And They Don't Stop Coming Ch. 1: Sonic Forces
"No copyright law in the universe is gonna stop me!"
-Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Colors
Light engulfed his vision, timespace collapsed around him, and after eight years hopping throughout the multiverse, Sonic the Hedgehog, age 23, knew he had reached the beginning of his journey's end. Dizzy and nauseous, he clutched at the compact crystal imbedded in his hand from which radiated a dull but serious pain. Regaining his equilibrium, Sonic did what years of experience had taught him was most crucial at times such as this, and carefully scanned his surroundings for bystanders. No one responds well to a figure spontaneously appearing in front of them, especially so when that figure is a three foot tall, blue hedgehog; so Sonic was pleased to find that he had materialized in an empty plain covered by the shadows of dark clouds overhead, the only indication of sentient life being a medium sized city, just barely visible from where he stood.
The pain and discombobulation fading, Sonic found a certain serenity washing over him as he ambled along toward the distant city. Sure, this was another new world to acclimate to, but it would hopefully be the last one, and this start ranked fairly high as it compared to some of the less savory experiences he had had as a result of the initial materialization. In fact, Sonic felt much more affable than he had in a long while. Life hadn't been so great as of late, and the prospect of finally being done with his horrid quest filled him with a vigor he could only recall from his early adolescence.
Once Sonic had dreamed of going on wild adventures fraught with danger, but now that he lived them, he found that such constant excitement really can wear a person down. And he had been worn down; quite so, if he was being honest with himself. He had lived a tumultuous eight years, an eight years that Sonic couldn't deny had changed him deeply. He still possessed the preternatural swiftness so strongly associated with him, but the hot-headedness he used to consider an endearing trait had now ebbed out of him almost completely. Not that he had necessarily become the pensive type, but grief had imparted on him disposition favoring patience. He knew how fleeting joy could be, and long ago he had decided to enjoy those few quiet moments that could be eked out. Moments such as the one he was currently experiencing.
The air around him was cool with a level of humidity which was refreshing rather than sticky. Slight winds blew through his luxurious blue fur, tickling his skin. There didn't seem to be many animals around, save for some oddly shaped birds which he noticed gliding in the area around the city, but for the terrain that wasn't especially unusual. The grass was soft under his feet, and in that instance Sonic felt eased by the simplicity of his purpose, for at that time all that he needed to do was think and walk. There was no need to rush or run- he could actually enjoy the moment. And why shouldn't he? Presented with such a gift, it is only appropriate that one savour it to the fullest.
So Sonic continued to walk, and he continued to marinate in his thoughts until he reached the point where he was just far enough away from the city to not be seen. Sonic paused in order to muster himself to move forward. After traveling through so many dimension he had developed a complex of sorts.
On his homeworld he was still an oddity in terms of appearance, but in every world he traveled to, Sonic felt his visage lurid in comparison to the local had even been more than one occasion where he was mocked because of how he looked, which had resulted in numerous blows to his self-esteem. Now Sonic always became anxious before he made contact with the people of a new world. Moreover, the process of dimension jumping stripped Sonic of his clothes for some reason (even, unfortunately, his favorite red shoes and white gloves), meaning that he was essentially nude. Luckily, as a result of his creation, Sonic possessed no actual reproductive organs (that's right, there will be no sexualization of Sonic in this one. You are welcome), meaning that he didn't run the risk of exposing himself, but it didn't help make him feel any less vulnerable.
