The noise all around him in the Finalizer had Ren on edge. Sparks, fire and smoke filled some corridors, as droids and crew alike raced about from sector to sector doing their best to find, contain and repair the damages. Initially, Ren had caught the echo of the General's voice shouting orders, and he had not pursued, leaving Hux in his element in favor of stalking quickly through the ship, enforcing them, grabbing frightened crew members by the backs of their uniforms and shoving them in directions they were needed. The battle had ended, and the ship was not falling out of orbit to its destruction, but the danger of the severe damages remained and he was as focused as Hux in ensuring it remained stable enough to be salvaged.
Eventually, the lack of barked commands and the growing unease and uncertainty of the crew spurs him into further action, shouting commands of his own, threatening anyone who questioned him or did not immediately jump to the task ordered of them, while he sought out Hux. Sectors on fire or too heavily damaged to repair internally were being closed off, the crew was falling back to undamaged sectors and leaving repairs to the droids who were far more readily expendable in their minds. An unease and warning curl of the force at the back of his mind added to Ren's uncertainty about the location of the man who had previously been everywhere and no where. It's only when the bump of something small and warm hits his ankle that Ren stops his pacing about the ship a moment to look down at the floor.
In the chaos, out and about is the last place Hux's cat should be, but the feline had always seemed at least intelligent enough to stay out of the crew's way. Seeing her alone among the racing foot falls raises a new alarm. His head tilts slowly to the side and he crouches in front of Millicent, not reaching out a hand to pet her. He had never done so in the view of the crew, he isn't about to start now.
"You are a long way from your quarters, cat." The distortion of the mask conceals any semblance of emotional response, but Ren rises back to his feet, studies the cat, gives one last order over his shoulder and starts moving. As he expects, she races off the moment he takes a step. If nothing else, she's half as useful as a tracker on the General when she wants something. His pace slips into something urgent and focused, ignoring the chaos of the ship or the shouted warnings and focusing only on Millicent.
When she leads him to a sector where the crew are fighting to get a corridor closed off, he shoves them aside with a wave of his hand, a threatening, intense stare they could not see but feel turned their way.
"Fall back and get to work. I will take care of this." There's an edge to his voice they mistake for irritation and he lets them as he bows down and through the skewed mess of bent in and jumbled ship parts. It doesn't take long to find Hux in the flashing corridor. There's a pool of blood on the ground, creeping its way toward the exit as if even in this state Hux's blood couldn't stand the thought of settling for this end and giving up.
Any emotional response Ren might have had in that moment was lost to the race of thoughts analyzing the situation and determining the best course of action. The ship would fall into further chaos if her crew believed Hux to be dead or fatally injured. Ren could sense there was life left in him, but carrying a wounded Hux through the ship would only plunge it further into panic. Ren gently pushes the demanding furball aside, ignoring her not quite frantic meows of irritation and confusion when neither man gives her the attention she clearly deserves.
He lifts the limp body into his arms, waiting only a moment for Millicent to jump onto Hux's body and make herself comfortable on the blood-soaked uniform she would be bitterly complaining about later when it dried sticky and rough in her fur. He makes his way out of the corridor, expending an unnecessary amount of force to slam the debris away from the security door to seal the damaged corridor off. Storming past crew members he kept a steady pull on the force, draining his energy and pulling it back in as he forced every one of them not to see him, not to notice Hux bleeding out in his arms. They couldn't afford the added chaos.
When he finally gets the General to the medical bay, he can feel the weakness in him, the slow creep of death and the faded heart beat in his arms. He all but throws the droids at Hux as he sets him down on one of the beds. Hux was too stubborn to die from this and Ren would not allow the General to get off so easy. The droids were making emotionless assessments, listing off statistics to one another and recounting blood loss and other injuries, projecting a grim outlook. He ignores the analysis they offer.
"Fix this." He demands, and for all droids might not be able to feel pain, Ren thinks they know well enough what fear is not to question him as they get to work. His uniform is wet with near invisible blood stains and he thinks as he watches the droids scramble, Hux looks paler than he's ever seen him. The force offers him nothing in this situation, and without thinking, Ren lifts Millicent from Hux's form, to keep her out of their way, he tells himself, as he pulls the feline in close and lets the race of her small heart beat against his gloved hands.
