Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of the associated names, places, characters, etc.

This story is set shortly after The Last Jedi and follows my one-shot, Strangers in the Night.

It had been two long days since the disastrous evacuation of the planet Crait. Where once there had been a small Resistance fleet and hundreds of brave volunteer soldiers, it was now reduced to a handful for battered and weary survivors who filled the corridors of the old Corellian freighter Millennium Falcon. Assured by steadying presence of General Leia Organa, the Resistance survivors and their new allies escaped the clutches of the First Orders and made their way through hyperspace in hopes of finding a safe haven to regroup.

In the main hold of the ship, Poe Dameron sat across the table from his friend Finn as they passed the time playing a game which resembled holographic chess. While they played, the small spherical droid BB-8 sat nearby and swiveled its optical sensors before giving a curious chirp. Poe crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, "I know... that's what I've been trying to tell him. Finn, for goodness sake just make a move will you?"

The former stormtrooper sat in deliberate thought while scratching his chin, "Come on Poe, there's no rush here. I'm just being careful and weighing all my options."

Poe sighed and leaned back in his seat impatiently, "Well could you weigh your options a little faster? It never killed anyone to be a little daring and trust their instincts either."

Finn smiled and moved his next piece to take one of Poe's, "Good traits for an X-wing pilot, but not necessarily in a game of strategy."

Poe gave a little scowl as he saw his advantage on the board vanish before the Falcon shuddered and rattled for a moment. Both friends sat up and looked at each other before abandoning their game and heading down the rusty hallways for the freighter's cockpit. On the way, Finn mused aloud, "We must have just dropped out of hyperspace. I wonder what's going on?"

When they reached the cockpit, they found the wookie Chewbacca at the helm along with Rey and General Organa. By the looks of it, the ship had indeed reverted back to realspace as indicated by the blackness of space and the ocean of glittering stars around them. Up ahead, they could also see a planet in the near distance being lit up by the light of the star system's sun. It looked to have a tranquil greenish hue to it. Poe glanced over to Leia curiously, "General?"

The old wizened Resistance leader patted the shoulder of the wookie and gave a relieved smile, "Good work Chewbacca. Thank you."

Chewie gave low gentle vocalization before Leia turned to the others, "Everyone, we're stopping off at the planet of Utapau for repairs and resupply. It's a quiet place in the Outer Rim and the natural terrain should help us stay off the radar of the First Order for a while."

"Utapau? Wasn't that a famous battleground during the old Clone Wars?" Finn asked curiously.

Leia nodded, "It was but ever since the Republic had liberated it, it's been a relatively quiet and peaceful place."

"I assume you know some people there who can help us?" Poe asked.

"I know some people there who can get us get into contact with the help we need," Leia answered. Let me worry about that. As for the rest of you, I want everyone else to focus on getting this ship in a halfway decent state again."

Some time later, the Millennium Falcon descended into the skies over the planet of Utapau and cruised over its vast green plains and sandy deserts which made up much of the surface. From their vantage point, the crew could see massive sink holes which dotted the surface of the planet leading down to deep underground caverns and sources of water which the civilization of the planet had developed around.

Eventually, the Falcon flew over a particular sinkhole and descended gently into the massive crater where the crew was amazed to see docking bays and civilization built within and around the walls of the canyons. Upon touching down in one such inlet of the crater, the Falcon docked allowing its weary passengers depart to stretch their legs. As Finn walked down the ship's ramp, BB-8 rolled along beside him and looked around before heading off to join Leia while she spoke to some of the natives of Utapau who had come to meet her. As she began to ask for their help and negotiate with them, Finn looked around the busy hangar-like structure hoping to find Rey when he caught sight of some of the other Resistance troops unloading some crates.

To his surprise, he instead saw his new friend Rose Tico clumsily make her way down the gangplank struggling to drag a large empty canister on a small cart. The female mechanic had her right arm already restrained in a sling but it didn't seem to deter her from trying to assist her other comrades. Finn hurried over and immediately steadied the load on the cart, "Rose... hey. What do you think you're doing?"

She raised an eyebrow, "Uhh... helping? General Organa gave us work to do, remember?"

"Yeah, but are you sure it's a good idea for you to be doing this? You got banged up pretty badly back there on Crait, remember? You should be taking it easy and resting up."

The mechanic winced a little and handed off the cart to Finn, "I guess you're right. I am still feeling a bit sore. Do you mind?"

He took the heavy cart and walked with her down the ramp while she gave a faint but sheepish smile, "Thanks... it's kinda nice knowing I've got a big strong guy I can count on for help."

