"We have reached 97.2% accuracy," said Rose and lifted her chin. "We should be able to track Kylo Ren's shuttle."
Leia smiled and leaned back in her armchair. "I knew you could do it. I want it deployed immediately - we need to know where he is and what he is planning next."
"With all due respect, Gen- Leia, even if we know what he is planning we still need the means to stop the First Order, not only a single man. We can't rely on our allies, not after Crait," said Rose.
Leia's smile faded. "I know. But I'm afraid that our options are limited. We can't take on the whole Order, not with the resources we have. What we need now is a tactical advantage."
She was right of course, Rose knew that they could hardly take on the Order's entire fleet with their fighters and what few bombers they had left.
"Rose, we have to do this step by step, once we know more about Ren's plans we can come up with strategies to defeat him… and the Order."
Leia reached for her holo and activated it. "Rey, please see me in my office. We need to talk about your next mission." She ended the call and turned to face Rose. "Thank you, Rose. Dismissed."
Back in the lab she couldn't shake the uneasy feeling. They needed something to fight the Order - Ren was only one man after all, even if he wielded the Force. Behind him was the murderous war machine of the First Order - fed by Canto Blight. Kriffing war profiteers!
What they needed was something to fight dreadnaughts, something to take out the destroyers. She groaned in frustration, but that was impossible of course - if that were possible someone would already have thought of that.
"What is it?" asked Hux, looking up from a propulsion-holo.
"It's just, despite everything we've come up with we still can't take on the Order. All we can do is gather intel and hope that Ren makes a mistake - it's frustrating!" She threw her hands up in the air.
"Brute force isn't everything, otherwise the Order had won a long time ago."
"I know, believe me - it's just-" she broke off. "Can't it be easy for once?"
"Is that a rhetorical question?" Hux asked with a puzzled look on his face.
Rose couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, I guess it was." She sighed. "We need to set up everything so-" her sight fell on a plate with vegetable balls sitting on her table. "I take it that my mother paid you a visit?"
He chuckled. "Indeed she did, however did you guess?"
She went to the table and ate one ball. "Do you want one too?"
He hesitated for a moment. "They are specifically for you."
Rose brought the plate over to Hux. "I'm sure that they're for both of us judging by the amount."
He took one and ate it. "I wouldn't be so sure."
"Yeah, well - I can't possibly eat all that alone." She ran her hand through his hair. It was so soft and warm, it reminded her of their first kiss in the forest. The gaze in his eyes changed, he took her hand and kissed it.
She sucked in her breath, feeling heat pooling in her stomach. "We have to set up the tracker," she whispered.
He let go of her hand. "Yes, of course."
Rose cleared her throat. "We'll set it up in the command center." She grabbed her pad, waited for Hux to get up and together they returned to the command center.
Rose was loading the programming into one of the consoles while Hux was setting up the external computer core next to it. She couldn't help but glance into Leia's office - Rey was still there, listening to the General with a focussed expression on her face.
After a while she nodded and exited the office. Rose called out, "Rey!"
Rey started to beam when she saw Rose waving at her. "Rose. How are you? Haven't seen you in a while."
"I'm fine - especially when we track this son of a- uh, Ren down. Where were you? I didn't see you in the Cantina in the past few days."
"I was training and meditating in the woods," Rey patted the lightsaber hanging from her belt. "Leia has set up a parkour for me so that I can hone my skills."
"Wow!" said Rose in awe. Rey really was something else! "I- you know, you can tell me if I can help you in any way, right? I could rig the training droids for you, if you want."
"I really appreciate it but I can take care of them myself - I used to be quite a tinker back on Jakku. I'm certain you have enough on your plate anyway. With all the weapon updates pending I mean."
Rose tried not to feel disappointed. "Ah yes, that's true. Well, if you change your mind I'm always glad to help."
"Thank you," said Rey and hugged her. "See you later!" She waved her goodbye and left.
Rose rubbed her hands on her overalls. Despite all her gifts Rey sometimes seemed lonely, as if she was carrying the burden of the galaxy on her back. If only there was a way Rose could help her, make her burden easier to carry.