Sonic moved closer still to the city, now being able to make out distinct shapes and even people. To his surprise, Sonic found that he may not need to cover his appearance, after all. There were some "normal" humans, sure, but a large number of the figures he saw took strange shapes, stranger than he often encountered. To further compound his surprise noticed that there were ships taking off and flying through the planet's atmosphere. Space travel tended to muddy the linear nature of his quest as it greatly expanded the search zone he would be working in. That could be dealt with later, however. Sonic's most pressing concern at the moment was to move onto the first step of his usual procedure, that being to find a bar. Of all the possible locations a city contained, Sonic had learned that bars usually had the distinct benefit to them of providing nearly all of the relevant information required for him to become acclimated to his new environment. And among the possible offering of bars, dive bars were the ultimate distillation that served his purposes best. And as Sonic worked his way through the streets of the city (to his relief, receiving only a few sideways glances in the process), Sonic spotted what seemed like a choice dive bar indeed.
The Soused Sarlacc, said dive bar, was a rusted, semi-spherical metal building with no visible windows. The bar sign (consisting of only a plank with the name of the bar haphazardly painted on) as well as flashing rainbow lights surrounding the door, serving as the only decorative flair. Sonic let the noisy chatter of the bar's patrons guide him down the street and through the rainbow wreathed door. Inside, peoples of varying appearance downed vibrantly coloured liquids at impressive speeds. A grim jubilation hung in the air, as if it was a place where one came to finally give up the pretension of self control. The air had an acrid aroma, and breathing it in, Sonic felt it could have even been somewhat alcoholic by itself.
He made his way across a floor so sticky it was nearly adhesive, and approached a human bartender who exuded the aura of a person whose career had permeated into every aspect of their life, eventually crystallizing them into the stereotype of their profession. Burly and relaxed in their attentiveness, the bartender had already begun casting quick glances in Sonic's direction.
"I take it you're new here? We have pretty much anything you could want in terms of drinks. Our food is also edible, in I've even heard it called 'acceptable' before", the bartender said when Sonic finally made it up to the bar in the center of the room.
"Actually, I'm not looking for anything to drink at the moment. I've found myself stuck in the area and am in need of some quick cash; I thought this might be a good place to look. I understand this might be an imposition considering that I'm not a paying customer. I'll leave if you want me to", Sonic replied.
The bartender sighed and nodded her head. "I thought you didn't have the look of a usual passerby when you first walked in", she said looking at Sonic while continuing to serve other patrons around the bar, a feat that he found exceptionally impressive. "And don't worry, you can stay. We have plenty of space in here and you don't look like the type who's likely to start any trouble. In fact, your in luck seeing as there's a pair looking for people willing to get a little dirty for some credits", she said pointing her thumb behind her shoulder over to a small crowd surrounding two cloaked figures in the back of the bar.
Sonic was slightly taken aback. "Oh, well thank you very much. If I end up getting work then this place will be the first place I spend my money at", he said awkwardly.
"Heh, no problem. You seem as if you've had a rough go of it lately and can't hurt to help out a nice looking little fellow out every once and awhile".
"It sure can't", Sonic said before heading toward the crowd, thinking about what a incongruous personality the bartender had as he went. However he thought this further proves of the multifaceted effectiveness of dive bars. In every dimension jump that Sonic made, he had found dive bars to be the most diversely and consistently useful resource available. It was the sheer amount of raw possibility a dive bar represented that made them so incredibly useful.
Within a dive bar one could get in a fight, revealing what means of combat a dimension held. One could also scout out the prominence and shape of criminality within the region. Or, as in the current situation, Sonic could get a lead on a potential source of revenue from a surprisingly amiable bartender. And as such was the case, Sonic found his weary spirits lifted somewhat higher. As it stood, Sonic wouldn't need to explain his bizarre appearance or placate the disgust it often evoked, which was fantastic. And he was possibly on the verge of remedying his impoverishment, an equally wonderful proposition. Yes, things were looking up for Sonic in his final jump (except for presence the space travel, of course. But that was a relatively minor issue in terms of psychological triage).
As he came closer to the crowd, Sonic's attention became increasingly focused on trying to extrapolate the nature of his new prospect from the information available. For starters, Sonic found that the small crowd consisted of mostly curious drunks as well as a few persons with a rough appearance and serious demeanor; said individual no doubt being those actually willing to carry out the job if they found the pay satisfactory.
