AN: See y'all on Monday.

.***.***.***.***.

"Thank you captain, you're free to go." Colonel Larus leaned back in his stiff chair as he spoke.

Lori still had more to say to Phasma, "I'll show her the way out," she offered as she stood.

Phasma shifted a wary eye towards the major before scooping her helmet from the table. She didn't need a guide out of the warren of offices, but a few questions best asked away from curious onlookers floated at the edge of her tongue. Besides, Phasma doubted that the unassuming major would pose a threat.

The captain slid her helmet on, then cast an aloof hand towards the door, "After you."

Her words were just flat enough to make the colonel think that they weren't meant with disrespect. But it wasn't lost on Lori that the lowest ranking one in the room thought that she was the one in control here. Going along for now, Lori stepped out of the room and into the hall.

Phasma followed along, her distinct armor clattering as she walked. The halls this deep within the FOSB were largely deserted, and the two were left in relative privacy.

Lori knew that the other woman had been sizing her up during their meeting, and now was no different. She waited for Phasma to make the first move, sure that the captain was better suited to a physical fight than one of words.

"You were on the Absolution two years ago." Phasma said the fact as if it was an accusation.

"I was," Lori nonchalantly acknowledged, "you put in some fancy footwork in catching that resistance agent."

Phasma heard the concession that was Lori's complement. As ready as she was to take it, Phasma was no fool. Remaining silent she waited for Lori to go on.

Taking note of the captain's unexpectedly cautious behavior, Lori baited her with a pointed question, "Do you make a habit of that, captain? Being in the right place at the right time to catch Resistance spies?"

Cool in a battle, but quick to raise to a challenge Phasma bluntly called out Lori's implication, "I'm exceptionally loyal to the First Order."

"I never said you weren't, captain." Lori placed a purposeful emphasis on the other woman's rank. No one questioned Phasma despite her technically only being a junior officer, her place as a decorated commander with a fearsome reputation usually being enough to scare away any detractors.

The slight reached Phasma loud and clear. Not being one to back down from a challenge or a dismissal, she tried to invoke a name that outranked the major, "If you're attempting to discredit me, you'll find nothing. Just ask my commanding officer."

Lori saw exactly where this was going, and she desperately wanted to goad Phasma into an embarrassing trap, "I'm not familiar with your chain of command. Who's your superior?"

Playing what she thought would be a winning hand, Phasma came to a stop as she turned her blank helmet towards Lori, "General Hux. If you're intent on questioning him, I'm sure you could find him on the bridge."

The desperate power play almost brought a twisted grin to Lori's features. Instead she let the captain's comment have none of the frightening effect that Phasma had been expecting.

"I'll catch him at home instead."

Phasma had been off ship since Starkiller base was destroyed. Lori wasn't sure how much attention the captain paid to idle gossip around the ship, but this conversation had only made her sure that Phasma had no idea about Hux and her.

Lori wasn't able to see the captain's eyes narrow dangerously, but she was able to see an uneasy shift in the other woman's stance.

Just as Phasma was about to demand an explanation, a small whirring of a BB-series droid came whizzing around the corner. It skittered to a stop at the two officers in the hall before deciding that it's message was more important than whatever conversation it had stumbled into.

As it began a panicked series of beeps and whirs, Phasma and Lori both cast a confused looked to the black durasteel ball.

"Slow down," Lori was the first to speak, "How many of them were there, and in what sector of the ship?"

A few sharp beeps and whistles came in reply.

"Three will be no trouble for a company. Go find the nearest trooper and guide them to the intruders," Phasma was quick to dismiss the little droid.

"Hold on," Lori stepped away from the captain to directly face the BB unit, "go keep an eye on the intruders and keep us updated on their movements. We'll figure out the rest."

The little droid rocked back, its processor unit swiveling between the two women in the hall. Searching its base programing for the best decision and coming up blank, it defaulted to following the command of the higher ranking officer. Following Lori's order, it rolled back down the hall, transmitting an easily followed signal as it went.

Without a word, Phasma turned her horrifyingly blank helmet to the major.

Maybe I'm pushing her a little too far, Lori distantly thought as she was left to stare at her reflection on the captain's helmet.

"How good are you at organizing an ambush?" Lori asked with a purposeful ease.

Phasma nearly growled the word, an answer and a threat, "Very."

