He waited until the children were eating their dinner, then he went to the lift and checked the steel cables that were running down on the side. He grabbed one and pulled at it. The hold was good; he tugged at his gloves and grabbed a cable. Swinging himself in the shaft, he used his feet to clamp the steel cable between his legs and pulled himself slightly up.

Then he swung back to the entrance and exhaled. He could do it; he estimated that it was about ten meters upwards to the next exit. With a break on the level where the lift was stuck it should be possible to get the children up, even if he wasn't athletic. He needed something to help the children climb or rather something to enable them to hold onto him. The answer was easy, albeit distasteful - he had to use his tailored greatcoat as a backpack of some sort.

He returned to the children, noticing that Lil was watching him closely. She was still afraid that he would leave. They each took a gulp water, Hux's throat was parched but he took only a small sip, seeing as the bottle was becoming lighter and lighter.

The toddler lifted something up from the floor and gave it to Hux. It was another stone. "Thank you, Private. This appears to be an… augen gneiss. Yes, you can see it here," he pointed to the layered sediments of the stone. "A very fine example."

Lil came closer and almost sat on his lap. "It's just a boring stone."

"It's not boring, Lieutenant. Every rock tells a story of how it was made." He made an effort to smile at the boy and, to his eternal surprise, he returned the smile and said "up". He quickly picked up another stone and gave it to Hux, giggling a little when Hux thanked him again.

"A story?" asked Lil in awe. "What's its story?"

Chenia laughed. "The rock doesn't have a story, Lil. It's just a figure of speech."

"I know! Can you tell us a story, General?" asked Lil eagerly, now climbing on his lap and taking the next stone the Private brought.

Hux shifted uncomfortably and was about to move when the boy imitated Lil and sat on his leg, grabbing the lapel of the greatcoat like he did during the day. From the looks of it, the boy had made progress - so perhaps he could still participate in the Stormtrooper programme. He needed to keep the mental stimulus up.

"I- well, yes. I can tell a story." He had held countless speeches in front of Stormtroopers, with his oratory skills it should be easy to make something up. A story… an account of a series of related events, experiences, whether true or fictitious… as far as he remembered the rare bedtime stories he heard were about royalty.

Chenia leaned against him too, it was an odd sensation - feeling their warmth on him. The way they looked at him, without hate or disgust…

'Stupid boy, all day I get to see strong able recruits and when I get home I have to endure your sorry existence.'

"There was once a princess on a far away Outer Rim planet. Her father was a powerful king and ruled over many sectors in the system. He wanted the princess to become a queen one day, so he did everything to teach her how to be a leader. He made her sweep the nerf stables so that she would become strong, she had to run many rounds around the castle to get fast, and he instructed her to read many books to become smart. Indeed she became strong, fast and wise - true nobility. The king loved the princess very much and wanted to keep her in the castle lest she would get hurt. But the princess was too strong and too fast - she kept going on adventures-"

"What kind of adventures?" chimed Chenia.

"She travelled the whole kingdom and until she found the brightest rainbow in the galaxy."

"Was it a magical rainbow?" asked Lil.

He nodded. "It was a magical rainbow, it reached other star systems and it brought peace. People stopped fighting when they saw it. They bowed to the king. Wars ended and soldiers returned home to their families."

Lil gaped at him. "Everybody went home?"

"Yes, and the princess returned to her father, he welcomed her with a parade and crowned her queen because he saw that she was a much better ruler than he because she hadn't only cared for her realm, she had cared about the whole galaxy."

When he had ended his tale he noticed that the Private had fallen asleep.

"Is the princess still alive?" asked Chenia.

"Of course she is," replied Lil, "she has a magic rainbow!"

"We should go to sleep," said Hux and lifted the boy up, before he wriggled out of his greatcoat. Chenia and Lil put it down on the ground and crawled on it, this time he didn't mind their dirty shoes. He was about to sit down too, when his holo beeped. He went a few meters away and watched the children settle in, yawning as they covered themselves with the coat.

Sergeant Tico's figure appeared. She was leaning against something. "Hi, Hux."

"Sergeant, I suggest that we keep this short. I'm not interested in talking to you."

She slid down until she sat on the ground. "It's so quiet here… it's driving me crazy. Talk to me while I catch my breath."

He scoffed. "Is this another ploy to mock me? You can take all the cheap shots you want at me, but I'm under no obligation to endure them."

"No jokes, I promise."

He chewed on his lower lip. "I don't understand what you want from me."

