General Armitage Hux of the First Order stood in the refresher of his quarters on the Finalizer, staring at himself in the mirror on the durasteel wall. His green eyes were sunken and dark, his face the palest he'd ever seen, and his red hair was disheveled.
The trip back to the ship after the Battle of Crait was wretched. He walked right to his quarters, skipping the bridge and control rooms entirely, something his subordinates found surprising. Hux had been infuriated by the outcome of the day.
It would have happened. Today would have been the day the First Order finished the Resistance off for good. If it had not been for Kylo Ren.
Supreme Leader Ren.
Hux exhaled forcefully, the harsh breath turning into an angry yell. He stormed out of the 'fresher to rip off his greatcoat and forcefully throw it on the floor along with his gloves. He unbuckled his belt and tugged at his collar. He ran a hand through his hair in frustration and sat on the edge of his bed with his head in his hands. His entire body throbbed in pain, still aching from the impact of Ren throwing him into the console of the AT-M6.
But it was his pride that was hurt the worst.
He should be the one in charge now, not that petulant child. He had worked his entire life to rule. To rise through the ranks and keep order. To be the Supreme Leader once Snoke died.
But Ren had ruined all of his hard work. He had demeaned him in front of his men, just as Snoke and that pilot had. Ren had practically ruined his entire life from the moment he boarded this vessel. Hux had been second-in-command, damn it!
Still was, he reminded himself.
Hux lifted his face from his hands and wiped at a tear that rolled down his pale cheek. And then another. He sniffed and breathed a watery breath through his mouth to try and maintain his normal calm and controlled demeanor.
But his mind raced.
Ren must be stopped. No matter how or what, his reign must end. His destructive tendencies and obsession with the scavenger girl will destroy the Order and all that Hux had worked for.
After another minute of thought, he closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. He had to find a way to end Ren's rule.
/
"I'm the spy."
There it was. General Armitage Hux of the First Order had admitted his treasonous behavior aloud to the three Resistance infiltrators, and he could tell by their expressions that he had been the last person they had expected.
Hux told them he would make it possible for the Millennium Falcon to escape as he rushed them away, but before they left, he caught the one's attention: the former FN-2187.
"Blast me in the arm," he told his former trooper and pointed at the insignia on his left arm. It would look better, like he put up a fight.
FN-2187 raised his blaster and shot him in the leg instead, causing him to drop crudely to the ground. He reached for the wound. The burn hurt, but it had only grazed him. It would heal.
If he had the time for it to.
"Why are you helping us?"
"I don't care if you win," Hux snarled from the ground. "I need Kylo Ren to lose." That's what had done it; what had caused him to willingly destroy his own career and all that he had worked for. Ren's tantrums and abuse had pushed him this far over the edge.
FN-2187 left him on the ground without another word and Hux pushed himself up gingerly, minding his injured leg. He took a deep breath and walked as fast as he could to his office. He punched in his code for the door to open and rushed inside to his closet so he could prepare to face Pryde.
He pulled out a thin beskar chest plate that was as black as night. It had been his father's during the glory days of the Empire. Hux had taken it after he was killed. This piece of armor was the only good thing he ever got out of their relationship. If it could even have been called that.
Hux took off his uniform top to secure the chest plate in place and redressed, smoothing out the fabric. Even with his thinner frame and the snug uniform, it still could not be seen. Good.
He quickly made his way to the med bay to get his leg bandaged and the medic had insisted on giving him a cane as well. Fine, he'd use it.
He finally entered the bridge, cane in hand keeping him steady on his feet. His hands didn't shake, and his voice never wavered as he explained what had happened with the Resistance fighters.
Pryde stayed silent and gave him a dark look, his eyes ice. Hux watched as Pryde took a stormtrooper's blaster and turned around so quickly that he had no time to react before he was shot in the sternum with a blaster bolt. The shot knocked him back a few meters and he hit the ground hard.
"Found our spy."
Hux knew the blaster was set to kill. But he was still alive. The blast was painful, yes, but he was still alive. The armor had held.
Hux didn't move. He knew Pryde would have his body removed carelessly, he just had to feign death until he was away from the bridge.
"FN-3186, get this filth off my bridge." Hux heard Pryde bellow before the modulated, quiet, almost stunned "yes sir" of the trooper.
Of course he sounded scared. He had just watched one of his superiors kill another in front of him.
A hovergurney was brought in and FN-3186 heaved Hux onto it roughly. Hux made sure he didn't wince at the impact. His head lolled to the side, easier to hide that way. He remained motionless. The chest plate hid his shallow breathing.
The trooper pushed the hovergurney roughly toward the turbolift. They weren't even going to cover his corpse before moving him? How disrespectful.
Once in the lift, the trooper took them down to an incinerator. Hux heard the sound of the door open and felt the heat as he was pushed inside and knew it was time to move. With the lone trooper's back turned, Hux grabbed the monomolecular-blade he always kept in his right sleeve and slashed at the exposed black of the trooper's wrist, right where the white plastoid armor didn't protect. The trooper yelped and reacted too slowly.
Hux internally scoffed, certainly not one of his men. The new stormtroopers under Pryde were all remarkably weaker than his had ever been.
Hux got another cut at the black of the trooper's elbow before he jumped down from the gurney and hooked his ankle around FN-3186's leg to take him to the ground. Hux took the blaster from his subordinate's thigh holster and shot him in the neck, careful not to shatter the armor. He quickly closed the incinerator's door and stripped the trooper down to his black body suit to set the white armor on top of his uniform. He ripped the tracker out of the helmet and placed it on his head.
