Hi everyone! This is my first Star Wars story ever, so please bear with me if I happen to get anything wrong about the canon. I did research, but I wanted to mention that just in case, hehe. You'll learn more about my OC in the next chapter, as well as her background and etc, which I am currently writing, so it will probably be up soon as well.

Thanks for reading and I look forward to any reads, reviews, and favorites if you are so inclined - reviews make me especially happy! Many hugs!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the official Star Wars characters mentioned in this story - just my OCs.

Chapter 1

General Hux strolled the aisles of Finalizer in an unrelenting hurried pace; well, what would be considered so for a person of his command. He was one level below his quarters, and would've normally never even been in that corridor had it not been for the pressing matter he needed to attend to. Mind focused in deep contemplation, the only thing that disturbed his train of thought suddenly was the soft, almost indiscernible voice coming from behind one of the officer quarters' doors. Bewildered, one for the fact that it was late – past the end of his rotation and a few hours into the following one –, and two for the other fact which was that he'd never heard someone actually sound like they were enjoying themselves so much, he slowed to a stop and, taking a quick nonchalant glance around, retraced his steps back to be in front of the door that he could hear the voice coming from.

He again ensured his surroundings were clear before uncharacteristically leaning toward the door, trying to figure out what the person was doing. If he had to guess, it would be singing, although it was hard to tell both because he hadn't heard it ever on his ship, and the last time he had heard it at all had been when he was very young, coming from his mother. Although this voice was more muffled, most likely due to certain details: it was behind two doors (the one he stood in front of and the one that led into the refresher), and he could hear the sound of running water – whoever it was was undoubtedly taking a shower. It didn't sound as nice or sweet as what he barely remembered his mothers' had been, but it still intrigued him nonetheless that someone aboard his ship would find doing not just singing, but singing and showering together an enjoyable endeavor. The former confused him the most; from what he could tell the voice was female, and all the females he'd encountered on his ship were frigid, aloof, and unfeeling, which was why the sound had entranced him from the beginning – it was so out of place. He couldn't imagine any of his female staff winding down enough, even with alcohol in their system, to do such an activity and do it with such feeling, especially when they weren't that…great at it.

He gave a mental shrug before he furrowed his eyebrows in concentration and noticed the sound of running water had stopped. He was about to lean even closer to the door to hear the voice better once they stepped out of the refresher, but inwardly panicked when he heard the tell-tale hiss of a door about to be opened to his right. He quickly straightened his posture and began to walk away, stopping when he heard footsteps following him, and suddenly turned on his heel, catching the person behind him under his cold, indignant stare.

He gave a quick glance-over at the male in front of him and took a step forward, his callous eyes glaring at the terrified officer in front of him wearing off-duty clothes, who in turn took a step back. He repressed a smirk when he saw the male swallow hard, obviously trying to figure out what he'd done to piss the dreaded General off.

"Whose quarters are these?" Hux questioned lowly, keeping his voice calm but a little quiet so nobody else could hear, pointing with his gloved hand at the door he'd previously been standing in front of.

The blonde-headed male flinched at the sudden move before following Hux's hand with his eyes, turning slightly to look in that direction. He couldn't hide his obvious confusion very well but let out a shaky breath as he turned back to Hux and gulped one more time before answering. "Sergeant Summers, sir."

Hux stared him down for another moment before turning on his heel again and walking off, greatcoat moving with each movement and leaving a trembling plain-clothes officer in its wake. He made his way down the rest of the corridor and turned toward the nearest elevator, waiting for it to arrive before stepping in and pushing the button for his floor. He decided whatever business he'd had to fuss at Mitaka over could wait until he saw him on the bridge the next day – for once, something else had caught his attention.

Summers. The name sounded so familiar to him yet he couldn't place a face with said name. He would've assumed he could've possibly identified the voice, but then he reminded himself that he didn't care less what his inferiors sounded like as long as they got the job done. He knew it had to be one of his bridge officers, since they all lived on this floor, and he knew there weren't as many women as men that worked within close proximity to him there.

