Star Wars: Edge of Hope

Chapter Twelve: A Private War...

As Kylo Ren strode alongside General Hux in the stark santized corridors of the newly refurbished First Order Command Ship, Kylo Ren was beginning to question keeping the loyal lap dog of his predecessor. Ren turned heading towards the hanger bay where his ship was being made ready for his departure. There had been murmurings throughout the fleet that Ren could not be seen as the heir of Snoke. There was talk that HE had been the one to murder Snoke, not the young inexperienced Jedi girl Rey. How could a girl kill eight Praetorian Guards and Snoke? The voices had legs an so the rumors began to spread among the underlings, and Ren had his suspicions that Hux was at the head of the snake looking to poison his reign. It was a small problem in the grand scheme of things, but in his position talk could turn to action with enough support. And Ren wasn't about to be toppled by a muttering weasel like Hux. Ren had met many like Hux, they were like weeds stretching for the sun. They take their root in the shade of a tall tree, and then slowly and quietly they expand, and grow closer and closer to their host. And then before you realize it...they've attached themselves to the host and burrow into his strong footholds, leeching the lifes blood from it so they can rise higher and grow stronger. Hux was a weed if ever he'd seen one. And judging by the spread of the rumor and the manner in which he was being accorded by the crew around him...the network of weeds were beginning to grow stronger.

General Hux: Judging from the recovered drive you found among the wreckage of Lord Vader's command ship. We believe the navigational charts are leading us to...the abandoned Fortress on Mustafar. The location of Lord Vader's fleet is held in his personal data vault, and although I must say, it's highly unlikely the information will be easy to access. Many of our preliminary incursions have failed to access the vault. Indeed breaching the perimeter of the grounds...has proven...

Kylo Ren: I don't want excuses. I want results...but as always it seems I have to take matters into my own hands. It seems to me the troops you speak so highly of are unfitting for the tasks they are handed. From the last reports on morale, and projections over the numbers available for our next attack on the Resistance, there are more and more that go missing everyday. It seems to me, Armitage, words are not enough any more. If you want to stay in command you will button up the leaks in your ranks...Or I will have them all purged of any...sympathies. Do you understand?

Hux pivotes around to face head on Kylo Ren cutting him off...Ren stops and turns his head to the side as if looking beyond Hux.

General Hux: Supreme Leader, the numbers you're speaking of are correct, but soon there will be no need to plug up leaks. The missing units are the result of a purge I've already implemented. In the wake of the transition I felt it was...proper and practical to assess each of the units for their full cooperation and compliance. Those who didn't pass the evaluations were terminated and their replacements will be ready within the next to system cyles. The holes will be filled, and the full might of the First Order will stand ready to follow whatever commands you give them. My soldiers will retrieve the...

The expasive wall slides apart with a hiss, Hux recoils as he feels someone standing behind him, and he turns slowly to see a motley group of men waiting for Kylo Ren. The second in command nods to Kylo Ren and returns to the group, they begin to walk off towards their prepared transport. Hux feins signs of disgust with a mild undercurrent of disapproving contempt. This wasn't the sort of scum they needed to strengthen the First Order. They were thugs only loyal to themselves and to their own creed, which was held sacrosanct above all other directives. No one but Ren could call them to heel in that way, and that meant they were outside the chain of command. And out of Hux's reach. And that was exactly why they were here. It was a miscalculation by Snoke and by Hux, you don't need a legion to secure your hold on power. Ren relied on the Knights for security, no one could stand against them, ruthless and without mercy. The Darkside eminated around them leaking into the air around them, so the troopers and crew fell to the side to avoid it. Fear was a useful tool and a much sharper tool than Hux's pandering. Ren wasn't about to let Hux get a foot hold and implement his deranged belief on the galaxy. He'd seen the horror of what an ideal twisted into a belief could become. And it led to nothing but ashes...and blood.

Kylo Ren: No, General. I think I'll deal with the matter personally this time. I trust you will have accomodations prepared for my guests when we return.

Hux straightened himself biting his tongue to helps take the edge off the scorn he felt for Ren. He swallows his indignation as Ren leans in closer to make his orders intent perfectly clear...as if Hux could have had any doubt. Hux had been able to play on Snokes reliance on his underlings, but Ren only saw people to remove from his path. There only ever had been a sense of competitive rivalry between Hux and himself. The son of a Commandant that had grander plans than he had been intended for, the whole family knew nothing, but reaching higher than their aim would allow. And they always fell...if Hux continued to push...Ren would see to it this fall would be perminent.

General Hux: Of course, Supreme Leader. I'll see to it personally. Will there be anything else?

Kylo Ren walks over to his ship and removes his mask. He no longer need it, but it remained a useful tool at projecting his iconography into the psyche of his troops. For years the black mask of Kylo Ren had meant one thing to those that faced it. Death had come for them. The ending of an era had seen its beginning stopped by the mind behind that mask. Ren knew just where to hit the Resistance and just how they would move to strike against him. His own flesh and blood had engineered the weapon which would deliver their destruction. There was no going back....The boy once frightened of his nightmares...had now become the monster that haunted others.

Kylo Ren: Not for the moment. I leave the ship under your command...for now, General Hux. Bring her into the orbit of the planet and do not alter couse unless instructed. And shut down all power except for the auxiliary systems necessary for critical operations. I don't want the Resistance catching on to our presence here.

As Ren climbs into his ship and fires the engines, the last of the Knights of Ren board theirs. Watching them disappear from view Hux mumbles something under his breath. He should have known better by now. But that's the trouble with simple minds with big ideas...they never realize when they are outmatched and overrun. Hux was the same he would persist until the noose was tight around his neck. You can't stop a true believer. The only thing to halt that form of evil was death.

Kylo Ren:Be careful, Hux....Not to reach above your limits. It's a long way to fall should you ever consider betraying me. And mark my words, if you stand against me...there won't be a hole, crevice, or world far enough or deep enough for you to hide. I will hunt you down like the rabid cur you are...and I will make you beg for death...Don't test me...because of all people you should know just what I'm capable of...

Hux: I understand...sir.

Kylo Ren: For your sake, I should hope so.

The eerie voice wafted through his mind choking off all sensations and filling him with the poisonous energy of the Darkside. Ren could feel the black cloud wrapping itself around the soft squishy parts of his brain. He didn't know why Hux tested him, it was an unknown irritation that had followed Ren since his induction as Snokes apprentice. Hux was nothing. A lowly pencil pushing core soldier that had licked the right pair of boots to gain his status. But his history was fraught with scandals and intrigue, all of which led to his father's inexorable decline in the eyes of the Empire. Loyalists to the Old Guard were more careful, cautious men...they didn't feel the need to advertise their status or their allegiance. The Darkside knew who belonged to it...it was a black mark they all bore carved into their souls.

No other mark could touch someone so close to the bone, but the mark of a damned soul.