Chapter Seven


"Are all of our communication channels monitored?"

Phasma took a step aside as Alexandria walked uninvited into Phasma's quarters. Phasma, who had been in the process of stretching her overworked muscles simply closed the door behind her, "sure, come on in...make yourself at home."

Alexandria had already done so by flopping down onto the couch, "they are, aren't they?"

Phasma opted to remain standing, leaning against her kitchen counter as she did so, "our communications channels?"

"Yes," Alexandria huffed, squirming slightly under Phasma's intense gaze, "are our communications channels monitored? Like, all the time? Or just for keywords?"

"Why?"

Alexandria dramatically threw herself backwards on Phasma's couch, her hands coming up to wipe across her face, "Phas-ma!"

"What?" Phasma laughed softly, "you're asking me about our communications channels and you think you have the right to be frustrated with me?"

"I just…" Alexandria trailed off as she allowed her hands to land beside her as her shoulders deflated, "can you just answer the question? I won't do anything bad…"

"I was born at night, Townes," Phasma deadpanned, "but not last night—if you want an answer, you're going to have to tell me what's going on."

"But, I don't want to."

"Then," Phasma shrugged, "I can't help you. Perhaps Hux can answer your question."

"Ugh, no," Alexandria hadn't spoken to Armitage since that night a few weeks ago when he'd pulled her to Kylo Ren's room and been huffy with her in the hallway. She was both frustrated with the general and with not knowing what was happening after she'd brought the scrolls to his attention. She hadn't run across any other forms of secret communications since and she was dying to know if the general and commander had been able to find any other leads.

"Are you going to tell me why you're avoiding Hux?" Phasma arched a skillfully plucked eyebrow. She'd long ago noticed neither Hux nor Alexandria had made any effort in speaking to one another over the last few weeks, and while it didn't appear the general was avoiding Alexandria, it was pretty obvious Alexandria was avoiding him. "Did someone have too much wine and bump uglies?"

Alexandria stared at Phasma with a horrified look on her face, "I don't even like wine."

"I wasn't referring to you."

If Alexandria had been in a better mood, she may have given up on holding out for an apology just to interrogate Armitage on his drinking habits. "I think I may have just thrown up in my mouth a little," Alexandria blanched at Phasma's insinuation.

"Alright," Phasma sighed, turning their conversation around, "why do you want to know about the communication channels? Is it related to your translations?"

Alexandria knew if she said yes, they would definitely be listening in to her conversation and the last thing she wanted anyone to overhear was her personal conversation, "no."

"Then, what's it for?"

"It's—personal?"

"Personal?" Phasma lifted both of her eyebrows this time and Alexandria shifted uneasily, "a personal conversation? With whom?"

"Just...someone."

"Just someone," Phasma had never wanted children, but if she did, she imagined this is exactly how conversations with them might go. "Why are you so fidgety?"

"Phas-ma!"

"Why are you being difficult?" She laughed again, as Alexandria fell sideways and pulled one of Phasma's accent pillows over her face, "what's going on?"

"I'm...frustrated."

"Yes, I gathered that," Phasma had to strain to hear as Alexandria's voice was muffled from the pillow covering her face.

"No," Alexandria shook her head, the pillow rocking side to side as she did so, "I'm...frustrated."

"Alright…" Phasma liked talking to Alexandria, it was nice to be able to hold a conversation with another intelligent woman, but at times she really did want to just strangle her. "With Hux…?"

"No!" Alexandria groaned, "I'm frustrated, Phasma! I'm physically frustrated."

"This is just going around in circles," Phasma rubbed her forehead as she closed her eyes, breathing slowly through her nose as she did, "are you ill? Or…?"

"Stars, Phasma!" Alexandria ripped the pillow off her face as she stared at her wildly, "I'm sexually frustrated! There? Are you happy?"

Phasma's mouth formed an "O" as Alexandria flopped back onto the couch, pulling the pillow across her face again as she did, "I…" Phasma really was at a loss for words. Perhaps this is why she didn't bother befriending anyone else on base. She knew some of the nurses and kitchen staff gossiped about sex, perhaps Alexandria would be better suited befriending them. "And this has to do with the communication channels how…?"

"I'd like to call someone about my situation," Alexandra's muffled voice sounded, "and maybe get a bit of relief, if you know what I mean?" Phasma didn't. She'd had sex before, but it hadn't been romantic or personal and she certainly hadn't felt the need to have it again. Although, her dreams had featured a certain ginger haired man lately… The captain physically shook her head, refusing to go down that road, much less with Alexandria in her room. "...and I don't want the entire communications team listening to me try to get some, you know?"

