[Lady]

First sergeant CL-0745 stood at the bottom of the ramp with FL-2216, the staff sergeant she was supposed to be mentoring. They had their helmets on to take advantage of the improved night vision. And because you were always supposed to wear your helmet while on duty. They also had a private comm channel opened between them so they could hold a conversation right in front of the Resistance without giving anything away, as long as they kept their voices down.

"What do you think about the situation?" CL-0745 asked.

"I'm supposed to think now?" It was a serious question, not sarcasm.

"When I take my promotion, the squad will be left in your hands. As a trooper, you are to do exactly as you're told. As a commander, you have to think, understand, and interpret. Your commander won't tell you everything. For example, General Hux has not told me our mission here or my current orders. It's my job to understand that our unit's priority is protecting him and what other First Order assets we have here. He shouldn't have to tell me, and he did not have to tell me. So think, and tell me about our situation."

There was a long pause before FL-2216 offered, "If they tracked us through hyperspace, then hanging around the shuttle like this is the last thing we should be doing."

"If they'd tracked us through hyperspace, we'd already be dead," CL-0745 pointed out.

"Maybe they stuck around to do mop-up instead of coming after us right away."

CL-0745 said, "I think hyperspace tracking has to be used right away or it doesn't work. I don't know for sure, though. But maybe whatever threw us off-course made us impossible to track. Or to their sensors, maybe we vaporized. If the explosion happened simo with the jump …?"

"Being near the shuttle is still dangerous. It's a target."

"It's also our only fortified position," CL-0745 said. "Should we-"

The general's voice raised in a complaint about propriety. FL-2216 leaned out and looked to the side. CL-0745 just turned her head enough to see. The pilot had shifted from sitting next to the general to lying on the ground with his head and shoulders against the fuzzy log they'd been sitting on. He was trying to lure the general to the ground with him, promising they were in the dark and no one could see them anyway. Obviously, the pilot underestimated trooper helmets for both night vision and audio reception. But the general didn't look genuinely upset.

"Stop looking," CL-0745 said. FL-2216 turned so her helmet was facing the Resistance members, who were clustered around a camp light that had come in the survival packs. Earlier, the group been discussing their combined lack of wilderness skills for this biome. Now they were talking about fuel cells and how long the life support would last in a blithe assumption they would be allowed to stay on the shuttle. Rose was telling them it might last for years and even then it wouldn't run out of fuel (assuming they didn't run the thrusters), but eventually something would break down.

"What are they doing?" FL-2216 asked. She didn't have to specify. They both had the general and pilot in their peripheral vision, which was as good as looking right at them given the nature of the heads-up display inside their helmets.

"It appears the general is joining him after all," CL-0745 said.

"Not allies," FL-2216 said, repeating the general's earlier comment, "but don't shoot them." The pilot had his arm extended upward, pointing at the stars and murmuring something so softly even the helmet pickup didn't register it. She assumed they were in discussion of their current location and perhaps navigation back to known space. But their relative positions … lying together, shoulder to shoulder … FL-2216 asked, "Is that fraternization?"

"That pilot talked the general into eating earlier after he'd declined."

"That's not an answer," FL-2216 said.

"It should be. Think."

The pair was silent for a moment. The general's arm shot up, showing some animation as he identified a nebula in the sky. The two troopers could overhear his side of the conversation easily enough. It seemed he and the pilot had agreed to the direction of the core and the region they were in, but were still undecided on quadrant. There was nothing unprofessional or unbecoming about the conversation aside from their overly familiar posture, and that it was happening at all. The tone of their voices was friendly.

"Eating." FL-2216 said. "He wasn't going to eat. Like DL-1364, after she lost her legion on the Supremacy and not even reconditioning would fix her. We still have to watch her to make sure she eats and does self-care. Is that what you mean?"

"He kept checking the evacuation numbers," CL-0745 said, not answering her question directly.

"He didn't seem to care."

"Then why did he keep checking?" CL-0745 countered.

"I don't know," FL-2216 said, an edge of irritation creeping into her voice.

"I think it's because he cares very much what is best for the Order."

"And what is best for the Order is best for us," FL-2216 answered per the ingrained pattern.

"General Hux has always been the standard of loyalty – on the holos, making the morning announcements, commanding the most critical missions, answering only to the supreme leader himself, who could read minds and see people's weaknesses. If the general says it's right, then it's right." After a few moments of thought, FL-2216 made a small noise of acknowledgement and a single nod of her head.