Rose sat down next to him. "I thought you'd be excited that your design worked." He remained silent and she continued. "We need to analyse the data once Poe is back-"
"It was the 31th Delta squadron," Hux burst out. "They're not just data."
Rose started to pick her hands. "They were our enemies."
He exhaled. "I know… I knew when I decided to abandon the Order... I just wasn't in the mood for elation."
She pulled her legs up and hugged them. She hadn't expected this reaction. A glance at Hux revealed that he was staring again out in the woods. The sunrays pronounced his ginger hair and pale skin as well as his seemingly forest green eyes. She also noticed his stubble. Again she was taken aback how different he looked from the man she had seen on holos, how had sneered at her back on the Supremacy.
Hux looked softer, it wasn't the lack of the uniform or the lose strands of bright hair. It was the expression on his face, the way he pressed his lips together, the frown that told her that he had really meant what he had said.
The infamous General Hux of the First Order was really touched by a loss of life. Even after everything he had done… and yet somehow she wasn't shocked, she wasn't even surprised. There was something about him, the way he seemed to shrink sometimes despite his height, the way he looked pale and haunted told her that he still felt, that he still cared. He wasn't indifferent.
"War is a strange thing, isn't it?" she said and put her chin on the top of her knees. "We risk our lives and kill others and even feel good about it."
Hux glanced at her for the briefest moment as if he was surprised that she was still there. "I used to think it's a necessity, I'm not so sure anymore."
"Sometimes it is a necessity."
"I'm surprised that a Rebel would say that," Hux said in a low voice.
"Killing people is wrong, no doubt about it. But doing nothing in face of evil is also wrong." Rose let go of her knees and sat up straighter. "Maybe war is temporary insanity."
He looked down on his hands. "Perhaps it is."
A rustling in the underwood made them both turn their attention to the nearby bush. The large leaves rustled and a loth-cat appeared. It had dark red fur and its belly was orange. The animal turned its large ears towards them and blinked.
Rose slid from the tree trunk and reached out with her hand. The loth-cat's bushy tail went up in the air and it started to sniff, slowly creeping closer to Rose's fingers.
"What is that?" whispered Hux.
"It's a loth-cat," she said and smiled when the animal's tiny nose made contact with her fingertips. "They live around the base and some of them are rather tame. They're very curious."
The loth-cat was now close enough for Rose to pet it, she slowly, very slowly started to scratch behind its ear. In a matter of seconds it leaned against her hand and started to purr.
Hux moved and the rustling of his clothes startled the loth-cat, it jumped back and disappeared into the underwood.
Rose got up and wiped her hands on her overalls. "They're also very shy." She turned around just in time to see Hux staring at the forest wide-eyed. He blinked and rearranged his face into a neutral expression.
"What- what was that sound?"
"Felines purr if they are scratched, it's a sign of contentment. It feels really good when they do it, and their fur is soft and silky. You should try it next time."
He stared again into the woods. "You think it will let me pet it?"
She shrugged. "Why not? Come on, let's go back inside. It won't be long before Poe returns and we still have a lot of work to do."
They barely made it to the lab when they heard Poe's voice ring out, "Rose! Hugs!"
Just hearing him made Rose smile, she turned around just in time to get a heartfelt hug. Poe lifted her up in the air. "Damn it! You did it, Rose!"
He gently put her back down and pulled a very surprised Hux into a hug. "Hugs!"
"Dameron," pressed Hux out with what little air was left in his lungs after Poe's bear hug. "Kindly release me."
Poe let go of him and gave him a slap on his shoulder. "It was incredible! We got away without a single casualty! And Rey made it too!"
Rose put one of her hands on her hip. "Of course, was there ever any doubt about it?"
"Of course not! You guys are great! Now, if you'll excuse me - General Organa wants to talk to the hero of the hour!"
With these words he all but ran down the hallway.
"He's certainly enthusiastic," said Hux with a frown.
"Well, his good mood is infectious, don't you think so?" she chuckled.
"I can see a certain method to his madness," said Hux before he walked the last few meters to the lab.
"His leadership style may be unique but it's effective." Rose stopped in front of the lab. "The data is coming in. Do you want to sit this one out?"
"No, I just wasn't keen on celebrating. But I'm still committed to my assignment."
"Alright, I'll just go and greet Rey. You can start without me if you want to."
