The Cruellest Thing

The Enemy

Rose stepped out of the wreck and froze on the spot when she saw General Hux standing right in front of her, his blaster trained on her. He had a nasty cut on his temple, dried blood covered his face.

"On your knees, rebel scum."

Rose lifted her hand behind her head and knelt down. Cold sweat ran down her spine.

Hux limped a little closer and narrowed his eyes. "I know you – you're the rebel who was with that traitor. You tried to sabotage the hyperspace tracker."

She remained silent, staring defiantly at him.

"Is the traitor in there?" sneered Hux. "He's dead isn't he?"

"Finn is alive and well," retorted Rose. "And that's more than you can say about Phasma."

Hux twisted his lips in anger. "Get up, I want to see him myself."

Rose slowly rose to her feet; she eyed Hux. He kept his distance, she had to wait for him to make a mistake before she could try to grab his blaster.

They entered the cockpit, Hux grimaced when he saw that the pilot wasn't Finn. Suddenly he seemed exhausted, he leaned against the co-pilot seat and wiped over his face.

"What were you doing in here?"

"What do you think, Hux? I checked the long-range transmitter," she snapped.

Hux glanced at the console. "It's obviously burnt out. You can't possibly-"

"Of course I can! You don't-"

Hux lifted his blaster and Rose fell silent. "Don't interrupt me!"

She glared at him with disdain.

He made an effort to straighten himself. "Are you a technician?"

Rose thought about keeping her mouth shut, but what was the point? There was no need to agitate a mass murderer with a gun.

"Mechanic. But I know quite a lot about all the other stuff as well." She took note that Hux exhaled. He seemed to be relieved. Did that mean that his comm systems were offline too?

"You will accompany me to my shuttle. And you will fix the long range comm," he said in a tight voice. "And if you don't comply I'll shoot you."

"If you shoot me you're stuck here."

He was obviously taken aback by her backtalk. He frowned. "Shut up and do as I say."

They exited the shuttle. Hux pointed towards the location of his shuttle. "This way and don't try anything."

Rose's throat still felt parched. "Mind if we take a detour to the river? I need to drink something first."

Hux frowned again. "Is it far?"

"Perhaps two kilometres?"

Hux seemed to think a moment, then he said: "Lead the way."

Sweat was running down her temples while she slowly walked through the forest. After about ten minutes Hux called: "Stop."

She turned and saw him leaning against a tree. He was paler than usual, his rubbed his leg with his left while aiming his blaster at her. So his leg was injured? That could be useful when she wanted to get away from him.

After a few moments he gestured her to continue.

When they finally arrived at the river Rose immediately crouched down and used her hollow hand to drink. She also splatted water in her face and put her now cool left hand on her neck.