The hooded figures who were no doubt the employers, were dressed as such that most of their facial features were concealed by their outfits. But there was enough left uncovered that Sonic could surmise that the pair consisted of two humans, likely male and female. The male figure was talking to a lanky humanoid with wrinkly pink skin, beady black eyes, and a perfectly circular mouth with rows of needle sharp teeth protruding from the lips in the same circle configuration as the mouth. The humanoid seemed to Sonic to be smiling, but he honestly couldn't be sure.
Sonic caught a fragment of what the male figure was saying as he shouldered himself into the crowd, "...will require you to interfere with First Order operations, and will likely result in any future dealings with their organization to be problematic."
"Don't worry, my relations with the First Order is already of an antagonistic nature, so to speak. Plus they've always given me the creeps anyway", the pink humanoid replied.
The hooded figure nodded. "What kind of qualifications do you have", he asked.
"I have good level of combat expertise and have previous experience with mercenary work."
The figure turned to his female counterpart, "He seems to be telling the truth, moreover I'm getting the sense that he'll fit in with our operation", she said.
"You sure?", he asked apprehensively.
She sighed, "fairly certain". The male turned back to the pink alien and told him that, "it appears you've passed the test, Mangat. Wait here in the bar and when we're done with the interviews you'll briefed on the specifics". The pink alien who Sonic now knew was named Mangat thanked the interviewers and went over the bar to get a drink. After Mangat, some more candidates were interviewed, some being rejected, and others were told to wait in the bar like Mangat. Sonic observed that toward the end of each interview, the male figure would consult with his female colleague, and that a good deal of the final decision appeared to rest on her judgement. Moreover, the cloaked woman seemed to be in intense concentration throughout each interview. Another candidate was rejected while Sonic considered this. He was then jolted out of his rumination by the voice of the male figure, "Alright… um… blue guy? You're up".
The people in front of him moved aside and Sonic tentatively went before the mysterious interviewers. "What sort of credentials do you have?", the male asked.
Sonic made a conscious effort to straighten his back and relax his face before he answered, "I'm a veteran fighter, I've been in more than my fair share of conflicts. I'm quick too, real quick. Frankly I think you'd be hard pressed to find a more skilled fighter in this area than I". Sonic knew he was overselling himself a bit, but he also knew that when it came to interviews- especially interviews for mercenary work, gusto counted for a lot.
The male laughed, "those are strong words, but for now I think I'll entertain you. So, I assume that you have no problems upsetting the First Order?".
"I don't think so".
Sonic's interviewer tilted his head, "you sounded a little unsure about that"
"Well, actually, I'm new in this part of space, so…", Sonic coughed into his fist while slightly furrowing his brow, "I don't really know who the First Order is", he said blushing slightly. Quickly regaining his composure he added, "but that doesn't bother me. It makes no difference who I have to face, I won't shy from a battle".
The cloaked man seemed greatly amused, "You're a very interesting fellow… I'm sorry, what was your name?".
"Um… Sonic, sir"
"Okay Sonic, well firstly I'd like to say that you're very lucky to have lived far away enough to not know what the First Order is. And secondly, just in case you do mind, the First Order is the remnants of an old fascist regime who're bent on having the entire galaxy under their thumbs", the man said, his voice taking on a more serious tone as when he started to talk about the First Order. "Now normally I would call your ignorance of such a powerful military entity suspicious, but seeing as we're pretty close to the outskirts of the galaxy- and considering the fact that I've never seen a species that looks quite like you- I'm willing to accept your story". Sonic smiled upon hearing this but then the man put up a finger as if to silence him. "That doesn't mean you're totally out of the woods, however. I have still yet to talk to my friend", the man said then turning to the cloaked woman. This time instead of speaking out loud as she had before, though, the woman whispered into the ear of her colleague. The cloaked man who during most of his conversation with Sonic had seemed relaxed, even to be relishing the situation, now took on a very somber and listful appearance. Sonic also thought he caught the man glancing at the crystal embedded in his hand. "You're very interesting indeed, Sonic", he said, "you can go wait with the rest of the candidates who passed".
