Rose yawned as she shuffled to the lab in the morning. She really shouldn't work so late - she was exhausted and felt like she hadn't slept at all. Perhaps she had to take a double caf in an hour or so.
She entered the lab and went to her workplace. She scrolled through her messages while yawning again. Kaydel Ko wanted her to look at some of the ion cannons of the fighters. Some of the pilots complained about the weapons getting weaker.
She cursed under her breath. That was bad. If they weren't able to punch through the shielding they were pretty much useless. Crap, she always feared that overclocking old chips might pose a problem some day. She just hoped that the Order was gone by then-
The door to the lab slid open and Hux hobbled in. He seemed taken aback to see her. "Sergeant Tico," he said and nodded at her.
He wore a dark blue shirt and sleek dark pants instead of his uniform. The only reminder of his uniform were his boots. His hair wasn't slicked back. He looked… different. Without the shoulder pads and the jodhpurs he looked thin, almost too thin.
"Morning, Hux."
She watched him laboriously sit down at the same spot as yesterday, then he pulled the pad out of a small dark grey bag and activated it.
"Where'd you get that bag?" she asked.
He looked up, blushing a little. "I went to the quartermaster this morning and asked her for something to carry the pad around."
"Ah, I guess it wasn't easy with the crutch in one hand and the pad in the other."
"Yes," he replied before averting his gaze and returning to work.
Rose decided to have a look at the cannons. She quickly checked the mission status of Poe's fighter and when she saw that it was docked she grabbed her tool belt and headed to the hangar.
It turned out that the overclocked chips were indeed the root of the problem. They were slowly burning out and thus the cannons were losing power. Rose sat on a small ladder in front of the fighter and scanned the interior of the power cell.
Yep, no doubt about it. She had to come up with something to fix it. She yawned. But first she needed a double caf.
She put the ladder away and went into the Cantina to grab an extra large mug. Then she returned to the fighter and removed the power cell. Poe would complain once he noticed - he loved his fighter almost as much as he loved BB-8.
With the bulky power cell under her arm she returned to the lab. Hux was still bent over his pad, typing into the device. He looked as he hadn't moved an inch in the past hour.
She put the power cell down with a loud 'clonk' on her workbench and stretched her back. From the corner of her eye she saw that he had raised his head, looking at the power cell. She waited for him to say something - but then he just looked down on the pad.
Whatever. She had enough to do without making conversation with someone like Hux. She opened the panel to the power cell. What was he even doing here? She remembered him looking down on Finn and her, casually ordering Phasma to execute them. The way he had dared to touch her medallion of Haysian smelt, the cruel smile.
She glanced at him. And now he sat there in his inconspicuous dark blue shirt, being all quiet. If she didn't know better she would think it was a different person. Gone was the arrogant smirk, the posturing and the hard gaze in his eyes.
She tried to focus on the chips but she couldn't help but look at him. Strands of ginger hair falling in his face, an odd contrast to the dark clothes he was wearing.
Of course he had lost his power, that had to be it. He thought he had been on the top of the Order and now this… he became a traitor to his own cause. Why? She looked back on the tech in front of her and sighed. She shouldn't waste her time thinking about this when she had real work to do.
In the following hours she dismantled the power cell and tweaked a couple of chips to test their capability as replacements for the ones burning out. Just as she was going through some specifications Poe burst into the lab.
"Rose! Rose!"
She jerked her head up. "What? What is it?"
Hux looked alarmed grabbing his pad with both hands, scooting away from Poe who rushed towards her. "Rose, what have you done to him?"
"What? Who?" Her confusion grew.
"You mutilated Iron Butterfly!" Poe cried and pointed accusingly at her.
She couldn't help but laugh. "You're horrible! It's just an X-wing - and it has to be repaired from time to time."
Poe faked indignation and threw his hands in the air. "Unbelievable!" He turned to face Hux. "Hugs - imagine, she gutted my beloved Butterfly!"
Hux looked confused, he was holding the pad in front of his chest like a shield. He grimaced but remained silent. He looked uncomfortable.
Poe smiled and turned again to Rose. "Okay, the fun bit is over. Got any news?"
"Well, it's no surprise - the old chips can't keep up. I need to come up with something to replace them." She gestured towards the chips lying on the workbench. "So far no luck. They aren't compatible."
"Huh, but knowing you you will come up with something brilliant." Poe gave her a pat on the back. "Remember when you improved the coolant system of the freighters? A wonder General Organa didn't give you a medal!"
She laughed, "Stop it!"