He arrived at his quarters and stepped in, door immediately opening upon his arrival without him even needing to lift so much as a finger. He shrugged his greatcoat off and placed it on the rack near the door, taking care to ensure there were no creases in the material before removing his leather gloves and placing them together in his right coat pocket. He then made his way towards his desk, retrieving one of the datapads on it and typing in the name he'd just been given, the first result obviously being the person more or less under his direct command. He stared at the screen for a moment, staring at the headshot picture of a woman staring back at him in her regulation uniform, and it was then he realized why she looked so familiar – she was one of the security techs on the bridge. Something seemed off, though – he'd interacted, albeit briefly, with her before, and he wasn't entirely convinced the person he was looking at was the same as the one he'd heard earlier, even if it made no sense. He placed his chin in his palm, elbow atop the arm of his desk chair, and began strolling through her file, trying to figure out what was bothering him, but coming up with no solid answers.

The woman had been to the Academy and through officer training, starting at the age of 10. It was older than most others who went there, as they usually started very young, but he quickly realized why – the female's father was an Imperial sympathizer, and a friend of one of the old Imperials who was an instructor at the Academy – they must've been living on a neutral or Republic planet in her early childhood if the man had to pull a favor to get his child allocated there, otherwise she probably would've gone as soon as she was of the right age.

He scrolled down some more and noted her planet of birth and her family's current residence were not the same. His eyes fleeted over the words quickly and suddenly it made more sense – she was born on Talus, and had moved with her family to Arkanis at the age of 10 – probably because she'd been accepted into the Academy, no doubt. He let out a soft tsk before setting the datapad back in its usual spot and getting up from his chair toward his bedroom, ready to change out of his uniform.

The next morning found him, as usual, on the bridge, bright and early. His staff was already there, and he ensured not to change his facial expression as he gave a quick, sideways glance at the sandy-blonde female sitting at the end of the row, closest to the exit. Something still seemed off, but he wouldn't know for sure until the rest of the rotation passed by – he wasn't about to draw any curious glances by going over and speaking to her himself, especially when Lieutenant Mitaka or Captain Opan took care of such trivial business. Speaking of Mitaka…

He walked over toward said Lieutenant and noticed the man trying not to quiver under his gaze. Hands characteristically intertwined behind his back, he didn't bother to turn back around when he stopped next to the young Lieutenant, merely opting for a turn of his head in the shorter male's direction.

"Is it true Kylo Ren destroyed another control room?" He asked simply, watching the man shift his weight uncomfortably to his other foot but, other than that, not move a muscle.

"Yes, sir. It appears he struck one in the north quadrant this time, sir. After our rotation ended, sir."

The corner of Hux's lip twitched in anger but besides that, there were no other signs to betray his emotions. He took in a short breath before returning his head to face forward (or maybe backward, considering he had his back to the open window of space), and turned 90 degrees in the direction of the security tech. "Show me the footage."

Mitaka led him over to the blonde woman, uttering something to her just as Hux moved in to stand behind her. The General chanced a brief glance down to the Sergeant, who had stiffened slightly, before looking back at the screen, watching her pull up the footage.

"This is the Commander entering the room just after—"

"Lieutenant, I'd prefer Sergeant Summers to explain it to me. It is her field of expertise, after all," Hux cut in, giving him a bullshit excuse so he could confirm or rebuke his suspicions. The tech gave Mitaka a brief panicked look that didn't escape Hux – so she was afraid of him, too, which made his eyes narrow slightly in mistrust – surely this wasn't the same woman he'd heard the previous night?

