[Hux]

"The repulsors are a critical component to the operation of the shuttle," Hux told Commander Tico. They were at the bottom of the ramp, with the rest of the Resistance milling around. He would have preferred privacy, or at least the illusion of it by having people stay back a polite distance. But things were as they were. "Without them, it's barely a ship. The winch we can spare." Not that he wanted to.

"The winch …" She shook her head. "It was an idea. But without the tree trunk it's not even that."

"We could cut down another," he offered.

She shook her head impatiently. "No. The repulsors are a better idea. That one will actually work. We just hadn't considered it yet because we're no keener than you are about taking apart the only way we have to get out of here. But I saw what was in the repair kit. We should be able to do it without damaging anything."

Lieutenant Threnalli put in, "We will have to go slow."

"I did not ask you," Hux snarled at him.

"I did not ask for you to ask me!" the alien said, his skin darkening and his mouth tendrils inflating a little to poke stiffly out to the sides. The staff sergeant moved between them, close enough that the Abednedo moved back a step. The alien complained, "This is not how we should work together!"

Hux turned to Finn, who was watching the exchange with the same stony face most of the Resistance had at that moment. "Finn. Control your soldier." Finn moved over next to the alien, but rather than dealing with him, he squared up with staff sergeant who was now facing both of them. Behind him, Hux heard CL-0745 murmuring something inside her helmet, probably comming the rest of the squad to alert. The situation was escalating. Hux sighed.

"He has a point," Tico said, her tone clipped. She was watching him closely.

"I know he has a point," Hux said. "That is why I am not having him shot. I am not removing myself. I am not having him removed. You may not believe it, but this is actually a concession." Hux turned to the trooper. "Sergeant, stand down." At the top of the ramp stood the breakfast squad, armed and ready. The staff sergeant between him and Threnalli stepped back, but still kept her body between him and the creature. It was more protective than was strictly called for. On the other hand, the thing had laid hands on him yesterday.

"We are here together," the alien said, his tone more reasonable. Maybe it was even what passed as pleading. "We must work together. We should work together."

Hux felt he was showing admirable restraint by waiting until the thing was done speaking, before saying, "Be quiet." Of course, it immediately opened its mouth to protest. But Finn stopped it – grabbed its arm or nudged it. Something. The staff sergeant was between them and Hux didn't see.

"Sir?" Finn said in a steady voice.

Hux was tempted to tell him to shut it as well, but this was the unit commander addressing him more or less respectfully. "Yes?" he said through clenched teeth.

"Sir … with all due respect, you're trying to put the wrong battery pack in your blaster."

Hux blinked at him a couple times. He couldn't immediately place the idiom, but he could follow what it meant – he was going about the situation wrong. He looked to the alien and conceded further, "We will go slow. Your input is noted. In future, direct it to your commander, who can direct it to me if he judges it necessary."

"You will not speak with me?" Threnalli asked, offended.

"Obviously, I will speak with you. We are speaking now. Do you have any understanding of chain of command or is that a foreign concept for your kind?"

"My kind?" His mouth-tendrils inflated again.

"The Resistance!" Hux said.

"Oh." The alien calmed. "The chain of command is not relevant in these circumstances."

"It is even more relevant in an emergency like this."

"Then we disagree," Threnalli said soberly, as though they were equals discussing something inconsequential.

"The wrong battery pack indeed," Hux muttered. There was nothing necessarily wrong with the battery pack in this hypothetical situation. No amount of reprimanding the battery pack would make it function the way he wanted to. He had to either apply overwhelming pressure and rebuild it from scratch, or get the new and right one (which wasn't available – the Resistance and this section of troopers was all he had), or he could stop trying to make a square peg fit in a round hole and move on. "We disagree. The chain of command matters to me, if not to you. I will be angry with you when you disregard it. If you find that satisfactory, then we can move on."

"I do not."

Hux sighed once more. "Of course not," he muttered. He didn't know how much sleep he'd gotten the night before, but it wasn't enough for dealing with this nonsense.

The alien said, "Perhaps I should apologize for interrupting?"

That wasn't what Hux had expected. "Yes … you should. That is exactly what you should do." And then stop interrupting, but that might be too much to ask.

"Then I apologize."

"Accepted." Hux looked to Finn, who was pressing his lips together to keep from smiling.

"Are you still angry?" Threnalli asked in what sounded like an honest attempt at being conciliatory.

Hux sighed again, less resigned and oddly, more relaxed this time. "I have been angry nearly every day of my life. But no, I am not angry at you at this moment." He felt tired, though – probably because he wasn't angry. That, and the lack of sleep.

"That is a good start," Threnalli said.

Hux resisted the impulse to roll his eyes and turned back to Commander Tico. "Tell me the rest of your new plan."