Encounter on Lothal (Kylo/OC)

Chapter 6

As their transport left the docking bay of The Supremacy carrying personnel and equipment for Kylo Ren's new posting, Tana was jostled amongst a detachment of troopers. At the head of the group she saw the shining armor of Captain Phasma.

The personnel were all standing, hanging on to overhead handrails as they flew across the short span between the two battleships. Tana had never been very fond of space travel and she reached to turn the dial up on the motion sickness suppression device tucked behind her ear. It was almost too late as she felt a wave of nausea threaten to eject the small breakfast she'd eaten that morning. She gulped down against the discomfort and tried to keep her eyes focused on The Finalizer as the cruiser swelled into view.

The transport shuttle joined a dozen or so others spread out in the vast hangar as troops moved in all directions. Tana consulted her datapad to find the location of the medbay where her new assignment awaited and worked her way through the immense spacecraft, eventually arriving at the medical facility. The door was just a short distance from the command bridge and as the door slid silently open, Tana was piqued by its size. The facility was small; only a half-dozen beds were present but it contained a full complement of state-of-the-art equipment; two full-body scanners, two bacta tanks, and all the standard tools and supplies she could hope for. She was confused by the diminutive size of the medsuite, not at all the comprehensive hospital facility from which she'd just been posted, but she supposed she couldn't expect the best assignment considering her recent misconduct and her just-above-average exam scores. The only thing missing was additional personnel, which she was hoping would be solved by the appearance of a young crewman.

"Captain?" the young man saluted her.

"Oh, no," she replied, taken aback by his deferential greeting. "Lieutenant Talurra," she corrected him.

He appeared confused. "I thought you were Captain Talurra," he said, consulting his datapad. He reached the screen out for her inspection; there on the datapad was instruction for him to report to Captain Talurra. She knew of no one else in the corps named Talurra. 'He must have done it after all,' she thought – 'Kylo promoted me.'

"Well, that's news to me," she said, a broad grin breaking across her face. "Captain Talurra," she saluted him in return.

"Corporal Danvers," he smiled back and shook her hand, his warm brown eyes expressing a certain amount of admiration and nervousness. He was of average height and build with warm coloring and a kind face. She knew instantly they would be friends, and she was committed not to repeat her past mistakes of stepping over her colleagues in pursuit of her goals. This time, in this place, things would be different.

"Well, let's get an inventory of the setup and we'll see who else turns up, shall we?" she asked. The two officers went over the inventory logs, noting the broad array of supplies for which they would be responsible. As they were comparing notes, the medbay doors opened quietly, and Kylo Ren entered with a small entourage including Captain Phasma.

Although he was sans cape, Ren's helmet was firmly in place and Tana's inability to see his facial expression gave her pause; the wall was up between them again.

She and Danvers both turned and saluted, awaiting the Commander's review. He stalked slowly around the medsuite inspecting the facility while the other officers stood ready.

"Leave us," he turned and commanded Phasma and her troops. "You as well," he indicated to Danvers.

"Yes, sir," the younger officer acknowledged, scurrying away to a back office and closing the door.

"Are you finding things satisfactory?" Kylo asked Tana.

"Yes, sir," she answered. "Thank you for the promotion, I really wasn't expecting it."