As directed Summers began to explain, obviously not sure why she was doing so when it was normally somebody else higher in command, and after her first few words Hux knew – this wasn't her. He may have heard it from behind two metal doors and under running water but he trusted himself, and his hearing and instincts, to know that he'd be able to recognize it when he did. He barely listened to the rest of what the tech was saying as he tried to figure out who else could've been in there, his eyes taking in the full destruction Kylo Ren was implementing in the north quadrant control room. He briefly wondered if it was the Sergeant's lover, but quickly dismissed it when he recalled seeing only males in the really personal area of her personnel file. It honestly didn't surprise him that the First Order required all their employees to note such a thing in their record, after all, they required stability and rigid organization for everyone, and not disclosing a sexual partner was against regulations. Not that he personally cared about anyone's lovers; sure he'd had one or two in the far past but as of late, he was too preoccupied with work and being a strict General.

He was brought back from his short daze just as Summers finished (not that he'd needed the play-by-play anyway, he just had ulterior motives for it), and Lieutenant Mitaka looked expectantly over to him. Hux returned the look before speaking, a question which his Lieutenant was most likely anticipating, "Has the damage and repairs been calculated yet?"

"Yes, sir. I sent a copy to your com, sir."

Hux was mildly surprised at Mitaka's lack of stutter, which he attributed to the younger man probably knowing what Hux would ask of him. He pulled out his com and opened the message, nostrils flaring indignantly when he looked at the staggering figure. He quietly seethed as Mitaka took a shaky step back from the tech's station, expecting this reaction at the outrageous amount of credits needed for repairs. He clenched his jaw briefly before putting his com away and locking his hands behind his back. "Approve the repairs. Get it done as quickly as possible." With that, he walked past Mitaka back to the center of the bridge, mentally cursing Kylo Ren's usual immaturity in handling situations that didn't end in his favor.

A few cycles later, as his rotation ended, Hux walked to the elevator and was about to push the number for his floor when his curiosity seeped at him again. He wasn't sure why he was allowing himself to fall prey to simple impulse, but he relented this time and pushed the number of the floor below him, silently thankful that the corridor was empty again. He wasn't sure if he'd ever hear it again (and even noted that the time he was there today was earlier than last night) but he almost hoped this person wasn't as regimented as he, and didn't always take their shower at the same time. If they'd been singing, they probably weren't.

He'd taken the time to look up the blueprints for this floor before going to bed the previous cycle, and had found himself praising silent victory when he'd found a utility closet in between the Sergeant's quarters and some other officer's quarters – he definitely didn't want a repeat of last night coming back to haunt him, especially if it was the same male catching him twice, he was too paranoid of any rumors starting, untrue or not.

He found the storage closet with ease, and pressed in a generic code to gain access – again, he was too paranoid of someone tracking his movements and wondering what he'd been doing in said storage closet, especially when he wasn't a sanitation Stormtrooper; either that or they'd think someone had stolen his codes, which was also a highly unlikely theory. So he went in, making sure to lock the door behind him using the control panel and found himself listening to two different conversations – unlucky for him, it seemed the owners of both quarters had a guest that day. He was able to easily filter out the "She has such a nice ass, but she's such a bitch" and the "Seriously, but I bet the General gets laid all the time. These Imperial chicks love that higher-in-command shit" voices due to the fact that they were male, trying not to focus on his subordinates speaking about his sex life as if it was yesterday's news; he was there for something else. He pressed himself closer to the wall opposite the men's voices, and recognized one voice as Summers, and the other as the mystery that had brought him there in the first place.

"—early, but I got grease all over myself tweaking HBIC and, well, you know how it goes…"

"I still can't believe you called it that."

It was Hux's turn to shift uncomfortably. "HBIC? What the hell is an HBIC? And why was she tweaking it?" He wondered, thoroughly perplexed. She could be a maintenance tech of some sort, but he didn't know if he liked the sound of a tech 'tweaking' something when their job was simply to repair. He turned slightly, placing his back on the wall separating the room from Summers' quarters, and cupped his chin in his hand, thoughts broken by someone speaking again.

"If you had one you would've named it, too. But hey, if you're not about to use it I wouldn't mind taking a shower. I even brought my own hair towel this time!"

"GOOD, 'cause I kept running out after you kept 'borrowing' them before going back downstairs. Thanks for getting them cleaned for me, though. Maybe you should just bring your towels up here and make it easier on yourself, especially if you want to avoid getting peeked in on in the communal bathrooms on your floor."

