"BB-8, scan for a malfunction source!" Poe demanded as he frantically flipped switches in the cockpit of their small freighter. "We're running out of options here."

BB-8 blooped rapidly before releasing several cables to stabilize himself on the increasingly shaking ship; his scanner emerging quickly after. Poe Dameron had been dispatched to make a quick but vital supply run for the Resistance. He was on his way back when the ship's navigational controls locked up while passing through the Grizmalt system and auto-released him from hyperspace. In a matter of moments, Poe's ship was unresponsive, burning through every trick he knew, and quickly being dragged in by Grizmalt's gravitational pull. Flames licked the ship as BB-8 and Poe hurdled helplessly towards the surface of the ecumenopolis planet below.

"I'm gonna try and pull the main circuit router," Poe shouted to his droid friend. Struggling against the increasing g-forces, he trudged his way towards the back of the cockpit. Adrenaline was pulsing through his veins and he could feel each panicked beat of his heart. Though Poe practically lived for those feelings as an indulgent but courageous pilot, he was less than comfortable with his current situation. BB-8 bleeped sadly, reporting that he could not find a source of the malfunction. "It's okay, buddy," Poe reassured him. He had reached the router and was working on removing the cover. "Hopefully this will do something to-"

Suddenly, Poe was thrown to the front of the cockpit as a rudder detached from the ship and jilted it downwards. Flames engulfed the entirety of the freighter and Poe was out cold on the navigational panel. BB-8 hummed solemnly as they spiraled towards the surface.

Slowly, Poe awoke, the darkness of his vision dissipating into light. There was a pounding in his head and his shoulders ached terribly. Groaning, he pushed himself onto his elbows and scoped out his surroundings. Two beds, two closets, one door.

"Bleep, woop beep!"

Poe looked down to see BB-8 happily whizzing around. "Hey bud, what happened?"

BB-8 bloop beeped rapidly.

"What do you mean saved? By what? Wait, BB-8 slow down," Poe threw the covers off himself and slid his legs out over the side of the bed. "Wait, did they change my clothes?"

Before he could answer, a mechanical click sounded and the bedroom door slid open. In the threshold stood a skinny, slickly dressed man. He had a dark, thick fade and a chameleon like stare.

"Ah, I see you're finally awake." He walked in and sat on the bed opposite Poe.

"Where am I?" Poe questioned. "And who are you?"

The man laughed deeply. "Well you're sitting in the dormitories of what happens to be the finest theatre on this side a' Grizmalt. I'm Kamil Bonto, the owner and manager." He reached out to Poe and handed him a holocard. "And you very nearly destroyed this fine establishment with your poorly piloted ship last night."

"Well, I'm sorry about that," Poe chuckled nervously. "But my droid, BB-8, said someone saved us from crashing; was that you?"

Kamil shook his head. "No, no, not me. While I may be an artistic genius, I certainly don't have necessary skills to pull that off. Actually, it was your absent… roommate." He patted the messy bed he sat on. "Her name's Moira. And you're lucky her last roommate called it quits, or else you would have had to sleep in the master bedroom with me." He winked at the pilot.

"It was just one person? This, Moira? Last thing I remember, the ship was spiraling out of control, I was unconscious… How did she-"

"Ugh, you ask so many questions," Kamil cut him off. "Let me just show you." He removed a small device from his pocket and turned on a holoscreen in-front of the door. "It's been playing on the news frequencies non-stop, I'm sure I can find it on one of these." He flipped through a few stations. "Ah, here it is."

A report was playing with the headline 'Dancer saves theater and arts district from fiery freighter of death'.

"Well, that's a little overdramatic," Poe hushed under his breath. BB-8 bleeped in agreement.

The report then cut to a witness-submitted video showing the ship falling out of the sky towards, what Poe assumed to be, the theater. People were running and panicking; but with the freighter less than a klick out, it suddenly slowed down and stabilized. Each moment, the ship became slower and slower until it was shakily levitating over a landing platform attached to the theater. The video then zoomed in on the freighter, revealing a girl nearby, arms extended and back to the camera. Slowly, she lowered her arms, and with them, the freighter. After carefully, setting it down she collapsed to her hands and knees as fire-mechs and med droids arrived.