He stood in the doorway of the lab. "Ah… I understand." He turned and headed inside.
Rose turned on her heel and headed towards the hangar the Millenium Falcon was usually docked. Chewie was just walking down the ramp when she reached the ship.
He roared and pulled Rose into a tight hug with his strong arms.
"Hello big guy!" said Rose, trying not to get any of his fur into her mouth when she was speaking.
"Hi Rose!"
Chewie let her go and Rey appeared at the ship's exit. She held a porg in her arms, petting it as the creature cooed.
"Where have you been? I was worried," said Rose and approached her to give her a tender hug lest she wouldn't squeeze the porg.
"I was trying to keep track of Ren, using my Force bond… but turns out I wasn't the only one using it to my own advantage. We were on Mortis and I thought that we had finally found Ren's source of power - but it was a trap and we barely made it out by the skin of our teeth. You know the rest." Rey continued to pet the porg.
"Yeah, I do," Rose shuddered a little. "Rey- I'm so relieved that you're back. Please promise me that you won't go on a wild bantha-chase like this anymore."
Rey put the porg down and it scurried back up the ramp. "I can't promise that. We need to stop Ren - and the Force... sometimes I get a feeling that's so strong that I just know that I have to follow it."
"Screw the Force," Rose crossed her arms.
Rey smiled. "I wish it were so easy." She gave Rose's arm a gentle squeeze before she left.
Rose looked after her. She was strong, just as strong as Paige had been. Perhaps that's why Rey reminded her so much of Paige.
She sniffled a little. Something about seeing Rey always gave her a stab in her heart, just like back then when she had lifted the rocks that blocked the exit on Crait. Rose had been with General Organa, supporting her while Finn and Poe were staring in amazement as the heavy boulders were lifted up in the air as if they didn't weigh anything.
The moment had been so surreal that when Rose had caught sight of the tall dark-haired woman she had for a fraction of a second believed that it was Paige. And for a fraction of a second the galaxy was alright again.
Of course she'd known that it couldn't be Paige but in that brief moment where the seemingly impossible became possible… Rose sniffled again. She failed Paige, but she wouldn't fail Rey.
.
-o-
.
Hux had to admit that the data was indeed very interesting. It showed that the Order hadn't changed procedures yet. He almost scoffed. Pryde really was an idiot. The first thing he would have done was to change protocols when a high-ranking officer changed sides.
He couldn't rely on Pryde's blindness of course. At some point one of the capable Generals would make sure that this wouldn't happen again.
But they couldn't change certain technical facts, for example, the system the TIE-fighters and the dreadnaughts ran on. Hm, that-
A cup of tea appeared out of thin air on his workbench. Hux gaped at it before realising that Sergeant Tico was standing next to him.
"Thank you, Sergeant."
"No problem, I needed a cup of caf," she smiled at him and he could feel the tips of his ears getting warm. Stars, that smile. How could she smile like that?
"So, I looked at the data and I'm thinking… that trick won't work a second time, right?"
He took the tea and blew on it. "It's at least unlikely. It will take a while to change the codes in every squadron but a simple subroutine in the navigation system should prevent a hyper-jump unless the shields are active."
She smiled roguishly. "Then let's use that to our advantage."
He stared at her. "How?"
"We can still deploy the weapon, even if they don't jump to hyperspace right away because our signal is still coming through and it will delay them for at least… 5 seconds until they can make a second attempt.. We just need to make quick double-jumps to lose them."
Brilliant! She was brilliant, Hux thought in awe. She had the perfect mind for asymmetrical warfare!
"I get the feeling that we're getting good at this, Hux," she said with a satisfied smirk on her lips. "All we need to do now is-"
"-get some lunch!"
They both swirled around to see Sergeant Major Tico standing behind them.
"It's 13:02 and you are still working!"
Sergeant Tico groaned. "Come on!"
"Have you no heart?" exclaimed Sergeant Major Tico. "Look at that gaunt face of this man! Clearly he needs to eat!"
Hux glared at her. "I'm not gaunt!"
She continued as if she hadn't even heard him. "I know I raised you better, Rose Tico!"
"Ugh, alright. If it will shut you up." She put her caf down and hurried out of the lab, her mother in tow.
Hux was perplexed how fast they had moved and struggled to get on his feet and grab his crutch. He was already on his way when he realised that he could have just stayed in the lab, they were obviously absorbed with each other.