The final total of accepted candidates, including Sonic, was five. A few others passed the interview stage, but had left after being told the specifics of the job and the pay offered. Laying on the hill with who were now his four comrades in arms, Sonic wondered if it would have been a better decision for him to have had refused the job as well.
They were no doubt a ragtag group, and Sonic couldn't help but notice that the First Order regiment in the valley below them were all outfitted with some sort of armor and that there were ten of them, plus the five more that his employers had told him would likely be inside the transport ship. Granted, the group had been told by their employers that they would seriously outnumbered, but actually seeing the size of the opposing force did weaken Sonic's resolve a little. There was, however, no going back now. After talking with them at the bar while the interviews were still being conducted, Sonic had found that he actually liked his new colleagues a little. And the facts were that the group stood their best chance of survival with Sonic there to help them.
Sonic had developed a particular affection for Mangat, who had offered to take the group in his ship after they were told by their employers that they would not be receiving any means of transportation. Sonic found that Mangat had an odd charm about him, and seemed much nicer than his threatening teeth suggested he would be.
Another member of the group, Tyr, a heavily scarred human with a seriously disproportioned mohawk (she had proudly told the group that she did her own hair; by the others reactions Sonic had determined that the disproportionate nature was not a conscious stylistic choice) turned to the others.
"So, what's the plan?", she said with a gruffness that Sonic found was more a quality of her voice, rather than being a matter of intended inflection. Terho, a bulky person who's leathery skin had rock like protrusions coming out of it, spoke up. "Well, the stormtroopers outside and on sentry duty shouldn't pose too great threat; we'll be catching them unaware and at range", he said.
"True, but we still have to deal with the stormtroopers inside the transport ship", Nish added, taking an apparent effort to resist drowsiness long enough to form the words. A woman of short stature, Nish had earlier identified herself as being a native of Id'ele, explaining that she "didn't want anyone to be worried about why she seemed so tired". And Nish did, in fact, appear quite tired. Her eyes had large dark circles under them and her laboured breath came out slowly. Sonic did not know what the implications of being a native of Id'ele were, but the rest of the team seemed relieved after Nish spoke up, so he decide to not press the issue.
Terho sighed and folded his arms, "And considering capturing that ship is our main objective, we can't simply destroy it from here. Quite a conundrum".
"That's why we'll have to divide up and strike simultaneously from range and at melee", Nish said, her voice quiet, forming the words with a slowness that was somehow lulling. "Now, I specialize in close range combat, but I think it would be best to deal with the troopers inside the ship as quickly as possible; we don't want to risk any collateral damage. That means that another one of you will have to come with me. Does anyone else have skill in close combat?"
Mangat looked expectantly at Tehro, who caught his gaze and shook his head, "I'm too big to move quickly". Mangat nodded in understanding.
Sonic cleared his throat, getting the attention of the team, "um… I think I could handle it", he said nervously. Nish look over him and then made a thumbs up, "we're all set then?".
"Hold on", Terho interjected, "are you going to have enough time to get to the ship while we neutralize the stormtroopers outside?".
"That valley has some nice tall grass, plus it's getting dark. We should have no trouble sneaking down there if you give us enough lead time", Nish said. She turned to Sonic, "you don't mind, do you?"
"That works for me", he replied.
"And you three are going to be alright?", Nish asked, addressing the impromptu ranged detachment. Tyr produced a long, scoped rifle from her pack. "I'm not concerned", she said with a sincerity Sonic found unsettling.
