Ginger Gears

C9H13N

An unfamiliar shrill beep woke Rose. At first she was confused by her surroundings, but then she remembered that she hadn't slept in her quarters. She heard sheets rustling and yawned.

"Morning," said Hux with a throaty voice.

"Uh, morning. What time is it?"

"It's 6:00." He paused. "I have to get ready. Sorry."

"It's alright. I have to get going too. My shift starts in two hours – and I have to get fresh clothes from my room."

She headed to the pile of clothes on the floor and started to dress herself. She could hear him brush his teeth in the refresher. When she peeked inside she saw his reflection, he looked sleepy, the mussed up hair and the stubble added to that impression. Kriff. He really looked lovely. Nobody was supposed to look this cute in the morning.

How in the galaxy he could not see it was beyond her. It seemed that his father had made sure that his son was ... well, was Hux. At least she assumed that he had talked about his father last night.

She closed the jacket of her uniform and pulled her hair into a ponytail. She needed to get back to her quarters, her crumpled uniform wasn't exactly regulatory.

She heard a faint noise and realised that the front door had opened. She froze. Who the kriff just walked into Hux' quarters?

Moments later the door opened and closed again and Hux emerged from the refresher. He went over to his cupboard and took a fresh uniform out of it.

"There was somebody here, just now-"

"It was only my factotum droid with my breakfast."

She exhaled. "Alright, at least I'm awake now."

He cleared his throat. "I apologize, I didn't think to change my standing order- I could have ordered breakfast for you too." The tips of his ears turned pink.

She felt a smile spread on her lips. She went over and gave him a peck on the lips when he leaned down. "It's alright – I'll leave now, okay? We'll see each other tonight."

He cupped her cheek and kissed her back. "I'm looking forward to it."

"Me too."

She left the bedroom and glanced at his desk. There was a tray with a slice of bread, a cup of tea and an injector on it. She slowed her step. From what she could see it was a stim.

She quickened her pace and left the quarters and headed for the lifts. So that was how Hux started his day? Bread, tea and drugs? No wonder he looked pale.

After changing her clothes she realised that she was in desperate need of caf. She headed into the mess hall and grabbed a bowl with porridge and a large cup of caf. She checked her chronometer – she was early. Tarc and Sarith weren't here yet.

She checked her pad. There were a couple of messages, most from Lieutenant Chitundu concerning work assignments. She scrolled through them and groaned inwardly. From the looks of it she had to do repair in sanitation again. One was a reminder of the mandatory rally.

She checked her calendar. In two weeks she would get her vacation and travel to Hays Minor ... and she had nothing to show for her mission. No, that wasn't true. She had an in with the architect of the WDD programme. She still could learn much about the weapons the Order was developing.

She thought about the way Hux had looked at her in the shower, he had looked hurt because he thought she was lying to him about her liking his hair. She felt a small stab in her heart. She had been honest – about everything she had told him. She actually liked him and the way he had looked this morning ...

And the worst part was that he obviously liked her too. He hadn't said it of course, but the way he looked at her, how he cupped her cheek ...

That wasn't supposed to happen.

"My my, you're early," said Sarith from behind.

She glanced over her shoulder. "I had to make sure that I got enough caf before the shift."

He sat down across from her. "Ah, you got the messages about the sanitation repairs."

She rolled her eyes. "I thought we would get nicer assignments eventually."

He laughed. "Ever the optimistic, eh?"

"Well, I'm afraid it's incurable."

He looked at her, there was something strange in his eyes as he said quietly. "You are a good person. You shouldn't be here."

"Why do you say that?" she said with a frown.

"This place ... it does something to you."

She felt her hackles rise. There was a sense of danger coming from Sarith. "You mean this ship-"

"Man, what a drag!" exclaimed Tarc and banged her tray on the table. "Sanitation again?"

Rose flinched. "By stars! Do you want to give me a heart attack?" When she looked back to Sarith his strange aura from before was gone and he looked as mild-mannered as ever.

The sanitation droids were surprisingly ancient for a state of the art ship like the Finalizer. Rose had already repaired two dozens of them, each and every one of them was simply outdated. They would malfunction again, unless they were replaced by newer models. The stench from the little droids didn't help to improve Rose's motivation either.

She wiped her brow with her sleeve and glanced at Sarith, who was working a few meters away from her. He had turned his back to her.

Had it been a threat? No, no that was not it. It was as if he tried to warn her. But of what? That her pure, innocent soul would be corrupted by the vile First Order? Hardly. Sarith was a realist; he knew what the galaxy was like. It wasn't like him to spout ominous words like that. And yet, he had.

There was no way around it, she had to ask him directly what he had meant. She just had to catch him alone.

Shortly before their shift ended Chitundu called them via holo and ordered them to the shower for the rally. Rose still thought she reeked when her team gathered in the main hangar – the smell of the sewage work droids was still in her nose.

The front rows were again filled with white-clad Stormtroopers. Giant flags were hanging from the ceiling and portable holos were swarming in the room.

There was an ear-deafening silence when Hux and Kylo Ren walked on stage. Rose pressed her lips together. It was strange, seeing Hux in full uniform on the stage again. She didn't like it.

"Yet again we triumph! The government of Ord Mantell asked us to free them from terrorists, from their violence and their inane acts of defiance against the law. As of today the planet will be under our protection. Once again the New Republic did nothing! Instead of taking action they tried to talk to the terrorists. Whereas we did what was needed: we took action!"

Her discomfort grew as the speech went on. It felt like this wasn't the man she knew. But of course he was – this is what he believed, what he truly believed. She had expected to get angry, to clench her fists in anger. But all she felt was sorrow. What a waste for someone with so much potential.

Hux concluded his speech, cheers erupted from the Stormtroopers. Hux made way for Ren.

"The path to true power is going forward. Never look back, the future is ahead. Let the past die." Ren said in a deep voice before he stepped back.

Like the last time the Stormtroopers seemed taken aback, they clapped but there was no cheering. Rose watched Ren walk away with Hux. Something was going on with Ren, she wondered if Hux was willing to talk about Snoke's apprentice if she asked.