Hux let out a soft sigh, rolling his eyes. He couldn't remember the last time he'd heard two women talk this much, much less just one. But he had to admit, he'd at least learned a few more clues as to who this person might be, although the communal bathrooms were on every floor below this one, so that didn't help him out much.

"Ugh, don't remind me, fucking pigs. You'd think I'd have my own damn bathroom by now but I guess it's another way to punish me. Anyyyywaaaay, me and my music will be on the other side of that door!"

"Don't mind me, I'll just be here listening to your terrible voice singing songs I've never heard of."

"Oh you love it, don't even try to lie. I know my voice is shitty but that's what makes it even better. And if you hadn't gone to the Academy you WOULD know them and you WOULD like them, so hush."

"Yeah, yeah, don't remind me. I don't know how I survived 10 years without you."

"You didn't. You were dead when I got here. I'm the ray of sunshine that lights up your whole life."

After that, he heard the tell-tale click of the refresher door being opened and closed amidst Summers' laughing. He thought of what Summers had said earlier, about being separated for 10 years, and remembered that on Sergeant Summers' file, her age had been indicated as 25. This meant that either: 1) this woman was at least the same age, they most likely knew each other before Summers' left for the Academy, and must've been in the First Order for minimally the last five years, or 2) They met each other when Summers' was 15, at which time she would've been in the Academy, and were just reunited in the very recent past. The first option seemed more viable, as the woman probably wasn't able to keep in contact with Summers while she'd been at the Academy, and said woman had the markings of someone who'd been allowed more freedom than anyone at the Academy ever had.

As he contemplated this, it didn't take much longer before the music started, followed by the sound of running water and the voice joining in singing the lyrics. He wasn't sure whether it was louder because of where he was or if she was purposefully trying to be louder to annoy her friend, but he found a few crates to sit on as he listened and pondered, trying to figure out what it was that drew him to this person. The best thing he could come up with was the amount of feeling they put into the singing, which aptly reminded him of his mother singing lullaby's as a child. His mother's voice had been silk-like, however, and while this woman's voice wasn't great, it wasn't exactly horrible either, merely a web of in-between.

He sat there dredging up simultaneously beautiful and painful memories, and before he realized it, the sound had stopped, the sound of the refresher door bringing him out of his stupor. He straightened up and was about to get up and leave when he heard the woman speak again.

"Oh yeah, SO much better. Oh shit! Lei, I love you, but I gotta head back. I have to wake up extra early tomorrow and all that, you already know. I'll try and bring my towels tomorrow for sure."

"Suuure, I'll believe it when I see it. Com me when you get back, okay?"

"You got it, boo. Love you!"

"Love you too! And kick those boys' rears!"

"Best believe! I'll let you know how it goes!"

The next thing he heard was the hiss of the quarters' main door opening and closing, leaving him to try to figure out what they'd just been talking about. This woman wasn't like the others, she was spirited, feisty, and foul-mouthed, all of which he'd never associated with any woman, much less any woman in the entire First Order. He let out a frustrated sigh, realizing that he now had more questions than answers, but decided to stay put for a little while longer, lest he run into the woman that would probably wonder, as he'd speculated earlier, what the General of the fleet was doing in a supply closet in the first place. Even though he'd get to see who she is, the pros outweighed the cons 10:1 on this – he simply couldn't allow any rumors, however unfounded, to tarnish his otherwise pristine reputation.

He waited a few more seconds before overriding the lock on the door and slowly stepping outside, letting out a quiet breath of relief whenever the two people he saw were far away and walking in the opposite direction of where he was, one of whom, he assumed, was the woman. She was a little too far for him to make her out properly, but she seemed to be standing in front of an elevator to his left, definitely not in uniform with a towel wrapped in her hair, and holding something rectangular shaped in her hand as well as something smaller which he assumed to be her com. He resumed his rigid demeanor without much effort, and made his way to the elevator nearest his right, heading back to his own quarters for the night.

