, her flushed cheeks visible even in the dim light of the tunnel.

"I'm so glad that you are having fun, while getting us both nearly killed," Hux snapped at her. She stopped laughing, although there was still amusement on her face. Standing up, she reached her hand down to help him up as well.

"Come on old man, we have to get away from here," she commented, when he winced with a touch to his bruised backside.

"I am not that much older than you are," he grumbled, as he followed her a short way down the tunnel. "Even, if your irresponsible behavior seems to indicate otherwise."

It appeared her plans had been correct, since they found a nondescript door in the tunnel's wall quite easily. Selene quickly put in a sequence of numbers into the doorpanel and then they stepped into a brightly lit stairway. Blinking in the sudden light, she turned to him, after closing the door.

"Something around a decade, isn't it?" Her lip twitched. "Some people may accuse you of cradle robbing."

"Nine years," Hux corrected her, feeling oddly defensive. Did she actually think him too old for her? But she only chuckled, the delighted expression on her face telling him she enjoyed teasing him. "Don't worry," she quipped. "You're quite hot for your advanced age, so it is alright."

Shaking his head at her antics, he followed her down the staircase. "Actually," Selene said. "this might have been a fortunate turn of events. Since we could not reach the command center, we could try getting the surveillance footage of the station out of the backup server. The entrance is located near here."

With both their blasters drawn, they slowly made their way down a few long corridors, until they reached another door. Selene activated her comms again with a touch to her ear. "Elodia?" Disappointment flashed over her face. "Blast it. Only static. We are probably too far down for a stable connection." Meaning that nobody up there would know, where they had gone. This wasn't good.

"This should be the right code, though." Indeed the door opened after she had typed in a few numbers. "Now let's just grab…" His Co-Commander's face showed shocked surprise, as they entered the small room. While it was still visible that this had been a data center once, the whole room was chaos now. Parts of the consoles and screens littering the floor everywhere, it looked, as if someone had taken a crossbar to the furnishings. Someone really angry.

"That isn't possible…" Selene murmured. "Who knew that you had a backup server?" Hux asked. Her expression turned troubled. "Only me, my brother, Commander Pa'lenna and the technician, who came here for maintenance every few months." She shook her head. "Pa'lenna would never share that information."

"Perhaps not willingly," Hux mused, prompting her to throw a worried glance at him.

"Hold that for a moment," she asked him and gave him her blaster. Then she crawled under one of the tables and started to tear open the side of one of the consoles. "Might not be ideal, but Tay is probably able to salvage something from this," she murmured, as she swiftly plucked out the harddrive. He helped her up again and took it from her, pocketing it in his coat.

"We have to get out of here," the General said, as they left the room. It might be his imagination but it actually felt, as if it was getting colder again.

Selene nodded. "There is an elevator going up not far from here." When they reached the elevator though, its doors were firmly closed, the lights out.

"Blast it," his Co-Commander grumbled. "The emergency protocols shut down all the elevators. We will have to restart it manually." She glanced along the corridor. "However, one of us has to remain here to block the door. Or it might go up without us."

Hux could not help frowning at those words. He did not really like the idea of splitting up on that point. "I should probably go ahead to the utility room, I know where it is and what to do, while you wait here," Selene said. As she started to move away, he stopped her with a touch to her arm. "Don't take any risks, though. If you see anything strange, call out for me and come back here." She smiled slightly, before leaving. "Don't worry, Armitage. We are as good as outside."

Despite her reassurance, the next minutes seemed to drag on uncomfortably. Finally, the elevator came to life again with a slight rumble, its doors opening and Hux quickly blocked it, as Selene had told him to. Before he could feel any relief though, a muffled scream sounded from the direction his Co-Commander had vanished into. His heart hammering in sudden fear, he ran after her.

---

"Selene!" Elodia felt panic well up in her, when her friend did not answer. Blast it, this was bad. She threw a look at her console. They had lost two TIE's and a Tri-wasp, when the defense torrents had become active again suddenly and the stations' own aerial squad had joined the fight. Fortunately, Masir and Briseis had been able to destroy most of the defense torrents quite quickly after the first shock.