After a quick comm message to Captain Phasma, the drained former Jedi sits, his eyes trained on Hux's form with a cat on his lap. The battle is over, and Phasma is more than capable of stepping up to force order into the chaos outside the medical bay. Ren's focus now is on making sure none of the crew enters the bay, and those that do see only a fellow crew member on the bed.
no subject
Eventually, the lack of barked commands and the growing unease and uncertainty of the crew spurs him into further action, shouting commands of his own, threatening anyone who questioned him or did not immediately jump to the task ordered of them, while he sought out Hux. Sectors on fire or too heavily damaged to repair internally were being closed off, the crew was falling back to undamaged sectors and leaving repairs to the droids who were far more readily expendable in their minds. An unease and warning curl of the force at the back of his mind added to Ren's uncertainty about the location of the man who had previously been everywhere and no where. It's only when the bump of something small and warm hits his ankle that Ren stops his pacing about the ship a moment to look down at the floor.
In the chaos, out and about is the last place Hux's cat should be, but the feline had always seemed at least intelligent enough to stay out of the crew's way. Seeing her alone among the racing foot falls raises a new alarm. His head tilts slowly to the side and he crouches in front of Millicent, not reaching out a hand to pet her. He had never done so in the view of the crew, he isn't about to start now.
"You are a long way from your quarters, cat." The distortion of the mask conceals any semblance of emotional response, but Ren rises back to his feet, studies the cat, gives one last order over his shoulder and starts moving. As he expects, she races off the moment he takes a step. If nothing else, she's half as useful as a tracker on the General when she wants something. His pace slips into something urgent and focused, ignoring the chaos of the ship or the shouted warnings and focusing only on Millicent.
When she leads him to a sector where the crew are fighting to get a corridor closed off, he shoves them aside with a wave of his hand, a threatening, intense stare they could not see but feel turned their way.
"Fall back and get to work. I will take care of this." There's an edge to his voice they mistake for irritation and he lets them as he bows down and through the skewed mess of bent in and jumbled ship parts. It doesn't take long to find Hux in the flashing corridor. There's a pool of blood on the ground, creeping its way toward the exit as if even in this state Hux's blood couldn't stand the thought of settling for this end and giving up.
Any emotional response Ren might have had in that moment was lost to the race of thoughts analyzing the situation and determining the best course of action. The ship would fall into further chaos if her crew believed Hux to be dead or fatally injured. Ren could sense there was life left in him, but carrying a wounded Hux through the ship would only plunge it further into panic. Ren gently pushes the demanding furball aside, ignoring her not quite frantic meows of irritation and confusion when neither man gives her the attention she clearly deserves.
He lifts the limp body into his arms, waiting only a moment for Millicent to jump onto Hux's body and make herself comfortable on the blood-soaked uniform she would be bitterly complaining about later when it dried sticky and rough in her fur. He makes his way out of the corridor, expending an unnecessary amount of force to slam the debris away from the security door to seal the damaged corridor off. Storming past crew members he kept a steady pull on the force, draining his energy and pulling it back in as he forced every one of them not to see him, not to notice Hux bleeding out in his arms. They couldn't afford the added chaos.
When he finally gets the General to the medical bay, he can feel the weakness in him, the slow creep of death and the faded heart beat in his arms. He all but throws the droids at Hux as he sets him down on one of the beds. Hux was too stubborn to die from this and Ren would not allow the General to get off so easy. The droids were making emotionless assessments, listing off statistics to one another and recounting blood loss and other injuries, projecting a grim outlook. He ignores the analysis they offer.
"Fix this." He demands, and for all droids might not be able to feel pain, Ren thinks they know well enough what fear is not to question him as they get to work. His uniform is wet with near invisible blood stains and he thinks as he watches the droids scramble, Hux looks paler than he's ever seen him. The force offers him nothing in this situation, and without thinking, Ren lifts Millicent from Hux's form, to keep her out of their way, he tells himself, as he pulls the feline in close and lets the race of her small heart beat against his gloved hands.
After a quick comm message to Captain Phasma, the drained former Jedi sits, his eyes trained on Hux's form with a cat on his lap. The battle is over, and Phasma is more than capable of stepping up to force order into the chaos outside the medical bay. Ren's focus now is on making sure none of the crew enters the bay, and those that do see only a fellow crew member on the bed.