Well, if he was out here he might as well get something to eat. He hobbled to the Cantina only to realise that it was more crowded than usual. He looked around and spotted the Ticos sitting at a table with Dameron and Finn. There were already five plates on the table, the table was already full. He scanned the room again and didn't see a free seat.
He felt uncomfortable and turned to leave, he could go back to the lab and-
"Hux! Over here!"
Baffled he jerked his head in the direction of the speaker and saw Sergeant Tico waving her hand. He crossed the room. "Yes?"
"Come on, we already got you a plate," said Tico and gestured towards the free seat.
"Ah, I thought the seat was already taken," he replied lamely as he sat down.
"Nope," said Dameron with his infuriating hopeful smile. "We just waited for you. Stars, you're slow Hugs. How long until you can get rid of the crutch?"
"A week longer I think," he replied. Was this a jab at him or not? It was hard to tell with Dameron. Had they really waited for him? That was unlikely. Yes, Dameron was just making fun of him. But how should he react?
From the corner of his eye he saw how Sergeant Major Tico scraped some of her food onto her daughter's plate. Sergeant Tico glared at her but in the end she started to eat.
"That's quite a trick you and Rose pulled," said Captain Finn.
"Trick?"
"Yeah, I mean - how else would you call your idea to disable navigational shields?" he said with a chuckle.
Hux frowned. Was this another attempt to mock him?
Finn turned to Sergeant Tico. "Why does he look so grumpy?"
She shrugged. "That's kind of his default mode." She squinted her eyes. "But if I had to guess I would say that's because he doesn't know what to say. Humour confuses him."
"I'm not confused by humour! It's just- this is just another attempt to ridicule me!" he burst out before he could pull himself together. "And I have no intention to let you insult me by accommodating your questions!"
They all stared at him. Then Sergeant Tico cleared her throat. "Come on, Hux. Nobody is mocking you. On the contrary, why do you think we waited for you, huh?"
Hux realised that he had made a fool of himself. He could feel heat creeping hup his cheeks. He should have stayed quiet.
Stupid, weak, silly boy. Thin as a slip of paper and just as useless.
"Do you want to know why I thought you were the spy, Hugs?" said Dameron suddenly and wiped his lips with a napkin before leaning back in his chair.
That turn of topic made Hux blink in confusion. "What?"
"It was because of the way you reacted on D'Qar. I pulled this stupid stunt to buy us time, and believe me, in hindsight I regret it more than- more than anything."
"Poe-" began Sergeant Tico.
"Please Rose, let me finish," said Dameron in a soft voice. He leaned forward, closer to Hux. "As you probably know, cracking a joke or making stupid puns is my go-to move. Even when I was captured back on Jakku, or when I was strapped to the torture rack and interrogated by Ren." He grimaced. "So I did what I always do, I made some silly comment about Ren's appearance to get a reaction, to know that there is still a human behind this mask. Do you know what kind of reaction I got? None, absolutely none."
Hux frowned, unable to guess what Dameron was going to say next.
"It was like- like there was nothing behind this mask. No anger, no emotion, nothing. It was like he wasn't even there," continued Dameron. "Now - you, you were a different story. You reacted, you listened, you got angry… you were there, not just some empty uniform like the rest of them. That's when I knew. You still cared because underneath all that First Order shit you were still a human."
Hux stared blankly at him. What was he going on about?
"The next time I see Kylo Ren I won't bother talking to him, because there's nothing there. I don't know about the Force but I know that whoever was under that mask is gone."
He leaned back again and gave him a thin smile. "You on the other hand - I will never stop talking to you. Especially not when you and Rose saved the day with that secondary weapon of yours. So what if some of us were making fun of you - which we weren't by the way -, don't you get that it means that we care? Nothing is worse than indifference and we are all but indifferent towards you."
Hux noted that Dameron didn't say that they had any sympathies towards him and it put him at ease. Dameron was being candid and thinking about it Hux could see the logic behind his words. It would certainly explain why he had bothered to drag him into the Cantina from the very start.
"I see," Hux said with a crooked eyebrow.
Rose looked incredulously at him. "Really?"
Hux nodded and shoved a forkful of food into his mouth. The longer he thought about it the more he understood that behind Dameron's seemingly inane palaver was actually a sharp mind.
How curious.