Technical Error

Chapter Thirty-Three

Part One

Preparations: They're Rather Tedious

There were areas in which Kylo Ren had not changed from who he had been when first you had started having more personal interactions. He was not condescending towards you or your career anymore; you had earned his respect. When it came to others? His snark sometimes had venom. Specific members of your team avoided interacting with the Supreme Leader. This, naturally, birthed a concern in you that the meeting with the Resistance would not go over well. You wanted him to succeed. This due to your intimate relationship with him, but also, and more importantly, because of what you had seen of the war. Of the Force. The idea that the meeting would dissolve into a battle between Kylo and Rey caused you to shudder. Yet there existed a hope that General Organa, being his mother, and Rey, sharing a sort of Force bond, would remain impervious to Kylo Ren's sarcasm and unorthodox mannerisms. They had both of them interacted with him; not being a stranger to these behaviors would offer an advantage. It was, after all, how you fared better than some of the other technicians you worked with, to include those who had been with the First Order longer than you.

Fortim was adjusting rather well by comparison. He remained respectful to Kylo Ren, was an excellent source for boosting said man's ego, and had acquired the interest and respect from some of the Knights of Ren. His history in combat training assisted him in not sporting too many bruises following his spar session with one Knight in particular. This session had also served as a means for testing out a modification to the armor you had implemented. The three on your team who had constructed the new components had been present as well. All four of you compared notes. The Force sensitive had his elbows resting on his knees and chin cupped in his hands. He sat nearby along with the Knight, who grunted out his disapproval of one alteration in particular. It had limited his mobility, which would not be good if the meeting proved unsuccessful and devolved into a battle.

"I hope it doesn't come to that," you muttered. The comment may have been unnecessary and one shared by most or all in the room, but you couldn't keep it in. The clock was running out of time before the meeting was scheduled to take place. You wished that there had been a standard week more at least. As it stood, four and a half days was all that stood between you and meeting the mother of your Supreme Leader. "Do you believe a change in material on that piece would be too much?"

"It might be," one of the mechanics said. She scratched the right side of her chin with the fingers of her left hand. "There's enough time to make two different versions without compromising its durability. That's to include more time for testing and room for one or two adjustments if need be." There was a momentary pause. "You'll have to reprogram the shield." You had done so a total of eight times already, however you were not going to complain.

You chewed on your bottom lip for a brief moment whilst considering discussing with the technicians charged with the offensive portion of this mission a means of weaponizing the shields. At the very least, you did not want too much work put into a defense that would cripple its user. To do this, you would first be required to consult with the Supreme Leader.

"That won't be a problem," you said at last. Your gaze flicked to Fortim as you spoke, the man's face having split into a grin. Noticing that you were looking his way, he gave you a wink. It had you wondering about his Force abilities一he couldn't read minds like Kylo, could he? You had unwittingly projected your thoughts in the past. Hopefully you weren't doing that again. Although at least nothing had been x-rated, as your fantasies with Ren had been in the past.

A senior technician entered the training room, and you took this time to duck out with the notes that you had taken. Some of them were copies that the mechanics had sent your way; everyone needed to be on the same page for this project. No one else had volunteered to report to the Supreme Leader. For some reason一okay, you knew the reason一a lot of the team you were working with had come to assume that you would always take that role. The one way in which you regretted this was that it, at times, seemed to interfere with your personal relationship with the man. He had always shied away from sentimental things. How many times had he rejected the prospect of a formal relationship before at last things had truly began between the two of you? You weren't about to count them out on your hand or in your head.