Her comms blinked with an incoming message. She looked down. Dopheld. "You need to come to the Command Bridge immediately. Peavey is going crazy. He wants to burn down the whole planet."

"What?" Elodia quickly jumped up, her steps urgent, as she tore out of the Evenfall in the direction of the Finalizer's command bridge.

As she entered the bridge, she immediately saw the rotund Captain facing off against the Lieutenant, Dopheld's expression unfamiliar fierce.

"As I said Captain, General Hux' orders were quite clear. The Finalizer is to stay in orbit, while…"

"General Hux is most likely dead." Captain Peavey did not even try to hide the glee in his dark eyes at the thought. "And you, Lieutenant, are forgetting that you are nothing but his aide. Without him, I as his second in command are giving the orders."

"I think you are forgetting something Captain Peavey," her voice cold, Elodia stepped up to the two men, Dopheld throwing a relieved glance at her out of his big brown eyes. "That is a Zi'daya mining station you plan to burn down and the Zi'daya heir down there. You really think High Command would be thrilled to hear that you bombarded your own allies?"

"Miss Brentiss," Peavey's tone was derisive, as he turned towards her. "I fear High Command will be more interested, why there is even a Zi'daya mining station in First Order territory. And by the way, as a civilian you do not even belong on this bridge."

"Miss Brentiss is Commander Sa'onserei's aide. In her absence she speaks for her." Dopheld interjected angrily, his eyes flashing.

Peavey laughed condescendingly. "Oh, but of course. Coming to her rescue immediately." His tone turned menacing. "Careful, Mitaka. Only because Hux let you all break the regulations left and right, does not mean that will continue. Do you want an investigation because of fraternization in your file? You can say goodbye to any dream of ever being promoted then."

Dopheld's eyes widened a little at that threat and he swallowed. Elodia's anger at the Captain flamed up violently. But it was clear that the two of them would not be able to stop Peavey on their own.

"Lieutenant Tosla," she addressed the Lieutenant of Communications. "Perhaps we should ask the Allegiant General directly. Can you please contact him for us?"

She was bluffing here, hoping that Peavey would not risk angering the Allegiant General. Unfortunately, she was not quite sure, if Pryde would not think it a good deal to get rid of Hux even it meant loosing Selene in the process. Especially, if he could not be blamed for it.

"Of course, Miss Brentiss." Tosla said, starting to type on his console. Peavey whirled around, obviously unhappy with this turn of events. He had probably planned to inform Pryde about what happened after the fact.

He narrowed his eyes at Tosla. "Ah well, you are even worse than Mitaka, aren't you Tosla? Have been talking with daddy dearest in the last weeks?" The Captain laughed mockingly. "I am sure Admiral Tosla will be thrilled to hear that his only son is rolling around in bed with Outer Rim trash these days."

The way Tosla's grey eyes turned furious and he balled his fists made Elodia fear he might attack Peavey for a second. Before anything could happen though a cool voice interrupted them from the entrance.

"Now Captain Peavey, we don't want to do anything hasty, do we?" Captain Opan looked as composed as ever, as he joined them in the middle of the bridge.

"You know as well as I do, that First Order regulations state that there has to be at least one hour without contact before a commanding officer can be declared missing in action."

Opan turned to Elodia. "When was your last contact, Miss Brentiss?"

"Just a few minutes ago, " she lied smoothly. "Before I came here."

"Well, then." Opan's smile at Peavey was provokingly innocent.

"Fine," Peavey hissed at them, disappointment on his face. "You have one hour. But believe me, if they have not reappeared by then, I will burn this station down."

Elodia watched him leave the bridge with trepidation in her heart. She touched a finger to her ear and closed her eyes. "Selene, where are you?"

---

Quickly tearing open the fuse box in the small utility room she had found at the end of the corridor, Selene searched for the correct switch to activate the elevator. She sighed in relief, when she found it. While she had been trying to stay optimistic in front of her Co-Commander, there had been a distinct feeling of terror inside her since the moment she had stepped into the mining room earlier. Those minutes until she had been able get Hux out of that strange possession he had been under, had probably been the longest in her entire life.