"Just- just a little company. I have been on my feet for two days straight, I think I slept a couple of hours yesterday but my sense of time is off." She paused. "Are the children okay?"

He glanced over. "They are sleeping now. We are at the lift shaft and will try to climb it tomorrow. I will use my coat as some kind of rucksack."

"Alright… how are you holding up?"

He frowned. "I already told you, the children-"

"Yeah, but how are you doing?"

What did she mean by that? Was this a veiled critique about how he handled the situation? "I don't understand the question." As soon as he had said it, he regretted it - he had stepped into her trap. Now she would laugh, make fun of his inability-

"We are in a tough situation. I just want to know how you are."

"I'm… fine," he said cautiously.

"Really? I for my part am terrified that we will all be crushed to death with the next earthquake." She exhaled. "Come on, nobody is here except us. How are you?"

"Tired, thirsty, and hungry," he said. "My arms hurt from carrying the toddler. And I think he is not well." He didn't know why he added the last part, perhaps it was because he was tired.

She seemed to frown but he was not sure due to the small holo. "Not well? Is he sick or-"

"He is too quiet, he just keeps looking with these big eyes of his, not making a sound."

"Uh, and children his age should be noisier? Sorry, I don't know a thing about children."

"What? I thought you were their caretaker."

She sighed. "No, I'm a mere maintenance worker. I fix fighters, I just happened to be there when the shit hit the fan. I couldn't leave the kids and the Nautolas to fend for themselves."

"Ah, I see. You consider it your duty, too."

"Duty? Well, yeah, perhaps as a sentient being."

So the Rebels understood duty? Will wonders never cease?

"I admit that I'm a bit surprised that you see it as your duty to keep the kids safe, Hux. I thought you didn't care that much."

"Well, seeing as I-" he broke off. He shouldn't tell her about the Stormtrooper programme. It would agitate her.

"What?"

"It's not important."

"Don't be coy. Tell me, there isn't much else to do."

Well, if she insisted. "I'm responsible for them as their future commanding officer," he said evenly. "The Order needs people to-"

"Don't you kriffing dare!"

He sighed. "That's why I didn't want to tell you. You don't understand that we want peace and stability, they can have all that once they join the First Order."

She buried her face in her hands. "Kriff! And here I actually thought that you were more than a drone."

He shrugged. "I am part of a fierce machine, built to restore Order to the galaxy. I'm not weak and sentimental about my role, I-"

"General?"

He jerked his head up, seeing Chenia standing in front of him, rubbing her eyes. "I'm thirsty." Hux realised that he had taken the bottle with him and handed it to her. She took a gulp and waved at the Sergeant. "Hi Rose!"

"Hi," said Tico and waved back. "Shouldn't you be sleeping? It's already late."

"I will… can you tell me another story?" she asked Hux.

Hux could feel how he blushed. For all his talk about not being weak he had been exposed by this innocent question. "Uh, tomorrow perhaps."

"Ohh, what kind of story did he tell you?" Hux could hear an edge to Tico's voice.

"It was a tale about a princess who found a magical rainbow, it was so beautiful that people stopped fighting and all the soldiers could go home."

Hux was thankful that it was so dim in the tunnel that nobody would see his deep red face. "Uh, it's late. Go back to sleep."

"Okay, 'night Rose, 'night General." Chenia shuffled over to the others and lay down.

Tico crossed her arms. "Part of a fierce machine, huh? Didn't know that that included magical rainbows."

"It's just something I made up to keep them quiet," he retorted quickly.

"Do you have children Hux?"

"No! No, of course not." He pulled the corners of his mouth down.

"Okay, okay - I just thought that maybe-"

He was starting to get annoyed. Was this another attempt to embarrass him? "I told you that I don't need to hear your insults!"

She threw her arms in the air. "How is asking if you have children an insult?"

"Because you and the other Rebel scum know that I'm but a lowly bastard!" he hissed. "Of course I wouldn't procreate! The Order needs real soldiers, not- not people like me." Not skinny, disgusting weaklings.

"I don't get it… you are a General and you're - like only 35 years old. Why-"

"I'm the spitting image of my father, and I'm just like him - an opportunist, a cruel, cold man bent to survive. The Order needs honest, hard-working people after it has conquered the galaxy."

She looked at him for a moment, then she exhaled. "Let me recapitulate: You say you feel safe in the Order, but just now you tell me that the Order doesn't want people like you. You say that you are cruel and cold and at the same time you told the children some fairy tale about magical rainbows to put them at ease… it doesn't add up."

Again, she had noticed that he was nothing but a weakling. He didn't know how to reply and stayed silent.