She returned to the console and checked the progress of the upload. The loading screen showed that it was at 67%.
She could help if she found a way to make sure that everyone got home alive, if only she could build something that would protect everybody - like a powerful shield. Or something to take out First Order vessels with one shot…
Her sight fell on Hux who was calibrating the computer core. He had come up with the idea to sabotage the navigational shields. Hux was a genius, the two of them surely could come up with something formidable.
Yes, they would come up with something that would help to win this war. Something even better than the tracker! Something more ingenious than the slicing of the navigational shields! She lifted her chin. She could do it, all she had to do was to keep at it.
All senior officers were assembled as soon as the tracker was ready. Leia looked at all of them with a smile.
"You know why I called you here - thanks to General Hux and Sergeant Tico we now have the means to track Kylo Ren's shuttle. All that is left to do is to find it and run the program. If everything goes according to plan we should be able to keep tabs on him." She paused. "I'm telling you what I told you before - patience and timing will win this war. I'm aware that some of you call for more decisive action but we mustn't rush. We need a plan of action first. And with the tracker we have taken the first step of many."
Rose stood right next to Finn and felt herself blush when General Organa mentioned her name. The appreciative looks she got from the people around the table made her chest swell with pride.
Finn bent down and whispered, "You're really brilliant."
Poe patted her shoulder and grinned at her.
She grinned back, feeling herself blush even more. She turned her gaze to Hux who was standing behind her, he had a concerned look on his face but his expression changed when he saw her looking at him. He displayed a half-smile.
She turned her attention back on Leia.
"Rey and Chewie are already on their way to meet a contact who claims to know about Ren's whereabouts. Once they have established his location we can start Operation Skyfall. Thank you - that is all for now."
.
-o-
.
A soft murmur rang through the room after General Organa's last words. Hux couldn't help but notice the difference from a conference in the Order as opposed to here: In the Order there had always been silence and low whispers - unlike here where people talked and laughed.
How odd that it didn't diminish General Organas authority. She still stood at the table, her hands folded, looking fondly at her subordinates and advisers. She turned her head towards him and their eyes locked.
"General Hux, might I have a word?" she asked.
He bowed his head slightly. "Of course." He brushed past Rose who was talking to Captain Finn and Commander Dameron.
General Organa gestured towards her office and led the way. She sat slowly down, only a hard line around her lips indicated that she was uncomfortable. As soon as she sat she relaxed. "Tea?"
"Yes, please."
Organa activated her holo, a silver protocol droid appeared. "Tea please, two mugs." She ended the call and leaned back in her armchair. "I apologize for not asking, but I assume green tea is to your liking?"
"It is, thank you, General."
"These days it's my favourite beverage. When I was younger I prefered caf though - but Dr. Kalonia forbade it years ago."
Hux was surprised that the General would employ small-talk, she seemed like a straightforward leader. Rose had told him that it was a means to establish communication. So perhaps he should reciproque? "The medics said the same about my stims - they said it could lead to cardiac arrest."
She gaped at him. "Cardiac arrest? What kind of stims did you take?"
"Just the usual, a derivative of benzoylmethylecgonine so that I could keep my focus with little to no sleep. Sometimes derivatives of benzodiazepines to go to sleep." There, that wasn't a bad start, now he had to ask her a question to keep the small talk going. "What do you take?"
"I drink a strong cup of green tea, sometimes I eat something spicy."
He blinked. A galactic legend indeed - she must possess incredible willpower to stay in command with such simple means. "I see."
The droid with the tea arrived. She thanked it and waited until it was gone.
"There is something I would like to discuss with you. It's- it's not a secret but I'm not keen on discussing it openly because-" she blinked a few times. "Because some wounds never close."
He put his tea on the table and straightened his back. This was obviously important.
She took a sip of tea, she was holding the cup in such a tight grip that her knuckles turned white. When she realised it, she loosened her grip. "Do you know who Kylo Ren really is?"
He leaned forward. "No, I don't."
She sighed and blinked a few times. "His real name is Ben Solo. He's my son."