A small noise made her turn around with a start. There was a figure standing in the doorway to the room. Stepping inside, the familiar, dusky features of Commander Darrow Pa'lenna were revealed.

"Darrow?" Selene asked cautiously, unease pooling in her stomach.

"Selene," he answered softly. For a moment, the Zi'daya felt relief at him obviously knowing, who she was. But then her eyes met his. Instead of their normal bright blue, they were swirling with a darkness so intense that she felt, as if she could drown in it.

Her hand strayed to her blaster. He had anticipated that move it seemed, because he moved swiftly then, grabbing her arms. She fought against his grip violently, kicking at his legs, when she could not get free. He hissed, his face strangely emotionless despite their fight and threw her to the floor, drawing a scream from her. Before she could react, he was on top of her, his hands around her throat.

Clawing at his hands in panic, she managed to croak out. "Darrow, please, you have to stop…"

Those dark eyes looked down at her without any compassion in them.

"He wants you Selene. Rhea's heir. We have to bring you to him. The dark one is waiting. And he is always hungry." What? Her mind trying to understand his words, she fought for every breath, the room already dimming before her eyes.

Suddenly her attacker was pulled off her, blood spraying from a knife wound in his shoulder. Gasping for air, Selene could only watch in disbelief, as Pa'lenna threw himself at Hux, not slowed down in the slightest by his injury. As the two man grabbled on the floor, she got up and drew her blaster. Kriff, how could she fire without the risk of hitting her Co-Commander?

Then Pa'lenna got the upper hand and held Hux down, his ability to not react to any pain having given him an advantage in the fight, allowing her to shoot. Her blaster bolt hit him directly in the head, throwing him off her Co-Commander.

Hux quickly got up, turning to her with worry on his face. For long seconds they just stared at each other. "Are you alright?" Hux ground out after a while. "Yes," she croaked, her voice still raspy. "And you?" He nodded. Selene stepped over to the dead Commander Pa'lenna, nausea in her stomach at the view. "I just was not able to get through to him. He knew me, but still he did not stop."

"Perhaps the difference was that you didn't try a kiss," Hux commented dryly. "That's supposed to break the curse, isn't it?"

"You mean, like in a fairy tale?" Selene murmured, slowly looking over at him. While he was still breathing hard and a few drops of blood had splattered the right side of his face, he thankfully seemed unharmed. She absentmindedly touched her pained throat. He had not arrived a second too early.

Then she remembered that in the fairy tales it was actually supposed to be true love's kiss that broke the curse. The thought obviously passed through her Co-Commander's head at the same time, because his eyes widened and he blushed slightly. He cleared his throat and avoided her gaze, bending over Pa'lenna to pull his knife from his shoulder. "However, there was nothing you could do. He would have killed us, if we didn't stop him."

She nodded absentmindedly. "I think whatever happened to you might have been a different case after all. Your eyes never turned that strange dark color. They were still all green, when I found you. Only completely blank."

A thought crossed her mind. "You know, I actually went under for a while, when I left the hangar as well. It was, as if the shadows closed around me, drawing me back in time."

"Back in time?"

"Yes, a memory. And while part of me knew it was just that, it felt…"

"As if you were living through it again," Hux' face was hard, as he finished her sentence. She stared at him in surprise. "You felt the same?"

He nodded, his eyes narrowed. "What kind of memory was it?"

Selene swallowed at the question, hesitating for a second. "Not a happy one. The day my parents died."

"Blast it," her Co-Commander's voice held a lot of anger. "Those kriffing force users. Someone is clearly playing with us."

"You think it was the force?" she asked him. "I can't think of any other explanation. Those memories felt completely real." The obvious discomfort on his face, made her step closer to him, her tone compassionate. "What kind of memory was it?"

