Ginger Gears

Code Red

Captain Rudrakar had been taken aback by this sudden inspection, but he quickly caught himself and had shown the General around. Usually Hux would have cut it short – there was no need for him to be shown his own creation. But this was different. Starkiller would change the course of the war, seeing his design in reality had an oddly poignant note to it.

This is what he would be remembered for. His legacy.

"I would like to see the command room now," he said while tugging at his uniform.

"Of course, sir."

Rudrakar lead the way, and mere minutes later they reached the top of the structure. It was empty save for one technician who was installing monitors. She snapped at attention once she saw him.

"At ease," he said. He scanned the room with his eyes, then he stepped to the viewport. From up here he could see the edges of the Starkiller cannon in the distance.

He had dreamed about this, about the blinding red light that would shoot across the galaxy. He briefly wondered if the snow on the surface would melt from the blast. Would the trees break and bend? Would they be incinerated like matches?

Well, he would never know.

He went to one of the already installed consoles next to the viewport and activated it. He pulled up the security protocols. He scrolled down until he had reached 'Evacuation drill'. His finger hovered over the command, then he pressed it.

Immediately a horn started blaring and an automated voice rang out on the PA: "Evacuation drill. All personnel are advised to gather at the designated evacuation points."

Captain Rudrakar rushed to his side. "Sir? I wasn't informed of this drill."

"This is a surprise inspection and thus this is a surprise drill, Captain." Hux glared at him. "I will observe the drill from here and evaluate your performance."

Rudrakar saluted. "Yes, sir." Then he and the technician hurried out of the room.

Hux slowly began to disengage the back-up systems keeping the kyber crystals in equilibrium. He wiped the computer protocol using his personal override code. From time to time he checked the progress of the evacuation, apart from some tardy maintenance workers from the lower decks, the personnel had gathered at the evacuation points.

He put his hat on the console and ran his hand through his hair. Then he disengaged the primary kyber stabiliser. Immediately the announcement on the PA changed: "Code Red, Code Red. Instability detected in the core."

Hux activated the PA on his side: "This is General Hux speaking. I'm currently in the control room trying to stabilise the malfunction. All personnel are to evacuate immediately."

The automated security measures tried to kick in, tried to bring the back-up systems back online. Hux manually shut them down one after another until the mass of the kyber crystals had become unstable – then he stopped his frantic typing and stared at the display. The voice over the PA kept repeating "Code Red", he could feel a faint rumbling from the ground.

He stepped to the viewport of the command centre and watched the shuttles rise from the hangars, disappearing in the clouded sky. A shiver ran down his spine.

This truly was his legacy. The irony that his father had been right all along was not lost on him. Weak, a failure. And that is how he will be remembered. Either as a traitor or as an incompetent fool.

The rumbling became louder. Knowing how much effort and credits the First Order had invested in Starkiller, there was a chance that this would ruin them. At least it would be decades until they could found such a massive project again.