Crawling through the grass, the cool night air blowing through his fur, a camp of enemy soldiers some twenty feet away from him, Sonic wondered what kind of cuisine this planet offered. He had not eaten since he arrived (though he had drunk a glass of water while he was waiting at the bar) and seriously began to worry that the rumbling from his stomach might give away his and Nish's position. Besides his hunger, though, Sonic also worried about the morality of his current mission. Sure, his employer had described the First Order as being a fascist organization, but frankly he trusted his employer only slightly more than he did the First Order.
Then again, his new teammates did all accept the mission without debate, and despite the fact that they were mercenaries by trade, he found that he did trust them a little. More than he did his employer, at least. There really was something odd about that pair, he thought. Over the years Sonic had, by necessity as much as by desire, developed his intuition to the extent where he could get a decent read on a person within the first few minutes of meeting them. There were a couple of messy incidents in his first few jumps, born out of naivety on his part, that had instilled within Sonic the lesson of constant perceptiveness when it came to the people he considered dealing with.
Sonic's train of thought was derailed when he noticed that Nish had stopped ahead of him. She looked back, her face ever so faintly illuminated by the red moonlight. "You ready?", she whispered. Sonic nodded in affirmation.
They had snuck passed the stormtroopers camp to their right and had made it the adjacent side of the ship. Earlier the team had decided that when Nish and Sonic had gotten into position, they would stand up to signal that the ranged group should commence their attack.
Quicky, silently, Nish and Sonic rose from their spot in the grass. A stormtrooper that was sitting facing the ship startled when the two figures suddenly appeared in front of them. But before they could even cry out, a red lance of energy raced across the valley and struck their skull. Two more laser beams, less powerful than the first, shot down and took out two of the sentries. The remaining stormtroopers scrambled for their weapons and began returning fire.
While the stormtroopers outside were occupied defending themselves from the rain of laser fire, Sonic and Nish seized the opportunity to sprint towards the door of the transport ship. It opened when they reached it, another stormtrooper emerging to combat the attackers. Gracefully, using no more energy than required, Nish took out a dagger the edges of which glowed blue, and slipped it into the unarmored neck of the stormtrooper. "You take the right". Nish told Sonic, stepping over the collapsed body.
Sonic entered the ship, turned the corner, and was met with another two stormtroopers running towards him. Okay Sonic, just keep a cool head and you'll be fine, he thought to himself. Weaponless, Sonic relied on the one skill he knew he could always count on- or at least the one skill he had that worked in an enclosed space- raw agility. Sonic jumped to the side, kicked off the side wall, and onto the shoulders of the stormtrooper closest to him. He then thrust his hands down, gripped the stormtrooper's helmet, and twisted. Crack. A bit gruesome for Sonic's tastes, but when you're limited to killing someone with your bare fists, most of your options are really just different flavors of gruesome. The second trooper trained his blaster on Sonic, who dropped to the ground just before the trigger was pulled. The surviving stormtrooper took aim again, and in a blur of speed Sonic dodged out of the path of the laser beam. Before he could be shot on again, Sonic picked up the blaster dropped by his first victim, and with three shots used it to make a second.
Sonic turned around to see if there were any more living stormtroopers in the back of the ship. There were not. Sonic did however see Nish lying on the ground, putting pressure on a wound on her side. A small trail of blood was seeping through her fingers. "Shit. Nish, are you alright?", Sonic shouted, rushing over to her.
"It's okay, really", she said, "I just need to get a wink of sleep".
"What? Oh no, are you already suffering from blood loss?"
Nish yawned. "No, no, I just need to rest", she said with a tint of amusement.
Sonic was panicking. Of course he had already screwed up. He hadn't been quick enough, and now one of the few people in this universe he had some trust in was probably dying. "I'm going to try and get you help, Nish, but you have to promise me you won't fall asleep, okay?", he said his voice heavy with fear. But it was too late, Nish had already closed her eyes. Sonic put his hands over the wound, trying to add extra pressure in order to stop the blood flow. "I need help over here! Nish is seriously wounded", he cried out, desperately hoping one of his teammates had medical experience. Damnit! I can't let this happen anymore, if I had just… Sonics thoughts were cut off as Nish began to snore. Sonic's utter confusion heightened as he started to feel subtle movements under his hands.