"Alright," Phasma waved a hand in front of her face in order to try to end the conversation, "I get it."

"So, would they listen in?"

"Most definitely."

Alexandria tossed the pillow off her face and across the room, the plush square landing only a few feet away, "how about visitors? Do we allow visitors?"

"No."

"You're really not helping me here," Alexandria pushed herself into a sitting position, "who's the guy on base most of the girls go to then?" Phasma simply shrugged as Alexandria's frown deepened, "this has been a great conversation," she grunted unhappily, "we've really made some headway here."

"Sorry," Phasma laughed, "you could always—"

Phasma's commlink beeped demandingly on the glass table and she quickly crossed the kitchen to grab it, Alexandria watching with interest as she did so, "Phasma," she answered it.

"Is Townes with you?" Armitage almost sounded as frustrated as Alexandria felt, but she hoped it was for different reasons.

"Yes," Phasma glanced over at Alexandria.

"Can you please escort her up to security?"

"Sure," Phasma nodded and Armitage promptly hung up.

"Can they hear me?" Alexandria whispered as she lifted her eyes up to the ceiling, "am I in trouble?"

"No," Phasma rolled her eyes as she crossed her quarters to duck into the bedroom to change into her uniform, calling out as she did, "and I doubt it, that's too much paperwork."

It was only a handful of minutes later when Alexandria and Phasma stepped into the lift, Phasma expertly selecting their desired level. Because it was later in the evening, the lift was a highly trafficked area as various First Order officers and troopers stepped on and off as they road. About halfway to their destination, Alexandria found herself watching as one of the First Order sergeants stepped onto the lift and greeted Phasma. His voice, although distorted, seemed deep and Alexandria ran her eyes over his armor from behind. She tried to imagine what he would look like without it, her eyes focusing on the black pauldron covering his left shoulder. Someone with that rank had to be a little muscular...even if he was ugly, she could just close her eyes, right? Or get into the right position so she didn't even have to look at him—Alexandria eyed him a moment longer before the lift doors opened and he exited it seconds later.

"Is he attractive?" Alexandria asked Phasma once the doors had closed and the two were alone, "if I asked him to lie on top of me, would that be weird?"

"Yes." Phasma didn't even hesitate, her eyes rolling inside her helmet, "that would be very weird."

"I just want to feel the weight of a man," Alexandria and Phasma exited the lift a few moments later, walking down the identical corridor as they did, "you know? Just, the weight of a strong man on top…"

"Perhaps if you spent as much time on translating as you did envisioning yourself underneath a man, you'd be finished with the documents?"

Alexandria's jaw dropped as Phasma looked at her pointedly before entering in her security code for the door they found themselves in front of, "I'm wounded," Alexandria held her hand up over her heart, "and also a little proud of you. That was an excellent come back…"

Phasma only laughed as the door slid open with a woosh, the two women stepping in moments later. Armitage glanced over his shoulder from where he'd been sitting in front of a wall of monitors, his index finger curled over a dial. "Finally," Armitage drawled as he spun the dial around lazily, his eyes gliding across the various monitors as he did so, "Ren's on his way. Thank you for seeing her up here, I'll meet you at the briefing shortly."

Hux's comments seemed to be addressed to Phasma, so Alexandria only walked further into the dimly lit room, looking at the other monitor walls that Hux wasn't focused on while Phasma exited the office. She could see the live security feeds of the canteen, the training rooms, and a few hallways.

Before Alexandria could try to figure out what she was looking at or work up the courage to ask Armitage, the door opened again and in stepped the commander. Or at least, who Alexandra assumed was the commander. He was dressed in all black, and although she remembered him being fairly muscular, he looked even bulkier, appearing as if he had armor on. What caught her eye the most was his strange helmet, unlike any of the trooper helmets she'd seen so far. Hux didn't bother looking over his shoulder.

Luckily, Alexandria didn't have to stare at the shiny helmet for long. Once the doors had closed behind him, Kylo Ren flipped his hood back and lifted his helmet, the breathing apparatus automatically moving forward to allow him enough room to take it off. Even if Alexandria hadn't been in her frustrated state, she would have thought Kylo Ren's helmet removal was extremely attractive. He ran a hand over his hair as he did so, tossing his helmet not too carefully onto the counter Alexandria was leaning against. His dark eyes glanced over at her, eyeing her a moment longer than necessary before he took a few steps to stand behind Hux.

