The Last Jedi: The Spark of Rebellion

Divided

HUX

Hux pushed the button to end communication with the Ruling Order, but the voice continued anyway.

"Your army is divided against itself and will not stand," the disembodied voice said. "You will fail."

Hux didn't see any need to reply to this. He didn't talk to robots, even if they spoke through the English language, it was senseless. They were non-sentient beings. There was no point.

"Kylo Ren has abandoned ship," the voice continued. "He learned that your base location has been compromised and we are coming to disarm you. He has fled like the coward he is."

Hux glanced around the room at the other commanders, listening silently to the transmission with him. Would they believe this robot leader, that Kylo had left them behind? It didn't really seem like something Ren would do. But then again, he'd been overly sensitive lately about Hux working alongside his mother, who was not in the Control Room at the moment and had just stepped out.

Hux held his posture, hands behind his back, waiting for the transmission to end. He refused to acknowledge this computer, with a reply. The other commanders looked worried. Hux wasn't sure what to think either. Was the Ruling Order really on their way? It could be a distraction, to get the fleet to abandon their mission. But why would they bother to announce their arrival, rather than launch a surprise counter attack? It made no sense.

"All will be assimilated," the voice added.

Again Hux said nothing.

"You were always the feeble-minded one, weren't you, Armitage?"

The transmission ended.

Hux sighed. It was the only indication that anything the Ruling Order voice had said affected him in any way. "Feeble-minded" wasn't a very logical expression for an Artificial Intelligent program to use. The communication had reminded him of Snoke, claiming that Ren had abandoned ship. Snoke would set Hux against Kylo all the time. But it couldn't be Snoke. He was dead.

Hux resisted the urge to run his fingers through his hair, something he did to de-stress when he was off duty. But right now he had to keep his composure around the commanders, who watched him silently, waiting for him to speak. Had General Leia been in the room, she would have had something to say. But she'd taken off quite suddenly, giving Hux full command. Had she had some premonition that the Ruling Order was on their way? 

The tiny dots representing the many fighting planes moving towards their targets, flashed on the hologram display above the conference desk. It would be another hour or so before they reached their target. A decision had to be made, to either call them all back or continue with the battle plan.

Where was General Leia? She should have returned by now. Hux felt uneasy. His Force sensitivity was telling him that something was wrong, but he didn't understand his new powers well enough yet to know what it was. Suddenly he thought of Temiri. His son. Whenever the realization that he had a son surfaced he quickly pushed it down. The emotions were too raw and unfamiliar. They were in the middle of a war at the moment and he had to stay focused. He couldn't get distracted. Once the battle was over and the Ruling Order was destroyed, he'd figure out what to do about Temiri. His first priority was to make sure they all survived, so they could be a family. 

Hux shook his head. He'd never had much of a family and now he suddenly had a son, and an aunt and... did this mean Ren was his cousin? He grabbed the back of the chair in front of him to steady himself. Again his thoughts circled back to the boy. Where was he anyway? The last time Hux had seen him, he was hanging around that Resistance Pilot. Hux's jaw clenched. If that pilot had taken Temiri out in a plane, there would be hell to pay.

Hux turned to leave. There was still an hour before the initial attack. And he wanted to find General Leia, to tell her of the Ruling Order's communication that had come in just now. All lies. Hux was familiar with lies and how they worked. He didn't believe one word of what the Ruling Order had said, even if it was some manifestation of Snoke himself. Especially if it was Snoke, risen from the dead somehow.

TEMIRI

Temiri frowned at his reflection in the mirror. He liked the uniform and having his hair smoothed down, but he didn't like how short he was. They'd all left him behind because he was too little. But he had powers. He could travel outside of his own body, he could make things move and hear people's thoughts. But nobody cared! They only cared if you were an adult.

A bleep from the front door caught Temiri's attention. Who was here? Hadn't they all gone into battle?

He hurried out of the washroom and into the main room, expecting to see Kylo Ren or maybe the mean, red-haired General, but it was only Dusty. Temiri smiled.

"Hey, Dusty." He got down on his knees in front of the little round robot. "Did they leave you behind too?"

"You are the future leader of the universe, Temiri," Dusty said. The voice that came from Dusty's speaker startled Temiri. It wasn't in his usual beeps, but spoken in human words. 

Temiri got up quickly and backed away. What was going on? This wasn't Dusty. He didn't roll back and forth on his round body, the way Dusty normally did. Instead, the robot stood completely still, with his head slightly to the side.

"This is the Ruling Order," the scary voice continued. "We've been looking for you, our true leader."

Temiri furrowed his brow. Were they somehow using Dusty's speaker to talk to him? Should he tell someone that the Ruling Order was talking to him?

"They don't take you seriously, Temiri," the voice went on. "They think you're only a child, with no usefulness, just an uneducated stable boy. But you are so much more. You know who you are."

Temiri nodded. Hadn't he just been thinking the exact same thing? He was more than just a kid. He wanted to help them stop the Ruling Order. But this robot using Dusty's speaker was the Ruling Order. So then, why was it trying to be his friend?

"We're not the enemy," the voice said, as though reading his thoughts. "We are simply the other side of this battle. Our mission is to end Kylo Ren's rule, so that you can claim your rightful throne. Kylo Ren captured you to suppress your rise to power. He knows you are the next leader of the galaxies. He will lock you away forever. And General Hux is plotting to kill you, even as we speak. He is on his way at this very moment to destroy you. You must protect yourself."

Just then the door slid open, and on the other side stood the red-haired General.

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