ID: SF-63-7
Species: Human/Atoan
Gender: Female
Age: 24
Assignment: Pilot
Affiliations: Special Forces
The pale, angular man looked up from his datapad, and gave Imei a thin smile.
"Everything appears to be in order. Welcome aboard the Finalizer, pilot; hopefully you will adjust to your new surroundings without much difficulty."
Imei nodded slightly, fixing her superior with a cool look.
"I'll neither enjoy nor dislike my stay here, Commander. I perform my duties with no regards to personal comfort."
Lennox felt slightly intimidated by Imei's confidence, as he was used to more cautious personnel; however, the pilot wasn't being outright rude, so there wasn't really anything he could do about it.
"Escort this pilot to personnel habitation area 3-B, room number 5." Lennox addressed one of the two stormtroopers that flanked him, double-checking his datapad as he spoke.
"Yes, sir, right away." A stormtrooper stepped forward and placed himself next to Imei, his movements eerily mechanical.
Commander Lenoxx gave Imei one last tight-lipped smile, desperately hoping that she wouldn't turn out being a problem. It wasn't every day that the First Order took on a non-human, and definitely didn't tend to add them to elite forces.
Sure, the girl looked perfectly mortal on the outside, but there was a certain design of her internal organs that made her quite unusual.
This fact alone was unnatural enough to set the commander on edge, and a frown pulled down the corners of his mouth as he watched the pilot disappear down a side hall.
The stormtrooper escorted Imei down a corridor and summoned a lift, shifting uncomfortably as the young woman's stare bored into the back of his head.
Neither the trooper nor Imei spoke as they entered the lift and shot upwards, though Imei had several burning questions regarding sanitation methods on-board. She hated bacteria with a passion, and nothing bothered her more than an unclean environment.
Maybe I'll ask later, Imei reassured herself.
After a few seconds, the lift reached its destination, and the pair exited together. The trooper led Imei to a long hall that split off into several doors and side paths; she imagined it would be very easy to get lost, if one didn't know exactly where to go.
Fortunately, Imei's escort knew his way through the ship, and guided her through hallways fluidly.
"We're almost there, ma'am," he said, leading her down a particularly tight corridor.
The duo were about the turn the corner, when a tall figure from the other side did so first, and barged directly into Imei. She stumbled backwards ungracefully, barely catching her fall.
Imei regained balance and looked upwards, fixing the new arrival with a frigid glare.
To her surprise, the male figure that loomed above her was masked, and wearing ridiculous black garb that covered his entire body. He looked like no other personnel Imei had seen so far, but his enigmatic appearance didn't deter her.
"Watch where you're going," she snapped, directing a glare at the eye-slits of her offender's mask. "Knocking over fellow staff is hardly professional."
The stormtrooper escorting Imei backed away from the scene slowly, knowing that things were going to take a turn for the worse.
"Do you know who you're speaking to?" The masked figure spoke, a roughly filtered voice scraping out of his mask.
Imei didn't of course, and remained in a frustrated silence.
"I am Lord Ren, leader of the Knights of Ren; I am not in the First Order, but if I murdered you right now, I'm sure it would go unnoticed- that tends to be a perk when you're one of the most important figures in the First Order's plans."
Imei retaliated as soon as Ren finished, an alarming red color blotching her cheeks. "Are you done with your temper tantrum yet, Lord Ren?"
Ren's fingers curled into tight fists; but Imei either didn't notice, or didn't care.
"I'll have you know that I'm one of the most valued pilots in this organization, so whatever meager influence you hold with the Order's leaders would not smooth over my sudden disappearance. I've wiped out more X-wings and other starfighters than you could possibly imagine- I have no idea what you're doing here, but you obviously aren't useful for battle, as that laughable attire would make combat far too difficult."
Imei took ragged breaths as she finished her outburst, a wild rage burning in her slate-coloured eyes. She stood her ground, glaring up at Ren, while he clenched and unclenched his fists furiously.
Ren wanted to choke the insolent woman so badly, to reach out and wring her neck, but he knew there was some truth in her words; Hux would have his head if he so much as touched a good pilot.
After a few tense moments, with a nervous stormtrooper looking back and forth between Imei and Ren, the situation was defused.
Ren shoved past Imei, slamming her against the wall in the process, and continued down the corridor without another word.
"Let's get out of here." The stormtrooper pushed Imei forwards, forgetting all formalities.
Imei followed the trooper the rest of the way, rubbing her aching shoulder bitterly.
Soon after turning the corner, the two arrived at door number 5, Imei's designated living quarters.
The stormtrooper gave Imei the code to unlock the room, and turned to leave, when the young woman suddenly grabbed his armoured shoulder.
"Ma'am? Is something wrong?"
In a swift movement, Imei pulled off the stormtrooper's helmet, revealing a pair of panicked green eyes.
"Please return my helmet, ma'am! I'm not supposed to have it off during duty." The trooper's eyes quickly darted in both directions, making sure nobody had seen him yet.
"Tell me your ID number and I'll give it back," Imei responded calmly.
"My number's FO-1658." The stormtrooper snatched his helmet from Imei's hands and shoved it back on, shiny white plastic replacing his freckled skin.
"I always wondered what the face of a true coward looked like," Imei said, her words biting into him harshly. The whole time he had escorted her, the smallest things had made him nervous, so Imei had decided to cure him of this horrible condition. After all, there was no room for fear in a true fighter. "I'll remember your number, for any possible future uses."
The poor stormtrooper groaned internally. Had the woman really removed his helmet just to insult him?
Imei wondered if his days on the Finalizer were usually this chaotic- she highly doubted it.
"Well, be off then," Imei said, waving her hand dismissively. Without waiting for a response, she entered her new living quarters, sliding the door closed behind her.
What a bore, she thought to herself. Not even ten minutes on a new capital ship, and I've already made a mortal enemy. I hope I never have to encounter that horrible man, Lord Ren, ever again.
Quite unfortunately for Imei, she would be seeing the Knight of Ren much sooner than expected; of course, Imei couldn't know that- she followed her usual nighttime routine, unaware of the headaches the next day would yield.