Taking Command Book 1 (Kylux) (#Wattys2016)

Chapter Thirteen: Numb

Hux PoV

We disembarked to a storm which hurled sheets of icy rain at both Ren and I. I somewhat envied Ren's relative imperviousness to weather offered by his cloak, but I had no intention of admitting it. We both sprinted from the landing pad into the main building.

They knew we were coming, but not that we intended to steal something. They believed that we wanted to conscript them for a project. I would stall for time while Kylo would try to find the datachip within the vault where it had been hidden with all the other backup.

A tall Kaminoan stood and greeted the two of us as we stood dripping rain into the large, white chamber. "Welcome," he said in an elegant voice," we have been awaiting your arrival, General." He more or less ignored Ren, and I willed the impetuous warrior not to call him on it.

"Thank you, Khan Stei. I am honored that you would meet the both of us personally. If I might inquire, are Taun We and Lama Su still in residency in Tipoca City?" I asked him a fairly basic question which if played right would make me look well read and understanding of them, and thus more trustworthy.

"You know of them?" The Kaminoan leaned forward in his seat.

"Yes. They were the administrators and chief cloners of Tipoca during the Clone Wars time period." I was grateful that I had done my reading and that years of education were coming to use. "They are and were the best, and I was hoping..." I trailed off.

"Sadly, they have been deceased, and I have replaced them." Khan finally seemed to notice Kylo, who in all black and masked was conspicuous in the soft whites of the chamber. "Would your compatriot like a tour of the facilities, General Hux?"

"Yes. I would be most obliged." Ren knew the drill.

"Then it shall be arranged for. I shall have someone take you through the facilities at once, Master...?" He looked expectedly at Kylo.

"Ren. My name is Kylo Ren." He stood.

Khan pressed a button on his chair and spoke into it. "May I request a guide to lead Kylo Ren through our facilities? Thank you." He turned back to us. "They will send someone soon. Until then, just wait."

"Thank you, Khan. So about the idea of a clone army. I understand that I would need to find a suitable donor?" I sat back and prepared to give Ren as much time as he needed.

"Correct. You would need to find someone who you would use as an infantry soldier. Naturally, for a fee, we can tweak certain genes to achieve different effects-"

"No." I interrupted him mid spiel," I do not want these men to be tampered with genetically. That has more potential to end poorly than not. Let us move on to ideas of cost."

"For each unit, it will be somewhere in the region of five hundred credits. Double that for accelerated growth, as that is some considerable tweaking on our part."

Another Kaminoan walked in and ushered Kylo out. I felt a brief surge of pity. That Kaminoan would be dead in minutes so that Ren could finish his mission.

"Alright," I replied," what does accelerated growth entail?"

"Instead of a twenty year maturation rate it is a ten year one. The results are the same, however." The Kaminoan was calm as ever. Too bad he did not know what was coming.

"Useful. Does that mean their life spans are halved as well?" I asked, genuinely curious now. At the same time, however, I hope Ren would make this quick.

"Yes. They live half as long as normal men. That should not be a concern, however. They are bred to fight, not to live. Most will not even know how short their lives are."

The coldness of Khan's voice chilled me a little bit. The ease with which he spoke of shortening life and death unnerved me, but struck a little bit of envy as well. He was utterly numb, nothing touched him. In my situation, it would be a useful skill.

"Is their cognitive or physical ability impeded at all?" I asked. "Given that a shorter lifespan would give less time to learn and develop."

"Not at all. Integrated training and live fire battle simulations work wonders." The Kaminoan did not seem to tire in answering my questions, as this went on for three and a half hours before he inquired after Kylo and the guide.

"I'm not sure, to be honest," I replied," I did not know the itinerary of my compatriot." Hurry up, Kylo, I thought.

Suddenly alarms started blaring and Khan jerked upright. "What is going on?"

"How should I know?!" I snapped, knowing most likely what had happened. "It's your city!"

"It was a trick, wasn't it?! You're after our data." Khan leveled a blaster at me. "I don't appreciate bet-"

Whatever he was going to say, would never be said. Before he finished the syllable, I had shot him in the gut and took off to try to find Kylo.

As I neared the vault, I almost crashed into Kylo who grabbed me and started me running back the way I came. "Did you get it?!" I asked as we ran.

"Yes! But it tripped an alarm and we need to go!" He shoved me as I ran in front of him.

We rounded a corner and reached the doors leading out to the ship. One hundred meters of rain lashed platform lay between us and escape.

I could have predicted this. As we neared the ship, security drones started flying at us, shooting bolts. "Take this!" Ren snapped, shoving something into my hand, which I shoved in my coat pocket.

I saw him draw his lightsaber and bat the bolts away like they were pebbles. "Go! Go!" He yelled at me as he backed up slowly as more came.

As I jumped into the ship, I heard a strangled cry and peered out to see Kylo dangling from the rim of a platform by one hand. The other clutched his saber which was still desperately deflecting the bolts.

I ran into the cockpit and engaged the cannons and took a deft potshot at the drones and knocked all but two out. Ren dispatched of them and managed to slowly and carefully crawl back up. He then ran for the ship and rolled into the bottom, dripping wet and gasping. I took off, leaving Kamino behind.

Perhaps numbness was not the way. I did not have to save him, yet I did, of my own accord. Perhaps there was hope.