Technical Error

Epilogue

Working with the Resistance in any capacity never failed to cause you pause until you remembered the good that had come of it. There had been several hunts that had been thwarted by the joined efforts. This did not diminish the times when the First Order and Resistance clashed anew. The war had not stopped, not all ideologies were shared between the two bodies. Every chance that you did get to taste momentary peace, you basked in its flavor, in the experience. The neutral territories would have in the past been placed under siege by Snoke's order. Camps enslaving its people would have been erected, and the children would have been snatched away to become a part of the stormtrooper program. You had blinded yourself to these actions before. Listening to the Resistance members speak of the issues had prevented you from being able to live in ignorance, intentional or not.

The First Order was changing as a result of these moments of truce. Supreme Leader Kylo Ren was not the same man that had made you feel so small. You hadn't known it was possible to fall in love with someone over and over again, to be so drawn to the person they became as they grew. That was what happened for you. During periods that the two of you were apart, you would throw yourself into work. There were projects solely for the First Order, others to help benefit the Force sensitives in the neutral zones. Both demanded your full attention. In a way, it strengthened your relationship. The two of you were not left feeling guilty; you both had pride in what you did.

Andel was working alongside you on the latest project. It was a known fact that TIEs had poor defense. The mortality rate for pilots was too high, and you wanted to do everything that you could to reduce that. One motivating factor was your feelings for Kylo. He possessed three new models of TIEs aside from the Silencer. Each had its own strength, and each had its own weaknesses. Weaknesses that you were going to fix. Andel was more familiar with one of the models than you were. She had elected to tackle its systems while you focused on a second TIE. Squeakers remained by your side, offering input as you began to slow in your work.

Your lips quirked towards the side while you considered what the droid suggested. The defensive systems of the ship would benefit, however the weapons would have a slightly more limited range. It was a true statement that sometimes the best defense was a good offense. You ran the risk of doing more harm than good by following Squeaker's instructions. To give yourself more time to mull it over, you brought a datapad into your lap and typed in the suggestion on a document you had started earlier. You wanted to get Andel's input before you made any final decisions.

"I missed working on these," Andel said as she stretched her arms above her head. You nodded immediately in agreement. The two of you had only recently returned from a neutral zone to the new flagship. Your love for TIEs never would fade, you imagined.

The Force sensitives within the First Order were more frequently assigned to pilot the modified TIEs that you assisted in engineering. That had been a change in your career path that you had not known you would take; you were a lead technician, yes, and you were an engineer. Tinkering with Squeakers and the shields in the battle against the Supreme Leader, it had showed you that you underestimated yourself. The change was one that was taking you time. You had completed the proper courseload to obtain the correct certifications. Where you were permitted a high clearance as a technician, your role as engineer was that of a subordinate to other engineers within the First Order. They were quicker to respect you than your old superiors had been.

It was Kylo's personal ships that you were anxious to work on. That was where you struggled a little when you fulfilled your role as a technician. Andel kept you in better spirits. In part, it was because she reminded you that it would be worth the wait. There was someone else who ensured that you believed this; whenever the two of you were together, he would whisper in your ear a line of praise. Something small yet genuine.