Chapter Text
“The child learns from the parent, and the parent learns from the child.
Betraying evil is true goodness.
A leader who cannot lead without fear is no leader at all.
Forgiving the self is forgiving others.
Those who put their faith in corrupt systems can never truly prosper.
No being is truly evil; each one has a speck of good.”
- Traditional Mandalorian sayings, tr. Valdesh Eldar
The huge, deep, all-encompassing impact on the Supremacy is enough to knock Alex onto his knees, enough to deafen him for several seconds, enough to blur his vision and disorient him. Still, he gets back up as quickly as he can, jogging jelly-legged towards – well, he’s not even sure what he’s doing. Why not just leave with Zeb and fight on the right side again? Alex doesn’t know himself. He is not required to stay here, and yet -
There’s more he needs to do. He’s sure the First Order know Rey and Zeb exist, and with the twins joining the fight it won’t take long before they become known as well, so it’s not like hiding their identities is still feasible. The only thing left is the clone thing, maybe: Alex feels as though he’s just scratching the surface with that. He’s been trying to convince himself he doesn’t have a responsibility to Hux, that it’s none of his business – but then again… Either way, he’s not done here. He keeps going.
He catches Hux in the throne room, mid-harangue.
“Lost consciousness? A likely story. Admit it, Ren, you -”
Alex clears his throat. “Have I interrupted something?”
“Our new self-appointed Supreme Leader -” Hux gestures at Ren with disgust - “can’t even kill a teenage girl. You let her go!”
Ren, sitting on the floor rubbing his head, scowls. “You don’t understand, I was trying to -”
“I couldn’t give a flaming shit what you were trying to do, you clearly failed!” snarls Hux. “Listen, Krum, this traitor murdered Supreme Leader Snoke. Thought we wouldn’t notice that burning hole in his torso, but who else has a fucking lightsaber on this ship, mm? What’s the matter, Ren, going to choke me to death? No? Of course not. You need my help chasing her and the rest of the Resistance down because you let her fucking go. Now our flagship is crippled and -”
“I’ll take care of it,” hisses Ren. “You will not question my leadership.”
“Leadership!” Hux scoffs. “You couldn’t lead a Star Destroyer out of a wet fucking durasheet bag!”
Alex bites his lip: he only narrowly avoids saying something along the lines of now, boys, you can both be Supreme Leader. That would undoubtedly get him killed immediately.
Instead: “You weren’t here to witness this treachery, General?”
“Well -” Hux grimaces. “No, as a matter of fact, but surely even you can see -” He gestures vaguely to the robed corpse by the throne, which does indeed has a distinctive lightsaber-burn hole. “He was too busy fighting our own leader to notice that the Resistance was about to ram their ship into ours. You know I had a group of Resistance fighters captured, ready to execute, but that impact gave them the opportunity to escape?”
“Oh dear,” says Alex. “What a shame.”
“That escaped Stormtrooper was with them, remember him? Ah, no, you weren’t here for that.” Hux grunts. “He killed Captain Phasma. I’d say she was one of the few competent officers we had, but she got killed by a Stormtrooper, so she can’t have been that good.”
Alex raises his eyebrow. “An escaped Stormtrooper? My word.”
“Yes, it was him, another Human, and -” Hux snaps his fingers. “Ugh, what’re those creatures called again? Lasiks?”
“Lasats,” say Kylo Ren and Alex, at the same time. Kylo Ren’s eyes snap to Alex suddenly with a look that Alex does not like at all.
“So I’m told,” he adds, to cover his slip.
“Another lie Lord Ren has told,” Hux spits, glaring at Ren. “You said they were an extinct species. That there was only one left. You think I can’t count to fucking two, Ren?”
Ah. It’s not very difficult to put two and two together and come up with the inevitable. All five of them on the same ship at the same time? That’s got to be more than a coincidence.
Kylo Ren’s forehead creases. “There are two of them now?”
“Oh, don’t play the fool, Ren, it doesn’t suit you. You’re a filthy liar.”
And there Alex sees his chance. “Yes, he has lied to us all, hasn’t he? And about much more than just that, I don’t doubt. I wonder how many others in this First Order have lied, stolen, cheated, manipulated?”
Hux shoots him a warning look. “Careful, Krum.”
“Our superiors?” asks Alex, relentlessly. “Our closest comrades? Our subordinates? If a Stormtrooper can betray us… who else?”