.***.***.***.***.

The day had dragged on, and not for a second had General Hux left the bridge. He had hardly torn his gaze away from the final two slivers of the Resistance that existed in the galaxy.

At that very moment, the corvette's engines flickered as it dropped further behind the cruiser.

Meter by meter, it drifted away from the pesky safety of the larger ship's shields. Meter by meter, one of the final cinders that dared defy the First Order came just a little closer to being snuffed out.

A sudden streak of hungry green light flew from the Supremacy. Though it traveled impossibly fast, it covered a distance so great that General Hux was able to watch as the solitary beam dashed across the void before turning the corvette into a pile of slag.

"That was the last of their support ships," a captain updated the bridge, "It's just their main cruiser now."

The general's lips curled. A single ship sat between him and a galaxy free of vermin.

Hux tensed his hands into a fist and then purposefully exhaled as he loosened them, "And their fuel reserve?"

Not a single soul on the bridge missed the dangerous edge to the general's question.

The same captain answered, his words made quick out of fear, "By our calculations, critical."

.***.***.***.***.

Lori had been waiting down the hall and in a room watching real time video of Phasma's ambush. As much as she enjoyed watching reality crash over the trio, a small sence of recognition picked at her. Something was off about the older man in a lieutenant's uniform, and as he was hoisted off the ground Lori was able to clearly see his face.

"DJ?" she spoke to the empty room.

Lori had only worked one job with DJ, and that was over five years ago. But she would recognized his traitorous face anywhere.

Sensing an opportunity, Lori brought her comm up and used it to speak directly to Phasma, "Separate the prisoners, and bring the guy dressed up as a lieutenant to me, I think we can get something out of him."

If Lori knew one thing about DJ, it was that his loyalty could be bought and sold to the highest bidder.

Phasma would have liked to ignore the know-it-all voice that echoed through her helmet, but she complied all the same. As her troopers finished hoisting their catch up from the ground, Phasma told them, "Separate the prisoners. DL-396, DT-119, on me."

The seemingly random decision to bring the false lieutenant along caused no special stir as the other two invaders shouted and screamed as they were dragged off in separate directions.

Phasma's walk to Lori's hiding room was short, and her stern dismissal of the two troopers was even shorter as she dragged the intruder into the cramped space.

Stopping just short of Lori, Phasma stood at DJ's side, the end of her blaster firmly against his ribs.

Bringing one hand to rest against her hip, Lori was careful to keep a flippant air about her, "As I live and breathe, if it isn't my least favorite thief and splicer."

Despite the surprise of finding Lori here of all places, he stammered out, "W-w-wait! I have information."

"I doubt it's worth your life." Phasma drove the barrel of her blaster deeper into his side.

"Stand down, captain" Lori said without actually making a move to shoo Phasma away. Looking DJ in the eye, she cut straight to the method she thought would work best, "You're not a man with principles, I'm not a woman with patience. Start talking."

DJ shifted his gaze between Phasma's carefully polished blaster and Lori's exasperated expression. Phasma's helmet turned to face Lori, and she was sure that the captain's eyes were demanding an explanation of her.

"I don't know those other two. I'm just here on a job; Sneaking, splicing. Getting paid."

Lori gave a knowing hum, the tone on his voice now was identical to the one he had worn just before he betrayed her on that job they had done so many years ago, "So that means this is the part where you sell out your accomplices to save your own skin?"

"You know me so well."

Phasma was confused, but she wasn't an idiot. She certainly wasn't in favor of letting an apparent intruder go.

But the major seemed far less concerned than the captain, "Alright, name your price and then spill it. I don't have all day."

DJ thought on it, though the blaster at his side made his words jumbled, "H-h-how does a million credits sound?"

Lori raised an eyebrow, "Sounds like you're pretty confident."

The thief was only speaking to stall the conversation, and Phasma had already grown tired of them talking around the point, "You'll worry about getting paid after I decide if you'll be allowed to live. Tell us what we want to know or die where you stand."

The blaster nearly cracked a rib for how hard Phasma jammed it into his side. DJ cast a renewed look of panic at Lori.

She had wanted to take the soft approach, but she wasn't above threatening the scummy man either. Shrugging, she said, "You heard the lady, start talking."

.***.***.***.***.