"I want children someday," she suddenly said.

"Why?" he asked in a toneless voice.

"Because I think it's exciting to see them grow up. Every child has its own, strong personality. They have so much to learn and I want to be the one to teach them. I want to see them grow up, I want to celebrate Lifeday and every other silly event that there is. I think it's part of life."

He wanted to tell her that personality didn't matter but then he realised that this only applied in his world. Discipline was paramount in the Order. Everything else… was unimportant. He couldn't help but glance at the children who were sleeping a few meters away.

Chenia was confident, ready to take charge but it wouldn't matter, they would drive that out until she had learned not to question her superiors. Lil was quick to be thrilled, had a lot of fantasy. And the Private…

He pushed these thoughts away. It didn't matter - all that mattered was to bring law and order to the galaxy, no cost was too high for eternal peace.

"Hux? Are you still there?"

He cleared his throat. "Of course I am. I was thinking about the climb tomorrow."

"And here I thought I was getting through to you," she said. "Tsk, I don't know why I am even trying."

He didn't like her tone but he wasn't sure why. There was something in it he resented, perhaps it was the hint of pity? "You are right - you are wasting your time. I don't understand why you keep talking to me. You clearly despise me and still you want to talk. It's illogical."

"It's human. Almost all sentient beings are social."

At least she didn't lie about hating him. It made sense, she had seen through his weakness so she must be an excellent judge of character. Coming to think of it, the repairs on the lift were quite skillfully done. It seemed that she was a very capable enemy. He respected that.

"I don't agree," he said. "Being social leads inevitably to trust and trust leads to betrayal. People aren't social, they are just trying to find each other's weaknesses."

"Well, perhaps we're projecting our character traits onto others."

Hux scoffed. "That would imply that I'm sociable at all. I can assure you that I keep my distance either way."

She was quiet for a moment. "That sounds lonely."

"We are all alone, we come into this galaxy alone and we will leave it alone. Everything else is ornamentation."

She shrugged and yawned. "Suit yourself. Well, I'm off then." She leaned against the wall and let her head fall back. "Night, Hux."

"Uh, Night?"

The holo went out. He stared at it. It was odd, talking to Tico like they weren't mortal enemies. He had half expected their talk to turn into an argument.

Only now he realised that he hadn't even asked her if she had found a way out. Well, she would certainly have told him if that were the case. He frowned. Unless she had already found it and was preparing a trap for him. She certainly had a strategic advantage: she knew exactly where he would be tomorrow.

He exhaled and pinched the back of his nose. It didn't matter. Either way, he had to get up there.

Hux got up and went over to the children, a quick look confirmed that they were all fast asleep. He settled down beside them and moments later he had fallen asleep.

-o-

He dreamed again about a red beam shooting up in the sky. The ground under his feet shook and still he was standing on the stage, the huge First Order flags behind him fluttered in the shockwave, eventually burning up from the rising heat. It wasn't a beam anymore, it was a fire. Hux wondered if it would hurt if he burned but he still stood at attention, he wasn't allowed to move. Just when the fire was about to reach him a shrill beeping woke him.

His eyes snapped open. Confused, he registered that he was warm, almost hot. The reason became clear after he looked around; the children had snuggled up to him, Lil was laying in front of him, the Private and Chenia at his back.

Slowly he got up and shook the children. "Get up, we need to climb the shaft, soldiers."

They were down to their last ration bar and the last gulps of water after they had eaten breakfast. Hux changed the Private's makeshift diapers before he took his greatcoat and drew his blade to cut holes in it.

He could only carry one child at once, he decided to start with Lil. "Lieutenant, climb on my back and put your arms and legs through the holes in the coat. I will carry you up."

"I don't want to go first," she replied with wide eyes. She was clearly scared.

"The Captain will look after the Private, I will carry him next so that you can keep an eye on him." He crouched down in front of her. "It's not like going on a mission. We are still together, alright?"

"Promise?"

"I am the General, am I not?" He slid into his coat and lowered it slightly so that she could climb on his back under the coat. He closed the greatcoat as well as it was possible and went to the shaft. "Hold on."

She grabbed his upper chest hard. He exhaled and tugged at his leather gloves before he grabbed the steel rope and swung into the shaft. Just like the day before he used his feet to give himself stability and started to slowly climb up.

"I'm scared," whined Lil.

"I'm right here, Lieutenant." He was surprised how quickly he reached the lift stuck between the levels. His arms were a little tired and he massaged them a little before he continued his way. He was getting tired at the end but he was able to swing on the next level. He sat down and opened the coat, Lil was still clinging to him. Gently he freed himself and pulled the coat back up. "See, everything is fine."