“Careful, I said.” Hux steps closer to Alex, leans in to his personal space. “Or I might begin to suspect you of treachery, too.” And then, before Alex can respond, he sighs and turns away again. “But – no, of course not. FOSB Agents are even more unflinchingly loyal than the rest of us.”
“That’s the idea, certainly,” agrees Alex. “But loyal to whom? The Supreme Leader is dead, and so far the next two candidates are fighting like children. Do either of you actually have a plan?”
Kylo Ren huffs and stands in one fluid movement. “I do. We will find their new base and lead an attack on it. Immediately.”
“You’re insane,” spits Hux. ‘We’ve lost half our forces, and you’re not going to give us a moment to regroup? How reckless – how many of our troops must be lost?”
This time Ren really does begin to choke Hux. “Reckless? Whose fault is it that Starkiller Base targeted worthless lumps of rock instead of anything effective? Oh, you tried to cover up that blunder, but I know your mind. You allowed a flaw to slip through your fingers. The oh-so-perfect Hux! You could never lead the First Order. You are too weak.”
“I -” gasps Hux.
“The Supreme Leader is dead,” prompts Ren.
Hux’s eyes bulge. “Long… live… the Supreme… leader…”
Alex watches Hux’s struggles slow and then cease entirely; once Ren is satisfied, he drops Hux to the ground and marches out, without even a word to Alex. For a few moments, Alex debates between following him – he could still pose a serious threat to the Resistance, on the warpath as he is – or staying here. He moves to check Hux’s breathing and heartbeat: still alive. There’s probably more sophisticated things a real medic could do to make sure there isn’t any lasting damage, but no doubt the medbay will be heaving with broken bodies after an impact like that, so Hux will just have to survive on Alex’s basic first aid.
Just as Alex is beginning to consider the benefits of sending the nearest Stormtrooper to fetch a med droid, Hux stirs and groans. Slowly, he brings his hand to his throat and rubs the purpling mark that is already starting to blossom.
“Easy, General,” murmurs Alex, helping him sit up. “Take it slow.”
Hux wheezes a couple of times, trying to say something; eventually, he manages: “He’s gone, isn’t he?”
“I’m afraid so.” Then: “Can you stand?”
“Gods dammit,” says Hux. He stares into the space in front of him emptily. “I’ve had enough of this.”
“...I’m sorry?” asks Alex.
“I said I’ve had enough.” Hux’s gloved hands bunch into fists. “I refuse to serve that idiot Ren any more. I refuse to be treated like this, to have half my army destroyed through poor management, to be surrounded by liars, to – you were fucking right about the treachery in every fucking corner! Have you seen how the Resistance fighters work? Better than this shitshow, that’s for damn certain!”
Alex tips his head. “Is that so?”
“They practically know our every move before we do,” continues Hux, barely acknowledging that Alex even said something, “they’re organised, I don’t know how they sabotaged Starkiller but they did. And you know why? It’s not because they’re at each other’s damn throats all the time! That group I was holding? Willing to fucking die for each other! No one’s that insane! But gods help me, I fancy my chances at survival better with them than I do here.”
Well, well, well. Looks like Hux really is a chip off the old block, after all.
“You’re going to kill me now, aren’t you,” adds Hux, while Alex stares at him. “Well, do it then.”
“No,” replies Alex. “I don’t think I will. In fact, I agree with you.”
Hux stares at him. “You? No, I don’t think you understand what I’m saying, I -”
“I do understand.” Alex takes a deep breath. “How would you like to join the Resistance?”
“...You can’t possibly be serious.”
He gives Hux his most serious and uncompromising look. “Oh, I very much can.”
Hux’s eyes narrow. “This isn’t another FOSB test, is it?”
“The first one was just me trying to cover my tracks, but well done for asking.” Alex pats his shoulder. “I could certainly still be lying in a clever double-bluff.”
“Don’t patronise me, Krum.” And then: “So the cock up with Starkiller base was your fault.”
Alex nods. “I refuse to participate in xenocide again, so I did everything in my power to prevent it from doing the damage you intended.”
“...what do you mean, again?”
“That’s not important.” It is important, but Alex feels the pressure of time closing in. Someone is going to check up on Hux soon, surely. “If you really do feel that way, we need to get going.”
“But… how are you a traitor? You – you’re an FOSB Agent, you -” Hux’s eyes go wide. “Oh. Oh my gods. You aren’t a real FOSB Agent, are you?”
