Chapter Text
Normally, the buzz of the alarm chrono was a pleasant irritation for Hux; it signaled the start of another day toward his rise to perfection. Today, however, he was feeling slightly less than optimal. He told himself he shouldn't have tried to catch a nap, but he had been so worn out after his 04:00 training session with Ben that he couldn’t resist. Now the dull throb of a headache nestled at the base of his skull and he felt as unrested as if he'd only just closed his eyes.
"Morning, sunshine," Hegan quipped, crossing the room to slap off the alarm, "Today's your day, Hux."
The bed shook as Anakin climbed down from the top bunk. "Is it?" Hux grumbled, holding his head in his hands.
"Got a peek at today's schedule. Tech and tac. Hyperdrive sim first."
Dlarit groaned. She hated engineering.
Hux perked up. "Imperial 2-class?"
"Yup."
"Stars, yes!" Hux leapt out of bed and yanked on his uniform, no longer groggy in the slightest and thankful for having already showered after training. His hands shook -- as much from exhaustion as excitement -- as he pulled his gloves on. While he waited for Anakin to finish making the top bunk so he could get started on his, the door to their room flew open to reveal the scowling face of their minder and drill instructor, Lt. Holt.
The DI was a perpetually surly man whose ability to smile had receded like his once jet black, but now peppered, hair. Hux supposed he'd be a complete asshole, too, if he'd gone his whole career never passing lieutenant despite the fact that the rest of his family were highly placed in the Imperial military. And getting stuck with a bunch of inexperienced cadets year after year, at that... He could scarcely imagine a worse fate.
"Move it, maggots! Engine room sim in 20!"
He turned and stormed out, somehow managing to make it seem he'd slammed the pneumatic sliding door as he took his whirlwind of rage with him.
Hux finished smoothing his bedsheets and gave himself one last once-over in the mirror before sprinting down the hall. As usual, he was the first to line up, trying not to bounce on his toes in excitement as he stood at attention, waiting for his classmates to file in. Anakin arrived second and came to stand next to him. He seemed lost in thought, or perhaps just tired, so Hux didn't bother him. Their constant vying for the top spot in the class rankings had taken its toll on both of them.
Of all the students at the Academy, Anakin Organa-Phennir (Cadet Alderaan, as protocol demanded) and Irra Hegan were the ones most likely to usurp his position at the top. Hux had no doubt that the reason they were all made to bunk together was to drive them apart and engender fiercer competition, but the Academy psychologists had failed in that regard. Despite sometimes clashing personalities, the three had become fast friends, enamored of their friendly rivalry with each other. It was a source of immense pride and self-confidence that he'd been able to outdo Hegan, who was a year older, and Anakin, who was one of the heirs to the Empire itself. Both he and Anakin had excelled so magnificently in their work at preparatory academies that they had been allowed into the Royal Academy a year earlier than other students. Not only that, but they both had to work extra hard to dispel the whispers of “nepotism” that shadowed every accomplishment.
Hegan breezed into the room last, just shy of lateness, a half-eaten protein bar hanging from her lips. Hux was of the opinion that it was her personal goal to exert as little energy as possible to get anything done. It infuriated him that she could be so nonchalant about everything and yet remain such a threat to his standing.
Lt. Holt climbed the stairs to the top of the simulator room and the class snapped to attention with a wave of sharp heel clicks. "Listen up, nerfherders! Today we'll be running you through various engineering catastrophes, one by one, in units of four. Your team leader will assume the role of chief engineer. You will have 15 minutes for your unit to complete the exercise. You may not speak about the simulation itself, or your successes, or failures, until all groups have finished. By the grace of His Imperial Majesty, you will not fail me and disgrace yourselves and your families to the point where you end up stuck in a dead end job, training hopeless, unpurposed little phobium scraps like yourselves! Some of you maggots may actually go on to make something of yourselves, which means you will need to be familiar with every detail of the ships under your command. Any Kowakian monkey-lizard can shout orders from the bridge, but whether or not they are effective orders depends entirely on your understanding of the functions of your ship. Cadet Hux! Assemble your unit! You're up first!"