"Uh... sure. Don't mention it," Finn replied awkwardly as they kept walking and fell into a drawn out silence. Between Rose's recovery and their down time on the Falcon, Finn had been actively trying to avoid having the awkward conversation with her about that kiss they had shared back on Crait. It seemed she had made her intentions clear, but he was still a bit surprised and bewildered by the whole thing. Right now, he wondered if it might be a good idea if he talked to Poe about all this.

Aside from being older and more experienced than him, Finn had begun regarding his pilot friend as a sort of older brother figure who he could trust. Then again, how he would even start that conversation would be a bit of a challenge too. Dealing with interpersonal relationships and womens' hearts was certainly something that had not come up during his grueling years of training as a First Order stormtrooper. For now, all he could do was keep busy and try to buy himself enough time to sort things out for himself.

Sometime later that day, repairs and refitting were under way for the Falcon and the weary Resistance soldiers were given leave to rest for a while during the maintenance. In many ways, General Organa had chosen an ideal planet to hide on. It was remote, quiet, and relatively unwilling to take any particular sides in the modern galactic conflicts which had previously ravaged the world many years ago. It was understood Utapau would only be a brief stop along the way but the other Resistance fighters were still a bit unsure that Leia would really be able to muster enough support from any scattered allies in the Outer Rim. Right now, it was not looking good.

Late that afternoon, Poe walked out toward the edge of the recessed hanger to view the massive sinkhole canyon. The rays of the sun glinted off the rocks above and he could feel the swirling air as it gently whistled by. He closed his eyes in an almost meditative way and took in the unusual moment of calm and peace with the wind before he heard a shuffle of footsteps from behind. To his surprise, he turned and saw Rey approaching carrying her staff. The young woman was still dressed in her new dark bluish attire which somewhat resembled the look of the Jedi of old. Although the others had tried to convince her to dress in some spare practical clothing of the Resistance volunteers, she had been adamant in her decision to do what she wanted.

The young brunette woman tilted her head curiously and asked, "Poe? What are you doing out here?"

"I could ask you the same question," he said with a slight chuckle but it was met by a mild frown from her.

"I asked you first."

Poe shrugged and turned back to the canyon walls with a sigh, "Would you believe me if I said I was communing with the Force?"

She crossed her arms, "You have an odd way of doing it then."

Poe smiled to himself, "Actually, I just came out here to get some air. After being cooped up in the Falcon, I needed to get out and see the skies again. I was just thinking how much I miss having my X-wing around... and how much I'll miss flying with some of those people who were lost on the cruiser Raddus."

"You lost your whole squadron?" Rey asked sympathetically but Poe shook his head.

"Technically no. My own flight, the members of Black Squadron were scattered and sent away on some other assignments before D'Qar was evacuated. I only hope they might have gotten our distress signals and are trying to find us so they can help."

Rey nodded quietly and tried to give an optimistic look, "Well, if I can offer something from experience the friends and people we care about tend to find their way back to us in one way or another."

"Speaking of..." Poe remarked in amusement as he saw Finn striding up a ramp of the hangar bay. The younger man gave a wave and greeted his friends with a hesitant nod.

"Poe. Rey. Fancy meeting you guys here."

Poe raised an eyebrow, "Finn? Hey, is everything okay? You look a little... tense. Maybe preoccupied?"

Finn forced a smile and a nervous laugh, "Me? Tense? Naw... come on. I'm a stormtrooper. I'm as cool as ice. But Poe... if you don't mind, I was hoping I could talk to you about something?"

"Yeah sure buddy. What's on your mind?"

Finn gave Rey a pointed look hinting at her to give them some privacy, "It's kinda personal."

"I can take a hint," Rey sighed as she hefted her staff and began walking back inside the large hangers. She was a little annoyed and bothered about being shooed away, but decided to just let it go and find something else to keep her occupied in the mean time... perhaps like going over some of the old Jedi books she had recovered.

Once she had left, Poe turned to his friend, "Finn? What's going on?"

Before Finn could speak, he was interrupted again as the little droid BB-8 rolled up quickly and began to squawk at the two. Poe immediately turned his attention to his astromech partner and his eyes went wide, "What? Really? She said that? Interesting."

BB-8 vocalized again and Poe nodded, "I see... tell her we're on our way."

As the droid rolled off to deliver his new message, Finn scratched his head in confusion, "What is going on now? What did BB-8 just say?"

Poe clapped his friend on the shoulder and moved to return to the hangers, "He says you're being personally summoned by General Organa. It seems she's got a job in mind and thinks you may be able to help us."

"Wait... what? Me?" Finn asked apprehensively.

"Sure. Why not?" Poe teased him gently as he pulled Finn along with him, "You said you were a badass stormtrooper, didn't you? Cool as ice?"

"Oh ha ha. Now you're just mocking me. Don't think I didn't see what you just did there," Finn muttered reluctantly as he was dragged along to a more secure location within the compound.

