𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 | ❝ Do androids dream of electric sheep? ❞
In which the First Order's newest weapon is tasked with killing the Resistance's best pilot. And not everything goes as planned.
EXTENDED SUMMARY INSIDE
PRE-TFA to TROS
EVENTUAL POE x...
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The Resistance base had been abuzz with activity ever since Blue and Cobalt Squadrons had returned from their mission.
While usually a successful assignment warranted a little storytelling and the occasional gossip on the squadron's heroics, the fact that so many personnel had been involved with the project meant that the entire base had been engulfed in conversation about the Iktotchi moon.
And of course, the Stormtrooper Slayer.
Before the mission, Ell had been the object of people's curious stares and on rare occasions, their thinly veiled looks of disgust. However, once she had settled into life in the Resistance and people had gotten used to seeing her around, those curious stares and looks of disgust had faded towards indifference.
Now though, after hearing of her escapades and her new nickname catching on like wildfire, their multi-colored gazes looked at her, not with disgust or curiosity, but with awe and respect. At first, Ell had been indifferent towards all of the newfound attention, not quite understanding the nuances behind the situation. However, with each passing whisper of 'The Stormtrooper Slayer', a new wave of irritation would flash through her circuits and chip away at her resolve. The name only served to remind her of her failures, that she'd wasted valuable First Order assets and that she had made a mistake. One that could be seen as an act of rebellion.
The android banished that thought from her cybernetic mind as soon as it had entered. Her? A rebel? That was perhaps the most ridiculous statement thing she'd ever heard. She was programmed to follow orders, no matter what. To rebel would mean she had her own thoughts, her own choices, her own free will. And that was something she simply did not possess nor ever would.
After Captain Wexley had de-briefed General Organa on the mission's successes as well as failures, the woman had called Ell in for her own account of the assignment. Her piercing dark gaze had found her own silver orbs, searching for something in her stormy depths as the android recounted what she had done on the mission. When she finished, the General had stared at her for several more moments, before finally nodding and congratulating her on a mission accomplished. Whatever she had been searching for, she hadn't found. Yet.
For the next day or two, Ell had settled back into her daily routine. Fix the piles of junk the Resistance called droids and starships. Eat lunch with Rose, Jessika, Paige, and their friends. Fix some more things and attempt conversations with Rose. Eat dinner with the aforementioned people. Charge until the next morning.
Her days weren't entirely back to normal though. People still whispered about her as they passed by, and some had even been so bold as to approach her, asking various questions and offering her a hearty handshake or a warm smile.
Each awe-inspired comment or hope-filled gaze that was sent her way only made her more frustrated and angrier at herself for being so reckless. She should have never done what she did, and the scene of those blood-battered stormtroopers haunted her more and more each day. Ell was beginning to like the idea of erasing that memory entirely from her mainframe, but she had been given specific instructions to record everything. Once her real mission was complete, the First Order would want to go through her databanks, searching for any clues within her footage that she may not have been aware of at the time.