A sudden chill spread all over his body. Poe's minds quickly jumped to conclusions and he wondered if it could really be possible.

"Yeah, that's that." Kamil said, shutting off the holoscreen. "They put the fire out on that freighter of yours and everything seems to be fine. You're just lucky we didn't let the droids take you to a medcenter for an overnight stay. Those things will run ya' a thousand credits. Plus, I'm not one to turn down a beautiful man who needs to stay overnight."

Poe shook his head in disbelief. "This is crazy, but I think I've made sense of it. Why the freighter malfunctioned, why we got pulled in, why we didn't crash and burn. We've gotta talk to her, BB-8." Poe suddenly jumped towards Kamil, putting his hands on smaller man's shoulders.

"Whoa, slow down there, pretty boy," Kamil insisted in a lackluster manner.

"Where I can find her? I need to speak with her immediately." He was practically shaking the man.

"Jeez, yeah. Take a left outta here, go down to the bottom of the stairs, and then a big doorway. You can't miss it. But she's in the middle of a rehearsal!"

"We'll we might just have to interrupt. Let's go, BB-8!" Poe was quickly out the door, his heart beating rapidly in his chest. Having another Force user could be a great asset to the Resistance. Just as he knew it could be a great asset to the First Order.

Poe could feel himself sticking out as soon as he walked into the theater. The dozens of performers were draped in colorful robes, most sitting elegantly in the audience. Two, a young man and a young woman, danced together on stage while an orchestra played behind them. The dancing was utterly mesmerizing. It was so beautiful and intimate that Poe almost felt bad that he was about to ruin it. Almost.

"Uh, excuse me!" Poe talk-shouted, attempting to be heard above the music. Several of the performers turned around to look at him questionably. "Hello, I'm, uh, looking for someone!" Poe looked around, hoping for some kind reaction, but the rehearsal continued. Thankfully, BB-8 let out a high pitched, ear-piecing shriek that made even Poe cringe, and halted the performance.

"What do you think you're doing, coming in here and interrupting our rehearsal?" The male dancer shouted at Poe, puffing out his skinny chest and waltzing hurriedly to the front of the stage. "We've got a show in under a week we've got to be ready for!"

"Yeah, uh, sorry…" Poe chuckled nervously, walking closer to the stage. "I'm looking for someone. A girl named Moira?" The female dancer on stage walked forward, squinting at him.

"Oh! It's you!" She said, her eyes widening. "I'm Moira."

"It's you? What do you mean, 'it's you'? Who in the hell is this guy and why does he think he can interrupt us?" Complained the male dancer. "Don't tell me this another loser you slept with."

"Wow, really, thank you, Nikoli. Always a pleasure." Moira jumped off the stage and walked towards Poe. "No, he's not some random man I've had an affair with. He's the pilot from last night." A small murmur developed in the room and Poe felt even more out of place than before. "I think the droid there mentioned your name was… Poe?"

"Poe Dameron. It's nice to meet you." The two shook hands.

"It's nice to meet the conscious you, Mr. Dameron," she smiled cheekily. "How are you doing? Something I can help you with?"

Poe's demeanor became more rigid. "I need to speak with you. Privately, if possible. It's urgent."

She glanced hesitantly towards the stage before nodding. "Sure. Of course. Guys," she addressed her cast mates. "I need to take care of something. I'll be back as soon as I can. Run the number from the third act if you want instead!" She turned back to Poe. "Now hurry out of here, before Nikoli blows another gasket."

Moira sat down across from Poe at a table in the lobby. She was fair skinned and bright eyed. Most of her hair was dark brown but the underside of it was bright red.

"First off," he looked her straight in the eyes. "I wanted to thank you, for saving my life." BB-8 blooped beside him, throwing his name in too.

"You're both welcome. I'm glad I was able to," Moira smiled faintly. "But I mostly did it to stop your freighter from killing my friends and, you know, destroying my home."

"That's basically what I figured," Poe admitted.

"And, I actually have a question for you." she continued. "Once you were grounded, we examined your ship to find everything in working order. The outside sustained damage from the atmosphere, but overall it was fine. How did you so wildly lose control of such a user-friendly ship? I don't wanna call you reckless but are you a new pilot? Or perhaps an amateur smuggler?"

