Onboard the bridge of the Finalizer, an alarm sounded loudly.
Kylo Ren let out a loud "Ughhhh" and dragged a hand over the eye-holes of his mask. "Hux, what is it this time? This is the third alarm in 15 minutes. I know we're in the middle of something, but I swear they never happen this often."
General Hux was distracted, giving orders as they took fire from the Resistance freighter ship they were trying to down. If they could keep up this blockade they might just be able to starve the Resistance out. The last thing he needed right now was a whiny Kylo Ren distracting him.
"It's escape pod 12. It's the same alarm that's been going off this whole time." He spared a cursory glance back at the Knight, "If you bothered to learn the alarm codes you would know that."
Kylo made a face behind his mask.
"Go find out what the problem is if its bothering you so much," said Hux.
"Send some troopers to do it," growled Kylo, further annoyed.
"They're busy doing important things," said Hux coldly, "You are the only one being bothered, so I suggest you handle it."
To Hux's delight the Knight stomped out of the room.
Kylo stormed down the hallway, muttering to himself. He was even angrier because he had forgotten how absolutely enormous the Finalizer was. Where the hell were those escape pods?
"Stupid Hux," he put on a falsetto voice, "Go tend to the problem Kylo, all the stormtroopers are otherwise occupied," he dropped back into his normal growl. "Just because he's busy doesn't mean I suddenly become available for grunt work…"
Finally he recognized the area of the ship he was in. The escape pods were in a relatively deserted corridor. Here below decks, with no view ports, it was easy to forget a blockade was raging outside. The numbers on the pods at his left were decreasing as he walked, bringing him closer to the problem pod. Should be just around the corner now…
To his surprise there was already someone at the pod when he reached it. She was young, maybe a few years younger than him. She was wearing a standard grey maintenance flightsuit, her hair- dark black- was pulled back into a simple braid. Hazel eyes peered out from behind thick-rimmed glasses. She was pulling at some wires, an expression of concern on her face.
He paused, examining the scene. She didn't notice him.
"That doesn't seem to be helping," he said, his voice robotic behind his mask, "Are you trying to make it worse?"
The girl jumped about a mile into the air. "Ah, Kylo Ren! I-did not see you standing there."
Her lack of respect surprised him, grunts should know their place. Most of them refused to even speak in his presence. "Lord Ren," he corrected her sternly.
She could hardly hide a grin at that, "Right, of course, Lord Ren," she corrected herself, "Do I bow—or-?" She swept into a bow, complete with flourished hands. When she stood again there was a swipe of grease on her face. She seemed familiar to him, somehow.
Rather than anger him further, her response amused him. She was intriguing, this maintenance girl. Something about her-
"What is your name, tech?"
"It—its Ye-Yeera," she said, with some hesitation. Probably fearing a demerit for speaking back to an officer, he thought to himself.
"Continue your maintenance Yeera," he gestured toward the pod, "If you can get this blasted alarm off I won't report you for lack of appropriate respect toward an officer."
"Is that an actual offense?" she asked in surprise.
"I can make it one," he replied sharply.
She bit her lips at that, hiding another grin. Is she laughing at me? How could she be so continually impertinent? He would have to talk to Hux about where they were hiring their staff from these days. They needed to be taught some respect.
The girl crouched down and went back to pulling on the wires. After a few seconds the incessant shrilling of the alarm ceased. Finally, I can finally think again, thought Kylo in relief.
She turned back to look at him and raised her eyebrows. Expecting what—praise? Thanks?
"Yes, well. Acceptable job," he said. Her eyes sparkled at that and it flustered him. She's laughing at me again. No one laughs at me. I should definitely NOT like it that she's doing that. He coughed, which sounded stupid through the mask, "Well—back to work, tech."
He turned and strode down the corridor.
As he returned to his quarters in officer's row, many decks above, he just couldn't get the maintenance technician out of his head. Something was off about her. He would have to investigate further.
Kylo adjusted the blonde wig on his head and pushed the glasses further up his nose. Unbeknownst to Hux and just about everyone else on board the Finalizer, they were his real glasses, not just part of his disguise. It was nice to take his contacts out for once and not worry about ruining his image. He ran his hands over the dusty coveralls.
Kylo stopped quickly in to the Officer's mess before heading down to the lower decks. Hux was sitting there, reading his paper and drinking a cup of caf. Maybe he just won't notice me, thought Kylo as he strode quickly across the room to grab food.
Unfortunately Hux recognized him by his stomping stride.
"Ren! So glad you were able to handle that alarm emergency," said Hux, without looking out from behind his paper.
"Oh, uh, yes. It was a simple fix," Kylo replied.
At the sound of Kylo's natural voice without the characteristic growl of his mask, Hux peered around the edge of his paper in confusion. Unfortunately, he had just taken a sip of caf, which he promptly spewed all over the table at the sight of Kylo.
"Ah hahahaha," he crowed, "Ren, why in the twelve hells of Mon Grantor are you dressed like that?" His laughing continued until he could barely breathe. His face turned red.
"I'm just doing some investigating!" scowled Kylo, using the excuse he had thought up earlier. "The tech I saw, down when I was fixing the alarm, seemed suspicious."
"That does nothing to explain why you are dressed like that," coughed Hux, doing his best to quiet his laughter.
"Well if she's a resistance spy she won't reveal that information to me if I look like myself," said Kylo, glaring at Hux. How did Hux make even his most brilliant plans seem stupid?
"She?" said Hux, who was quicker on the uptake than Kylo would have liked.
"Its none of your business anyway," snarled Kylo, grabbing a muffin from the breakfast bar.
"Of course Kylo," sighed Hux, fluffing his newspaper out and beginning to read again. "Let me know when you catch the Rebel scum."
Kylo stormed out of the room.
As he left he could hear Hux trying to stifle further laughs, "I can't wait to tell Phasma…Matt the radar technician!" Hux dissolved into laughter again.
Kylo scowled as he stomped down the hallway. This ship was so goddam big, it was impossible to get anywhere in a reasonable amount of time.
Blending in with the grunts was surprisingly easy. Some coveralls and a crooked nametag and he was in, no one questioned him. The only problem was remembering to be friendly. It didn't exactly come naturally.
A group of people came around the corner, chatting amiably.
He ignored them, continuing his trek down the hallway. His stomping gait drew mystified glances from the group.
"Hey..." One of the men glanced down at Kylo's name-tag, "…Matt. Everything alright man?"
"Oh, uh," Kylo Matt scrambled for words, "Just, uh, having a rough morning, that's all. Nothing unusual, really. How are you doing?"
The man laughed kindly. Kylo bristled involuntarily but reminded himself not to react. He plastered a smile on his face. One of the other men recoiled briefly at the sight.
The laughing man continued, "Mondays man, I know that feeling. You, sir, need a good strong cup of caf. C'mon, we're headed to the mess now." The man, shortish, dark haired, and dressed in a maintenance jumpsuit, clapped Kylo jovially on the shoulder. Kylo stiffened at the touch but forced himself to relax. You're just one of the guys now. Stay cool.
Thinking the mess would be a good start to finding the tech from earlier, Kylo followed them.