Hux found himself at his usual post a few hours into his rotation the following cycle – standing on the bridge at the head of the Finalizer, hands interlocked behind his back, and staring into the bottomless abyss of space. His thoughts had gone deep into the blueprints of some of the weapons he was designing, something he liked to do to occupy his time whenever there wasn't an enemy directly in front of him and all his duties had been taken care of. Not that the latter was the case today; he'd just simply found himself distracted the past few cycles, and as such he tried to contain his thoughts to remain on strict First Order business whenever he was on the bridge.

It didn't take more than a few minutes for his concentration to be shattered by the sudden arrival of several Special Forces TIE/sf's, all lead by a TIE/vn, or TIE Silencer. He tried not to show emotion on his face, but couldn't help but furrow his eyebrows slightly, his mind immediately jumping to the worst conclusion, especially after the defection of FN-2187. He didn't bother turning or even moving his head before calling Opan over, at which the solemn Captain quickly closed the space between them and stood next to him.

"Yes, sir?"

"Captain," Hux spoke quietly so only Opan could hear, staring directly ahead at the sight unfolding before him, "Explain this."

Opan moved his eyes to follow the General's line of vision, a ghost of a smile hinting at one corner of his lips. "That's the Special Forces Alpha squadron, General. Colonel Kahn sent in the request and I approved it myself, as I do all of their simulation plans," Opan replied, still standing rigid at attention next to the General, "This is the first time they've done a simulation this close to the ship, they usually perform them further away in deeper space."

Hux narrowed his eyes slightly, but not enough for even Opan to notice. The point of simulations was to do them on a datapad or controlled environment with only one person doing them at a time, which he could see the drawbacks for in real combat, so this piqued his curiosity. He took in a small breath before speaking louder so the technicians nearby could hear. "Link in to their frequency."

Opan watched the General with a trace of curiosity in his eyes, and heard the usual "Yes, General" from the communications technician before hearing Hux's own "Dismissed, Captain" and allowed himself to step away from Hux and resume his earlier duties.

Hux lifted his chin slightly as Opan walked away, silence on the bridge other than the sound of soft static before a few voices began pouring in, one which made him freeze in place and involuntarily tighten his grip on his own hands.

"—right, everyone's accounted for. Remember, shields up, but we're treating this worst-case as if you had no shields, but still have to protect the Finalizer, got it? One hit and you're out, step away until we do the second wave."

Hux's heart unwittingly began beating faster. That voice…it was definitely her.

"Alpha Ace, One, and Two, you're with me. Three through Eight, you're the enemy. Do your best to get through, but don't do anything stupid, copy?"

"Copy, Alpha Leader."

Hux heard the chorus of responses to her and hid back a smirk. So she was their Squadron leader? This made it much, much more easy.

"Six against four, pretty simple. Scramble!"

Hux watched the TIE's move further into the expanse of space, the four "protecting the ship" had taken steps to hover near some vital points, with the TIE Silencer protecting the helm of the ship, directly in front of him. As he watched the dance of fire and flight before him, he listened to the clear voice of a woman who was in total control.

"Four, out. One, out. Five, Six, and Two, out. It's just you and me, Ace."

It didn't take long before the remaining three TIEs, Three, Seven, and Eight ganged up on Ace and took him out after a few drawn out seconds, but not before their Leader had managed to take out two of them. Alpha Three remained, and Hux heard a quiet curse under the male pilot's breath once he realized he was up against his Leader. Hux watched closely as the pilot tried in vain to escape his Leader's tail on him, but it didn't take long before he succumbed to his own inferior piloting skills compared to his Leader's and was taken out by the Silencer, without a single shot making it past the barricade and to the Finalizer.

"Good job guys. And nice try, maybe you'll have better luck with eight against two. Ace, you're with me."

"Copy, Alpha Leader."