BB-8 bloop beeped angrily next to Poe.

"The best pilot in the galaxy?" she exclaimed at BB-8. "Droid, he nearly turned this place into a crater!"

"BB-8, it's okay," Poe reassured him. "That leads into what I wanted to talk about. Now, what I'm about to say might seem crazy, but just hear me out." Poe scooted closer to her and rested his elbows on the table between them. "I'm a great pilot, that I can promise you. I used to be a commander in the New Republic Starfleet." BB-8 rendered a hologram of his identification but Moira still looked weary. "If you don't believe me, well, I'm pretty sure Grizmalt is part of the New Republic. You could go to any government building and access public records of my missions.

"So, if there's anything I know how to do, it's how to fly. These days, I fly for the Resistance. BB-8 and I were on our way back from a mission when we suddenly got pulled out of hyperspace in your system. The ship stopped responding to commands and we were dragged in by Grizmalt's gravitational pull. Moira, never, in all my years of flying, have I experienced a situation like I did yesterday."

"Okay, this is quite the story, but what are you really getting at here?"

"Now stay with me, but, I think I was meant to find you. I think that something guided me here."

She nodded slowly, signaling for him to go on.

"Moira… you're a Force user, aren't you?" Poe smiled. "That's how you stopped the freighter, that's how you saved the theater and it's how you saved my life."

"You know of the Force?" she asked excitedly, leaning in. "I've never met someone else who knows of it, let alone, acknowledges what it can do." Her eyes were bright with curiosity and hunger.

"I know of it's great power. And I know that those who wield it can do amazing things." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "I think the Force made this happen. I think it drew me here on purpose- to find you."

Moira looked speechless, a mix of bewilderment and, what Poe hoped was, excitement. "Look, I've always known that the Force was something unique about me, but I've had it since I was a kid. Why now?" she asked.

"That I don't know. But, listen," he leaned in closer to her. "I have a friend right now who is training in the ways of the Force… with Luke Skywalker."

"Luke Skywalker? Luke Skywalker. The Jedi?"

Poe nodded.

"Alright cool. Casual. You just casually know Jedi even though they're supposedly extinct," her voice was shaking a bit, as she raced through words. "And I'm just supposed to believe you? Believe that Luke Skywalker is a real person? Let alone a real, living, Jedi person?"

"He's as real as you and me." Poe smiled slyly. "And I know others who know of the Force too. People who could guide you, who could teach you."

"So… so, what?" she stood and paced back and forth besides the table. "You're offering to train me to become, what… like… a Jedi?"

"I'm not saying you have to," Poe assured her. "And I can't even promise that it would happen, or that you would become a Jedi at all. But Force users are extremely rare. Especially those powerful enough to stop a wild ship from crashing into a planet. If someone like that, someone like you, joined the Resistance it could very possibly turn the tide of this war."

"I just… That's a lot to think about." She slouched back onto her chair. "You're basically asking me to leave my entire life behind and run off with you to fight for some cause that might kill me. Is this a normal thing for you?"

Poe exhaled and shook his head. "I know. I know that this is a lot for you, but there's also something else you should know."

"Oh, great," she murmured.

"I'm not saying you have to come with me and join the Resistance, but… I don't think you can stay here. I think, you'll need to leave."

"Excuse me?" She stood up and looked down at him, brows furrowed. "What do you mean I can't stay here? My whole life is here! My friends, my work, my entire-"

"I know, Moira. But listen to me." He stood and lightly grasped her arms. "That footage of you that's playing on all the news frequencies? You're gonna get a lot of attention for it. And some of it's going to be from the wrong people. Particularly the First Order. And, Moira, I know the First Order. They will come looking for you here. If you're lucky, they'll just take you. If not…" He paused, eyes heavy.

"What?"

"They'll kill you." Poe felt goose bumps run down her bare arms.

Moira collapsed back into her chair and stared at the ground, mouth agape. Poe could not help but feel responsible. Moira had only done the right thing, and now, in her mind, she was being punished for something she could have never expected.

"No, I just started my life..." she took in a gulp of air.

