A/N: The conquest of ISR-458 is told in somewhat more detail in the Knights of Ruin chapters "Simple Goals", "Combat Intermission", "In the Fire", "In the Air", and "In the Mud", all told from Kylo's POV. It can be summed up as 'they succeed'. This chapter is set at the very end of the conflict.

"I suppose we could slag it from orbit," Hux offered, leaning over the console. The extraction process was nearly complete. Only one lone AT-M6 lingered, having tread across a section of ground hollowed out with subterranean chambers. The sensors should have picked it up and maybe they had, but in any case, the machine's front legs had broken through the ceiling of the space underneath. The unstable structure had then collapsed around them, trapping it. The standard lifting ships had failed to dislodge it. "Just disabling it isn't going to be enough. I don't want to leave any of our technology for them to scavenge."

"The self-destruct routine will take out all electronics, but we'd have to drop the operators back in to activate it," said the lieutenant Hux was working with. "If we did both, that might do it."

"The terms of their surrender were that we would halt our attack," Hux mused. "Orbital bombardment, even of our own unit, could be easily misconstrued. It's in the middle of a city."

Behind him, Hux heard parts of a report coming over the intercom: "Security - priority code - Kylo - killed - General Hux -"

Hux's head snapped around. Peavey was bent toward the console with Lt. Mitaka. Peavey looked up, caught his eye, and gave a grave nod. Hux turned back to the officer he'd been supervising. "I don't want to risk it not working. Hoist it out. Scramble additional ships as necessary. That's what we have them for. The airspace should be clear enough to use them." He strode over to find out what was going on.

Peavey said to the intercom, "Say again, Sergeant."

"This is Sergeant Rochter with Level Four security. This is a priority code event. Kylo Ren entered the tactical oversight bay and killed Lt. Phimitt with his lightsaber. Notify General Hux immediately."

"This is Hux. I-"

The bridge doors opened. Kylo Ren himself strode in, filthy from the hips down, still covered in caked dust and worse from his combat mission on the planet's surface. The smell of char and blood accompanied him, tainting the otherwise sterile atmosphere. "General Hux-"

"Did you kill Lt. Phimitt?"

"Yes. She was incompetent-"

"Unless she was attacking you at that moment, you are not authorized to lay a hand on my people!" Hux crossed the bridge, closing with Kylo Ren in such an aggressive manner that it made Kylo straighten and pull his head back.

Kylo growled, "Her incompetence caused the deaths of three of my troopers and endangered my life."

"Your troopers?" Hux stayed in his face. "You killing her has endangered your life!"

"Is that a threat?"

"It's a promise!"

Kylo pivoted and stepped away. With the helmet, it was impossible to be sure of his expression, but the body language read as discomfort with Hux confronting him so assertively. He probably didn't have to put up with that much in his life. Over his shoulder, Kylo said, "She was playing some game called Wig Wars while we were attempting to call for air support."

Hux hesitated. That didn't look good. Not at all. He'd have to investigate the accusation. But that was between Hux and his staff. "You killed one of my people without consulting me, without authorization!"

"You're being consulted now."

"And you're being reprimanded."

"You don't have the authority to reprimand me."

"You're on my ship. You can get off-" Hux's words were cut off by Kylo's backhand. It hit him hard across the face. Ren was a big man, as big as Brendol and a lot stronger. The blow was stunning and sent Hux staggering back to the wall. There was blood in his mouth from where his own teeth had cut his cheek. He blinked off the stars to see Ren approaching him.

It flitted through his mind that Ren hadn't hit him any mortal blow. This had been disciplinary – a correction. While Hux had tolerated such for years from his father and would have from any superior officer, Ren did not have that status. Nor was Hux going to allow him to claim it. There was a faint chance Hux's reaction would have been different had they been in private. They were not. They were on the bridge in front of his officers.

