Rose wiped the sweat running down from her forehead away with the back of her hand. She put the hydro-spanner into her mouth and leaned down on the small rectangle hole in the floor. Behind her she could hear a mouse droid scurrying past her with its tell-tale beeping.
She opened the top-most button of her dark grey First Order uniform. Finally she saw the chips she was looking for. With a few quick movements she had pulled them out of the energy node and replaced them with chips from her pocket.
Suddenly a male voice rang out. "What are you doing, specialist?"
Rose got up; there was a fair-skinned middle-aged captain standing in front of her. His uniform was of course impeccable, even if he was sporting a rather large belly. She was painfully aware of the open button on her uniform and started to fumble to close it.
"I'm repairing the heating system in this hallway, sir."
"A little heat is no excuse to neglect uniform regulations." He eyed her from head to toe. "You're one of these- these civilian workers, aren't you?"
Rose had to suppress the urge to roll her eyes. A little heat? 40° C in full uniform isn't just a little heat. "Yes sir."
He lifted his chin. "Name?"
"Rose Phan, sir."
"Carry on, Specialist Phan."
"Yes sir."
The man gave her one last haughty look and strutted away. Damn, another demerit. If she had learned anything in the past month it was that First Order officers loved to find flaws and report them. And despite her best efforts she always seemed go against regulations.
She sighed and knelt down to close the small opening on the floor. When Poe had suggested that she would go undercover in the First Order she had known that it wasn't going to be a heroic job – not like in the holo novels she used to read. But to think that she would be bored … actually bored and not challenged the slightest by the menial work.
Paige had protested, argued that Rose wasn't exactly spy material. Rose smiled a little when she thought about her sister. She had been right of course. But they didn't need a spy master – they needed someone who knew First Order tech and was able to read blue prints.
They had kept it simple, she had chosen her mother's maiden name as cover and she posed as civilian worker from Hays Minor trying to make a few credits for her family.
She walked towards the turbo lift and did her best to avoid glances from officers.
-o-
"Another demerit?" asked Lieutenant Chitundu. "Damn it, Phan. Are you actually trying to get me demoted?"
"I'm sorry, Lieutenant." Rose really was. Chitundu was actually reasonable, ambitious but reasonable.
"I guess that's what happens when you put civilians in military units." She sighed. "At least you're a good worker, Phan."
Rose wasn't sure how to respond and remained silent.
Chitundu scrolled through her pad. "Well, we got another complaint about the climate control on deck 37 – get to it."
"Yes sir." Rose checked her pad – as expected she had forwarded the form with the complaint.
She headed back to the turbo lift and looked over the description of the problem. She was pretty sure that it was another chip failure. She frowned. It was odd how man chips burned out in the last couple of weeks. It was strange … contrary to the resistance the First Order had top notch gear, state of the art tech and still they burned through chips faster than them.
She was still pondering about the chips when the lift halted and the door slid open. She looked quickly up, to check if she was already on deck 37 when she realised that she was on the bridge. She had only seen it once, when she had to repair a comm station. There was something creepy about the command centre of the Finalizer, it made her hackle rise as if were cold.
Her view was blocked by the two men entering the lift. She recognized the first one quickly: it was none other than General Hux himself. Poe and Connix had shown her holos of him when they briefed her on the mission. Hux was taller and paler than she had imagined, he had an unhealthy, stressed look about him.
The second man wore a mask and was even taller than Hux. His robes were black and somewhat tatty – and odd contrast to Hux' pristine uniform.
She took a step back and averted her gaze. She had heard rumours that the masked man was Supreme Leader Snoke's apprentice.
They didn't even look at her. Hux pressed a button and tugged at his black leather glove.
"Do would do well to hold your tongue the next time I choose to address your soldiers," growled the masked man. His voice sounded deep and distorted through the vocorder in his mask.
"You didn't address anyone, all you did was lash out at Mitaka – if you don't wish me to contradict you in front of-" he broke off. "This is neither the place nor the time to discuss this."
Rose gulped. So they had noticed her. Pity, it would've been interesting to hear more. She pretended to read the complaint but she couldn't focus.
The lift halted once again, this time it was her level. Hux and the masked man stepped a little to the side and she walked past them. Moments later the doors closed and she exhaled. Well, that had been one of the more surreal experiences in her life.
Too bad that the resistance hadn't been able to plant a mole on the bridge. It seemed that Hux and the apprentice didn't see eye to eye – there were certainly interesting titbits in their bickering. She looked again on her pad. Oh well, it didn't matter. She was stuck fixing low-priority network problems.