Poe checked his chronometer. "Will you look at that - it's almost noon. Do you want to join me for lunch?"
Rose blinked. Was it already so late? She checked the time, it was indeed 11:52. "Hm, I don't know. I should keep working."
"Come on, you need to eat something." He nudged her. "I heard the chef is making his famous meatloaf."
"Really?" Poe knew of course that Rose loved that dish, especially the dark sauce. It was salty and spicy. "Alright!"
She put her tool belt on the workbench and headed for the door, behind her she heard Poe address Hux.
"You too, Hugs."
Rose frowned and turned. Poe was standing in front of Hux, who was still sitting at this workplace. He even smiled at him.
"Commander Dameron, I'm not hungry." He paused and pressed out, "Thank you for asking."
"Really? I bet they can hear your stomach growl on the other end of the base."
Hux chewed on his lower lip. "If you insist."
Poe patted him on the back and turned to Rose. "Let's go."
Rose saw the terrified look on Hux's face, the way he almost pushed Poe's hand away. How odd that Poe wouldn't realise that Hux didn't like being touched. Then she saw the glint in his eyes and he winked at her.
She exhaled. He knew.
They stood at the door as Hux got up and grabbed his crutch, he was still quite slow.
"Why did you ask him to tag along?" she whispered. "He clearly wants to be left alone. And he's not good company."
Poe looked her straight in the eye. "That's exactly why I asked him to join us."
Before he could elaborate Hux limped closer and they slowly walked towards the Cantina.
.
-o-
.
Dameron led them to a table and gestured him to sit down. "Take a seat, Hugs. I'll go get your food."
"I'm perfectly capable of-"
"Yeah, yeah," said Dameron and walked away.
Reluctantly Hux sat down. He didn't miss the way Sergeant Tico looked at him. It was clear that she wasn't keen on his company. Perhaps he should have turned down Commander Dameron's offer even if he had been quite hungry and thirsty. But at the same time it was a good and safe opportunity to get something to eat. Getting up wasn't easy and he was in no mood to hobble around the base more than absolutely necessary.
He was an easy target, the fact that the Rebels had been polite… or even kind towards him meant nothing. It was probably just a means to make him feel safe so that they could strike when he least expected it.
Now that he thought about it - the best way to make sure that he survived the next few weeks was to stick to Commander Dameron. And when he could walk again he could take one of the knives from the Cantina and sharpen it. Just in case.
He'd been quite lethal with a blade in close combat. Then he could at least defend himself against attackers.
Dameron and Tico returned with the food. He put the plate with meatloaf and mashed potatoes in front of Hux and sat down right beside him.
"Thank you," said Hux in a quiet voice. He didn't like this- this situation. Dameron was probably only doing this to show him how helpless he was.
Tico started to devour the food, shoving the meatloaf into her mouth like a starved kath hound. Hux ate slowly, checking his food from time to time. He wasn't sure what he was looking for exactly but it made him feel safer to check nonetheless.
Tico and Dameron started to talk about a huttball game while the Cantina was slowly filling up with hungry soldiers. It was getting crowded and since there were three free seats at their table two pilots approached them.
"Are these seats taken, Commander?"
Poe grinned at them - why was he smiling so much? wondered Hux, a little annoyed. "No, just go ahead."
They were about to sit down when they made eye contact with Hux. Hux tensed up, grabbing his fork harder. One of them froze, the other stared at him while sitting down, banging his tray on the surface of the table.
They frowned a little but then they all sat down and started to eat. Soon they were talking about a new pilot who was apparently very good looking.
Hux relaxed a little as soon as he realised that they were ignoring him. Perhaps this was a good strategy? He could just disappear in the crowd, become invisible like back in the Academy. With time the other cadets had forgotten about him, didn't talk to him - it was like he didn't even exist. Until he surpassed them at the final exams, until he was promoted faster.
He took another look around. It would be a good cover if he just disappeared in plain sight. Until they forgot about him, until they forgot about who he was. All he had to do was to keep a low profile.
He shoved another forkful in his mouth and kept his head down. Keeping a low profile should prove easy. It's not like he was good with people anyway. And he hadn't a personality like Commander Dameron, or the good looks of FN-2187.
Come to think of it - what were his qualities? He was a hard worker, that was all. He hadn't any special interests, or wasn't particularly good at anything. All he ever had was his diligence and rank.
He ate the last forkful and put the cutlery on the plate. He was nobody without his rank. A hollow feeling settled in his chest. Well, at least it should make it easier to disappear.