Now it was his turn to gape at her. "He's your son?"
Organa smiled sadly at him. "Do you have children, General Hux?"
"No, of course not," he said a little too forcefully. A memory of a pale, meaty hand squeezing his shoulder resurfaced.
"Han and I were so happy when Ben was born, seeing something so pure and precious in a war-ravaged galaxy - it gives you hope." She smiled again, but this time there was no trace of sadness. "Ben was such a compassionate child, he collected snails from the streets so that they won't get stomped on - he put them all in our garden, it drove the gardner mad but I just couldn't forbid it." She fell silent, probably lost in memory.
Hux's mind was working to process the information. So in a way Ren really was Vader's heir, wasn't he? The golden prince of the Resistance… turned to the Dark Side.
Organa cleared her throat. "I apologize - I can't seem to talk of him without boring my listeners with old tales. They say that with growing age one tends to live in the past, there are days where I wished that was possible." She took a sip of her tea. "I wanted to tell you so that you might understand why I'm so focussed on Kylo Ren. And because I may call upon your tactical knowledge of the First Order and for that you need all the facts."
Hux took his mug from her table and stared in the dark-green liquid. "Ren's hatred for Luke Skywalker… was he his teacher?"
"Yes. After we discovered that he was Force-sensitive we- I sent him to Luke. I thought it would help him but in the end it drove him away from us."
He took a sip of tea. It was clear that something had happened between Skywalker and Ren, judging from the bits and pieces he gathered from Snoke and Ren himself it seemed that Ren had willingly become Snoke's apprentice.
"You are quieter than I thought you would be," said Organa.
"I just have one question: Can you kill him?"
She gulped. "A question I was too afraid to ask myself. I see what he has done, what he is doing and still… he is my son. I don't know if I can."
Hux stared at her. Even after everything she still loved him? He pressed his lips together. Of course it shouldn't surprise him. Ren had not only been Snokes favorite, he had been the son of two galactic heroes. Force-sensitive too. Not only had he without doubt a privileged childhood but he'd been loved by his parents.
"Well, then I should tell you that I have no such qualms," he pressed out.
Her dark-brown eyes bore into his. "I know."
"When I first came here you told me that you wouldn't 'tolerate cruelty'. Was this about Ren?"
An expression of surprise flickered over her face. "No, no it wasn't about that. I was referring to your methods. About the way you behave."
He crooked an eyebrow. "I don't understand."
She frowned. "You really don't, do you? We were worried that you would be inhumane towards others, that you would suggest cruel tactics against the Order. But truth be told… you are not what we expected."
Hux grimaced. "Ah, I see. You confused my speeches and my rhetoric with my actual personality. Well, I don't blame you, it seems the propaganda was actually better than thought."
"No, that's not it. We knew that you could be reasonable - Finn told us as much. But we worried about how we should keep up our end of the deal, especially if you had turned out to be cold and cruel against our people."
"What? You were afraid that I could be cruel to your people when I was the one faced with a base full of former enemies? Like not every last of them hated the very sight of me?" he scoffed. "Like they wouldn't want to kill me?"
Her gaze became hard. "You are the infamous General Hux, how could they not be afraid of your poisonous words or your lethal mind?"
It was so absurd that he laughed. "The infamous General Hux? I'm but a lowly bastard, too weak to be a real soldier, too dim-witted to predict that Ren would be my downfall." He leaned forward and spat, "I know a few tricks, that's true - but they are nothing compared to having true gifts, like Force-sensibility, or a brilliant mind like Sergeant Tico's. Why did you think that I defected? Because I was too weak to make it in the Order - because Ren was and is better than me." He grimaced. "Do you know what I did in the first two weeks? I checked my food for hidden sharp objects, I went to the shower in the middle of the night so that nobody would see me." He scoffed again. "Infamous General Hux indeed."
Her gaze softened. "As I said, 'if' you had turned out to be cruel. But you are not cruel, are you?"
He stared at her. What was she going on about now?
"Thank you, General Hux," she said with a calm smile. "If you would excuse me, we both have a lot of work to do."