Holt disappeared off to the back of the catwalk, where he could observe both the simulation and the remainder of the students in the classroom.
Hux strode to the center of the room and selected his team, who stepped forward one by one as he called their names. "Alderaan, Hegan, Dlarit, let's do this!"
Dlarit’s eyes widened in surprise at hearing her name. Engineering was her weakest subject by far, and he certainly knew that. She was delighted to have been chosen, but she couldn't understand why Hux would have picked her over Del-Bara, who occupied the fourth spot in the class hierarchy. Del-Bara, too, looked shocked, having been prepared to step forward. He frowned at Hux in confusion.
Comfortable with his decision, Hux paid the jealous Del-Bara no mind. His team hurried inside the massive HoloSim room. The bay doors slid shut and the holographic simulation lit up around them. They stood in the middle of the engine room command deck, the main hyperdrive of an Imperial 2-class Star Destroyer stretching out for hundreds of meters below them while the three main ion engines extended into the distance on the other side of the deck. Ten droids, painted to look like engine room crew, with rank pins drilled into their chassis, stood at various stations around the hall.
Lt. Holt gave them a few minutes to stare in awe before shouting, "Chief Engineer Hux! Is your unit ready?"
Hux took a deep breath, looking to each to nod their assent before replying, "Sir! Yes, sir!"
"Fifteen minutes, on my mark!"
They each set the timers on their wrist chronos.
"Mark!"
Sounds of battle and catastrophe thundered around them: klaxons blared, the bass hum of the hyperdrive vibrated through the grate under their feet and rattled their sternums, electricity buzzed in arcs around malfunctioning equipment, explosions both inside and out shook the room. It felt so real, and Hux had never felt more alive.
Hux closed his eyes for a moment and concentrated. Within seconds of listening to the pitch of the hyperdrive's drone, he knew exactly what the problem was likely to be. "Alderaan, containment! Hegan, fire control! Dlarit, monitoring and comms!" Hux scrambled to the hyperdrive controls but maintained a perfectly calm outward composure. His fingers flew over the panel, re-routing and shutting down problems with the hypermatter reactor core as quickly as he saw them flash on screen. As the others took control of their stations, he filled them in on his suspicions, "We're looking at a Class 4, possibly 5, containment leak in sections 2 & 3 of the reactor core, causing stability issues with the hyperdrive. Report!"
"Containment leak confirmed, section 3," Anakin called out. "Re-routing primary and secondary electrical systems now, sir."
"Fire teams standing by on sections 2, 3, and 6, sir!"
"Confirmed, sir!" Dlarit added, "Power holding. Fires in section 2 and 6. Radiation spiking in section 3. Fire teams responding. Droid teams dispersed. Repairs in process." Now that she saw Hux intended to field the repairs himself, she understood her placement in the team. She had assumed, as team leader, that he would have taken over monitoring and had them carry out the work. His hands-on nature inspired her.
"Acknowledged!" Hux responded. He had the utmost confidence in his team and his assessment of their suitability for their particular stations. They worked in tense concentration for several minutes, Dlarit’s occasional reports the only thing that broke through the chaotic atmosphere. When Hux moved between repair conduits and stations, he did so with the assurance befitting an officer -- hurried but poised. Alarms fell silent one by one as problems were solved, and order reigned for a short time. "Dlarit, recall repair droids and keep an eye on the power levels of the main ion engine. Shunt overloads to port and starboard engines, they tend to overheat during refresh. I’ll prep the Gemon-4s for backup. Hegan, call back your fire team and have them watch over those converters in section 10. Alderaan, prepare for containment field refresh in T-minus-15 seconds. Mark!"
Holt nodded his approval from above, though the cadets were too immersed in their duties to notice. They were seconds away from breaking the Academy record. Perhaps he had been too easy on them. They completed their primary tasks in just under 5 minutes, and already Cadet Hux had identified the problems Holt had programmed into the secondary portion of the simulation. When the primary ion engine overheated as predicted, the cadets' standby teams controlled and repaired the trouble in less than 4 minutes. Hux had even anticipated a third set of problems and had his crew station droids and engineers appropriately, not knowing the simulation had been designed to end there. Holt would have suspected cheating if he hadn't seen Hux sneaking out past curfew to study in the library on numerous occasions. He wondered if the boy ever allowed himself a free minute away from his datapad; he never looked as though he had had enough sleep.
