Got it. Started a hard save. Thanks!
You don't need to start a new save on a hard mode. The beating commanders on hard is taking them on at the same time. I did this on easy mode, and I got rid of the slave perk.
The 2nd trial can be beat if you have high willpower and high max arousal. I had my willpower at 41 and max arousal at 310 before I could beat it with the slave perk.