A General Idea

1: The First Time

The Finalizer was cold and fucking sterile. I could tell my team didn't fit in. I kept trying to side-eye them and somehow telepathically tell them to stop pointing and staring at all of the tech onboard. My second lieutenant was the only one that got the message. Leah always knew what to do and when to do it. She was the only reason I accepted this job when General Pryde offered me the job. She could keep the others in line, so I could think about how the hell we were going to actually do our jobs.

And now, we're all here, and I've already heard three troopers point and laugh at Reno, one of my junior lieutenants who didn't know how how to operate the sanitization station. I tried not to roll my eyes as I thought about how insanely neat this place was. Leah halted behind me, alerting me to the fact that the rest had stopped. I already didn't want to be here, and now we had to stop before getting back to our quarters. 

We were here to do the job. A resistance base that we could find, knock out, and go back to working in our own solar system. This was just... unnecessary. 

I walked back to see what my team had stopped at, Leah wincing a 'sorry' my way. I tried to put on a smile for her sake. 

"Ela!" A dry, deep voice rasped. Pryde.

"Good. You figured out how to get here. There's been a change of plans," he started, engrossed in a data pad. The three in the back- Junior Lieutenants Reno, Riven, and Terroso , you'll be in the north wing, section four. You'll be training on leading the incoming stormtroopers," Pryde barked, gesturing at my junior lieutenants."

They were stupid, but they were very smart. There was a reason they called us. Riven, I was almost okay with them taking. He was always out of line. Reno and Terroso?  That was my TEAM.

Someone named Senior Lieutenant Mitaka appeared out of basically mid-air and led them away. I shot Leah a glance that I hoped only she saw. If they were off to train with the troopers, we'd be here for at least three weeks. Why did I agree to this? Reno's big blue eyes lingered on my downcast ones as Mitaka led them out. 

"General," I said, hoping my voice didn't sound too sarcastic. With the only general who had a team on Kuat, our home planet, he was gone most of the time, leaving me to lead his entire squadron. But now we were here, so we did have to listen to Pryde. And shit, was it hard. He never even looked me in the eye.

Leah let out an anxious sigh from behind me. I felt bad, she wasn't used to talking to the General.

"Leah, good, you're here too," he said, not looking up from his datapad.

She squeaked a 'hello'.

"Ela, you're reassigned," Pryde said.

"Re-assigned?" I asked, frowning at the man. What was the point of bringing my entire team just to separate us?

"Yes. To the Finalizer. You begin today. Your successes as an Captain have impressed the First Order. You will be transferring, effective immediately."

"What!?" I snapped.

Pryde's uncaring graze finally looked up from his stupid tablet. "Captain  Duna," he said, his voice low. I hated the cold way he drew out Captain.  "Remember your place," he spat, taking one last look at me before turning to Leah.

She looked between him and I, her head swinging side to side. 

Unbelievable. "General," I tested the waters. "May I ask WHY - why I'm being re-assigned? This is my team. I require my team to work at my best."

Pryde clicked his datapad off, tucking it under his arm. That was his usual sign of being done with his current conversation and moving on.

"No. You may not ask. Leah, with me. Now." He said, still not bothering to look me in the eye.