“Focus, Hux.” Alex snaps his fingers in front of Hux’s face. “The middle of a battle or immediately after is the best time to escape, yes? People go AWOL all the time. So, we’re going to leave. Now.”
“Hold on just a minute, shouldn’t we try to stop Ren first?”
“And do what? Get choked again?” Alex shakes his head. “Face it, against a powerful Sith like that, we don’t stand a chance.” He hesitates. “Unless you have any latent Force abilities you’ve been hiding.”
Hux shakes his head.
“I thought not.” Alex checks around them: they’re still alone, as far as he can tell, and the cameras he does spot seem to have been disabled by the impact. “We’ll go with my idea, then. We can come up with a plan to get out of here as we go.”
“You -” Hux gulps – “don’t already have a plan?”
“One thing one learns when dealing with groups like the Resistance,” replies Alex, offering a hand up, “is that every plan inevitably goes wrong. So, let’s just see what happens, shall we?”
“This is insane.” Hux takes Alex’s hand anyway and stands with his help. “Just running away into the arms of the people I was fighting half an hour ago?”
Alex leads him out into the corridor, heading for the nearest hangar. “Believe me, I’ve been there. Although I did have a little more time to consider my allegiance than you have. I’m sure this is quite a lot to adjust to, but – well, it’s only a matter of time until someone notices you aren’t either with Ren or rallying troops for your own campaign. You’ll have a short grace period during which no one will question you, but if you start acting oddly after that, well…”
“What if I stayed, and passed on information to you?” Hux notices Alex’s stunned expression and shrugs. “I’m just saying. I’d be in the perfect position to continue to spy on the First Order. And we can’t just both disappear in the middle of a battle like that. Kylo Ren knows that both of us are alive, remember? If one of us disappears, the other can say he killed him. If we both go…”
Alex opens his mouth, closes it, and at last settles on: “You really are much too much like me, Hux.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Never mind.” He turns a corner: there are only a few small shuttles left in the hangar. Most of the TIE fighters must still be out there, either still clinging on in a dogfight or blown to pieces. “Do you think you could hide your duplicity from Kylo Ren? He can read minds, after all.”
“…You did it, it can’t be that difficult.” Hux frowns at the selection of shuttles and points to one. “There, that’s my private one. You can use it if you like.”
“I see it. Are you staying here, or coming with?”
A frown, and Hux turns his head back towards where they came from. “I doubt I would be a good fit. I don’t care if the First Order wins. I just want Kylo Ren to lose.”
“Well,” smiles Alex, “we can use that, too.” And then: “The truth is, I didn’t feel very comfortable either at first. It was an… adjustment. But everyone I met was very welcoming – even when I didn’t deserve it.”
“You’re…” Hux hesitates. “You’ve already decided to leave, haven’t you? You won’t stay here to spy.”
Alex takes a deep breath. He’s seen everything of the First Order that he needed to see. “I’ve had enough as well. I don’t want to spend another minute here.”
Hux nods, once. “If you say so.”
With that, he takes a step: not back, but forwards, striding confidently towards the shuttle he indicated. Alex trots to keep up with him. The hangar is a mess of troopers and officers running around, trying to put out fires and help the injured; the few people who do notice Alex and Hux give hurried, half-hearted salutes and don’t bother to ask their business.
Perhaps it’s habit that compels Hux to take a passenger seat when he boards, a lifetime of having someone else to pilot him around the Galaxy; whatever the reason, Alex doesn’t mind taking the controls. He lifts up. Someone asks for authorisation over the comms, and Hux gives it easily.
And then… they’re off. Alex tries to keep a low profile; everything is very confused still on the battlefield outside, and he tries to use the body of the big Star Destroyer or any other nearby ships to shield them from stray shots. It’ll be difficult to jump to hyperspace in all this; perhaps it’d be a good idea to wait until things have calmed down.
“So,” begins Hux, “where exactly are we going?”
“Good question,” replies Alex. “I suppose I’ll just have to go wherever the Resistance’s new base is and hope they don’t kill us on sight.”
Hux grimaces. “How the hells are we going to find the Resistance base? The First Order can only find them with hyperspace tracking.”
“We talk to them, of course.” Alex sends a message out using his Fulcrum codes: the Resistance has acted on all the information he’s sent so far, so perhaps they’ll reply. He doesn’t expect a full location, of course, not with the First Order still chasing after them, but something. “We’ll figure something out.”