Chapter Text
General Armitage Hux was once again reduced to a humiliating, pitiful display by his superiors for no reason other than their own savage entertainment. His only pleasant thoughts about this particular instance of humiliation were that none of his soldiers or fellow officers were around to witness it.
His head started to feel fuzzy from the lack of oxygen thanks to Ren using the force to choke him. He dangled lowly in the air and kicked his legs in a natural human instinct. Foolish. He knew it would do nothing to fight against the power Ren was using against him. The same could be said about how his gloved hands held his throat, trying to rip off the invisible hands that strangled him.
Ren’s face showed Hux no emotion except for contempt. It made Hux want to murder him. Kill him and abuse him and humiliate him and choke him the same way Ren did to him.
The sith was no doubt reading his mind the way he did with the force, but at this point, Hux could care less. His world was slowly crumbling down around him and leaving him with littler and littler each passing hour.
First it was the intimidating presence of General Enric Pryde; a man that threatened his triumvirate with Kylo Ren and Captain Phasma. Then came the destruction of his beloved Starkiller base at the hands of a defective Stormtrooper. And now there was this.
Kylo Ren acting like the bratty child he was.
Hux was once equal to Ren in power, answering directly to Supreme Leader Snoke and standing on the same ground as both the powerful force users. Him, a normal, bastard child who climbed his way through the ranks by any means necessary. He worked for his position as General, and each day he yearned- demanded- for higher ranks. More control. More power. The title of Grand Marshal or Allegiant General. That was all he asked for. It was his right to rule the galaxy and control all have all he ever wanted. But Ren had taken the leap for strength sooner than Hux, and now he stood above it all.
Hux cursed himself for allowing Ren to power over him. He was stronger than Ren. Physically. Emotionally. Mentally. Hux was destined to tower over everyone who ever existed. Not a single soul in the entire galaxy was born to make him cower and bow his pitiful head.
Yet here he was. Bruised, bloodied, passing out, and reduced to a table side stress toy for Ren to use as he pleases. His mind was still attempting to process the scene he'd stepped into, but it was becoming harder to do now that he couldn’t breath.
The girl who’d willingly surrendered herself to them had killed their Supreme Leader Snoke, all of his Praetorian Guards, and idiotically left Ren, of all men, alive. If only she had finished the damn job.
“The Supreme Leader is dead,” Ren snarled, though the sound barely made its way to Hux’s ringing ears.
Him giving in was what Ren wanted. Deep down, it was probably what Hux wanted as well. If he gave in, then he’d be let go. His position as General wouldn’t be compromised, he wouldn’t die, and he could continue to rise in the ranks of The First Order.
But his pride was something he didn’t want to so easily surrender. Giving up on his pride right here and now would tell Ren that Hux accepted his new position underneath his heel.
He’d rather die.
Ren must have sensed his emotions again. A quick tightening of his windpipe made Hux rethink his spur of the moment decision. He gave Ren a death glare and used the little oxygen he got to form a short, necessary sentence.
“Long live the Supreme Leader,” he choked out.
Ren immediately dropped his hand and Hux came falling to the ground. He propped himself up on his legs as fast as possible, not willing to let Ren see him grovel on his knees any longer than was possible, and took quick, deep, and ragged breaths. Breathe. Just try to breathe and don’t lose your composure. Don’t allow Ren to see your weaknesses, he told himself.
The harsh feeling of a hand was still lingering on his neck and throat. He wished it would leave soon. It made him feel like he was still being suffocated. Forced into submission
“Get to your post,” Supreme Leader Kylo Ren spat. “We’re destroying the rest of the Resistance’s ships and taking the fight to Crait. You’re coming down with me.”
“Is that where the girl went? Supreme Leader?” Hux coughed out, making his way to a standing position.
Ren didn’t answer him. The black haired brat walked away towards the elevator and left Hux staggering on his feet. He didn’t let himself think ill of Ren until the man had left and Hux was alone.
Alone with the burning room that once belonged to Supreme Leader Snoke.
Alone with the dead bodies of Snoke’s Praetorian Guards and his severed corpse. Cut in half by the girls lightsaber.
Hux gripped at the collar of his uniform with his shaking fingers and composed himself. Judging by Kylo’s- he refused to acknowledge him as Supreme Leader- current temper, he only had a very short while to ready himself before he had to leave.
Damn that Ren. Hux’s rage and jealousy couldn’t be expressed in words. In the span of just a few minutes he’d seen his leaders corpse, been humiliated by his second most hated comrade, nearly passed out, and had his world flipped upside down. Anyone would want the world on the scuff of their heel at that point.
Now that Kylo named himself Supreme Leader, where would that leave Hux? They weren’t equals anymore. He was below Kylo, a mere General to a God. Sure, he was in a good position for Allegiant General or even Grand Marshal, but at the moment he still stood a lowly General. Kylo could throw him away or demote him to a Petty Officer if he so wished.
Hux didn’t wish to ponder these questions any longer than he had to. They only served to hurt him; to ruin his dream of controlling Kylo and everybody else in this wretched galaxy.
He spat a mixture of blood and saliva onto the ground and fixed his gelled hair back into place. Kylo wouldn’t know how much this incident got to his head.
Not ever.
———
Hux reluctantly boarded Ren’s personal cruiser and waited for their advancement on Crait. The cannon to smash open the Rebel base’s walls was already moving forward, as were the AT-AT’s and battle plans. He stood proud next to the new “Supreme Leader” (like he’d ever be respected in that title by anyone) and disregarded their previous meeting.
