E: "Guess what."
T: "What?"
E: "Guess!"
T: "Guess what?"
E: "You're boring."
T: "You're confusing. Out with it."
E: "I just got us jobs!"
T: "That's fantastic. Why are you being weird about it?"
E: "I'm not! Thank me! I even spent a whole hour on improving our CV's."
T: "Why would you do that?"
E: "More money. Obviously."
T: "How did you find those jobs of ours?"
E: "A cousin of mine told me there were a lot of new openings due to some freak one-time accident."
T: "Aha. Accident."
E: "And his wife's brother works on one of these big-ass starships. And he said he could get us decent jobs if we had the qualifications. His boss is apparently a real nice dude."
T: "You got us jobs on a starship."
E: "Stop repeating what I say!"
T: "What's the name of the ship?"
E: "It's not that important."
T: "Then you'll have no trouble telling me the name of that ship where your cousin so gladly got us jobs. And what are our jobs?"
E: "You're a Communications Officer and I'm a Doctor. Well, field medic, officially. They need more Officers on board with specialized training. And it's my cousin's wife's brother's boss that got us the jobs. His name is Mitaka."
T: "Okay. We could actually pull that off for a while. You did some field medizing. And I did some communicating. Why are you avoiding mentioning our employers?"
E: "Oh. You'll see. We'll board the ship tomorrow on Eriadu where it's resupplying. We'll get our own living quarters!"
T: "I have a bad feeling about this."
E: "Own living quarters!"
T: "What's the name of the ship, Ellin?"
E: "It rhymes with 'Fninalizer'."
T: "And could our employers name by any chance rhyme with 'Fnirst Order'?"
E: "Possible."
Taia scratched her chin, face scrunched up in fake concentration. "Remind me again who our dashing pilot helped us escape from?"
E: "Escape is a strong word for what we did. We just got out of the danger zone."
T: "And working on a fucking Star Destroyer is not the epitome of a danger zone? And on top of that in the middle of a war?"
E: "Aw, come on those ships are indestructible!"
T: "As indestructible as the Death Stars? Both of them?" But then Taia sighed and shrugged. "Well, we've done dumber things. So, who do we report to in Eriadu?"
E: "My cousin's wife's-"
T: "Short, please."
E: "Okay. Mitaka's boss."
T: "Who's this Mitaka again?"
Ellin sighed and closed her eyes in annoyance.
E: "I told you. He's my cousin's wife's brother's boss."
T: "So sorry. And we're to report to his boss? What's his name?"
E: "Hux. He's super high up the command chain."
T: "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! How can you assume I don't know him? He's the fucking face of the First Order! We just saw a propaganda movie with the freaking General himself! You made fun of his hat. "
Taia practically hissed the last sentence, her teeth clenched shut in an angry expression. The color of her face almost matched the color of her hair.
Ellin just smiled sweetly and waved her hand in front of Taia's face, as if she could get rid of her annoyance like she would bat away a fly. "We have to dye our hair, by the way. That way, we can avoid unwanted attention."
"You do know that they wouldn't care about my hair color, right?"
Ellin shrugged. "Hux has red hair. Maybe he'll be annoyed by your fake, redder hair. And I already sent them the records of both of us with brown hair."
"You're an idiot. Want some bantha noodles? They're awful." Taia held the box of noodles up, which she'd been eating before Ellin barged in with the 'good news'.
"Hell yes. I love ugly noodles."
-Boarding the Finalizer-
"So, you just hoped that I'd accept your shadiness about these too-well-paid jobs without question and... what? Surprise the fuck out of me once we're on the Finalizer where I can't talk you out of this?"
"I admit that I didn't calculate your nosiness."
"You didn't calculate my brain into this."
They were staring up at the giant spaceship floating above them as their transport shuttle slowly made its ways towards it.
They were on board with another fifty new employees, all of them already in uniforms, their belongings in a bag across their shoulders. As they drew nearer, all the conversations died down, with only tense silence and the humming of the spacecraft's engine remaining.
E: We look properly professional.
Taia threw Ellin a smug smile.
T: We look fucking amazing. I never had boots this shiny.
E: Taia, I think I'm nervous. Was this a bad idea?
They both kept on staring at the impossibly large ship, growing ever larger the closer they got to its hangar.
Taia nearly snorted.
T: Of course, it's a bad idea. And you're not nervous, you're excited.
After the third ID check and second body scan, they received their First Order commissioned blasters. Ellin got a small, DX-14 blaster pistol while Taia was equipped with a slightly larger model.
She holstered the little black shiny thing and narrowed her eyes at Taia's smug smile.