Hux pulled his knife and lunged. Ren dodged to the side with a fluid motion like a dancer. It was a good dodge, but not clean. Hux's knife sliced through fabric and snagged on the body armor at the bottom of his ribs. Hux should have pulled the blade back. Instead he pushed harder and sliced out as he would have done with a normal blade – the sort he trained with. A monomolecular blade had many things going for it, but strength and resiliency were not among them. It cut easily through flesh and even most bone, but certain crystalline structures resisted it. Combat armor was designed to foil it, elsewise everyone would carry monomolecular-edged katanas.

Hux yanked the blade free and it broke, leaving him with the hilt and a stub. Before him was a very angry Sith. Hux still had a blaster, but before he had done more than recover his posture, there was a lit lightsaber between them like a horizontal bar. He went back a step before he caught himself, not wanting the appearance of retreating. Among other things, there was nowhere to go – the wall was right behind him. The lightsaber crackled ominously between them at the level of his waist. It could slice him in half well before his blaster cleared the holster. He did not reach for his blaster.

What's wrong with that lightsaber? ran through his mind, followed by mild surprise that the shoddy performance characteristics of Ren's blade would be his last thought. Then he realized it wasn't his last. He raised his eyes to meet Ren's mask, recognizing that Ren had to save face before this could be over.

Ren rotated the blade in a slow arc. It vibrated and hissed the whole while. The bridge was silent. Hux didn't have to ask why – he knew they were all watching. As recognized equals in rank, there was nothing anyone should do to interfere … unless Hux ordered it. He wouldn't give Ren the satisfaction. Nor would he pointlessly endanger his people like that.

Ren pulled back his arm and turned the saber so it was point-forward, the tip of it wavering in the air in front of Hux's face. Hux didn't flinch from it. He snarled instead. Ren slowly stabbed it forward over Hux's shoulder, within a few inches of his ear. Hux did his best not to flinch from it.

The blade made an unbearable screeching noise as it sunk into the bulkhead. For a moment, Hux thought that was all the display Ren would make, but then he tilted it sideways so the crossguard loomed into Hux's face. The smell of ozone was sharp. His nose itched. His snarl turned into a grimace. Hux finally had to pull his head back further and turn it to the side or else have it scorched by the erratic flickering of the blade. Even though he did, he could smell burned hair.

Ren clicked it off after Hux turned his head. It looked a lot like submission. Hux found that galling. He was sure Ren found it satisfying, which was why he'd stopped. Into the silence, though, there was another sound: plink … plink. Hux looked down.

Red blood dripped from a small protrusion from Ren's side – Hux's blade. The knife must have caught on the way out rather than in. It couldn't have been a deep cut, but it was a cut nonetheless and the blade funneled Ren's blood along it to drip out noisily. That was gratifying. A hint of a smile tightened Hux's lips. He didn't bother to guard his thought: If it bleeds, I can kill it.

Ren turned his back on him and stalked from the bridge. Hux ignored the implied insult.

Hux exhaled and looked at the hilt of his knife. His hands were steady. That was nice to see. They wouldn't stay that way, he knew. The adrenaline dump would hit him soon as he'd shake like anyone else. He looked at the hole in the wall with melted metal around it that had been left by the malfunctioning laser sword. "Lt. Mitaka? Call a repair crew for this. And have a disposal crew pick up Phimitt's body. They're to put it in holding until informed otherwise. Captain?"

"Yes sir," Peavey said promptly.

"I'll need an investigation carried out for Ren's allegations and of course I'll need verification of Rochter's report – manner of death, circumstances around it, if there was a confrontation first or threats exchanged, etc." He examined the stub that was left of his knife. There was no blood on it, but it was still something to remind himself that Force users were mortal.

"Yes sir."

Hux glanced around the bridge. They were still silent, staring at him, waiting for orders. The shakes were starting now. He swallowed tensely, keeping his voice firm by effort of will. "Get back to work. There's nothing to see here." He moved over to the console he had been at before the incident. "Any update on the AT-M6 extraction?"