Hux raised his chin slightly, interest peaking. In all the simulations he knew of, there had never been more than six against four, reason being that the First Order simply had more resources and TIE-fighters in a fleet than the Resistance did in their entire army, so it was seen as unnecessary. However, as he watched the elite Special Ops squadron doing their own type of simulation, it became clear why they did this, especially if there were any pilots in the Resistance as good as even one of the ones he was watching.

"Six, out. Two, Five, Ace, Three, out."

Hux narrowed his eyes slightly, barely managing to keep up with all the maneuvers the squadron Leader was doing to avoid being hit, while simultaneously managing to draw fire away from the Finalizer. He silently wondered if she was going to be able to keep that up considering it was now four against one.

"Four, out. Sev—what the fuck?!"

Hux's eyes widened slightly, watching as one of the TIEs tried a less-than-perfect maneuver that ended up spinning out of control when he tried avoiding his recently eliminated teammate, only to be sent hurtling towards the other still in play, who was obviously focused on trying to get through the Leader's defenses and hit the Finalizer. Even with their shields up, Hux knew that there wasn't a possibiliy to avoid some sort of impact that would most likely than not end up deadly. As he prepared to watch the two TIEs go down in a blaze of flames and smoke, he was less prepared to witness what came next: the Silencer increased its speed even further, hurtling itself towards what Hux now expected to become three casualties instead of two. As he questioned the sanity of the squadron Leader, he was baffled when the Silencer swooped in and managed to catch one of the whirling TIE's wings in between the left-sided forks of the Silencer, breaking off a small piece of the tip of the upper fork in the process. The Silencer, immediately upon catching the wing, began to purposefully spin with it, then quickly slowed the rotations until they were both upright, the squadron Leader obviously knowing that if she hadn't turned with the out-of-control TIE, more of her ship would've broken off in the process, and she wouldn't have been able to slow it down at all. Her efficacy and timing was impeccable.

"What the FUCK, Rhade? Everyone dock, and don't go anywhere until I fucking get there. Sim is over for today."

As the transmission cut off, Hux could tell the woman was livid, which made him curious as to why – after all, if those two pilots had died, they could easily be replaced by others who would be more than happy to take their place in an Elite squadron such as hers, she didn't have to risk her own life over it. He took in a sharp breath before pivoting on his heel and not bothering to stop as he spoke out an order, his voice emotionless and hardened as always. "Captain, take control. I'll return shortly."

When he reached the docking bay in record time, he watched as the last of the TIEs docked, all of them together on the right hand side of the bay, pilots slowly emerging. Hux walked up to the Colonel, who was standing at ease a little ways away from the squadron of pilots, but still clearly within hearing distance of them, all of whom were standing next to each other, helmets cradled under an arm, in front of a set of their docked ships, stone-faced except for one who was failing miserably at hiding his worry.

"Colonel." Hux began, watching as the man straightened to attention and gave him a quick salute.

"General." The greying man replied, his voice deep but gruff from years of yelling out orders. He eyed the General curiously, wondering what the man in charge of the whole ship was doing in a docking bay of all places. He then followed Hux's line of sight, and noticed that it fell on the currently docking, and slightly damaged TIE Silencer, allowing himself a smug smile.

"I trust that Captain Guerran's simulation was to your liking? She insisted on doing one at the helm of the Finalizer to train her pilots to protect the most important parts of the ship," the Colonel began, giving Hux pause to wonder if the man had even listened in to the transmission at all – considering his tone, probably not; if he did, he didn't seem too bothered by it.

Hux didn't get to answer before he watched the pilot of the Silencer begin emerging, the fighter being docked just a klick's breadth away from where he and the Colonel currently stood in front of the rest of Alpha Squadron's TIEs. His face remained expressionless as a petite female exited the top hatch of the ship, jumping down the side to land on the metal floor with grace and agility, the only sound emitted being the soft 'click' of her boot's heels – boots which, he could tell by the two-to-three-inch stiletto heel, were definitely not standard issue. As if in slow-motion, he watched the female stealthily begin her advance towards her squadron, the (actually) standard issue black flight suit clinging to her body like a second skin and accenting her feminine curves. He could hear some of the other pilots, not on her squadron, and even Stormtroopers stop what they were doing to look, all of them appearing to know that something was about to happen simply by the force her heels made against the polished surface. Even with all of her gear on – chestplate, shoulder pauldrons, gauntlets, life support gear, and belt with blaster pistol firmly attached, not to mention those deadly non-issue boots, she was stalking her way over in record time, like predator to prey.