They finished the sim with about 4 minutes to spare, and Lt. Holt shut it down, deciding he had seen enough. Most crews didn't make it past the primary malfunction.
"Dismissed!" he yelled, without any indication of their success.
"Great work, everyone," Hux smiled. "That had to be a record!"
Everyone's grinning and shoulder-slapping ended the moment the doors slid open. They exited the simulator stone-faced and solemn. The rest of the class scrutinized them for the slightest signs of distress, but found none among their excellent sabacc-faces. Hux went straight to his desk and poured over his engineering text on his datapad, fists balled at either side. He scoured the text for any indication that they may have made a mistake. It was murder having to wait the two hours it took for all the groups to finish before they got their results.
About halfway through the last group's test, everyone lined up at attention and waited for Holt to return. He reappeared on the outer catwalk with his datapad in hand. "The following team leaders, step forward when I call your names! Veers! Hux! Corbaal! Sorovan!”
The four cadets stepped forward and stood at attention. Hux worried that he had been called second, but tried not to overanalyze it.
“Veers! Your unit receives the singular distinction of having failed so utterly as to have caused the destruction of the entire ship! You spent 10 minutes in a pissing match, blaming each other over your frack-ups instead of identifying the problem and working together! Your selfishness and ineptitude caused the deaths of 46,803 of your fellow Imperials!” Lt. Holt snarled. The rest of the class were too mortified on their behalf to crack jokes. “Sorovan! Your team incorrectly identified the problem and then set about nerfshitting to try and cover up for your lack of collective knowledge! It was clear to me from the beginning that only one of you had done the homework, and you failed to listen to her suggestions. Never disregard your inferiors! Disgraceful!”
Hux swallowed hard as Holt turned his attention to him and Corbaal. He was certain they had done everything to the letter, even so, doubt crept in.
“Corbaal! Your team identified the problem, and then failed to complete the necessary repairs in the allotted time, again due to lack of discipline and concentration. All three units are assigned to latrine duty for the next 2 months!” He paused, letting the shame of his punishments settle in.
“Once again, it seems Cadet Hux and his team are the only ones among you lazy Hutts worth the spit you shine your shoes with.”
Though his posture didn’t change, Hux felt the tension melt from his shoulders. His fists, which had balled up again at his sides (as was his habit from as far back as he could remember), unclenched. A different kind of pressure formed a knot in his stomach. He was proud of their efforts, and, though this should have been familiar territory by now, he was still unused to receiving praise of any kind.
“Hux and his team identified and began preliminary assessments of the primary failure in exactly 7.42 seconds. In itself, a new record. They continued to work together in complete trust and finished repairing both primary and secondary failures, and even prepared for a third eventuality, with 4 minutes and 25 seconds remaining. Sadly this was just shy of the standing record of 4 minutes and 27 seconds. However, their hard work has earned them the rest of the period off, while the lot of you will be reviewing and analyzing the recordings of your pathetic attempts for the next two hours. Cadet Hux, you and your unit are dismissed!”
Anakin, Dlarit, and Hegan hurried out, eager to take advantage of their free time, but the sting of disappointment held Hux back a moment. Just two seconds… “Lt. Holt, sir!”
“Yes, Cadet? Are you still here?”
“If I may, sir, I’d like to review the recording of our performance to see where we might have made up for that 2 second difference.”
The slightest quirk turned up the corner of the lieutenant’s lips before his face became set in stone once more. “It will be sent to your datapad. Will that be all?”
“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”
Holt waved him away, and Hux saluted and exited briskly. That boy’s going to make grand admiral someday, if he doesn’t burn himself out within the year. He marveled at his change in attitude toward the boy. Holt had had his suspicions about Hux’s friendship with Anakin, but he had proven himself to be competent in his own right and in no need of a boost from his friendship with the two princes. Unlike most ladder-climbers here… He turned his cold stare back to the class.