BB-8 chimed inquisitively at her.

"No, no this… this just can't be happening." She began wiping tears away with the heel of her palm. "I've worked my entire life to get where I am. This is what I've always wanted. And now, I'm finally the lead dancer in the company, I'm starring in a show and I just," she swallowed sharply. "I have to quit?"

"Moira, I'm so, so sorry…" Poe began.

"No, it- it's not your fault," she managed between sobs, wiping her face. "It's just, yesterday every- everything was fine and perfect and suddenly it's just this big fucking mess that wants to kill me." She shook her head "I've always known that this thing was both a blessing and a curse and I wish I just didn't have it at all, but what can I fucking do?"

Poe reached out and took her hands, looking on sympathetically.

"Oh my god, I'm sorry," she chuckled sadly. "This must just seem so shallow to you. You're some kind of freedom fighter who go outs and risks his life for others and I'm having a meltdown because I can't be a ballerina, like I'm some- some child."

"Don't think that for a second that I feel that way." Poe grasped her hands tighter. "That's exactly what I'm out there fighting for- the right for everyone to live their life freely. And I'm sorry this is happening to you. But, Moira, what I saw in that video is exactly what you just described. I saw a girl who risked her life to save the lives of others. I saw someone selfless and strong. I saw a hero."

Moira blushed a bit and pulled away to wipe off her face. "Thanks, but I'd still rather be a ballerina."

Poe chuckled and she gave him the faintest smile in return. She let out one last quiet sob before slowly returning to a calmer state. Poe sat back in his chair and thought for a moment.

"Moira, when I was younger, all I wanted was to be a pilot for the New Republic. It was the only thing I wanted and the only thing I cared about in the entire galaxy. And then, one day, I look down and I'm sitting in the cockpit of my own X-Wing, commanding my own squadron, and flying for the New Republic. I was a decorated pilot quickly climbing up the ranks. I had gotten what I wanted. And suddenly, I was so grateful that I had gotten there while I was still young; I was thankful that I hadn't spent my entire lifetime on the one goal. Because it was all so… artificial, to me. I hadn't realized that the whole time I was just trying to fill this… hole in me with these artificial and bureaucratic things.

"I know we're different people, on different paths, but please just think about what I said. For now, I need to go check on the freighter and update my base." Poe stood and extended his hand to her once again. "I'll need to leave here before your midday sunset. I'd love to have your company on the ship. But, if not, it was a pleasure meeting you, Moira."

She stood and grasped his hand firmly. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Dameron."

He gave her one final smile before heading off towards the freighter with BB-8 in tow. Moira sat back down, still taking in the entire situation.

"Oh, one last thing," he said, quickly spinning around. "BB-8 just wanted to let you know that our ship a.k.a. the freighter you landed? Well, it's on platform 4-A. You know, just in case you didn't remember." He winked and then disappeared down the corridor, but not before she heard him whisper to BB-8 "I have no idea where I'm going but we can't turn around now, I hope you can access a map."

" BB-8, it's nearly sunset and she's not here." Poe said to his droid, finishing a third polish on the freighter's new rudder.

BB-8 bloopity bleep blooped sadly.

"I know buddy, I was really hoping she'd come too. But we've really gotta get these supplies back to base. Hopefully with no more unexpected excursions." He jumped down and wiped his hands off on a nearby rag. "If she's not here in the next five, I think we'll have to leave without her."

BB-8 blooped blippin bloopied.

"Oh, come on BB-8, I don't want her to come just because I think she's pretty. I just gave her a mental break down and so shoot me if I feel a little responsible for her well-being now."

BB-8 blooped with laughter.

"Just get your little droid body on board," Poe jokingly commanded, as BB-8 rolled up into the ship. He sighed and leaned against the ship as the sun slowly sank over the horizon of Grizmalt. "Guess that's that."

"Hey, Mr. Dameron!"

He turned to see Moira walking towards him, with several bags floating alongside her. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail and ,to Poe's surprise, she was smiling brightly. "I see you've finally decided to join us," he teased.

"I decided," she corrected him. "To take a risk. This better be one hell of an adventure, Mr. Dameron."

He smiled. "Oh that, I can promise."