Still unmoving and face revealing no emotions, Hux watched as the woman angrily pulled the gas transfer tube off her helmet as she sauntered, black-gloved (also standard-issue, to his relief) hands reaching up to pull the black helmet off, the two red vertical lines on the helmet easily setting her and her squadron apart as Special Forces. As his gaze followed her every step of the way, he couldn't help the slight blush that crept upon his cheeks as he watched the long, dark chocolate colored tresses cascade out of the helmet confining them and down her back, their length very easily reaching the tail end of her spine. Her aquamarine eyes held a certain fire in them, a fire that had been stoked by her squadron member's mistake, and which never moved their angry stare from said squadron member, even as the rest of the squadron fell to attention at her left, and completely ignoring (or not noticing, which he deemed less likely) the fact that her superiors were watching her every move. Her beautiful facial features and olive-colored skin were scrunched up into a scowl, and she didn't even break her step as she tossed her helmet to the side and it was caught by what Hux could tell was the most senior member of her squadron, who didn't bother to flinch as he caught the helmet and placed it under his other arm, standing at attention the whole time.

"What. THE FUCK. Was that, Rhade?" Captain Guerran began, gloved finger pressing into the taller man's chest, whose posture at attention visibly crumbled under the woman's fierce gaze.

"I was just trying to—" Officer Rhade tried to counter, almost angry at having to defend his actions, but still managing to notice the various mortified looks and head shakes he was receiving from his squadron mates behind their Captain, one of whom visibly broke his stance to cross his arms in an X shape in front of his body and visibly shake his head no, voicelessly mouthing the word.

"Shut it. Take your excuse and shove it up your ass," the Captain continued, still seething, "Who the hell do you think you are, Poe fucking Dameron?! You almost took out Vang with that little stunt you asshole, and it will be your first and last one. One more mistake and you're off my squad."

"But that's not fair!" Rhade retorted, ignoring his friend from earlier smacking himself in the face at his stupidity to continue, "I worked hard to be here! I earned it!"

"Oh yeah?" Captain Guerran replied, her eyes narrowing as she grabbed the side of his chestplate and pulled him forward to be at her eye level, cyan eyes against the Officer's brown ones. "So did the others before you, and they got kicked off just as well after two strikes. I will not risk the lives of my men for a dumbass who wants to be a showoff. I haven't lost a single pilot yet, and I won't jeopardize that for anyone, you hear me?" She roared, noticing the genuinely frightened look in her subordinate's eyes. She let him go with a soft shove to his chestplate, reaching her hand out to her left without removing her scrutiny from the taller man's form and grabbing her helmet when it was passed back to her by her Lieutenant. "If you have a problem with that, you can talk to higher command at your fucking leisure, they're standing right there," She added, pointing her right index finger in the direction of Hux and the Colonel without even bothering to turn her head in the slightest. She watched Rhade's expression switch from anger to dismay – he'd obviously noticed the taciturn, unsympathetic looks from the two men, at least one of which she'd expected; after all, Colonel Kahn had yet to disagree with any of her decisions. "Next week, we're going with no shields. Your squadmates have you to thank for that." She ignored the shocked looks and soft sighs and groans from the rest of the squadron and then, without another word, strolled past the Officer she'd just berated and toward the entrance to the hallway which would lead her to an elevator – the first thing she wanted to do was get out of that tight fucking jumpsuit.

Hux didn't say a word as he heard the pilots and troopers who'd stilled bustle back to work, and he turned around when the Colonel did so, listening to him apologize for Captain Guerran's temper and mention that she was one of his best pilots, going on to add that the Alpha and Omega squadrons were his top two Special Forces. Hux tuned him out as the man continued blabbering off about Omega, taking a curious interest in the conversation the remaining Alpha pilots were having literally behind his back.