A short time later, Finn and Poe were led to what looked to be a large private office and control center overlooking the complex. It offered a view of the hangars from the glass windows while control consoles blinked and flashed nearby. Standing by a large table, Leia Organa waited for the two men along with one of the natives of Utapau. He was a tall gaunt looking alien with a long neck and limbs along with a slightly menacing mouth full of teeth. Despite the slightly fearful visage of these aliens, many offworlders were often surprised to learn that they were generally very mild mannered and non threatening in person. Judging by the alien's robes, he looked to be one of higher rank. Perhaps one in charge of the docking complex or some low level official.

Leia nodded and waved the two men over to join her at the table, "Poe. Finn. Thank you for coming so soon. I wanted to talk with you. I'd like you to meet one of my contacts, Tolin Jeth. He's a local Port Administrator and Resistance sympathizer who has offered to help us."

Poe gave the alien a friendly nod and turned back to Leia, "I don't suppose he could hook us up with any weapons or starfighters, can he?"

Leia shook her head, "No. But he's offered to help us get into contact with someone who can. Tolin has helped me use some back channels to get in touch with an old ally of mine on Bespin... Lando Calrissian."

"The Lando Calrissian?" Poe exclaimed in both shock and wonder, "One of the heroes of Endor? The man is a living legend!"

Leia raised a calming hand, "Cool your jets Poe. This operation is going to be on the more discrete side. Finn, that's where I'm going to need you."

"Me?" Finn asked sounding a little more uncertain than he hoped, "What do you need me to help do General?"

Leia raised a holographic display of the floating metropolis of Cloud City on the gas giant planet of Bespin. Nearby were a few other additional exhibits. "Although Lando has retired from politics and is no longer the governor of Cloud City, he's agreed to help the Resistance rearm itself and send out a call to muster our numbers. If we're going to be doing that, we need a way to keep the First Order off our tails."

Poe nodded, "Right. They can track us through hyperspace now with their new tech, right?"

"Correct, but it's not full-proof either," Leia said with a sly grin, "Stationed on Cloud City is the scientist responsible for developing that new technology, Nicolai Kerensky. According to some of Lando's insider sources within the city, Kerensky's become regretful for aiding the First Order and providing them with the tools. They've made him a very wealthy man, but now the First Order forces are keeping him a virtual prisoner there so that he can continue to develop their weapons whether he wants to or not."

"And you want me to use my knowledge of First Order security protocols to help break Kerensky free?" Finn asked.

Leia nodded, "Yes. A small garrison of First Order troops have taken up residence in the neutral Cloud City hoping they can strong arm it into joining their sphere of influence. I want you and Poe to go and rendezvous with Lando's contact on Bespin. Pluck Kerensky from under the First Order's noses and bring him here. It's my hope he'll be able to develop a countermeasure to jam the tracking devices or throw the enemy off our trails."

"General? Slight problem. How are we supposed to get to Bespin without being noticed?" Poe asked, "I'm sure half the galaxy probably knows of the Millennium Falcon by now."

The alien Tolin cleared his throat, "Allow me to address that Captain Dameron. We can provide you with a small unmarked Y-wing. It's unarmed and an old leftover from the wars with the Empire, but it might still come in handy."

"A Y-wing?" Poe sighed despondently, "Those things are slow as hell... but it's better than nothing."

Leia looked to the two men, "I don't think I need to spell out just how important this assignment is gentlemen. I can't afford to lose any more trusted people."

Poe gave a dutiful salute putting a little more emphasis in his words, "I won't let you down General... neither of us will."

"Then see to it Captain and may the Force be with you both."

After they were dismissed from the office, the two headed back down to the main hanger floor. Finn was still looking a little uncomfortable and turned to Poe, "So... you said you've done this kind of thing before? Like secret meetings and covert ops type missions?"

"Some," Poe shrugged giving a confident grin, "I've been on a few jaunts with my team of fellow pilots in Black Squadron. That said, I guess that means you're going to be one of us now. You should fit right in with Black Squadron and be the perfect man for the job."

Finn glanced at his own skin color and gave a pointed look, "You aren't being funny now, are you?"

"No! I didn't mean like that," Poe answered backpedaling a little, "I meant you've got a lot of knowledge about First Order tech and fitting in with them. That's perfect for being a secret agent."

"Oh... well, if you say so," Finn said while trying to psych himself up for the coming task at hand.

"Don't sweat it buddy. We'll be there and back before you know it," Poe said giving his friend a reassuring clap on the back along with a wink, "That way Rose won't be too worried about you either, right?"

"That's what I'm afraid of," Finn said following the pilot out of the turbolift and off toward the docked Falcon sitting across the spaceport.