The shouting and hiss of laser fire from outside had subsided, and Sonic could now hear frantic footsteps coming towards him. "Where was she hit?', Mangat asked as he entered into the ship. Upon seeing Nish and the floor, however, Magat immediately relaxed his posture. "Don't get me worked up like that, man", he said with playful relief as the rest team followed in after him. Terho, evidently confused by how calm he appeared, turned to Mangat to ask what was going on. "Nothing serious, just Sonic's a bad listener, that's all", Mangat replied. Curious, Tyr peeked at Nish from over Terho's shoulder, "Hmm, just a scratch", she said, then seeing the dead stormtroopers, "nice work".
"Nish's Id'elian, remember?", Mangat added, realizing that Sonic was only becoming more perplexed, "that means she regenerates during her sleep cycle". Sonic took his hands away from Nish's wound to see that is had significantly reduced in size and that skin was visibly growing at the edges. The blood flow had also decreased to a nominal level.
Heartbeat returning to normal, adrenaline rush turning to fatigue, Sonic sat staring at the blood staining his hands; dark, still warm. A familiar sensation. Sonic shook his head in order to clear his head and refocus, punctuating the motion with a heavy exhale, "Sorry. I'm still learning about this region of space, you know. Well, we all make mistakes don't we?" Terho made a dismissive motion with his hand, "no big deal, you got the important part done". Tyr came over and put a hand on Sonics back, which on account of her intimidating aura, was more unnerving than reassuring. "Indeed", she said.
While Nish was asleep recovering from her wound, Terho, who had some experience in basic engineering, set about preparing the ship for them to take off in. In the meantime, the rest of the conscious team removed the stormtroopers corpses and cleaned up any excessive viscera within the ship. Tyr had motioned that they used what remained of the stormtrooper's campfire to burn the bodies, but Sonic and Mangat had refused on the basis that it would create too much smoke; not to mention that is was a fairly macabre idea. Tyr attempted to argue that it was symbolic gesture to honor the dead, but luckily Nish woke up before they had to come up with a further counter-argument.
Nish was only a smidge more rested than she had been before. The first thing she did when she woke up was to ask if anyone, possibly, had any food. The rapid regeneration burned an ungodly amount of calories, she told them. Mangat made a quick run to his ship and came back with a jerky of some kind for her to eat.
Before long, Terho had finished fiddling with the ship, and they set off towards the specified meeting destination with their employers (Sonic, Terho, Tyr, and Nish in the commandeered transport ship, with Mangat taking his own vessel). It was, for the most part, a short flight, but the team still had time to converse along the way. Tyr related to Sonic and Nish the specifics of the ranged detachment's victory, with Terho chiming in to tell them how Tyr had efficiently went from target to target, each time getting a clean headshot. "Headshots are more humane", she said gleefully, "to quick for them to feel any pain". Sonic could tell she had put thought into coming to that conclusion, maybe even conducted some field tests.
Still feeling guilty, Sonic apologized to the team for the confusion he'd caused earlier. Nish finished chewing the last piece of jerky she'd gotten from Mangat, and assured him that it was a common mistake, one that often worked in her favor when it was made by her enemies.
The more he talked with them, the more Sonic came to realize how much he enjoyed the company of these mercenaries he'd been assigned to work with. Sonic had been forced to form countless new social ties throughout his many dimensional jumps, yet with this new team he felt a connection that he never had before when just getting to know a group. And what's more, by the way they were interacting, Sonic got the idea that everyone else on the team felt similarly. It was as if they all shared some fundamental drive within themselves.
