"Hello darkness, my oldfriend,
I've come to talk with you again.
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left its seeds while I was sleeping...
- 'The Sound of Silence' Simon & Garfunkel
"The Resistance Pilot. Simple, straightforward beating is not working. The man is not breaking and I do not have the time to waste on getting answers. Are these truly the best hammers in your division?"
In one of the cells just a door beyond where the Resistance Pilot in question was being held, General Hux paced. His thin, wiry form moved cagily, with pent-up energy under the rigidly pressed and starched uniform. He was pale, the ginger hair combed back from his face too bright, with a chin some might call weak. Looking at him as a whole, one might have said he did appear weak. Till one looked in the eyes. His eyes were the cold, empty ones of a predator that was contemplating its next kill.
The woman who watched him pace was very familiar with Hux's true nature and chose her words carefully and precisely, but with confidence behind them as they issued from behind the reflective chrome helmet.
"General, the two soldiers that have been working him over are the best. If you are going for sheer brutality and pain as an incentive. It is what they have been trained in. In conjunction with Interrogation Droids, I have found that interchanging sessions of beatings with injections and the more delicate torture the droids can provide produces the best results. I have not encountered a subject that can hold up under this program for very long before breaking."
Captain Phasma, her own true name long since erased from her memory, knew it wasn't what the General wanted to hear. She had chosen the two Stormtroopers carefully and their failure reflected upon her own performance. And she was always careful to precisely nourish and foster her performance. It wasn't common for a female to hold a position such as hers and put her under greater scrutiny. In the past, within the Empire, women had served in almost every capacity, except the Infantry division.
"Well, Captain, this one is not breaking," Hux hissed as he paced by Phasma again. "You will need to do better."
"General, perhaps at this point it would be prudent to call in Kylo Ren…" The words were no more out of her mouth before Hux was spinning on his heel and sending her a cutting glare.
"And risking losing the prisoner and all his knowledge when Ren becomes overwrought and has one of his tantrums?" His lip curled in a sneer, his dislike, if not outright hatred, of the Dark Jedi more than apparent. "The man has no sense of patience. He rides on rage and impulse and if he loses control, we are out a very valuable prisoner and likely an Interrogation Droid, a holding cell and possibly your two brutalizers."
"Very well. There is a soldier in my division that is a Zeltron. Her species is capable of influencing the emotions of others as well as reading emotion very well. They are empaths and their hormonal makeup can make them very likeable. Trustworthy. As far as I am aware, she has never made conscious use of her genetics, but the abilities themselves were never programmed out of her. In case they ever became useful." It didn't bear mentioning that the near-human species was a gullible one and didn't withstand negative emotions well. Most of that would have been long subdued in the woman's programming and conditioning.
"An alien? Why was I not aware of this? Are we so desperate as to become like the Republic and take in the galaxy's riff-raff and trash now? Blast…nevermind. Just get her and bring her here. If she fails, then…" He exhaled on a faint growl beneath his breath. "Then we will send for Ren."
Head bowed, hands braced on the wall of the steamshower stall, ZL-U58 stared down at the water circling the drain, faintly tinged with the blood that had oozed from the scattering of scrapes in her flesh from the battle. The temperature was set as high as possible as the water moved in a circuit, steam to vapor to droplets and back again, turning her hair in to inky blue ropes and flushing her red skin even darker. Her eyes closed as she, again, replayed the confrontation between her and FN-2187 through her head.
It's just an anomaly. Re-conditioning is the best thing for him, then he'll be back to normal and it'll be like this never happened.
There were stories among the Stormtroopers that, rarely, this would happen. A slip in training, too much anti-Order propaganda, old stories of the Empire's fall, a flaw somewhere in the code of a soldier. They weren't infallible and neither was the training they were given. Gratitude towards the organization that had brought them out of a meaningless, mundane, maybe even miserable life and into one of grand, glorious purpose could falter, could allow the influence of the enemy in. They were, after all, just human. Or in her case, near human.
FN-2187 would get past this. Her friend would return to normal and they would move on.
On a sigh, she slapped the controls to the steamshower off and gathered her hair, wringing it out over one shoulder. Gathering her personal issue of multi-purpose soap and body sponge, she stepped out of the stall and padded naked towards the drying tubes set in the opposite wall. Not wishing to look like a blue-furred Wampa in an electrical storm, ZL-U58 worked her hair into a thick damp braid, then stepped into the tube for a quick whirl in the dry, heated air.