She still looked scared but she nodded.

"I'll go back down and get the Private, wait here and stay away from the ledge."

He lowered himself back on the other level. Chenia helped put the boy on Hux's back, Hux buttoned the coat back up and used his uniform belt to fasten the coat further. The Private didn't seem to like it and wiggled uneasy. Best to get him up as fast as possible.

He noticed right away that he tired faster than before, his arms and hands were hurting from the exertion when he reached the lift. Hux massaged his hands and arms and rolled his shoulder back before he grabbed the rope again.

The last bit was hard, making him grit his teeth until he had finally reached the next level. Lil was sitting right at the shaft, holding her knees. She perked up when he appeared and grabbed his arm as if she could pull him into safety.

Hux was panting and the Private started to fuss. He loosened the belt and made sure to let the boy down softly.

"Okay, now I'll get Che- the Captain. You are in charge of the Private, Lieutenant."

He took a few deep breaths and climbed back down. Stars, if only he was in better shape. Perhaps he would have to take a break before he climbed up again.

When he arrived in the lower level he sat down and wiped over his face.

"Are you alright, General?"

"I am, Captain. I just need to catch my breath."

"I can climb up by myself," she said. "You don't have to carry me like a baby."

He scanned her with his eyes, she was certainly bold but she was rather skinny. She could certainly make it to the officers academy. For a moment, he tried to picture her as one of the cadets that served on the flagships but it felt off. He wiped again over his face. "I appreciate your offer, Captain. But as your commanding officer it's my duty to provide you with transport. You need to save your strength for a later time."

"But-"

"You have your orders," said Hux gently. He crouched down and lowered his coat. She climbed on his back and put her hands and legs through the holes of the coat.

He went back to the shaft, rolled his shoulder back and took the rope. He noticed right away when he swung in that he would barely make it to the lift. Kriff! He should have waited longer. He gritted his teeth and moved up, getting slower and slower. He was relieved when they finally reached the lift. He made an effort to hide how exhausted he was and tried to control his breathing.

"You are almost here!" rang out a voice above him.

He looked up and saw Lil peeking over the edge of the shaft.

"We are, get back and look after the Private," Hux said. Just when he wanted to add that he needed a break, a deep rumble could be heard beneath them. Mud and dust rippled down on them as the earth shook. The lift stuttered starboard, making Chenia gasp in terror.

Hux breath faltered - they would fall! He jumped up and grabbed the rope just in time before another quake occurred, lowering the lift further down. He jumped off and banged at the wall, it was enough for the lift to become unstuck and fall downwards, jerking Hux's and Chenia's cable up.

He gritted his teeth and grabbed the ledge of the shaft as it came into reach, his gloved fingers buried themselves into the muddy ground, he could feel himself slipping. His eyes went wide - kriff! He would fall!

"Lil! Lil! Take Chenia!" he yelled as he watched in horror as his fingers couldn't find halt in the muddy ground.

"General!" shrieked Lil and grabbed him by his arm, trying to pull him up. It was hopeless of course, he was way too heavy! He would pull both children with him down into the shaft!

No! No! Not like this. He grit his teeth so hard that they hurt and grabbed the ledge of the shaft that was made of slippery old wood. He clawed at the wood until he found an angle that was holding and started to pull himself up, centimeter by centimeter. His arms felt like they would break, his muscles like they would rip as hot pain shot through them.

Not! Like! This!

Eventually he managed to heave himself over the abyss and collapsed on the ground, he tasted blood in his mouth. Had he bitten himself? He couldn't remember.

The next thing he knew was that Lil hugged him, sobbing loudly. Snot and tears were wetting his face. He wanted to get up but his limbs didn't obey him. Chenia managed to wiggle free and she and Lil both tried to pull him farther away from the lift shaft, unable to move him.

After what felt like an eternity, he managed to prop himself up and took a deep breath. "At ease, soldiers," he mumbled. "I'm- I'm fine."

The girls calmed down and wiped over their faces. Hux frowned - where was the Private? To his relief he saw the boy sucking his thumb just a few meters away. His pulse slowed down a bit, only to sped up again when another deep rumble and a slight earthquake could be heard.

He grabbed his flashlight and searched the floor for footprints and after a few seconds of frantic searching he noticed a set of boot prints heading in the left tunnel. He staggered on his feet and took the toddler, even though his arms hurt, and ushered the girls down the tunnel.