General Hux nearly collapsed when he boarded the shuttle. His lungs burned and sweat poured down his brow. "TAKE OFF, NOW!" He shrieked at the pilot over the roar of the collapsing planet, eyes bulging and fiery red.

The shuttle lurched forward. Hux ordered the pilot to continue take off even though the ramp was still open. The engines hummed as the ground below them began to disappear. The shuttle lifted just in time for Hux to watch the planet swallow the snow and the trees and the many buildings. The shuttle jerked and swayed as it tried making its escape through the tumultuous atmosphere. "Come on, damnit" Hux mumbled to himself. The shuttle couldn't go fast enough for his nerves. Flames licked the exterior as the shuttle broke free of the planet and into open space.

The planet burst in a brilliant display, destroying the weapon and many lives. Hux collapsed to the floor, relieved he made it off the planet before he became one of those lives lost to the stars, and angry. Angry because of who he had been ordered to risk his life to retrieve for Supreme Leader.

He had found Kylo Ren on the edge of a fissure, maskless and barely conscious. Hux did his best to drag Ren by his arm through the forest and the snow. Blood trailed behind them from Ren's various woulds. The man bleeds, Hux thought as he staggered through the woods, yelling profanities into his communicator for help. The burning odor of the destruction wafted to his nostrils, as did the metallic scent of Ren's blood, so strong he could taste both odors on his tongue. Hux huffed and gritted his teeth as he pulled Ren closer to the launch bay. He couldn't make it. The planet was becoming more and more unstable. The ground shook under his feet and he could hear trees crack nearby. Hux stumbled and collapsed in the snow. By then, Kylo Ren had fully lost consciousness. Hux felt around for his communicator, but couldn't find it. All was lost. He was going to die here with his rival. He let the iciness of the ground consume him as he waited for his fiery death, taking satisfaction that Ren was going down with him as well. Then came a pounding on the ground. He looked to see several Stormtroopers making their way to Hux. Hux let the troopers carry Ren as he ran to the shuttle.

Now, sitting there as the ship sped through space, Hux could feel the hate he had for Ren burn within as he watched the glow from the demolished planet reflect off of Kylo Ren's freshly-scarred skin. Ren slept supine on the frigid floor of the shuttle where Hux and the Stormtroopers had left him as there was no time to get him on a cot nor did Hux care about where Ren was left. Still, Hux hoped that Kylo Ren would sleep long enough to make it back to the Finalizer and not know how his limp body was treated by Hux. Ren's threats were enough for fiery-haired Hux that he had fear for the volitile Kylo Ren and he decided to enjoy as Ren slept where Hux would think is the most uncomfortable place on the shuttle.

Hux had some nasty ideas cross his mind as the shuttle made the jump to lightspeed. He comtemplated killing Ren right then, while he was the most vulnerable. Maybe a blaster to the head? Or he could suffocate if his robes were pressed into his face. Or maybe Hux could pry the lightsaber from Ren's grip and use it the way Ren threatened to use it countless times on Hux. The only thing that ever stopped either of them from killing one another was Snoke.

Why did Snoke keep Ren? Hux thought as he stumbled to his feet and began pacing the small space. This was HIS fault. He let his personal interests get in the way. It was HIS mistakes that cost the First Order so much.

Hux noticed Ren's eyelids twitch. Oh, how he wished this one moment he could use the Force. Get inside that wretched skull and scrape out his deepest secrets and pick them apart, then expose him for what he really is. Hux didn't need the Force to sense that Ren had secrets that would put his loyalty to Snoke and the First Order into question. Trust wasn't a feeling either man had for one another, but, though Ren's past was well-known, Hux still sensed that Ren's feelings and ties to the Resistance weren't completely severed, even if he killed his own father.

"R-r-r-rey" Ren mumbled, still asleep. The muscles in his eyes and face twitched more and more violently, "Rey."

Rey? Whose Rey? Damnit, what was that blasted scavenger's name? Was it Rey? He couldn't remember. Hux had no interest in Ren's little pet when he carried her off the shuttle and to the interrogation chamber. Hux could tell there was something different about Ren's interest in this one, but what was it? Ren never carried his prisoners as delicately as he did this girl. Most were dragged or escorted by Stormtroopers. Even girls. And most prisoners had information far more valuable to the First Order than a map to Ren's old master. The only thing he looked forward to with the girls was pleasuring himself before Ren had them executed. And Ren only interoggated prisoners when other means failed. But Ren wouldn't let anybody touch this one except himself and the weak-minded Stormtrooper she used one of those mind tricks on to escape. Why? Was it because Ren sensed that she had the same mystical powers and he? But Hux sensed, without the Force, that there was something more.

Ren turned his head from side to side, mumbling something unintelligible, but Hux would catch the girl's name here and there. Hux smirked. The Great Kylo Ren, Master of the Knights of Ren, is haunted by a lowly little scavenger girl.