Rose put her spoon down and glared at Hux as he laboriously sat down. How Poe managed to be so cheerful in the presence of this man was a mystery to her.
On a rational level she knew that they owed him a lot - valuable intel about First Order ambushes, information about Kylo Ren's plans in general and of course the fact that he had single-handedly saved them from a firing squad. But at the same time she remembered how he casually ordered Finn's and her death on the Supremacy after that snake DJ had sold them out.
She stared at the man in front of her, he was pale with a thin film of sweat on his face. He looked unwell.
He puffed himself up, despite looking as if he was ready to pass out. "Do I order the food or-"
"Actually you need to get in line over there and get it yourself," said Poe, pointing to a small table where Sergeant Suta was handing out bowls of soup.
"Somehow I think that acquiring the soup would prove rather difficult with a crutch," Hux said in a cold voice before attempting to stand again.
Poe got up and patted Hux's shoulder, causing him to sit down and flinching slightly. "I got you, Hugs. You just wait here while I get the soup." He disappeared before he had even time to see Hux's scowl.
Left alone with Hux and Finn she stared her former enemy right in the eye. "You know, Poe actually didn't joke when he said that he thought you were the spy," said Rose.
Hux shifted his weight in his seat. "That's impossible."
She leaned back. "The senior officers had a bet going about the spy. It's just… we were at our wits end after the disaster on Crait." She grimaced. "Then a couple of months later there was this encrypted message with intel so valuable that we didn't believe our eyes. It was almost too good to be true."
"General Organa was distrustful but Poe - well, he believed that it was legitimate, good intel and not some trap," said Finn.
Hux shifted in his seat again, looking uncomfortable.
Poe appeared next to Hux and put a tray with a bowl of soup right in front of him. "True story. And one point - I'm not sure if it was after the third message or so, we started this bet who the spy was. I said right off the bat that it was you."
Hux scoffed. "I don't believe you." He stared at the soup. "What- what is this?"
"Root soup," replied Poe. "Don't let the brown colour fool you, it tastes good."
Hux craned his neck to see what Poe had been eating before and relaxed a little when he saw the same soup in his bowl.
Rose crossed her arms. "You don't trust us not to poison you and yet you were our spy?" She still couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that General kriffing Hux had been the one saving them. It made no sense.
"I don't trust anybody," said Hux curtly. He took the spoon from the tray and started to stir in the soup. Then he tasted it before starting to eat.
Finn leaned back on his chair. "General Organa wants to see us in the command center."
Hux immediately stopped eating and put the spoon down. He even sat up straight.
Poe grinned. "Relax Hugs, finish your soup. The debriefing is going to take a couple of hours."
Hux looked as if he wanted to argue but then he just continued to eat. Rose crooked an eyebrow, he really must be starving.
General Organa received them in her office, or rather the small room in the back of the communication center they had set up only months ago. Rose noticed that somehow she had managed to make the room look welcoming. Perhaps it was the small round table with chairs around it or the potted flower with red leaves on her desk.
"General Hux, finally we meet in person," she said.
Hux bowed his head a little. "General Organa."
"Please, sit down," she said and gestured towards the round table. Poe, Finn and Rose sat down while Hux struggled a little to find a way to pull up the chair while holding his crutch. When he sat, he exhaled and ran his hand through his hair.
"Tea?" Organa asked to Rose's surprise. She didn't know what she expected but it certainly wasn't an invitation for a cup of tea.
"Yes, please," said Hux.
"No, thank you," answered Poe and Finn in unison.
General Organa smiled at Rose, there was so much warmth in it that Rose couldn't help but to smile back. "Yes, thank you."
The General turned to a silver protocol droid standing ready at the doorway. "Tea please, three mugs."
"Right away," replied the droid in binary.
"While we wait for the tea… how are you General Hux?" She smiled, but Rose thought that it didn't reach her eyes.
"Doctor Kalonia is a competent medic," he just said with a slight frown.
"Of course, but how are you feeling?"
"I-" he paused, scanning the General's face. "Fine, I'm fine."
The droid returned and poured them a cup of tea. Rose grabbed the sweetener and put a few pieces in her mug. Hux eyed her with something like indignation in his gaze. She glared at him and took one piece more than she usually did - just to spite him.
It was childish but something about sitting next to him grind her gears. The spy she had placed so much hope in… turned out to be him. Why did it have to be him?
Hux turned his attention back to General Organa. "As I'm not bound to an interrogation rack I assume that you are willing to keep your end of the bargain."
Rose gaped at him - what bargain? Before she could ask, Poe said in an unusually serious voice: "Of course, we gave you our word. And you held yours. The information about the Supreme Leader and the 11th fleet saved a lot of lifes on Balmorra."
