Chapter Text
There were very few people that General Hux trusted. By that, of course, you mean that he trusts almost no one. You suppose, to some degree, he trusts the Stormtroopers that fight and protect the First Order, and the Operations Officers who keep the Finalizer running efficiently. You had to trust those groups of people to live in space, everyone else’s lives depended on them performing their duties.
When it comes to personal matters, however, there are very few people General Hux would think to confide in. Very few.
Actually, there was only one person. Which you suppose counts as ‘very few’.
You had been transferred to the Finalizer almost a year ago to work as General Hux’s aide- his secretary, his assistant, whatever term the other officers decided to refer to you as. You were a wall between him and the other officers, deciding what was important enough to actually need his attention. Sometimes people sent complaints that would be better sent to the HR manager, not the General, and you were there to smoothly forward the message so the General wasn’t bothered unnecessarily.
You had heard rumors that the majority of your predecessors were dismissed from the position within a matter of months, sometimes weeks, depending on how competent they were. When you were first transferred to the job, you thought for sure it was the universe’s way of punishing you for something and that you would be set up for failure.
You were a simple person. All you wanted was to do a good job. There was a careful balance formed between you and the General now after working for him for some time and building a relationship, and you would dread anything that would tip it over.
You dusted off your uniform and checked yourself in the mirror, making sure everything was in order. You had your trusty gloves secured over your hands, and your hair was pinned back with not a single strand out of place. Your dress uniform was pressed to perfection.
Part of you was deeply nervous to face the General like this, in front of all those people, but you knew it was time.
You remember how terribly anxious you were when you first met him.
—⭒☆⭒—⭑⋆⋆⋆⭑—⭒☆⭒—
This would be your 5th reassignment since graduating from the Academy. Your superiors were very, very clear when they told you that this was your last chance to prove yourself as an officer of the First Order, and that if you were dismissed from this position, you would be dismissed permanently. That could not happen, it just couldn’t, because you didn’t have anywhere left to go if you were removed from the Order. You certainly couldn’t afford a transport back to your home planet, not that you wanted to return, anyway.
You were a top student at the Academy. No one could figure out why you were failing so horribly in the actual line of duty, not even yourself. Any communication you tried to establish with your commanding officers was dismissed, and then they were shocked when you couldn’t complete your job efficiently. You didn’t want to blame them, because if this was a recurring issue, the fault must lie within yourself.
You instantly knew that they were setting you up for failure the moment you got the transfer orders. General Hux’s assistant. They were sending you straight to the big leagues, knowing you would stumble and drown before getting very far.
You have heard some rumors of the young general around the mess hall of the space station you were previously working at. Despite being one of the youngest Generals in the history of the First Order, he was ruthless. Cold, intimidating, harsh with punishments. You heard he often worked with Kylo Ren, whose name was practically taboo to speak out loud, in fear you would somehow summon the force user. You’ve heard of the destruction that followed the young Sith Lord.
But, you weren’t going to be working with Kylo Ren. At least, you hoped not. At best, you might relay messages between him and the General or schedule meetings, if you were getting the job description correct. You were still very much afraid of this career change, of course. Working for a high-ranking General meant there would likely be very little room for error. You figured you would last a week before he threw you out an airlock.
You had less than 24 hours notice of the transfer to pack your belongings and get on the nearest transport ship. You didn’t own much; nobody in the First Order did, at least not the lower ranking officers and Stormtroopers. Your life fit into two duffle bags and then you were gone.
The transport took you to another station, where you boarded another to yet another station, and then finally on one last ship that took you to where the Finalizer was orbiting a planet. Upon boarding the ship, you and the other few passengers were immediately taken into a room to be scanned for weapons and have your bags searched. It was standard procedure for entering any First Order ship, space station, or base, and one you have already been through a number of times.
After you were cleared, you were sent to an orientation desk where you met with the officer in charge of handling all new personnel and duty transfers. Since you were an entirely new transfer to the ship, you were given a brand new datapad for your work and a keycard that would let you into your assigned quarters and give you clearance to certain areas of the ship to perform your duties.
You pressed your thumb into the corner of the datapad to set it to only unlock at your print (or it could be overridden by someone high enough in the chain of command, of course). The orientation officer took the datapad from you to download the necessary data, and inputted directions to your quarters into the mapping system.
The first thing you did once you were dismissed was check the work schedule on the datapad, seeing that you were supposed to report to General Hux’s office tomorrow at 0700 sharp. It was a little earlier than you were used to starting your shifts, but you figured that the General must like to get an early start on his day. He must be a very busy man.
You had just enough time left in the day to find your quarters, unpack, and perhaps find a mess hall for a late dinner before getting some rest. You picked up your duffle bags, which had been thoroughly checked by the inspections officer, and started down the corridor to find your quarters. Luckily, the datapad’s mapping system helped you easily navigate the ship. There was plenty of signage and arrows leading to the elevator systems along the metallic walls as well, and you found an elevator that took you to one of the decks used for crew quarters.