"As you said. Not happy ones." Hux swallowed. "Mostly of my father." His green eyes turned unfocused. "The pain was as bad, as I remembered. Or perhaps worse, because this time I knew nobody would come to help me."

Selene's heart clenched at his words. She began to suspect, that whatever she had thought she knew about Brendol Hux, it was only a small glimpse into an abyss. "What happened?" she asked softly.

"It was the day he pulled me from the stormtrooper programme. As you can imagine, he was more than a little incensed. I was a constant disappointment for him." Hux gave a dry little laugh, that held a desperate edge. "And he was quite fond of corporal punishment for every transgression. I really thought he would take it too far that time, though." That time? The things that went unsaid caused an even deeper horror in Selene.

She went to him then, perhaps against all her better judgement. As she put her arms around him, his body was tense against hers for a moment, but then he put one of his hands at her nape, burying his face against her hair, breathing in deeply. She tightened her embrace, time slowing down.

"He is dead," she murmured against his neck after a while. He sighed into her hair. "I know."

His lips slowly trailed along her temple. "You know," Hux said softly. "he would have despised you." "What?" she tried to look at him, but he kept her firmly in place, his lips whispering along her jaw now.

"Oh yes," he answered. "All beautiful," his lips touched hers softly, sending a spark through her whole body. "wild," his next kiss was more insistent, making her gasp softly. "and deviant." His mouth opened over hers then, making her drown in heat again. For some time, she just gave in, letting her tongue move against his languidly.

She ended their kiss with a soft peck to his lips and raised her eyebrow. "Shouldn't we continue this somewhere a little safer?"

Hux' face turned a little sheepish. "You are right." They swiftly left the room, Selene throwing one last regretful glance at Commander Pa'lenna.

When they rounded the corner to the elevator, unfortunately, they were already expected by two miners. Hux quickly eliminated them with two well-aimed shots out of his blaster, but the noise seemed to draw even more enemies, as they could hear shouts coming nearer.

"We have to hurry," Selene called out, stepping into the elevator. Putting in the correct floor number, while Hux fired a few last blaster bolts through the closing doors at their pursuers, she prayed that they would finally make it outside.

As they were watching the numbers fly past in the elevator's display, Selene's comms started to crackle. "Selene?" Elodia's voice was full of panic. "Where are you? "

"We are alright," she answered. "On our way up again. We will get out at the western buildings. The shuttle should pick is up there."

"Oh, thank the stars." Elodia sounded very relieved. "We were starting to fear the worst. Peavey wanted to bombard the whole planet, saying you two were likely already dead after all. It was not easy to stop him."

"What?" Selene quickly told Hux what her aide had said. His eyes immediately darkened in anger. "Tell that incompetent imbecile I will throw him out of the nearest airlock, if he tries anything like that."

"Did you get that?" Selene asked her friend. "Oh, yes." Elodia's voice held definite glee. "I will gladly pass on the sentiment."

The elevator stopped with a rumble, the doors opening to an empty looking storage hall. Hux put a cautioning hand on her arm, when she wanted to step outside. "We should be careful until we see the shuttle."

They moved along the room's wall as quietly as possible, listening for any suspicious noise.

Selene threw a look through one of the halls windows, when she heard the telltale sound of their shuttle. "They are here. We need to get outside."

Before they could do so, one of the doors on the other end of the hall, was pushed open. It seemed their pursuers had caught up with them again. They immediately started firing. "Quick now." Hux secured their exit with a few blaster shoots of his own and then they were out of the door, running over the rocky ground towards the shuttle.

When Selene looked over her shoulder, she saw one of the miners standing in the door suddenly, raising his blaster and aiming it directly at Hux. As if in slow motion, it sizzled through the air and she reacted without hesitation giving him a quick shove out of the way. Her action brought her directly in its path, though. The impact threw her to the ground, pain exploding in her chest.

---

Puh, that chapter was kind of a monster.

Something happened to me that has not happened in a long time. I actually lost my saved data and the two first POVs were lost. Rewriting is really a bitch and it was quite the damper on my motivation. So I would be happy for a little cheer up comment ;-)