General Hux hadn't been expecting a message from Captain Phasma. He especially hadn't been expecting a follow up message from Lori. In both cases he was absolutely galled to hear of an intruder on the Supremacy.

Between the separate reports, he had gathered that two Resistance agents and a somewhat unwilling accomplice had slipped onto his ship with the intent to disable their hyperspace tracker. In exchange for his life and a healthy lump sum of credits, their prisoner had revealed all he knew of the Resistance's plans to flee from the battle. Lori made it clear that Phasma wanted the credit. Apparently she had managed to bruise the captain's ego, and felt that this would be a reasonable offering at peace.

Playing his part in their scheme, Hux was in a hanger control room awaiting the arrival of his prisoners. While he did, he turned to a computer terminal to send an order to the ship security team; they were to reevaluate and repair all of the ship's doors and locks. Lori had made it clear in her short report that the three rebels in disguise had bypassed the alarm mechanism and fried the locks on the server room doors in far too short a time.

In the short time it took to send his message, the rebels and troopers appeared in the hanger bay. Hux leisurely strolled across the floor, even more sure that the Resistance was doomed.

Hux cast a gloating eye over his prisoners as he came to a stop, "Well done, Phasma."

More than happy to take the credit, Phasma turned towards DJ and spoke as if she had been alone in negotiating the deal, "Your ship and payment, as we agreed."

A shocked look raced over the rebel's features. One of them, disguised as a major, was quick to realize the betrayal, "You lying snake!"

DJ rubbed at his sore wrists as a stormtrooper removed a pair of cuffs from them. He focused on the crates of credits in front of him before turning to his former accomplices with a shrug, "We got caught, I cut a d-d-deal."

"Wait," a sickened look coated with fear traced over the other rebels face, "cut a deal with what?"

As if in answer, a junior officer approached the group, a data pad in hand, "Sir, we checked on the information from the thief. We ran a decloaking scan, and sure enough, thirty Resistance transports have just launched from the cruiser."

"He told us the truth. Will the wonders never cease?" If Hux had faith in anything past himself he might have taken this as a sign.

"No!" a single word from the Resistance agent dressed as a major brought Hux back to the moment.

Somewhere between dispassionate and excited, Hux turned his eye to the officer beside him, "Our weapons are ready?"

"Ready and aimed, sir." They eagerly answered.

A triumphant grin twisted the edge of Hux's features, "Fire at will."

Not a second after he uttered the order to end the Resistance, his prisoners broke into a chorus of shouts and swears, their struggling made futile by the contingent of stormtroopers holding them in place.

As much as he would have enjoyed reveling in their misery, the general wanted to see his moment of victory up close.

Turning away, he swiftly made for the bridge.

.***.***.***.***.

The general swept across the officers walk with a glint in his eye and a spring in his step that brought dread to all who saw him. As he approached a far control panel that sat just below the wide viewport he spared a glance to a data read out.

Though they weren't visible to the eye, twelve tell-tale dots on the radar screen betrayed the position of the last of the Resistance's desperate retreat.

A sizzling green bolt of turbolaser fire ripped itself from the Supremacy and streaked across the darkened void of space. In the distance was a tiny puff of explosion that coincided with another dot blinking off of the radar screen.

As Hux was taking in the last few moments that stood between him and complete domination over the galaxy, the officer sitting at the battle command station chimed in with an inane comment.

"Sir, the Resistance cruiser's preparing to jump to lightspeed."

"It's empty. They're just trying to pull our attention away." He nearly scoffed at how foolish the ploy was, even for them. "Pathetic. Keep your fire on the transports."

Even if the general hadn't learned the plans behind the transports, their mere existence was proof enough that the cruiser had been abandoned.

Another dot vanished from the radar.

The cruiser rolled to its side, blocking the transports from the line of fire.

So, they've already given up pretending to flee. A contemptuous realization floated through Hux's mind. He let the thought go, knowing that this would only be a minor delay.

Then the cruiser continued it's turn.

Another turbolaser hissed past it. Nine dots on the radar.

Hux squinted at the scene before him, a distant suspicion picking at the edge of his mind. Glancing to the field diagnostics he found that the cruiser was still prepped for a jump to lightspeed.

A sick realization jumped the general.

Rushing to the gunner's terminal he nearly crashed into the officer stationed there.

"Fire on that cruiser!"