I actually do find pre-TFA fics where Hux is always a lieutenant lowkey funny because on one hand okay let's be real Star Wars fanfiction does Not have to be accurate to any real-life anything, But However. On the other hand. Going off American army ranks, Hux being a lieutenant up until he became a general would mean that (depending on which rank of lieutenant, and depending on what rank of general the author depicts him as during TFA) he straight up jumped a minimum of five and as many as ten ranks through one assassination. Speedrunning the military hierarchy.