Into the Darkness

9

An explosion erupts from within the Oscillator. I look over at Hux in confusion.

"I thought Ren was taking care of it." I say. He shakes his head and pinches the bridge of his nose.

"Looks like he couldn't get the job done, yet again." Hux says. An officer looks up at us.

"General, Major. The oscillator is severely damaged but still functional." The officer says. We watch as the X-Wings fire on the burning Oscillator.

"Weapon at full capacity in thirty seconds." A technician says.

"Prepare to fire." Hux tells him. They manage to take out the Oscillator, Hux grasps my hand tightly and pulls me out of the command room with him.

We hurry in to speak with Snoke. His hologram sparks to life. It's a relative quiet in here, the sounds of destruction are distant.

"Supreme Leader." I say. Snoke looks down at us.

"The fuel cells have ruptured. The collapse of the planet has begun." Hux tells him. Snoke considers this for a moment, he looks furious.

"Leave the base at once and come to me with Kylo Ren. It's time to complete his training." Snoke says. Hux and I nod, then run out of the room.

...

I sit in one of the bedrooms on a massive Resurgent-Class Star Destroyer. The video of my parents' deaths replays over and over in my hand.

"Why do you torture yourself?" I hear Hux ask. I look up at him with pain in my eyes. I shake my head.

"I don't know, Hux. I just, I can't believe Poe did it. He was my bestfriend, he betrayed me." I say. He shuts the door behind him and comes to sit beside me on the bed.

"Sometimes betrayal comes from those closest to us. I truly am sorry that this happened to you." I look up at him and study his face.

"General, why do you show me so much kindness? Every time I heard stories about you, you were portrayed as a merciless general who was ruthless against his enemies and even worse to his prisoners. Why weren't you like that with me?" Hux takes this in for a moment, then places his hand over mine. The familiar feeling of electricity erupts at his touch. I look up to meet his eyes.

"When I first saw you, it was on a surveillance recording. You were running through the halls of the Death Gang base, weak and limping. But there was something about you, it made me feel something I've never felt before. A warmth in the pit of my stomach, the feeling of electric coursing through my veins. It felt like I had a connection with you, I wanted to fly to the Death Gang base myself and pick you up. When I found out you were a rebel, there was a bit of disappointment. I knew you would never want to even see a man like me, the commander of your enemy. That's when I found out that you were Eira Vox. I had learned the story of your parents, I knew that was my only chance. When they brought you here and I saw you for the first time, I had that same feeling from the first time I saw you. I showed you mercy, rewarded you, in an effort to make you believe that I'm not as horrible as you were trained to think." I take this in for a moment, he stares at me.

"I felt the connection to. The first time you took off your glove and touched my face, it was like I had been hit by lightning. It was like nothing I ever felt before." He watches, slowly a look of joy reaches his face. I slowly raise my hand and gently place it on his face. "I don't know what our connection is, but I want to find out."

"I believe there's only one thing it can be." He quickly leans forward and presses his lips to mine.