𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒

𝟎𝟐𝟏. 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬

021. TRACKING DOWN THE PRISONERS

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Koria had her face cupped in her hands as she silently screamed inside her head. She'd been trapped in a small spacecraft for hours on end with nothing but Hux's conversation as entertainment. Most would have thought the long hours of sitting or the cramped space is what bothered her the most. No. It was the man's incessant chatter about absolutely nothing.

"And that is why we should increase the number of surveillance checks—"

"Shut up. Shut up, Shut up, Shut up!" she finally said aloud as her patience shorted out.

The way she raised her voice apparently caught Hux off guard because he immediately stopped talking. He didn't look offended, but he did seem off put by her outburst. Certainly displeased in the least. She took a deep breath and focused on the controls. Flying a spacecraft was something she had come to think of as her safe space. It was her way to quietly escape all the order and focus on her own thoughts. But what once had been considered sanctity had slowly turned to insanity. She needed the quiet and relaxed atmosphere to recharge from the stuffiness aboard The Supremacy. This had been the first time she'd been able to escape her duties of her promotion. She didn't hate the job, but she couldn't say that it was what she wanted to do. She was a pilot and flying through the star-filled space brought peace. As Admiral, her role had changed exponentially.

"We've arrived in the Florrum system," she announced, breaking the silence, "We'll land within the next few minutes."

Hux huffed in acknowledgement but remained silent.

Good. Someone needed to put the man in his place every once in a while. One of the benefits of the promotion, she could do so at her own liberty without facing any repercussions. She was grateful that the rest of the flight was silent. She couldn't imagine how she would handle another conversation revolving around the maintenance and orderly checklist that Hux prioritized above everything else.

The landing on the planet was smooth, little turbulence was experienced. The planet itself was not much to look at. There was sand everywhere, but the heat and humidity from the nearby geysers is what would have made the planet miserable. A local pack of skalder had scattered in fright upon their landing. She walked down the ramp and looked up into the sky where the sun had begun to set. They had arrived much later than anticipated. Hopefully the resistance cell hadn't found some way off the planet yet.

She looked down at the datpad in her hand, "It says the first escape pod is a few clicks south of here—General?"

She turned to look around and saw that she was alone on the planet's surface.

"Is the surrounding area safe?"

"What?"

"Are there any potential threats?" Hux's voice hissed.

She rolled her eyes, "You don't go offworld very often, do you?

"I have been on plenty of offworld assignments," Hux retorted as he cautiously exited the vessel, "It's not often that I am forced to leave the comfort of my vehicle though. And normally I have several squadrons with me. Not to mention weaponry—"

"Well this is meant to be a simple grab-and-go mission," Koria interjected before he could continue his rant, "We're meant to capture one individual. Not an armada."

"An individual worth more trouble than anything else," Hux muttered under his breath audibly.

"I don't like this any more than you do," she rolled her eyes, "But I'd say the fate of our lives sort of depends on our success."

Hux froze and reached for his throat instinctively. She assumed that he had thought of the same image that she had. The officer lying limp on the deck of the bridge. It was not something that she would like to experience anytime soon and she assumed that he reciprocated her feelings.

"Now let's just find that pod and get out of here," she started to walk, "I have enough sand in my boots as it is."

She refused to face Hux hoping that the lack of eye contact would prevent a conversation from forming; however, he proceeded to talk anyway. She did her best to ignore his babble and focus on reading the directions. She did notice though when he started to choke. She raised an eyebrow and turned to face him.

"Something wrong?"

"I swallowed a bug!" his eyes were wide with alarm.

She shook her head and turned away to hide her snicker, "If your mouth were closed, the bug wouldn't have flown inside... Hopefully it wasn't toxic."

Unsurprisingly, the rest of the walk was quiet.

The escape pod had been crashed and obviously suffered a fair amount of damage. Although the wind covered most of the footprints, some were still faint. All of the pod's emergency supplies had been taken and pretty much nothing had been left behind. If Koria hadn't known better, she would have assumed that the pod had been vacated for weeks.

"Looks like they died out in the desert," Hux stated, but his voice was worn thin, "I suppose we'll have to head back to The Supremacy now."

She turned to look at Hux annoyed, but noticed how exhausted he looked. His hair was matted to his face which had started to shine from the collected sweat brought on by the heat. Although she was doing better than him, she wasn't really fairing well in the heat either.

"Do you think the Supreme Leader will accept us returning empty handed?" she didn't mean to ask the question with so much venom to her tone, but she too was exhausted, "He'll only see that we've failed. Are you willing to take the risk of his wrath?"

She knew the answer even before he shook his head.

"Alright then," she proceeded, "We'll have to continue our search until we've found either evidence that they are dead or we return with the girl in hand."

Hux nodded, "Where do you propose that we start? That sand dune over there?"

She was prepared to confront his sarcasm when her datapad picked up on a nearby signal. It wasn't entirely strong, but several kilometres from their current location she had caught hold of an energy surge. It was easier to pick up on this desolate planet compared to most.

"Follow me, I have a lead."

"Could we at least take the shuttle?"

"We're trying to remain inconspicuous," she retorted before adding with a haughty smirk, "Besides, the exercise is good for you."