E: I'm a medic first, and an officer second. That's why my weapon is smaller. I'm not jealous.
T: Whatever helps you sleep at night, kid.
Additionally, they were issued another two pairs of uniforms, one for off- and another for on-duty. Both with their rank insignias on the cuff of the left sleeve that identified them as officers to the other crew members.
Taia's work uniform was charcoal grey while the other one was a black recreational, off-duty one. Ellin got the identical black one but a light gray jump suit that distinguished her as a medic.
Upon arrival on the ship, they were already dressed in their off-duty First Order uniforms, with black leather gloves and, much to Ellin's dismay, a hat.
Both of them had their hair in a neat bun behind their neck.
T: Is there a cantina on board or a place to watch holo movies? For recreation on a fucking war ship?
E: Well, I'm just happy that I don't have to wear a fucking jumpsuit everywhere I go. I look ridiculous in jumpsuits. They make me look tiny.
T: You are tiny, Ellin.
E: Not being a fucking giant is not the definition of tiny, Taia.
T: Well, Ellin, then not being tiny is not the definition of being a giant.
E: This conversation is pointless.
T: I agree.
Taia eyed the keycard in her hand which would give her access to all the rooms she was required to go in. Oh god, I'm going to lose this thing so many times, Taia thought to herself.
"What are you doing with my datapad, Ellin? I need that later."
Ellin sighed and shoved it back into Taia's bag. "It's all shiny new epic First Order issue, but there is not one single game on it!" – "Oh no, I'm shocked… Seriously? What did you expect?" Ellin shrugged. "You never know. But I typed in our access codes in case we forget. I know we're not supposed to, but…" She shrugged again without finishing her sentence and went on to examine her new communicator on her wrist.
A service droid informed them that their used uniforms and undergarments were washed and replaced daily. If they desired anything other than the standard toiletries, they had to commission them, and it would be deducted from their pay.
"Why aren't we in the same quarters? Wouldn't that be easier? For them, I mean? We'd be occupying less space", said Taia.
Ellin studied the map on the walls of one of the many hallways they passed in search of their quarters while trying to get orientated. Taia joined her, leaving the little box-shaped droid that was leading them to wait in the middle of the hall.
"Because we're officers, and therefore have the privilege of having our own room. Only soldiers have to share", Ellin answered, eyes still glued to the map.
The droid behind them beeped frantically in an attempt to hurry them up. "Okay. And how do you know that?" – "I asked the quartermaster. Shit, our rooms are ten minutes apart by turbolift. How fucking huge is this ship?"
Taia shrugged.
T: As big as a fucking city, apparently.
"Hurry up, Ellin, you can get oriented later, we need to drop our stuff off and get back to the command hall in time for General Hux's speech."
E: I'm looking forward to his hat.
T: Just promise me not to laugh in his face.
E: Calm down, I'll be positioned somewhere in the back anyways. Nobody would notice.
They fucking put her in the first fucking row of the whole fucking batch of new employees who were attending the fucking speech. Out of all the 5'000 she had been selected to stand first in row with nineteen other unlucky bastards.
E: Shit.
And he was wearing his hat.
E: Fucking shit.
Ellin could see him, standing with his back to her and talking to some senior officers. His red hair standing out against all the black and grey around him.
T: Calm down, Ellin.
E: Easy for you to say, Miss Back-Row. I'm a medic! Why do I have to be in front!
T: At least try to look as if you're paying attention.
Taia caught an evil eye from an officer standing next to her when she tried standing on her tip toes to look for Ellin. But she couldn't see anything apart from the rows and rows of First Order officers, soldiers and…other military staff.
And the elevated platform, where a tall, slender man stood at the very edge, looking over the straight, uniformed rows. General Hux, she thought with narrowing eyes.
He looked different from how she remembered him from the promo. She looked to her right, from where she saw the huge screen with the close-up of Hux's face, for the less fortunate who were further back and couldn't see him.
He looks…somber. I thought there was a bit more maniac in his eyes. But I guess losing a whole space station wouldn't make one skip and smile. Taia cocked her head to the side.
A nervous wave of giddy something from Ellin's thoughts made Taia focus on her again. Tune into her channel, so to speak.
E: Oh, I am paying attention. All my attention is on him. Only on him.
T: Ellin? What the fuck?
E: He is…He is GORGEOUS!
T: Shit.
E: Ohmygodhiseyesareblue!
T: Are you for real? You didn't even find him attractive when we saw the propaganda!
E: I was only focusing on his words, then. Have you ever seen perfect-shaped lips?