Hux took a sip of tea. "Then we're in agreement. I admit that I was worried you might go back on your word when you found out who you had struck your deal with."
Rose felt a lump building in her throat. "What- what kind of deal is it?"
"The spy asked for a full pardon in the first communication," said Poe. "We decided to grant it after the intel proved to be solid."
Rose scoffed. "You can't be serious!" She wanted to protest, to tell them if they had lost their mind - it was Hux after all.
"Sergeant Tico," said General Organa, "we'll talk later."
Rose blushed and didn't know why. She stared into her tea, unable to meet the General's gaze. "Of course, General."
"General Hux," continued Organa, "I won't waste time by pretending that we don't need your help to win this war. But at the same time I hope that you understand that we have our limits. We expect you to support us against Kylo Ren but we won't tolerate cruelty."
"Cruelty?" asked Hux in a low voice.
"Come on, Hux," said Finn. "You know exactly what we're talking about."
Rose saw from the corner of her eye how Hux sat up straighter. "I will recommend strategies - it's up to you to decide whether you want to deploy them."
Poe nodded. "Fair enough."
Hux leaned back in his chair and took another sip. "If you want to win you can't afford to be hesitant about certain tactics."
"We can and we will," said Organa in a firm voice.
Rose gulped, yes - she shouldn't worry. General Organa would make sure that they would not leave their path.
.
-o-
.
So the Rebels still had scruples? Hux took another gulp of tea, a surprisingly good blend of green tea, and scanned Organa's face. She seemed serious. How odd.
But then again… if they were ready to use the same tactics as the Order he wouldn't be sitting here but screaming from the top of his lungs in some torture chamber. That's why he was here, wasn't it? Because he hop- he calculated that they were different.
As if on cue General Organa leaned back and said: "In your very first transmission you said that you wanted to leave the Order. You never elaborated on that."
He grimaced. "The First Order changed. I was never under the illusion that it was a," he scoffed, "an idealistic organisation. But there used to be procedures and our path was clear. Snoke was whimsical and at times illogical but he kept out of our day-to-day business. Ren… well, he's chaos."
"You deserted because it was too chaotic for your taste?" asked FN-2187 with a frown. "And we're supposed to believe that?"
Hux glared at him. "There was no deeper reason for my decision to supply you with the intel. Chaos breeds insecurity and one of these days Ren would have snapped my neck for questioning his orders."
He was being truthful… in a way. It had been getting harder to keep his work schedule, he felt like he was struggling in vain against an immovable object. And he was tired, so damn tired of the ignorance, the casual way Ren used the Force to shut him up more or less violently. Anything was better than Ren.
He cleared his throat. "So, in what capacity shall I support you?" he asked. "You need to be specific."
General Organa gulped. For the first time she was hesitant. "What is Kylo Ren looking for?"
"He and his Knights are looking for Sith relics. Specifically for the power source of the Sith Emperor," said Hux without missing a beat. "There is supposed to be a map to some Sith temple."
Organa frowned. "Why is he looking for a new power source?"
Hux shrugged. "I don't know. I assumed it has to do with his obsession for Darth Vader. Rumour has it that he has Vader's melted mask in his quarters. Some in High Command say he even talks to that thing."
For a moment he thought that Organa looked shocked but the expression disappeared so fast from her face that he wasn't sure if he had really seen it.
"Is he unstable?" she asked, her voice sounding sharper than before.
Hux scoffed. "Of course he's unstable. He has the entire Order at his disposal and yet he still throws tantrums and goes on lone missions instead of ruling." He thought about it for a moment. "On second thought… he is not unstable, it's more like he's haunted. He even wears that mask again."
"Does this obsession impair his ability to make rational decisions?" asked FN-2187.
Hux wanted to tug at his gloves only to discover that he wasn't wearing them. He folded his hands. "Sometimes. Ever since Crait he seems to be calmer in a way but he never explains his actions to the War Council. I had the impression that he is following a plan nobody knows about."
"It's too bad that we don't have a spy in the Order anymore," said Poe. "How are we supposed to keep track of Ren now?"
Hux mused about it, it was true of course. It was sensible to keep tabs on Ren - even if he was chasing ghosts on some backwater planets. The command structure in the Order depended on the Supreme Leader, if he wasn't available it was possible to gain a tactical advantage.
"Hux?"
He blinked. "Pardon?"
"I think that question was meant for you," said Organa.
He frowned. "Ah, well. I suggest tracking his shuttle - it's an upsilon-class command ship."
"I know the model, SJFS-200a sublight ion engines and signal jammers, right?" Sergeant Tico chimed in.
Hux crooked his eyebrow. It seemed that Tico was actually competent. "Indeed, the signal jammers usually prevent any tracking - they're updated EPA-9-jammers, they-"
"... deflect any tracking device, I know."