You looked down at the datapad’s directions every now and then to make sure you were going the correct way. The Finalizer was a huge ship, with 19,000 officers and 55,000 enlisted personnel, give or take exact numbers. That was enough to fill a whole city! The ship had anything and everything onboard to make it as self-sufficient as possible. You had researched the structure of Star Destroyers in the Academy for one of your classes as a requirement to become an officer, and you were grateful for the class, because it made transferring a little less daunting.
Following the directions on the datapad, you went down the main corridor from the elevator to Section D, Corridor 3. The rooms were not marked with anything aside from numbers at the very top, making them uniform and indistinguishable against each other. That was how everything was in the First Order, though. Impersonal.
You finally arrived at your quarters and pressed your keycard to the panel on the wall beside the door. The door hissed open and you stepped into a dark room, the lights activating with the motion to illuminate the room.
It was hardly more than a broom closet, but most of your quarters since joining the Order had been in a similar fashion. There was a bunk, a sink, and a bathroom unit that folded out of the wall. There was storage underneath your bunk and in the wall above the bed in drawers that popped out of the wall.
You set your duffle bags on the bunk, which was adorned with standard grey sheets, and unpacked what little you had brought with you. Your uniforms were folded neatly into the bottom drawer. The next drawer held your undergarments, socks, and the two sets of pajamas you owned. You put the rest of your personal belongings into the drawer underneath the bed, such as a digital pad for reading in your free time and your toiletries.
Well. That was everything.
Your whole life was now unloaded into the room. You folded the duffle bags and set them in the storage compartment before sliding it closed underneath your bed. You were officially moved in.
You were still in your casual clothes you had worn for transport, and you saw no reason to change since you wouldn’t be on duty until the morning. You stopped at the sink to wash your hands and face, getting rid of the grimy feeling that came with being on transport ships. Your hair still looked fine, you decided. You pulled on a pair of sleek, black gloves and then grabbed your datapad and keycard, heading out to locate a mess hall.
—⭒☆⭒—⭑⋆⋆⋆⭑—⭒☆⭒—
Your alarm woke you up at 0500 sharp. You were out of bed the instant it went off, pressing your thumb against the alarm system next to the bed to turn it off. It was two hours before you had to report for duty; that was plenty of time to get ready. After all, there wasn’t much for you to do. You had showered the night before in the communal shower room so you were already clean for the day.
You got up, going through the motions of getting ready. You made your bed immediately after getting out of it. You used the fold out toilet unit and brushed your teeth first, then got dressed, making sure your uniform was in good condition, and then you brushed your hair back into a low bun. Tight enough to not fall apart, but not too tight to hurt your scalp. You adjusted the regulation officer cap onto your head. It was technically an optional part of the uniform, but you never went on duty without it just in case. You figured that you especially better wear it if you were going to work directly for General Hux.
Sitting down on your bed, you bent down and laced on your boots. Black, as was the standard, and very sturdy for being on your feet all day. You tightened the laces and wrapped them around the top of each boot before tying them securely in the front, the same way you have always tied your shoes and always will. You made a few adjustments to make sure the knots on each boot matched each other and were even, and then you stood back up and smoothed your uniform.
You stared at your reflection in the small mirror above the sink as you double checked you had everything. Shoes, hat, uniform, gloves. You used the bathroom, brushed your teeth, did your hair. Did you remember to use deodorant? Yes, you could smell the bland, slightly vanilla-smelling product in the air. You had your digital watch on your left wrist, and you had paired it to your datapad last night so that any notifications would alert you on your watch as well as on the pad.
Speaking of your datapad, you grabbed it and adjusted the strap over your shoulder and across your body. You grabbed your keycard from the shelf next to your bed, where the alarm system sat and reminded you of the time. You tucked your keycard into the breast pocket of your uniform and then decided you had to be going. You double checked that your room was in order and then left at a brisk walk to make it to your assignment in time.
You found your way back to the elevator you had used the previous day and checked your datapad for the proper floor. It looked like you would have quite the route ahead of you. It was a few dozen floors up from your quarters. The elevators didn’t even reach that far, you would have to stop multiple times to switch to other elevators or pass through corridors to make it in time. The walk would take you nearly 45 minutes, you think. Good thing you left early.
You stepped into the final elevator you needed to get to the proper floor. You pushed the button on the panel and then waited as the elevator took you to one of the uppermost decks of the ship, where the General’s office would be located.
The elevator doors opened with a soft ding and you stepped out, once again checking your datapad for directions. There were fewer people in these corridors. Perhaps it was the time of day or the fact that less people worked in this area of the ship. When you had left your quarters earlier, there had been a few others up and about to start their day. These corridors had only a couple of people walking to and from the offices on this floor.
