Taking Command Book 2 (Kylux)

Chapter 2: Showdown

Kylo PoV

During the duration of our trip, I meditated and endeavored to attune myself to the moods of my companions. Yur'ama seemed fairly calm, but he was a professional killer. He did this kind of thing for a living. I sensed a small amount of anxiety from him, probably regarding Kira, whom I had killed earlier.

Hux was a different story. I could sense nervousness and stress rolling off of him in waves. I turned to my lover. "What's wrong, Hux? Never done this before?" I asked.

"No, not really. I've never really fought in battles. Just simulations," Hux admitted to me,"unless you count the small skirmishes we got into in our missions, I've never fought in a full war. In fact, I've never really seen much conflict."

"So you rely on theory. Yur'ama has experience, and I guess I'm a blend. I learned a lot about battle strategy and theory as an apprentice at the Jedi Academy. On the other hand, my training with Snoke required me to develop battle skills as well. In some ways, he treated me like a bounty hunter, sending me after various targets. It was to test my aptitude, and I've seen my fair share of firefights." I fingered the lightsaber I had reclaimed from Kira. "I don't know how that girl found this. I left it behind when I slew the Padawans. If her boasts are true, some must have gotten away. She said she had killed them. She might have gone back to the training base and found it. But why? And how did she know that I had been Skywalker's protege?"

"She's a shapeshifter. She might have shifted into the form of a species who possessed psychometry, the talent of touching an object and knowing its history. If she did that, it would be easy to know. She might have wanted the saber as a trophy, or maybe she's a hunter who likes flashy weaponry." Yur'ama had overheard our conversation and walked over. He patted Hux on the back and sneered derisively at him. I immediately tensed.
"So, you've never been blooded, General?" He laughed loudly. "What do you think you're doing taking on this mission? No amount of classes and simulations can prepare you for this kind of thing. Go home and play with your soldiers, little general. Leave the fighting to those of us with experience." He grinned at me.

Hux moved quickly and kicked Yur'ama in the chest, sending him back a couple paces. He crouched into a fighting stance. "Try me."

"If you want to, boy." Yur'ama lunged at him and grabbed him around the waist and slammed Hux into the wall of the ship.

"Don't you dare-" I stood to retaliate, but Hux cut me off.

"Don't interfere, Ren! I can handle this myself." He pushed off against the wall, slamming the sole of his boot into Yur'ama's midsection. As Yur'ama bent over, Hux gave him a hard uppercut to his jaw, then recoiled, clutching his hand.

The Twi'lek advanced rapidly, blood dripping from his nose. "Not so tough, now are you?" He drew a short knife and swung at Hux who dodged and slipped under the blade to punch Yur'ama with his uninjured hand.

I noticed Hux was holding the hand he had punched Yur'ama with at his side. There was an unnatural angle to it. He had probably broken it in his hard punch.

Yur'ama grabbed Hux's other hand and threw him to the ground and knelt over him with his knife.

"You're no match for me. Experience wins over lessons. You'll be ripped to shreds in a real fight. I could have killed you." He smirked and cut Hux's cheek, sliding the blade across it, causing blood to run down his cheek.
"Never forget that."

He stood up and walked over to me and glared down at me. I had never realized how tall Yur'ama was until he stood, looming an inch or two over me. "What're you going to do about it. Hux is your boyfriend." He sneered.

I gathered up the Force, augmenting my power with anger. I sent him flying across the cabin and crashing through a shelf. He recovered quickly and started to charge me, but I sidestepped and slammed him in the head with my old lightsaber.

He crumpled to the ground, conscious but obviously embarrassed. He stared balefully up at me. "Well, you're better than you look, kid. Better off than your poor quality general."

"Never insult Hux. When you insult him, you insult me. General Hux is the man I love, and you would be wise not to cross him. An attack on him is an attack on me." I put my boot on his chest and pressed lightly enough to not harm him but hard enough to not allow him to stand.

"Fine. Fine." He raised his gloved hands in surrender.

I let him up and stared at both him and Hux. "Yur'ama, I hope you've learned your lesson. I don't want this to interfere." I walked over to Hux and smiled at him, gently wiping the blood from his cheek. "Scars will make you sexier."

He smiled thinly at me. I could sense his embarrassment, but he seemed relieved. "I need to practice fighting more. My fingers are broken." He raised up his right hand to display to me. Some of his fingers were bent at an unnatural angle.

"We have bacta treatments for that," I said, "and if you ever need to spar, I can help with that."

He smiled back at me. "I'm assuming it's in one of those lockers?"

He walked over and opened one with his good hand and started spraying his hand with the bacta spray.

"It'll be fine in a couple days. Thankfully, this trip is not a short one. You'll be good in time to deal with Skywalker. I hope that you can fire a blaster better than you can throw a punch."

"Definitely." He looked me in the eye. "Granted, this showdown was always going to happen. I'm surprised that with this group it didn't happen sooner. It just better not happen during the true mission."