"Please don't interrupt me," snapped Hux.
"Seems Ren isn't the only one throwing hissy fits," replied Tico cooly.
Hux pressed his lips together. What impertinence!
"And how are we supposed to track it with the jammers in place?" asked Poe. "Can we sabotage them?"
Hux shook his head. "Theoretically it's possible but someone has to infiltrate the shuttle and insert a data spike manually."
"Damn it!" exclaimed FN-2187. "Ugh, isn't there another way? I'm not keen on getting caught again."
Ah, probably another question for him. Why the Rebel didn't just ask straight questions was a mystery to him but he had to keep his end of the bargain. "We could reverse-engineer the hyper-space tracker to follow his ship."
The Rebels stared at him jaw-slacked. He frowned. What was it now?
"What- what is it based on?" asked Tico. "The programming I mean."
"It's running on Kolmogorow's axiom of probability to calculate the most likely destination. With enough data it should be possible to predict Ren's movements based on trajectory and energy output."
"But we don't have the plans for the hyper-space tracker. And I don't suppose that you have them with you?"
"No, I do not. But I could reconstruct them from memory - or at least I could reconstruct parts of it." He took another sip of tea. "Provided with enough time of course."
"You-" began Dameron, then he stopped and took a deep breath. "Why didn't you say so from the start?"
"You didn't ask."
Dameron gulped. "Rose?"
Tico rubbed her chin. "We would need the programming and a computer core with enough processing power to keep up with the jumps. If he has the plans it's possible but we don't have the same resources as the Order." She smacked her lips. "How many BYU-processors? Twenty?"
Hux crookes his eyebrow. "Twenty-two. And an AXIOS-motherboard."
"Hmmm, what about a coupled L8-motherboard?"
"Augmented perhaps… yes."
"And what about-"
General Organa cleared her throat and Tico fell silent. "Rose, please show General Hux the tech lab. I want you two to come up with a workable tracker as fast as possible."
"Yes, General," she said.
Hux merely nodded.
"And show General Hux to his- to his quarters."
He registered her hesitation. So he wasn't being kept prisoner in a cell? "Am I free to move?"
"You are," said Organa to his surprise. "For the sake of transparency, we implanted a chip in your leg in order to know your whereabouts. So in a way you are not free to move."
He nodded, that made sense. "I see. I'm not much of a flight risk anyway - at least not now."
"I'm aware that I'm putting us at risk by letting you roam free but as already said - we need all the help we can get."
"Can you guarantee my safety on the base?" Her answer would be interesting. She couldn't possibly promise that and at the same time not promising it would mean to admit that she hadn't complete control over her soldiers.
She gave him a thin smile. "You know I can't. Not after everything you did. Looking for weaknesses in my leadership, are you?"
He felt caught. "I was just curious." He should have known that a seasoned leader like General Organa would know exactly what he was trying to find out. "I apologize for my lack of finesse, General."
She got up and her underlings followed suit. "No need, General. Meeting adjourned."
FN-2187 and Dameron said their goodbyes in front of Organa's office and Hux was left alone with Sergeant Tico. She was about two heads smaller but she glared at him with defiance.
"Let's go, Hux." She turned on her heel and stormed away.
He did his best to follow her but he was too slow, he gritted his teeth and did his best to catch up to her. His shoulder started to hurt from the exertion and when he tried to take a bigger step his crutch slipped and he fell. In the last second he managed to fall on his left knee instead of his injured right leg. A sharp pain seared through his left kneecap and he swore under his breath.
Damn it! Weak, ridiculous! What a sight he must be - the infamous General Hux, laying on the floor on some dirty Rebel base. He jerked his head up when he heard steps closing in. A dark-skinned human woman in an orange pilot outfit stood before him.
He gritted his teeth, ready to give a biting retort to any insult the woman could possibly muster.
"Come on, I'll help you up," she said and presented him with her hand.
His anger trickled away and he couldn't help but stare at her outstretched hand. In the end he followed an impulse and took it.
The woman helped him onto his feet as he leaned on the wall, she handed him his crutch.
He felt silly and barely managed to look her in the eye. "Thank you."
She just shrugged. "You looked like you needed help."
"Er, yes. It's not easy to-" he broke off, not knowing what to say next.
She shifted her weight, looking suddenly less sure of herself. "You helped me too… in a way."
"What?"
"You're the First Order spy, aren't you?" She gestured toward his black uniform. "Either that or you have a horrible taste in clothing."
"Yes, I was the spy."
"My squadron was about to take off for Balmorra. So I guess your intel saved us."
Hux didn't know what to say, he hadn't anticipated that he would be confronted with something like this. How curious.