The General’s office was in a restricted section, but your clearance should have been updated when you were transferred. You walked to the first door you had to pass through, which was guarded by a Stormtrooper in the uniform white armor, polished to perfection. The helmet made it impossible to read them, but it also prevented forming attachments to any of the Troopers.
“Halt,” he declared as you stepped up to the door. “This area is restricted.”
“I should have clearance,” you clarified, pulling your keycard out of your front pocket.
The Stormtrooper stepped aside to let you swipe your keycard, which should unlock the door and let you pass.
Instead, the panel glowed red and buzzed in error. You tried again and the same result happened. When it happened a third time, panic started to set in. You were in the right area, and they should have updated your clearance already.
Beside you, you saw the Stormtrooper shift to rest his hand on the blaster at his hip, a silent warning for you to step back. You immediately backed away from the panel and held up your hands in surrender, trying to show you meant no harm.
“I don’t understand, really, I should have clearance! I’m supposed to report to General Hux’s office at 0700.”
“Do you have records of this meeting?”
“Um, yes, I’m sure I do,” you answered, pulling the datapad from your side and unlocking it. You searched through for something specific that said you were supposed to meet General Hux. You regretted dismissing the reminder this morning. You had your work schedule there, but it only showed hours and not specific orders to be at his office. Where was the email? It was just here…
The Stormtrooper in front of you suddenly snapped to attention, and you couldn’t figure out why until you heard another person’s voice.
“Keycard trouble?” A smooth voice asked.
You turned around to meet the eyes of someone who looked far more important than you, which explained why the Trooper had stiffened. You let your datapad fall back to your side as you also stood at attention. The man was tall and dressed in the dark, official uniform of a high ranking officer.
“Name and rank,” he ordered, his cold eyes briefly looking you over.
“Junior Lieutenant Y/L/N,” you answered immediately, keeping your arms at your side as the man analyzed you.
He briefly glanced down at a watch he was wearing on his wrist, a stern frown forming on his lips.
“You’re early.”
That was the only comment he made before he waved the Stormtrooper away from the door and pressed his own keycard against the panel. The light turned green and the man stepped through, his hands folded behind his back.
You watched him walk about 5 feet before he paused. He didn’t bother to look behind him as he addressed you.
“Are you coming, Lieutenant?”
Oh. Oh! He unlocked the door for you. Of course. That was nice of him, given that your keycard wasn’t working for some reason.
The Stormtrooper didn’t react at all as you followed the officer through the door, which closed once you were both some distance away from it. You checked your datapad for directions again, and it seemed you were going in the same direction as the officer who was graciously unlocking the doors for you. There were several sections you had to cross to get to the General’s office. A way to keep him protected in case the ship was boarded, no doubt. You needed to pass through all of them to get there, though, and you weren’t sure when the officer would stop and you’d be left to fend for yourself.
“Excuse me, sir,” you spoke up after a moment of following him. He shot you a brief glance, which you took as permission to continue. “I have a meeting with General Hux at 0700. Could you direct me to his office?”
There was a brief light in his eyes you couldn’t decipher.
“I know. You need to get your keycard permission fixed, Lieutenant,” he replied smoothly, unlocking the next door and stepping through.
You followed after him.
He knew? Well, maybe all upper level staff were informed when there was a new transfer. Still, it was kind of him to allow you through the restricted sections. You wondered who you would have to contact to get your clearance updated. Perhaps it was something you could bring up today to General Hux, if he was agreeable.
The officer led you to a corridor that had a few blank doors along the wall. The General’s office was as nondescript as the rest of the doors, which were probably other offices or meeting rooms. The man unlocked the door and, to your surprise, walked inside first.
You followed him through the door to find yourself in a small room. It had standard office furniture, once again a dull grey. Color might as well be illegal in the First Order. The desk was made of a sleek, polished black material. It was completely bare aside from a computer. There was a filing cabinet to the side, a desk chair, and two more chairs on the opposite wall you assumed were for guests.
This place was much, much too small for a General.
There was another door across from where you entered, and the officer walked right up to it. This inner door was not locked, and opened the moment he stepped towards it. You followed a step or two behind and then you were in the General’s office.
This had to be it. It was at least three times bigger than the previous room, with a window that took up an entire wall to show the planet the Finalizer was orbiting, stars littering the sky around it. The desk was similar to the other one but much bigger. The desk chair was more befitting a General, you think. It was black instead of dull grey.
You turned to the officer who had led you here.
“Thank you for escorting me, sir.”
“Do not let it become a habit,” he replied instantly, glancing over at you with a bored expression again.
“Yes, sir.”
The officer walked past you again, and to your shock, went and sat down right in the General's chair. What was he doing? Well, right now it looked like he was typing into the keyboard and unlocking the computer.
Oh.
Oh, you idiot.
This was General Hux.