T: Are you seriously crushing on the mass-murdering, ruthless, cruel leader of the First Order?
E: Yes. So hard.
T: What about his fucking hat now?
E: It's covering too much of his fantastic, red hair.
T: You're impossible. I can't take you anywhere.
E: He's really tall.
T: Oh Force, stop it.
E: Force me. Hehehehe. Get it? You know, because-
T: Ew. Go back to your drooling. Leave me out of it.
E: Oh, I caught a glimpse of his a-
Taia violently shut off their connection, not wanting to hear any more of Ellin's disgusting gushing.
Thankfully, the 'welcome'-speech, which was overly political and full of hatred against the new republic and its allies, wasn't very long and they were soon led to their workstations where their training would begin.
Taia looked over at Ellin before she was ushered into another corridor. Her eyes were still fixed on the General, wide open and full of wonder. Oh man, she is going to be fangirling so hard. Taia just shook her head and groaned silently.
And she did, to the point where Taia had to shut down their connection on several occasions throughout the following days.
"I heard he's the youngest General of the First Order." – "Fascinating."
"Did you know that he's quite handy with a blaster? Some troopers saw him practicing." – "Good for him, Ellin. Good for him."
Taia never needed to ask who she was talking about; the 'fierce' General was all Ellin could talk about since they arrived on the Finalizer. Even now, when they were sitting together in Ellin's room drinking low-alcoholic, First Order 'beer'. At least that's what it was probably trying to be.
"There is a rumor going around that he is secretly a droid because he never sleeps", Ellin whispered in a conspiratorial voice.
"I seriously doubt it. You should know that, actually. You have access to his medical files, don't you?"
Ellin scrambled so fast out of the chair that she'd been sitting crossed legged in that she almost fell on her face. "I need to look that up right now."
Taia snorted and handed her the datapad, where she quickly logged in to look for the desired information.
"Ahh, damnit, he's fully human." She threw the tablet on her bed where Taia had been sitting opposite of her and sighed dramatically.
"Were you seriously hoping for him to be droid?" Taia grabbed the tablet and scrolled through the info that Ellin had left open, ignoring her annoyed grumbling as she sat down in her chair again.
"Shouldn't you be happy about that? You can't hook up with a droid. Oh! His eyesight is 10/10." Ellin's head snapped up, and she looked at Taia with a profound confusion. "I don't want to hook up with General Hux."
Taia shrugged, not looking from her reading material. "If you say so."
"I do."
"Okay. I totally believe you. Oh, the bastard is in peak health condition. No allergies."
"He's not a bastard. Stop sounding so unconvinced."
"Well, he is. A bastard. And I'm not. This –", she pointed to the huge poster of General Hux hanging above Ellin's bed. Force knows where she got this from, "indicates otherwise."
Ellin rolled her eyes, dismissing Taia's concerned expression. "I'm just fascinated by him, that's all."
"Yup."
"Why would I hang up a poster of someone that I would want to hook up with? That's creepy."
"And disconcerting. But I don't judge. Hey, he skipped out of his checkups six times now. You could call him up for an examination."
Taia's suggestive tone went apparently completely over Ellin's head as she groaned in annoyance. "I know! I already did! He totally ignored it! It's apparently what he just does according to the other medics. He's one of the few people you can't just drag by their foot into medbay, sadly."
"Why not?" I'm surprised she mustered up the courage to contact him, even though its work related.
"Because he's the General, duh."
"Now, wouldn't that be fun? Dragging the bastard General by the foot to medbay for a prostate exam."
"Stop calling him a bastard! Don't judge him before you get to know him!"
At that Taia rolled her eyes, having given Ellin the same 'don't judge a book by its cover' speech many times over. Only it had involved actual nice people, not Mr. Genocide.
"So, you're telling me that your ovaries completely shut down your ability to instinctively distrust everyone?"
"I don't instinctively distrust everyone. I trust you. And some of my cousins."
"Remember the incredibly hot dude just a few weeks ago? The one that helped us, and you refused to trust?"
"Ah yes, I still have wet dreams about him. Are you saying my trust-radar is off?"
"Don't be gross, that's my job… And yes, that's exactly what I'm saying."
Ellin blew a kiss in the posters direction and looked Taia in the eye with a very serious expression. "I don't trust him. Don't worry about that. We're still on this ridiculous force-thing mission."
"But you just said-"
"That I'm fascinated by him. Let's just get some money, enjoy the ride while we're here, so to say, and fuck off before it gets too dangerous."
"I'm glad to know that the real Ellin is still there somewhere instead of this crazed fangirl."