He left the incinerator room casually to take the turbolift back up to the level of his quarters. He found the corridor empty as he exited, but still entered his code discretely. The door opened and he walked into his large but stark living area.
He took off the helmet and ran into his bedroom to grab a small bag. He packed the few plain clothes he had, his multiple bottles of cologne, a medpac, a few ration bars, and a canteen. Nothing with the First Order insignia went into the bag.
Hux frowned at how empty it really was. Living such a career fueled life, he truly had few personal possessions. He closed the bag and looked around for one more important thing. "Millicent," he called quietly. "Where are you?" A soft meow answered him and a petite tooka-cat with fur as ginger as her master's emerged. A tiny smile spread across Hux's face. "Hello darling," he cooed. "Come here. We have to go." He set her carefully in her crate and covered it with cloth to hide her. She meowed, but he gently shushed her, and she remained silent after that.
He set the crate and his bag by the front door of his quarters and turned around to take one last look: gray and bare. He picked up his datapad which sat on a side table beside his sofa and threw it with all his might against the wall.
He watched in satisfaction as it shattered.
He replaced the stormtrooper helmet on his head and picked up the bag and crate before exiting his quarters for the final time.
He found a smaller hovergurney in a closet down the hallway and used it to carry the crate and bag behind him. He could keep grips on his blaster that way too. Just in case.
Hux made his way down multiple corridors on the level to the smallest hangar on the Steadfast. With the rest of the stormtroopers, officers, and Ren all more concerned with the escaping Falcon – Hux smirked beneath the helmet – he was practically free.
Until the lone stormtrooper in the hangar stopped him.
A sergeant, evident by the black pauldron on his right shoulder. FN-1385. One of Hux's own. "Where are you going trooper? What's on that gurney?" He asked.
Kriff.
Good thing Hux was a quick thinker.
And had a voice modulator.
"Sir," Hux began, hating having to use that word. If only this trooper knew who he was actually speaking to. "Supplies for a side mission requested by Lieutenant Mitaka. I have orders to put these items on board before it leaves." Hux pointed at an Upsilon-class shuttle. "He's already aboard."
"Mitaka?" FN-1385 questioned. "I didn't see anyone board this vessel. Let me see."
Hux motioned toward the open ramp of the shuttle and the trooper walked up first. FN-1385 looked around the empty ship but had a knife in his shoulder and a blaster burn in his neck before he could turn around or say anything.
Hux was never the best pilot, but he could manage. He was better with tech, so he dug into the wires of the ship to disable the tracker while keeping all the other instruments intact. He ignited the thrusters and checked the hyperdrive, everything seemed fine even after his tinkering.
He didn't know where to go yet, but he had to get off this Star Destroyer. He kicked the dead trooper's body down the gangway before closing it and sitting down in the pilot's seat. He took a deep breath before taking the controls.
The shuttle lifted and Hux eased it carefully out of the hangar bay with no issues and then he was safely amongst the stars. He set course away from the Steadfast and went to lightspeed. Once he was a few lightyears away from his former home he removed the white plastoid helmet from his head and sighed in relief.
He stood up from the pilot's chair to rip off the rest of the armor, dropped it at his feet, then kicked it out of sight. He removed the cover from Millicent's crate and opened his bag. The beskar had worked against Pryde's blaster bolt, but he was still very sore. He took out a bacta patch from his medpac and set it aside before he removed his uniform top, the beskar chest plate, and his undershirt. There was a prominent wound on his chest: a bright red scorch mark with dark bruising around it marred his pale skin.
He placed the bacta patch right where the bolt hit. The relief was instantaneous and he slumped back into the pilot's seat where he sighed again and felt a tear run down his cheek. Then a quiet sob escaped his lips.
Millicent meowed at him from her crate. Hux turned toward her and smiled weakly. "I'm all right, Millie. It's just…" he trailed off, "overwhelming." He cleared his throat. "But necessary. The Order is behind us." He nodded to himself and turned the chair to face the viewport. He needed to go somewhere. He couldn't just keep traveling aimlessly.
He weighed his options. Core and Mid Rim worlds would be too dangerous, so he pondered the planets in the Outer Rim. Not Tatooine, not Zeffo, not Sullust. There was Ajara, but that was inhabitable. But… it had a large moon he had heard about before, Ajan Kloss. It was obscure enough that he should be safe.
He punched in the coordinates and jumped to lightspeed.
The green of the moon came into view as soon as Hux exited hyperspace. He approached cautiously, but nothing hostile came toward him, and no one commed him. He landed the shuttle near a freshwater lake and debarked from the ship to get a feel of his new surroundings. He walked only a few dozen meters when he saw equipment in the distance.
Resistance equipment.
His jaw dropped. He had accidently discovered their base, but it was empty. They surely were on their way to Exegol by now, thanks to his own help.
With this discovery he went back to his stolen ship, closed the gangway, and waited.
Maybe they'd come back.
Maybe they'd find him.
Maybe he'd even surrender.
He opened Millicent's crate and picked her up, lovingly petting her head before sitting in the pilot's chair again, setting the tooka-cat on his lap. She curled up on him happily.
Armitage Hux didn't know what was going to happen, but he did know that he was away from the First Order. And at that moment, that was enough for him.
I LOVED that Hux was the spy in The Rise of Skywalker! I just really didn't love that Pryde shot him about two seconds after that without so much as a second glance. I much prefer the idea of him escaping and living the rest of his life happier than ever. Which is where this story came from. I left the ending a little ambiguous about whether he'd join the rebels or not, feel free to think either way. :)
Thank you for reading!