The ship arrived at the meeting zone, another plain away from both the previous location of the ship and the city they started in. Mangat's ship was already there, and through the combined light of the moon and their ship, they could make out that Mangat was outside waiting for them, along with their cloaked employers. They landed and went out to meet them.
"Mangat has already filled us in on the details, so now that you've delivered the ship we can move straight to payment, if that's alright with you", the cloaked man said as they came over. Each member of the team made some verbal or visual sign of affirmation.
"Good. First thing's first; I want to assure each of you that you will receive the payment of credits that was promised to you. In addition to that, however, we have a proposition we'd like to make you." The man looked to his female colleague who responded by slowly removing her cloak, the man following after her. The woman was light skinned, her brown hair was knotted in the back, and her eyes had a truculent glint to them. "You might already know who I am by my appearance, but just in case you don't, I'm the Jedi working for the Rebels, Rey", she said. Rey surveyed the looks of surprise and concern from the team in response to her statement. "You may have been told that the rebellion died not long after Snoke, but as you can tell we're still here", she continued, "we're weak and vulnerable, but we haven't yet given up. In fact, us remaining Rebels are using current instability within the First Order to build back up. We think you could help us".
"You want us to join the rebellion", Terho asked, not sure what to make of the situation.
"We need fighters who know how to fight using guerilla tactics, mercenaries like you fit the bill. It's completely your decision, though. We're simply making the offer", the man said. "Oh, I'm Poe, by the way."
Mangat rubbed his forehead. "You seem very confident in us. What makes you think we can be trusted?"
"During that interview earlier I used the force to get a general understanding of your thoughts. You could think of it as me checking your aura", Rey responded.
"Hmm, empathic communication", Nish mused. She furrowed her brow, "actually, what use does the rebellion have for this ship? And why didn't you just steal it?"
"It contains valuable resources, by taking it from the First Order and using the resources for the rebellion it's like killing two birds with one stone. The reason we didn't take it is because it would be a suitable test for you recruits", Poe said. "Plus we didn't really want to risk such important members as ourselves on a less important mission like this one."
To Sonic, the conversation being had was a useless jumble of names he didn't know the full meaning or context behind. However, he could tell that it concerned them joining an entity known as 'the rebellion' and that this was a weighty proposition for his teammates. Sonic was still coming down from fighting those stormtroopers, so he wasn't in the best mindset for making important decisions. But this was a situation in which he could afforrd some mistakes, and it appeared that if he joined these 'rebels' there was the possibility of working with his teammates again.
"I'm in", Sonic said, raising his hand.
Tyr was next to weigh in. "Me too, I'm down", she said with a grin.
Then Mangat, "you said we'd still get out payment?"
"Correct", Poe said.
"Okay, I'll join then".
Terho and Nish deliberated for a time, but they both eventually agreed to join as well. "Well, this is better than we expected", Poe said, pleasantly surprised that the whole team agreed to join the cause. Poe then told them that they'd be following the remaining Rebel ships to a seperate star system; he gave them the coordinates and told them they could take the stolen ship if they had to.
Mangat announced that he was taking his own ship and that he'd meet back up with everyone when they got to their destination. Sonic started to head back to the transport ship with the rest of the team, but he was stopped by Rey, who said that she wanted to speak with him before he left.
"When I looked into your thoughts earlier I sensed something strange", she told him, "traces of a power I've never encountered before, a power of no small significance. And I could tell it has something to do with that crystal on your hand."
Sonic instinctively covered the crystal with his other hand. "Does that affect your decision to recruit me", he said, meeting her challenging gaze.
"Not right now it doesn't. It might even make you more valuable to the cause, but in order to be useful you're going to have to be honest with us. That's not an issue that needs to addressed tonight, though. You're too on edge to be expected to be fully forthcoming, that's obvious. We'll have a little free time when we get to the next star system; you'll tell me everything then."
Sonic was about to respond, but before he could, Rey had already pulled her hood up and led Poe back into the night.