She headed to the junction with the access panel. As she started to peel it off, her thoughts returned to the fact that all over the Finalizer chips burned out. It was of course possible that the Order had gotten a shipment of sub-par isolinear chips … she took the burned out chips she was still carrying out of her pocket and checked their dates. The chips were two years old. She finally pried the panel open and took a look inside – there were also burnt chips. She used her hydro-spanner to loosen them and pulled the first one out. Interesting, it was produced six month ago.
She held the chip against the light. The chip was positively fused, it almost looked like one of her overclocked chips she sometimes used as spare parts in resistance fighters. They also burned out like this if there was a sudden surge of energy in the system.
Her interest was piqued. What if it was also an energy surge that fried these chips on the Finalizer? There was only one department that used so much energy that it could affect even systems in lower decks – the weapon development department. The very reason she was here in the first place.
She allowed herself a smile. And now she had the perfect pretence to investigate. Rose felt energized, the prospect of her menial work finally paying off was exhilarating.
.
-o-
.
The room was dark, a lingering smell of a strangely flowery incense hung in the air. Hux' eyes hadn't gotten used to the darkness yet, but he assumed that there had to be incense sticks somewhere in the audience chamber. He almost scoffed. Mystical nonsense.
Beside him stood Ren, breathing heavy in his mask – the very sound annoyed Hux. Not only did the man behave like an Arkanian ox he also seemed to wheeze like one. And the way he had dismissed Mitaka after he had made a proper report … not even a shred of civility or professionalism.
Hux suppressed the urge to check his chronometer. He was due at a troop inspection – but it was of course the prerogative of the Supreme Leader to summon him whenever he pleased. If only he wouldn't let him wait every single time.
Suddenly the holoprojector came to life and Snoke's face appeared in front of them. Hux bowed, after a short moment of hesitation Ren followed his example.
"General," Snoke said in a tight raspy voice, "tell me of your progress on the Starkiller project."
"We are still in the time table with phase one, but we suffered technical set-backs and it's highly likely that we won't finish phase two on time." Hux clasped his hands behind his back, bracing himself for the dressing down. He knew from experience that Snoke wasn't interested in details – he thought that technological progress was a matter of motivation not research.
Snoke narrowed his eyes. "Set-backs?" he hissed. "We already initiated a programme for civil workers and you still lack the manpower to overcome minor technical flaws?"
"Supreme Leader-"
"I'm told that your design is already finished!"
Hux pressed his lips together. Of course he had spies to observe him and his work. It was sensible after all. "Supreme Leader, the issue is not with the design. It's with the energy dampeners. We have to develop new ones that can absorb-"
Snoke glare intensified and Hux felt pressure around his throat. A memory of large meaty hands around his neck, in his face, resurfaced for a split second.
"I'm certain that you will overcome these problems, general."
"Yes, Supreme Leader," croaked Hux. The pressure lifted and he coughed. Beside him he could hear a sharp intake of air from Ren. He gritted his teeth; Ren was probably enjoying the show.
"Leave us, general," said Snoke.
Hux bowed and turned on his heel. He walked towards the exit, small clouds of breath escaped from his lips. Part of him wondered with the Supreme Leaders audience chamber was so cold … no matter. He had his great coat.
-o-
He arrived right on time to the troop inspection. Captain Phasma was running combat drills and gave him a snappy salute once he arrived.
"Sir."
"How are the troops, Captain?" He could see his own reflection on her polished chrome helmet.
"They are still young, sir. But some of them show great promise."
He turned to watch the troopers shooting at moving targets. Their aim was above average, especially from soldier FN-2187, but of course Phasma wouldn't acknowledge it herself.
According to the drill sheet the next drill was hand-to-hand combat. Hux crooked his eyebrow. That seemed rather archaic. Phasma seemed to anticipate his next question.
"It' good for their tenacity and their combat spirit, sir. And it makes them vindictive."
Hux nodded. That much was true as he knew from personal experience.
The cursor blinked on his screen, the programme was waiting for him to continue his dictate. Hux rubbed his temple and read over the last paragraph. He grimaced. His father had taught him the importance of speeches but he hadn't told him how to write them.
He checked the chronometer. It was already past dinner. He wasn't hungry but he still took a half-eaten ration bar lying on his desk and bit off a small piece. He stared at the screen. Perhaps he should continue another time? The speech was due in a week.
He was looking forward to his work-free time in his lab. After sitting through countless meetings and reading reports he could finally do something efficient.
"Close program," he said and the screen went dark. Hux shoved the last piece of the bar in his mouth and got up. He straightened his uniform jacket as he walked to the door. He put his boots on and threw the great coat over his shoulders before he exited his quarters.
His father would disapprove of course. 'Only a weak mind stops in the middle of a task.' But while it was a means to relax it wasn't a waste of time … it was to improve efficiency.