His hands still twitched to cover his neck and throat though, and that he felt weak for.
The rebels were launching a desperate counter attack as they tried to flee from the First Order’s merciless assault. But they were trapped like mice in a box, and the First Order would make sure they were finally wiped out for good. The Resistance were even putting pilots out in broken, worn down speeder jets from years past. A final attempt at a distraction for escape and an attack on the cannon.
“All fire power on those speeders,” Ren commanded, his voice teetering on the verge of speaking and shouting.
“Concentrate all fire on the speeders!” Hux yelled.
Ren looked at him confused for a moment, and then went on commanding his army. Hux wouldn’t let him control his own men. He dictated what they would do, not Kylo Ren. Hux needed at least a little control of his situation. Ren wasn’t allowed to think of him as a “rabid cur” or a feebly inferior man. Ren wouldn’t tower over him anymore than he already was.
It was a vicious and entertaining fight as Hux would put it. The Resistance fell to fewer numbers still, and the cannon was ready to fire on the gate. All signs pointed to a victory for the First Order. A victory well deserved if he could say out loud.
It would all be fine and well at this point, if it weren’t for the terrible idiocracy of Ren. He could never be Supreme Leader. He still acted as a toddler in a perpetual tantrum.
Ren was ordering a large scale cannon fire on a singular man that stood before the gate. One man. One measly man. Hux couldn’t grasp the concept as to why Kylo was going through so much trouble trying to eliminate one man, but he couldn’t bring up his grievances, or even think about them. Kylo had already ordered most of their TIE Fighter fleet to chase a single ship, so they couldn’t even count on sky attacks at the moment. Yet another terrible, childish decision.
Hux wanted to bite on his tongue and bark out his orders and put Kylo in his place all at the same time. If his men weren’t in the ship with him then he would have spoke his mind freely, unable to be shamed and embarrassed by the humiliation of being beaten by Ren. It was always easier in private.
But at this point, he couldn’t care about that anymore. This had gone on long enough and, frankly, was reminiscent of all the past mistakes that led Ren and the Order to disaster. He had to take action.
“That’s enough!” Hux shouted.
The AT-ATs and ships immediately stopped their firing. They all respected and feared Hux, as they should, and seemed more compelled to listen to him than to the new Supreme Leader’s orders to continue. Kylo, surprisingly, didn’t reprehend the order. He stayed silent and focused on the dissipating cloud of salt and dust that formed where the man stood. Hux watched his facial expressions with hesitation.
Kylo’s pupils dilated in what seemed to be restrained anger. His fists tightened and his jaw locked. Hux could tell he was holding back. To find out why, he followed Kylo’s menacing glare and felt his heart jump.
Despite the minute long nonstop cannon fire onslaught, the old man stood completely unharmed. He even cheekily brushed off his shoulder and huffed. Hux felt dread, contempt, and confusion wash over him. He quickly tried to regain control of himself and look back over to Kylo.
“Bring me down to him. Keep the door covered and don’t advance until I say,” the Supreme Leader said lowly. His tone could almost be heard to hold a twinge of fear, like he holding back tears.
“Supreme Leader,” Hux started, “don’t get distracted. Our goal is to-”
Hux was rudely interrupted by being flung backwards and sideways into the wall of the ship with a monumentos crash. A force push. Just what he should have expected.
The shipmen flinched and directed their gaze downwards immediately. Through his dazed state and ringing ears, Hux heard one of them mutter a meek, “yes sir”. Coward. Stand up for yourself! Ren will never be Supreme Leader, he angrily thought.
Ren himself was ignoring Hux’s low groan of pain and instead clenching his lightsabers hilt while he waited for the ship to descend. Hux gripped his head and did a quick examination for bruises or lumps or anything else that would send him to the medical bay. Luckily there was only a slight trickle of blood above his left ear. It was more of an annoyance rather than a problem. It would get matted and dry in his hair and leave an annoying knot later.
Hux watched from the floor as Kylo exited the ship and briskly walked out onto the open field. He was entirely exposed, and if Hux wanted to, he could quite easily order a fire strike and kill Kylo then and there. The thought amused him and almost eased the pounding pain in his head. It seemed like anything that could harm Ren in any feasible way possible brought him abstract joy.
Hux didn’t care about watching Ren fight. He cautiously hoisted himself up, using the wall as a leverage, and steadied himself. He leaned on the wall and only now realized that his left arm was most likely sprained or even cracked. He took pride in the fact that he was able to hold in his hiss of pain.
He used his good arm to swipe his hair over to one side and walked back to his usual position on the floor. He regained his composure so easily. It was a special skill of his. One of the shipmen turned in her chair and looked at him with pitying eyes. Hux was surprised a moment.
“Are you alright, General sir?” she tentatively asked him.
“Yes, I’m fine,” he said back simply. His tone told her to ask no more questions.
She turned back around and Hux desperately wanted to let out a sign of pain. His head and arm combined felt like they were slowly killing him. It was near unbearable. But he had to tough it out until he could make it to the medical bay and get treatment. His men would learn from him personally to never stand down against your assailants.
Oh, how that was stupid. He only wanted to save his own pride and stand against Kylo Ren.
How he despised him.
From the moment he’d met him to the current day and to the future. He’d never stop hating Ren. And now that Ren had commanded the position of Supreme Leader, Hux would have to work even harder to usurp him and stand on even ground again.
I fucking hate Kylo Ren, he thought.