glory and gore | a Star Wars story

3

The sound the blaster caused when it met the dirt was faint and muffled. Still the gesture had made the General flinch, before he came back to his senses and the realization of what just had happened washed over him.

He blinked, exhaled, shook his head, then kneeled with a convulsive hold around his leg, to collect the weapon. A grimace of anguish twisted his face when he attempted to rise once more. With the handle of the blaster between his fingers, he forced his weight up while he leaned on the arm of the wing of their former ship. When he had managed to return to his feet, he stood bent over with his hands to his knees and panted. There he remained, with his brows knitted and his eyes fixed on the air before him in a reflecting, distant gaze. Only a fool would have any hope in the comm unit of the TIE Fighter, judging by its current condition. Therefore attempting to reach out to the Order was out of the question. They could try to reach out in other ways, if they were fortunate they weren't the only vessel that had either unpurposely or purposely landed here, there might be other stations where they could connect. Yet, Hux lacked knowledge about where they had ended up, which could have been on any of the thousands obscure planet within the system of the Outer Rim for all he was aware. Besides that, the General also lacked the will. He cast a glare to the tall figure as he wiped the blood away from his lip. The thick, bitter taste of iron filled his mouth. It caused him to wrinkle is nose.

It was a pity, how simple it would have been to simply raise the blaster, aim, and pull the trigger. No one would know, it would take ages for the Order to find them, and by the appearance of the crash no one would raise their brows to hear that their greatest warrior had perished. It could happen even to the best. Hux had no doubt he could sell that lie, however another small difficulty had crossed his mind, concerning how he would explain his own survival, and not only that, how he had left the so called accident without more than a scratch. He was not precisely considered as strong, he could fire a blaster at distance, but fighting was not his greatest mastery. He couldn't claim that he was short, but his height didn't make up for the fact that he was slight and thin. Physical strength had never come naturally to him, and he had never cared much to learn the ways of combat. Of course violence could be necessary on certain occasions, but it was also imprudent and disorganized, unlike the purity of the Order. Hux was not very fond of disorganization. He was more capable on a fair distance from the battle field, watching over, calculating, pulling the strings. That was his preference.

He tapped his fingers against the black trousers of his uniform, which was ill-fitted for the warm climate. The air around him was alive with the constant buzzing of the flies within the thick forest which surrounded him. The beams of the sun searched its way through the solid treetops that cast great shadows over the hills. Sharp mountain tops could be sighted against the horizon far off, where the hills grew larger from the ground and stretched high up in the air. Impatiently he paced back and forth over the soil that painted his black boots red. The General ran his fingers through his hair, he was aware that he wouldn't receive a chance as this. Ren was defenceless, he would be unable to make a single attempt to resist. In fact, he wouldn't even notice, he just wouldn't wake up. It was a merciful death, more than the taller man deserved. Hux cursed himself for his irresolution. The blaster was still in his hand, held towards the ground. The violent grip he kept it in caused his knuckles to turn white, still he couldn't get himself to raise it. He had an attitude, but that is not the same thing as courage. He feared a lot of things, perhaps the most that if he were to point the end of his weapon towards Ren's body, he would open his eyes. Yet, he had been unconscious for some time now, perhaps he would remain so. Yet he was determined to be certain. Therefore he gingerly dared to approach the dark shape and patted with the tip of his boot against the side of the taller man. Immediately after he had, he shuddered back from him. When no reaction followed, he kneeled down besides the body. He swallowed, ran his eyes over the trees while he worked of his glove. Cautiously he reached out and placed his finger just above Ren's mouth, so that he did not brush against his lower lip. Warm breaths tickled the tip of his finger. Hux's heart skipped a beat when dark eyes observed him back. As quickly as he could, he withdrew his hand, but dared not to move any further. Instead his alarmed eyes lingered on the man before him.

Ren blinked, and it appeared he was not quite aware of his situation. So Hux took the chance and rose while he took a few steps backwards. The black haired man closed his eyes again, as the memories of their short trip came back to him, the incertitude on his face was replaced by a stern one. Without a word, or even a glance at the General, who remained at a fair distance from him, Ren rose. He wiped dirt and dust of his black non-standard uniform while he searched the area. When he had found his target, he strode over to the tree and collected his helmet. He held it up towards the sun, studied the smaller cracks and dents against the black, firm fabric. He didn't seem to mind them, for he wiped away the blood from his chin with the sleeve of his arm, then placed the mask upon his head. He nudged at it, before he turned his heels and began to head towards the east side forest.

Hux was not entirely sure what he had expected would happen when Ren woke up, but it was certainly not this. He took a hesitant step towards Ren, who had reached the spot where the ground ceased to be fresh soil and instead became green and filled with leaves, moss and, of course, the demolished pieces of the Fighter. The General's glare upon his back was not enough to make the man stop. "What do you think you're doing?" he shouted after the man, the dullness on his face was replaced by contempt. His question received no answer, and Ren began to vanish from the General's sight as he disappeared behind the trees. Hux pressed his lips together, let out a frustrated sigh, before he began to limp as rapidly as his leg allowed after his company. "Wait" he ordered, while he hastened over the leaves in a slightly twisted posture. To his relief the dark haired man did not quicken his walk, but kept up with the same determined steps, for if he had began to run, Hux would never had been able to approach him. He attempted to rest his weight on his left leg, while he grasped each passing tree to hold himself up and maintain the pace. "Ren-"

Fiercely the tall man turned around, one finger were held out in front of him, which caused him to fall silent and almost stumble backwards. "I warned you" he rasped. "That I would not hold back if you stood in my way"

"You don't even know where we are, we could have landed of any of the thousands planets within the Outer Rim" Hux spat, but when Ren moved in closer to the shorter General, the proud expression fell of his face and he swallowed.

"And who's fault is that?"

The ginger haired man was perhaps slightly taken back by Ren's low, threatening voice, still that didn't stop him from narrowing his eyes as his nostrils flared with rage. "Well, quite obviously it's your fault"

Hissing breaths came from beneath the mask. "If you hadn't distracted me I would have reached Ajan Kloss by now"

"I distracted you?" Hux asked with wide eyes, a cold laugh almost left his lips. "The reason the engine died is because you flew too close to Ajara, and if you would have listened to me you would have known that I tried to warn you" he raged, and saw how Ren lowered the finger that was pointed towards him. "I am not the reason we crashed, your ignorance is"

Ren took a step backwards, Hux took his lack of answer as a confirmation that the taller man had lost this little dispute, and tilted his chin up. "We have to reach out to the Order" he changed the subject and proceeded to walk.

"Indeed" the ginger haired man agreed, he straightened his uniform before he followed Ren. "If we're fortunate we might find some other ship on which the Comm unit is still intact" his sentence was answered by a short nod from the broad man besides him, and while Ren strode over the lush floor of the forest, covered by fungus and moss of all kinds and colours, and Hux limped besides him, a silence joined them and walked by them as a wordless, but undeniable shadow. The General did not mind the silence, in fact he preferred it over making conversation with the stubborn man to his left. He was aware of that Ren was not a man of words, and small talk was not Hux considered either useful or very pleasant. So instead they walked through the great forest, where birds sang above their heads, in a solemn speechlessness.