"Why are you so quiet, Hugs?" said Dameron suddenly. "Don't you like sports?"
Hux shifted in his chair and glanced at him. "I don't know anything about huttball."
"Really? But surely you at least know about the Nal Hutta Jewels or the Makeb Subteroths?"
Hux had never even heard of these teams. Should he just pretend to know them so that Dameron would stop harassing him? What if they were made-up names and the question aimed to mock him? Better to stay truthful. "I haven't."
"I can't believe this! Huttball is awesome! Right, Rose?"
Sergeant Tico sighed. "Leave him alone, not everybody has to love huttball as much as you do."
"But it's a gap in education," said Dameron with a wink. Then he turned towards Hux. "There's a game tonight - we'll watch it in hangar 7 on holo. You should join us, Hugs. Broaden your horizon."
Hux blinked in surprise. Had Dameron really just invited him to a social gathering? Was it some kind of trick? A way to set him up for a prank? "I'll think about it, Commander," he said slowly. A vague answer was certainly sensible.
He didn't miss the questioning look Sergeant Tico shot Dameron. She didn't approve. Either about the prank or the fact that she would have to look at him during her work-free time. It didn't matter - he wouldn't show up anyway. Keeping a low profile was the way to go. On the other hand it was probably safe to be in the vicinity of Dameron... No, no - disappearing was the better option.
In the afternoon Sergeant Tico and he returned into the lab. She was still working on the power cell from Dameron's fighter. He had gathered from Tico's and Damerons conversation earlier that there was some problem with chips.
He had to admit that he was curious, designing weapons was his field of specialisation after all. But then again he wanted to be invisible. He forced himself to look down on the pad but shortly after he gave up. "Might I inquire what you're working on, Sergeant Tico?"
She seemed taken aback, as if she had forgotten that he was in the lab with her. "Uh, the chips in the fighter cannons are degrading. And we don't have enough spare parts to keep them going."
"It's an ion-cannon power cell, isn't it?"
She stretched her back and massaged her neck with her right hand. "Yeah, JSW-150. We overclocked the GXP-chips and used them as spare parts."
"Hm, they're burning out, weakening the focus of the ion beam," he said more to himself. It was an interesting idea using GXP-chips for something they weren't designed for.
She narrowed her eyes. "Exactly. I guess I forgot that you were chief engineer in the Order."
"I was head of the Weapon Development Department, not a chief engineer."
"Whatever." She shot a pensive look at the tech in front of her. "I thought I could use other chips to compensate for the weakening of the focus. But it's not working… there's something… something that I'm overlooking."
"Perhaps the issue is with the canon itself? JSW-150s aren't exactly state of the art tech. Perhaps you should change the whole weapon?"
She sighed. "Of course we should, but currently we don't have access to newer tech. Not since we chose to stop business with Canto Bight."
Hux's eyebrow rose. "You don't do business with Canto Bight?"
"They're war profiteers. They sell weapons to everybody and celebrate in gold and glitter stim as the rest of the galaxy burns." Her face scrunched up in disgust.
"That's a strategic mistake," said Hux and put down his pad. "You can't win a war of this magnitude without buying from Canto Bight or any other big weapon producing conglomerate."
She scoffed. "We've come pretty far despite all odds because we believe in our cause. I have the support of the people because we still have morals."
Hux was tempted to say: 'Then where were they on Crait? Where were your supporters when you needed them?' There was no point in saying it. Judging from the harrowed look she shot him she probably knew what he was thinking.
"I know that you don't get it, Hux. For you might is right. You don't know what it's like to be small, to feel so powerless that you scream and cry in anger. You think we're naive to keep our principles, but that's who we are - it's all that some of us will ever have."
Hux gulped. An image of him cowering in front of his father's desk in the academy came to mind. 'You didn't even fight back, boy. If they hit you, you just hit back so hard that they don't dare to lay a finger on you.'
'But they're taller and older than me.'
'Hmpf, weak-willed and cowardly just like your mother.'
Hux pressed his lips together. "I was small once, I did scream and cry in anger," he said in a low voice. "But I grew up. I learned that good intentions won't change a thing. Of course might is right." He inhaled. "That's why I used to believe in the First Order. Only order and due process can protect the weak, make sure that everybody lives in peace."
Tico frowned. "What changed?"
"The Supreme Leader changed." Snoke… Snoke had been erratic at times but Ren was chaotic. "I- I had my doubts about a Force user as commander in chief. I thought that Snoke was the one to win the war then a moderate leader could take over-" he broke off. It sounded naive. Kriff, how could he sound so naive?