[Threnalli]
C'ai examined the flat, snubbed face of the black shuttle, finding the access port for the winch more easily than he'd expected. It was labeled, but like the markings on the chests of the troopers, it was in an embossed or stippled pattern you could only see from a certain angle, or if you had really good eyes, as he did. He suspected the ubiquitous helmets did the same.
He opened the port, examined the mechanisms inside, and tried to see if the bolts to remove it were accessible. He didn't have a good angle for it and the lighting was poor. He was in the shadow of the ship. Even with his eyes, he couldn't tell. He needed to get one of those lights General Hux and Rose had been using earlier.
He was thinking that when he heard a small sound behind him – a soft footfall. He whirled, hand going to his blaster and half-pulling it. One of the stormtroopers had snuck up on him. He'd seen the pair of them set up a handful of paces away, but they'd been looking out into the forest and presumably doing their job of standing guard. Now one had come up on him. "What do you want?" C'ai said, doing his best to sound threatening.
The body language of the trooper wasn't threatening in turn and it didn't become so even in the face of his bluster. They were leaned forward, head slightly tilted, and most importantly for C'ai, their blaster rifle, normally a two-handed weapon, was held loosely out to the side by one hand. In the background, the other trooper hissed, "Teller!"
The one closer ignored their fellow. Instead, they asked hesitantly, "What … what are you?"
C'ai slid his blaster back into the holster. So that was the issue. He thought about various answers he could give: a Resistance soldier, a TIE's pilot's worst nightmare, a hero; but there was something about her stance (and the voice sounded female so he would use 'her') that made him think the question was sincere, even if thoroughly rude. "I am an Abednedo," he explained.
She straightened slightly. "What planet are your people from? Or what system? Are you from there?"
"My people are from the planet Abednedo, in the Colonies system. I was not born on the home world itself, but I am from that system." He enunciated carefully in Basic, expecting that the First Order troopers wouldn't understand his native language. Of those on this mission, only Poe, Chewbacca, and Kaydel did as far as he knew (he wasn't sure about Kylo or Rey). He was certain Finn didn't and he was from the First Order, so.
She gave a nod. He knew it was polite to return the question, but it felt weird to do it of a stormtrooper. Then again, it occurred to him, it was weird only because it felt more comfortable to rely on his assumptions than on reality. "What are you?"
"A stormtrooper."
Well. He'd assumed correctly. But maybe there was more to be found in that answer than the obvious. "That is your primary identity? Interesting."
"No, I'm- Well, it is, but I'm human. Was that what you were asking?"
"Yes. Where are you from?"
"The Finalizer. It's a ship."
C'ai's mouth tendrils twisted in what was a smile for his species. Due to her helmet, it was impossible to be certain, but he was pretty sure she wasn't being sarcastic in telling him the Finalizer was a ship. "Yes, I think it is. Is that your home?"
"Yes." She straightened even more, somewhat to attention. Was that pride? Or some acknowledgement that he was playing along with the humor correctly?
"I heard your names," he said. "Many begin with FN. Does that stand for Finalizer?"
She tilted her head briefly the other way and then back to upright. "No. That's just, uh, there's a word for it … serendipity? The letters are assigned first, then we pick things they stand for. F is for foot soldier, but not all of us in the legion are foot soldiers."
"You're not supposed to talk to them!" the other stormtrooper said heatedly.
"Stow it, Major," she said over her shoulder. "I'm gathering intelligence."
"Major?" C'ai looked over at the other trooper. There was nothing about him that indicated he was an officer. Finn hadn't mentioned it earlier. The highest rank he'd mentioned was first sergeant and she had an orange and black pauldron. This one had no pauldron at all, but the trooper he was talking to (Teller?) had a white one with black barring.
"That's not his rank," she said.
"What is his rank?"
"Specialist."
"And yours?"
"Sergeant."
"Ah. Why do you call him Major?"
"Because he's a major pain in the ass." She said this totally straight.
"I am reporting you to the first sergeant!" the other stormtrooper said.
"That," responded the one in front of C'ai. "That right there." C'ai blinked at her, his mouth tendrils curling again. She had been being sarcastic earlier, about the ship. These troopers … they had a sense of humor (or not, maybe, in the case of 'Major'). "I have to get back to my post," she said, and returned to stand next to the other trooper. She toggled a button on her jawline. He did the same. From what C'ai could see, they then engaged in private conversation.
C'ai turned back to the winch, his tendrils still tight with amusement as he smiled to himself. It had gotten darker still while they were talking and now he could see nothing inside the hatch. He shut it and headed back to the rest, intrigued and buoyed by the exchange.