"Dude, you're such a dumbass. Why'd you talk back to her like that? You must've really pissed her off for her to go no shields… the last guy who fucked up in Sim didn't talk back, thankfully for us…he still got kicked off second strike though," One of the pilots, Officer Zorne began, laughing before the others joined him.

"No, seriously, don't do that shit. She's tough but we respect her and trust her with our lives, man. You can't be going all gung-ho like that, she's kicked off a lot of pilots, good pilots, for stunts like that, but they totally deserved it. Why do you think she hasn't lost a single pilot when Omega has lost 17 not to mention all those non-Elites?" Another added, all laughter from his face and voice gone.

"Yeah, we're all a team, we're a family bro. We're all we've got on this fucking ship. I'll tell you what I told the last guy – don't pull stupid shit and you're on Alpha for the rest of your career, the rest of your life," Lieutenant Stevens, who'd been holding their Captain's helmet mere seconds ago, pitched in.

"Exactly. Anyways, I'll see you guys at the cantina tonight. Next Sim, try not to kill me again, deal?" Sergeant Vang added, giving the rest of his squad a half-assed salute as he began walking off, followed by the others except for Officer Rhade and Officer Maru.

"Kyle, bro, seriously…the cantina? I can't go tonight, the fucking Captain's gonna be there," Rhade began, obviously distraught at the fact that he would miss out on a good night.

"Exactly. She's gonna be there, that's exactly why you have to go," Officer Kyle Maru replied, giving his friend a knowing look, "I tried to warn you, you dumbass, to stop talking back to her. But dude, don't worry about it, Adam – most of us have fucked up before too. We're all a family, so you're gonna make it up to her like family, alright?"

"At the cantina?" Officer Adam Rhade retorted, confusion blatantly obvious in his voice as his friend merely nodded in response, "Is she gonna make me dance with her or something? Cause you know I can't dance worth a shi—"

"What?! No, fuck no," Kyle replied, laughing hard, "She'd kill you first. She won't let any of us touch her – trust me, various guys on the squad have tried to get with her before, and they all ended up with a stiletto to the crotch. A lot of the guys that have gotten kicked off tried it, too, but we didn't warn them 'cause it was too funny watching them limp around the next few days," He added, watching Adam's face pale slightly, "But don't worry, I'm warning you now. Don't. Try. That. Shit. When some of the other guys didn't get the hint, The Lieu and the rest of us would handle it. You don't fuck with our family." This time Adam didn't reply, merely nodded in understanding before visibly relaxing, just in time for Kyle to give him a good-natured slap on the back and the two of them walking away like nothing happened.

Hux became fascinated by the conversation he'd just overheard. He'd known of some Officers treating each other like brothers or sisters, but never a whole squadron of ten people. He was now more curious about Captain Guerran, as well as wondering what her men had meant about making it up to her at the cantina. He'd never expected the Captain to be so stunning, much less as fierce as she was and how she easily kept her men in line. All of them obviously respected her, so shown by the way they behaved in her presence, although they might've behaved differently if she hadn't been angry; he'd be curious to test that hypothesis out. He barely registered Colonel Kahn asking him a question, but Hux replied with a question of his own that had bugged him since he'd watched the men stepping out of their cockpits.

"Colonel, The TIE/sf's are built for two pilots, are they not?"

The Colonel gave him a sly smile before nodding once, "Indeed, General. But Captain Guerran has required all her pilots to train extensively to be able to use all weapons even in the midst of battle, where the turret would ideally be controlled by the rear-facing gunner. This makes it especially challenging for her pilots, but I assure you, they are more than up to par – they wouldn't last if they weren't up to her standards." Hux gave a swift nod, and just as it appeared the Colonel was about to ask something else, the man was distracted by a different squadron leader coming up to give him a report, which Hux took as the perfect time to leave, doing so with a simple "Colonel" before heading back to the bridge.