Photophobia

The Truce

Hux was back on Starkiller base. He knew he was looking for something but couldn't remember what. Ren, yes he had to find Ren – Supreme Leader Snoke had decreed it.

Suddenly he was in a snow-covered forest. Thick snowflakes made it difficult to see further than a few metres. Hux marched through the snow as it crunched under his boots. Soon he tired, and his legs became heavy. Finally he reached the clearing with the nerfs, where Ren stood in the middle of their carcasses – in a fit of rage he had killed them all. Blood was running down his face and he laughed.

"Ren! Ren!" he called. "We need to go!"

But Ren just continued laughing.

Suddenly Hux was on the bridge of the Supremacy, yes here he was in command. Lieutenant Mitaka appeared and snapped at attention. "Sir!"

Hux was impressed, so the shy man had finally overcome his father? Good. It was the only way.

"We've finally destroyed Arkanis, sir," reported Mitaka.

Arkanis? That wasn't supposed to be destroyed thought Hux, or was it?

He was still musing about Arkanis when he felt something warm on his cheeks. For a moment he thought he could feel a calloused hand on his jaw and wanted to take a step back. But then he slowly realised that it had only been a dream.

His throat was parched and his head still felt heavy. He blinked a few times and the first thing he saw was the rebel woman who was leaning over him.

"What-" he mumbled in a coarse voice.

"You need to drink something."

Suddenly he was holding the canteen in his hand, and propping himself up to take a drink. His throat hurt a little. The fog in his mind cleared a little and he cautiously reached up to his collar bone to check on the inflammation. He hissed in pain as soon as his fingertips reached the bandage. Well, that hadn't been his brightest idea.

He still felt dizzy, but he had to focus. He had to keep his prisoner in check. His arm felt heavy but he reached down to get his blaster – only to discover that the holster was empty.

The shock cleared his mind and suddenly he was hyper-alert. He jerked his head up and glared at her. Kriff! He had lost consciousness and she had taken advantage of that! He couldn't suppress a chill of fear, now she would have her revenge. He was so angry that he wanted to yell, to rage against his unavoidable fate.

"Yeah, I got your blaster – and your knife, too. I figured you wouldn't need them while being passed out," she stated with a matter-of-fact tone.

He clenched his hands into fists, shaking with anger. "Gloat all you like, rebel scum! Get on with it and kill me already!" He was afraid, afraid that his death would be even more pathetic-

"Shut it, do you really think I would go through all this trouble to build this silly shelter if I wanted to shoot you first thing in the morning?"

That gave him pause. His quickened heartbeat slowed a little when he noticed the branches piled up around him. She- she had built this? How long had he been out?

He licked his lips and sat up straighter. Focus, he had to focus. "You need me."

She scoffed. "Well, I didn't stick around because you're good company."

He eyed her. So she was in control now, but she wasn't a good shot. He just had to wait for the right opportunity. The blaster lay next to her on the ground. She hadn't even trained it at him. Amateur. It was only a matter of time until she made a mistake.