She was just buckling her belt over the division issue off-duty gear of gray tunic and leggings when the refresher doors opened and two other Stormtroopers, fully geared, stepped in. Tugging her belt in place, recognizing higher rank, she turned and still in bare feet, snapped into a rigid salute.
"At ease, ZL-U58. Finish dressing and accompany us to Holding Cell 4. Captain Phasma and General Hux require your presence." The red-pauldron speaking gestured towards her boots. "Leave your armor. It will be seen to. Look sharp, U58!"
She had been staring, her face slack and blank, but her mouth snapped shut and quickly bent and yanked on the basic issue black boots, stashed her hygiene tote in her armor, then moved to follow them. Her mind working furiously, sweat breaking out under her hairline. Phasma had given her orders on any number of times, but never one on one. And General Hux had never even glanced in her direction. What the hell did I do?
"Your duty in this matter is clear to you, ZL-U58?"
She was in another holding cell, an empty one. Present was the Captain, General Hux and the silent, dark figure of Kylo Ren. Only General Hux had spoken and it had become swiftly apparent that he did not want Ren in on this gathering. Hux pointedly ignored the other man and only spoke to Captain Phasma when ZL-U58's role was being explained to the Zeltron woman.
Being underneath the pale, reptilian eyes of General Hux was not a comfortable place. Mouth dry, she nodded. A lie. She was not clear at all. Interrogate a prisoner? Her? Not even interrogate, but just question. Be…nice. Sympathetic, understanding, compassionate. These were things she was capable of, of course. To the right individuals. But to Resistance scum? It turned her stomach.
"Your species is capable of this task. You'll do it. Earn his trust, make him like you. You're reasonably attractive…" Hux's lip curled, falsifying his words. "For an alien. Republic and Resistance filth are not picky. Pretend you're another prisoner if you have to. One that we're using to convince him."
She nodded, her tongue thick. Stars…this was not going to work. She was a Zeltron in appearance only. Perhaps these genetic traits were there, inherently, but she had never used them. Keeping her face carefully neutral, her gaze briefly shot over to Phasma, but the other woman was silent.
Hux gave a significant clearing of his throat and had ZL-U58's head whipping back front and center towards the General. His nostrils flared as he regarded her cooly, then he said, in a reasonable tone: "Don't make me regret having alien filth in my ranks. Get that information." His pale eyes narrowed speculatively. "You need to look like a prisoner."
Spoken as such an off-handed observation, the sudden, sharp leatherclad back-hand came as a shock. Her head whipped to the side, pain exploding through her jaw, disorientating her. Staring towards the interrogation panel as she regained her composure, tasting blood that bloomed in the corner of her mouth, her startled eyes met the expressionless, battered helm of Ren. He merely cocked his head and tapped two impatient fingers against the arms folded across his chest. Kylo Ren straightened and prowled with ill-concealed fury past her and towards the door. His words rumbled out through the mouthpiece.
"General, when this ill-conceived plan fails, you will send for me. You waste Supreme Leader Snoke's time with sending this alien to play nice with the prisoner. Why not send her in with a tea-tray and refreshments while you're at it?"
The door slid shut behind Ren as he stalked out and ZL-U58 repressed a shudder as she straightened, wiping at the blood seeping from the corner of her mouth with her thumb.
"I'll do my best, General," she said flatly, hiding her utter lack of confidence in being able to do so.
Seething at Ren, gloved fists clenching till the leather creaked, General Hux pinned the alien in place with that pale-eyed stare. "See that you do," he said softly.
Again, if you are interested in learning more about the Zeltron race, check out Wookiepedia and make sure to click on Legends. It goes into far greater detail than the Canon description.
As the events in this story start impacting the events in the film more and more, please keep in mind that this a sort of 'behind the scenes' telling. For now, the impact on the actual events in TFA will be minimal. ZL-U58 is not meant to be a story changing character, but an added element and a point of view that I hope readers will enjoy.
A reviewer asked about a possible relationship triangle. The answer is...I don't plan on it. I dislike triangles in my own writing (though they're fun to read about.) Right now, I have some thoughts of possible directions, but no concrete plans. I like the inspiration to come as I'm actually writing, so we'll see. I think relationships can enrich a story, but I don't want it to be the main focus.
Thanks for all the favorites and follows and reviews. (Even though ffn is not letting me reply to some of them for some inexplicable reason.)