Chain Reaction

Chapter 15 - Decode

Hux

He ran a hand through his face in frustration, it had been almost three days since he had left the First Order and so far, he had scoured through two planets. Humans and other beings had both taken to point him in meaningless directions as if they had even seen Paige in their lives. Hux was glad, despite his previous encounters, he was chosen for this mission. He imagined Ren must have been helplessly furious when he found out it was he that Snoke had picked.

Hux smirked as he thought of Kylo Ren being frustrated courtesy of him. He must have been, seeing as he had infiltrated his private chambers and strangled him using the Force. An act of cowardice, as Hux would describe it. If he had the guts he should have strangled Hux himself, or did Kylo Ren think of him that low to not even bother to touch him. His hand absentmindedly touched his neck, it had formed bruises on areas where the Force had pressed on, forming an indistinct outline of Kylo Ren's hand around his neck. His other hand gripped the controls of the vehicle he was riding. As he continued to fly through space, searching for the next planet, the communications device on the ship lit up, signaling a message. Hux pressed on a button, and a hologram of Kylo Ren appeared on the lower corner of the windshield of the cockpit. Hux visibly sneered at the man.

"I'm a little busy at the moment, Ren." He said, his voice expressing his irritation.

"General Hux, I found her."

Hux glared at him. If Snoke had ordered him to stay back at the First Order then he'd be in big trouble if he'd went against Snoke's orders and left anyway. If this was a prank or some sort of threat he had devised to pressure Hux then he had another thing coming.

"You disobeyed an order, the supreme leader will have your--"

"I have not stepped a foot off this ship."

Hux's eyebrows furrowed in confusion at his response.

"It's Paige, she contacted me."

"Where is she?"

"Go to the Unknown Regions, on the black planet."

"What could she possibly be doing there?"

Hux fumed, he knew well enough that the Resistance had taken her with them. If Kylo Ren was telling him she was at the Unknown Regions just to put Hux off course--

"Hux, she contacted me through the Force. She showed me where she was."

Hux could not argue against this. He did not desire anymore the power to wield the Force, and understanding it seemed a futile attempt.

"The black planet?"

"Yes, on the Unknown Regions."

"Yes, I caught that, thank you." Hux scowled, he was a general, damn it all, he did not need to be told twice.

There was a period of silence that felt too long for the general's taste, and neither had hung up. Hux decided to be the one with the final word and reached to press the button, but Kylo spoke again.

"Keep her safe."

Kylo's hologram then disappeared. Hux licked his lips, honestly he was relieved he finally had a proper location. He could finally see her again. His Paige. He hoped the Resistance did not brainwash her into joining their cause. He jumped through lightspeed and paused for a moment as he took in his surroundings.

The Unknown Regions weren't inhabited by anything he had ever seen before, and seeing it with his own eyes, he understood why very few people ever sought to travel to this place. Just looking around, it made him feel small. Smaller than he thought he already was in the face of the galaxy. There was a blackness here that seemed to suck him in, the only comfort being the stars. There were many of them, and they were beautiful. Hux flew by slowly, lost in the trance of the flickering and twinkling balls of gas. When he found the black planet that Kylo had told him of, he entered its atmosphere and began his search. He flew over a cave at first, but it had seemed empty for him so he did not land. Moving along the place, he discovered the crash site of her X-wing and landed beside it. If she had landed here, he can't be far behind her.