"What did you find?"

"One moment," was Hux's only response. However, their commander only

breathed unhappily through his nose, his eyes lifting upwards towards the ceiling.

"Is this about the coup?" Alexandria asked once the silence got to be a little much.

"Yes," Hux's drawl was a little on the edgy side, so stern it even caught the commander's attention as he glanced at Hux curiously. He really had no idea what the relationship between Hux and Alexandria was, but he hadn't expected there to be that much frustration in his reply. Curious, Kylo Ren angled his shoulders and glanced behind him at Alexandria, who he caught in mid eyeroll.

When she was finished, their eyes met and Kylo only lifted an eyebrow at her. She responded with another eyeroll and he turned his attention back to the monitors in front of him. It was only a few seconds later when Armitage found what he was looking for, stopping the dial and pressing a few buttons. All three adults watched two dressed stormtroopers walk down one of the corridors. It all looked normal until a third person, dressed in a hooded cloak, passed by the stormtroopers. Alexandria frowned as they eventually moved out of frame, unsure what she just saw.

"Can you…" Alexandria leaned forward, her eyes glued to the screen as Armitage turned the dial again, the figures in the recording moving backwards quickly. Armitage hit play again and they watched the video once more, although Alexandria still wasn't sure what she was looking at.

"Did you see it?" Armitage asked, "the man?"

Alexandria shook her head no, but before Armitage could do anything further, Ren grabbed the back of his chair and wheeled him away from the console. A moment later, another chair came rolling over and into Ren's open hand before he sat down and took over the controls. Armitage huffed unhappily, his frown deepening as Ren's fingers ran across the buttons.

Alexandria took that moment to look around the room wide-eyed, as if she were looking for a hidden fourth person. Had that chair rolled on its own into Kylo Ren's outstretched hand? Or had she just imagined it? She snuck a look at Armitage, but aside from his pissed off expression, he didn't seem to care as much as she did about what had just happened. Carefully, she ran a hand over her mouth, her eyes flickering around the room at the remaining empty chairs. Maybe Armitage's chair had bumped into the one the commander now sat in? Although her latest theory made no sense, seeing as how that chair had been clear across the room, Alexandria settled on that one for now as she bit her lip anxiously. She had a strong feeling that this hired job was not going to be as easy as she had thought it would be—especially if she had to deal with chairs moving on their own.

Armitage must've noticed her body language, as his head turned to look her over, taking in her now anxious expression. He frowned at her, his eyes moving quickly around the room in order to try to pinpoint what it was that had made her so uneasy, but he didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Alexandria refused to look at Hux and instead continued to face forward as she silently willed her heartbeat to return to normal. They both watched as Ren worked the controls, rewinding and playing repeatedly until he began to roll through the footage frame by frame.

It wasn't until Ren had reached the 2700th frame did he pause, go back two frames and then pause again. Artimage squinted hard at the footage and Alexandria automatically took a few steps forward, hovering just a few steps away from the back of Kylo Ren's chair now. Ren rocked the dial back and forth, alternating between the two frames until he finally released a frustrated breath, "the footage has been altered."

"What?" Armitage was beside Ren now, attempting to reach for the dial but the commander refused to give up control, instead hitting a few buttons on the keyboard beside the dial until both frame number 2698 and 2699 were up side by side on the screen. Alexandria slipped her hands into the back pockets of her trousers, watching as Ren repeated his motions to show the unnaturally spliced frame that occurred just before the 2700th frame. "That can't be…"

Ren didn't say anything, instead he got to his feet and grabbed his helmet off the counter. Alexandria watched him with both caution and curiocity as he tapped a few buttons on his helmet and lifted it over his head—their eyes meeting briefly just before the helmet covered his face. "I'd say this leak as you so affectionately labeled it has sprung," Kylo Ren adjusted his gloves before taking two long strides towards the door, "let me know when you've realized our only option with moving forward is my way."

The door closed behind the commander a moment later and Alexandria tried to convince herself that the chill that ran down her spine was from the chilly recycled air. When she looked back over towards Armitage she lifted her eyebrows upon seeing him bent over, his forehead resting on the console. She'd seen Armitage tense before and certainly stressed out—but the man before her looked beaten. Testing the waters between them, Alexandria carefully asked, "what's his way?"

"Isn't there a library you should be in right about now?"