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Hux leans against the wall right outside the chamber, pressing a hand to his forehead.
"Does it hurt?"
"No, uh," He looks up, hand coming to rest over his mouth. "Just grappling with what has to be done. We have to finish this." His gaze flicks to mine, and any of the light from earlier is gone. There's something haunted in his eyes. "You understand, right? We need to end this once and for all."
"Yes." I say, tilting my head slightly. "Are you sure you are okay?"
Hux stares at the floor for a moment, eyes wide.
"Yeah."
Then he turns, and heads off to the bridge of the Finalizer. I give him a few seconds of distance, and then turn to follow. I don't want to say I am concerned about him... but I am.
~~~
When I enter the bridge, he's already at work, standing before a holographic map. He traces a line with his finger, connecting a softly pulsing dot to a planet. He draws two more - arranging the fleet. Three Destroyers, headed to this planet.
He zooms in on the orb, watching a tracking beacon slowly sing its signal across the galaxy. The Rebellion ship is orbiting D'Qar.
The engines of the Finalizer rise in intensity, and the stable darkness outside the front windows pulls into streaks of white and blue as we launch into lightspeed.
Hux swipes away the map and pulls up a hologram of Captain Phasma. He catches me looking and gestures for me to join the call. I move to the side of the table next to his and settle my palms against the glass.
"The Supremacy is warming up as we speak. As soon as they jump, ping us." Phasma nods to me and I give a small salute with two fingers.
"How's the Fulminatrix coming along?"
"Canady is currently in hyperspace right now, preparing for battle. They're coming in with weapons hot." Hux nods in acknowledgement, pulling up the map again, tracing a path for the new ship that has sent its location to the Finalizer.
"Okay. I've got his location. He'll be right behind us."
"Godspeed, General." Phasma says. "We're loading up TIEs and Interceptors." She turns, raising a hand to someone behind her.
"Godspeed, Captain." Hux says, and ends the call. He pauses for a moment on the map to D'Qar, staring at the intersection point for three Destroyers and one Dreadnought.
The Finalizer rumbles for a moment, engines reversing to drop our speed, and then the stars outside slow to reveal a single forested planet. D'qar. We've arrived.
"We've caught them in the middle of an evacuation." A Colonel standing near the window says.
"General." A voice says over the radio, and Hux pulls it onto the hologram. A man appears, clothed in a black coat and a cropped hat. "Captain Canady. We are arriving now."
"Take them down." Hux tells the man, and is rewarded with a salute. Then the Finalizer trembles as an enormous wedge-shaped ship appears below, sailing softly to a stop ahead of us. The Fulminatrix is so big that the mile-formation it's in still has it seeming close.
"Wait, we've got..." Canady pauses, turning away from the hologram bay, vanishing for a moment. "General, it's a message for you."
"Patch it in." Hux calls to anyone nearby, and I step back from the table.
"Attention!" The voice rings out over the open bridge. "This is Commander Poe Dameron of the Republic fleet, I have an urgent communique for General Hux."
"I'm present." Hux says softly. "Have you come for surrender? The First Order does not negotiate, but for you I'm sure something can be worked out..."
"Holding for General Hugs?" Dameron says. I clap a hand over my mouth to cover my grin as Hux straightens in surprise. He narrows his eyes at the communications technician.
"This is him. We have no terms for the Rebellion."
"Look, I can't hold forever. If you reach him.... tell him Leia has an urgent message for him."
"He's patched in." The technician says to Hux. "There's nothing wrong on our end."
"About his mother."
Hux opens his mouth to reply but I cut in.
"Dameron!" I call, and Hux glances my way. "How's FN-2187? He didn't look so good back on Starkiller base."
Silence. Then incrimination - from the background, someone goes 'who was that?'
"He can hear us." I tell Hux, and he spins to gaze at the Dreadnought, and the tiny, tiny ship hovering before it.
"Canady, light it up."
"Yes, General."
Then Dameron cuts the broadcast and jukes the ship hard, racing into action. He fires at the hull of the Dreadnought, dodging laser fire and replying with his own. He takes out one cannon, and then the next, and Hux watches with an expression that gets more and more disappointed.
"Canady." He says. "Why hasn't that ship been destroyed?"
"It's too small and too close range!" Canady says back.
"Then scramble the fighters and take it out." Hux says, deadly calm.
"You heard the General - fighters, scramble!"
Hux shakes his head and looks out the window again.
"I'm going out there. Keep me posted."
"The fighters have it covered." Hux says.
"Ah, but there are more ships approaching." I point them out, tiny specks barely visible against the white atmosphere of the ship. "I'll take them out."
"Rebel bombers approaching!" Canady yells. "Do not let those ships get to the dreadnought!"
"Yeah, that's my cue."
Hux turns back to the window to oversee the battle as I break into a sprint, racing through the halls of the Finalizer. Then a hanger opens before me and I launch into form, moving so fast I clip my wing against the wall as I erupt into space.
