Ren was no longer my faceless superior with orders to obey. He was a young man who captivated my every thought. Whenever we passed each other in the halls, the fleeting moments were like fuel for the raging fire of my obsession. I thought of him every second of every cycle, day and night. I dreamed of his eyes. I wanted to be close to him. I wanted to belong to him.

The next mission couldn't come quickly enough.

Two weeks later, I activated the door signal to Vegas' quarters. Since we had officially become peers, I had taken to following him around everywhere he went. We trained together, ate meals together in the mess hall, and walked to General Hux's speeches together. Well, that last one was a first.

As soon as the door opened, he shoved a shiny rank insignia in my face. I read it as I pushed his hand away. His blurry face came into focus.

"Serargent?"

"That's right," he said proudly. "I expect you to call me 'sir' from now on."

I chuckled. "Oh, alright. Vegas."

Phasma had made a general announcement for all Stormtroopers to remain at full attention during the speech—apparently, there had been a few incidents of Troopers falling asleep in the past. As Vegas and I stood a few meters behind Ren on the stage, I decided there was a zero percent risk of me falling asleep.

A cool wind swept through the open hangar bays, promising colder weather on the horizon. At least ten battalions crammed in the large space—a vast sea of white and black. On the other side of the stage, Hux was chatting with two visiting Generals from the fleet. Phasma stood beside Ren, both of them towering giants whose capes drifted in the breeze. Not a singular word passed between them.

I stood at attention when Hux began to approach the podium. The roar of over three thousand Stormtroopers snapping to attention followed. When Hux began speaking, his shrill voice boomed through the loudspeakers and echoed throughout the hangar.

"Today is the day, dear comrades! Today marks the completion of Project Starkiller and the beginning of operational testing of Starkiller Base. Thanks to your hard work and dedication, and through the Supreme Leader's infinite wisdom, the righteous might of the First Order is now one step closer to annihilating the New Republic! As a new year approaches..."

My mind tuned out his voice when Ren absentmindedly rolled his shoulder. My eyes followed the movement and then returned to the back of his neck. His tight collar obscured every millimeter of skin, but it made the slope of his trapezius visible.

When his head suddenly turned to the side, my gaze snapped forward.

"Congratulations, Sergeant," he said at normal volume.

I saw Vegas flinch out of the corner of my eye. "Thank you, sir."

"Trooper," Phasma hissed.

I heard the breath of a laugh through Vegas' helmet. I felt myself smile.

Immediately after the sixty-minute speech, a thin line of Stormtroopers filed across the hangar toward the command shuttle. Everything was already aboard—gear for two units of Troopers, two weeks' worth of rations, and extras just in case. Vegas and I trailed behind them, overhearing Ren's terse exchange with Phasma.

"Your officers take for granted the liberty you allow, Lord Ren."

"The standard to which I hold my officers does not require your attention, Captain."

"Noted, sir. Take it as a word of caution then."

"Unnecessary."

Vegas and I helped the Troopers load the final storage containers into the cargo bay. Joining the growing crowd in the common area, we settled in for the mission brief. Ren entered with the pilots from the direction of the bridge, and the Troopers greeted him with cheerful salutes and shouts. Then he spoke.

"I expect this level of enthusiasm to be maintained for the entire duration of this mission."

His deadpan delivery was very effective with the Troopers. Even Vegas released a rare chuckle. I smiled. He's in a good mood.

"As most of you know, Geonosis is a remote desert planet in the southeastern corner of the Outer Rim. It is one of many planets involved in the New Republic's black market. The Supreme Leader has foreseen that the Resistance will soon acquire illegal and destructive weapons produced at this location. We have been tasked with covertly...disallowing this."

Scattered laughs and murmurs filled the room. When Ren gestured to one of the pilots, he stepped up and cleared his throat. "We just finished the hyperspace calculations. Twenty-five jumps, six and a half days."

The room died down in surprise. Nearly eighty people living on the command shuttle for two weeks didn't exactly sound comfortable.

"There and back?" someone asked.

"No," he said. "One way."

Vegas and I had already known, but we exchanged a glance anyway. I was glad that my helmet hid the look of childish glee on my face.

As usual, Ren vanished immediately after the brief. After we broke through the atmosphere, Stormtroopers removed their helmets and socialized around the common area. The atmosphere was unusually light. After a stern warning to the unit leaders about professionalism, Vegas nudged me in the direction of the speed lift. He hit the button for the officer deck, and we both removed our helmets as soon as the door closed.

"A soft bed for two weeks," he breathed.

I bounced on my toes, unable to conceal my excitement. The door slid open.

"I have something to show you."

He took my hand and pulled me down the hallway.

I examined my command shuttle quarters with new eyes. They were identical to Ren's, with a large sitting room and an equally large bedroom. The refresher was easily triple the size of my fresher on base. As I flicked on supplemental lights around the room, I realized Vegas was flipping them off.

"Go lay on the bed," he told me.

I shot him a quizzical look. "Vegas—"

"Sergeant," he teased wryly.

A smile spread on my face. "Vegas..."

The ceiling was dark above me. My chest rose and fell irregularly, slightly weighed down by my heavy plastoid breastplate. I heard Vegas nearby, straining as he shoved a magnetic piece of furniture across the floor. Then, I heard the click of a hidden switch, and the ceiling began to move.

My view erupted with stars.

The ceiling viewport was wide enough to fill my entire vision. Stars shone like diamonds on the velvety backdrop of space, forming foreign constellations for my eyes to explore. A wing of the shuttle was visible, catching the light of a nearby star as we hurtled through its system.

"This is amazing," I breathed.

"Fancy, right? I'd never seen anything like it."

I decided to withhold the fact that my dormitory on the university frigate I attended had the same setup. I pulled myself upright and looked at Vegas, who was leaning against the bedroom doorway with his arms crossed.

"Thank you," I told him.

He gave me a surprisingly genuine smile. Then he abruptly turned around. "Don't forget about dinner, Corporal," he said in a raised voice.

I followed him to the door. "What about it?"

"Well, no enlisted are allowed on this deck. No service droids aboard. And as the junior officer..."

My face fell when I realized what he was implying. He smirked as he walked backward out the door, keeping his eyes on me as he went.

"Just grab me whatever's fresh," he said with a cocky wink.

After a useless attempt at a nap, I stepped off the speed lift with a wobbling stack of three dinner trays. The ship cook had taped them together, but it didn't help much. I carefully maneuvered into my room and dropped two off. Dashing into the refresher, I used the mirror above the sink to straighten the stiff collar of my uniform. My eyes glowed with excitement.

Nerves clawed at me as I walked down the hallway. I activated the door signal without hesitation and tucked a stray lock of hair behind my ear. I quietly cleared my throat. When the door swooshed open, I stopped breathing.

Ren was maskless and as tall as ever. The first few buttons of his tunic were undone, revealing a black shirt underneath. His eyes calmly studied every centimeter of my face. As I re-memorized every shade of brown in his eyes, I almost forgot why I was there.

I held out the tray with both hands.

His eyes swept downward as he took it.

"Sir," I chirped.

He nodded. "Thank you."

I tried to smother the giddy smile as it worked its way onto my face. Bowing my head in embarrassment, I placed my fist on my chest in a halfhearted salute and walked away.