Hello! Nice to meet you all I'm DeathbyCoffee. This is my first Star Wars fan fic so spoiler alert there will be plenty of mistakes and probably will not follow the rules and/or facts of the Star Wars universe. Not only that but there will be massive star ship sized plot holes and a meandering plot line. I'll do my best, but I write for fun. Feel free to comment pleasant things if you feel like it. Constructive criticism is welcome too.
- I do not own Star Wars this is a work for fanfiction. I have no rights its the content or characters -
A rock gave way under Rey's palm forcing her to swing to an adjacent ledge as she continued her ascent up the rock face. Below a pristine lake glistened in the noon sun. Rebels bustled about it collecting water and fishing. The jungle moon of Stellata's beauty even rivaled that of the green Takodana. For the Rebel's the moon's untamed wilderness had proved to be both a blessing and a curse.
The dense canopy and proximity to an asteroid belt kept them well hidden from First Order probes, but the isolation also made getting supplies and communication with the outside difficult. Poe had fervently argued against coming to Stellata. He claimed that they should be out there getting allies and rallying troops. The Rebellion's need to regroup in safety won out in the end. They found some ruins of an old abandon mining operation to use as the foundation of a new base and a new rebellion.
Finally reaching the top of the cliffside Rey sat down with her feet crossed ready for some meditation. Since her time away, Rey felt awkward with the rebellion. Hey path had taken her down a different road for so long that to be with them again seemed alien. Her new title of being the last Jedi felt heavy on her shoulders.
The ones she had been close too had changed as well. They were now leaders of the resistance and bore the responsibility of leadership. Lei spent much of her time with Poe working on plans for the rebellion. Poe had become something of an apprentice to the General and took much of her time and attention. Fin stayed by Rose's side and helped her in her recovery. She was finally stable, but the crash had taken from her the use of her legs. Without access to advanced medical technology, she was confined to a wheel chair.
She didn't let that stop her though. If anything since her disability she had become more proficient in her field. Most of our tech at the base is thanks to her ingenuity. Rey would sometimes go sit with Rose and Fin and enjoy their company. But often this tended to make Rey feel more alone.
So instead Rey often found herself venturing about the jungle and working on her incomplete Jedi training. While her understanding had improved her fear had no yet dissipated. Rey was careful not to reach too far with her feeling in fear that it might attract unwanted attention. The connection between herself and Kylo Ren remained. She could always feel it. Sometimes he would even reach out to her, enter her dreams, still trying to convince her to join him.
"Rey? Do you copy?" Leia's voice came through the static on radio she had attached to her belt.
Unclipping it she extended the antenna to get a better signal and replied, "Yes I copy."
"I need you to come to headquarters. I have a mission you may be interested in." Rey's eyebrows raised at this. Missions had been few and far between during their stay on Stellata. Mostly it had just been supply missions done by a small task force of new recruits.
"I'll be right there."
The round concrete dome of the mission control room was one of the first structures to be restored during their base construction. During its mining days this room had probably been used for deciding on new locations to drill. Now the rows of map holograms and computers were repurposed to aid in mission planning.
Leia, Poe, and Finn were at the center of the room. A constellation was displayed on the hologram in front of them.
"If these numbers are correct then we won't need to go around the star system. We'll be able to go straight through the gate here," Poe point to a group of stars Rey did not recognize.
"That is true. It doesn't leave you two much room for error though. Security will be strictly enforced there. They will be quick to pick up on anything out of the ordinary," Leia gave him a level look at which Poe just smiled.
"Then we'll just have to be ordinary then," He looked up from the map. When he saw Rey approaching his smile grew and her waved me over.
"Hey Rey, where'd you run off to this time?" Finn smirked as he dusted some of the dirt from the rock face off her shoulder.
"Oh, you know here and there…" Rey laughed a bit as she looked down and realized exactly how much of a mess she was, "So, what do we have here?"
"Poe would you like to bring her up to speed," Leia looked at Poe expectantly.
"We sent a small group to collect supplies from neighboring planets. They returned with not only supplying but also information. There has been whispers of rebellions in the north currently fighting against the New Republic. From the information we got they are said to have some new type of battle ship that is causing havoc to the Republic fleet."
"Have we tried contacting them?" Rey asked. With the recent heavy losses of ships and people that the rebellion had suffered, the opportunity to join forces and gain allies was critical.
"Ah, that's the tricky part. We have no way of contacting them. Our signal here is too weak to broadcast. Not only that, but it would give away our location." Poe crossed his arms and looked pensively at the map before pointing to a planet, "Here is the planet Vulpes, home to the closest New Republic outpost. It is a small outpost operated by mostly recruits from nearby communities. Our team was able to commandeer the clearance codes as well as identification codes from a transport ship."
"How did they manage to do that?" Fin looked impressed.
"They were very persuasive," Poe replied flatly. Rey shifted uneasily hoping that didn't mean what she thought it did. "The mission is to infiltrate the base using these codes then to use their resources to contact our fellow rebels."
"Won't the New Order be able to trace the signal and find them?" Rey questioned.
"Not if we use this," Fin pulled out a small chip, "Rose made this. It will create an error in the system so that the broadcast will be isolated from the rest of the system. "
"Fantastic," Rey admired Rose's engineering. It was truly masterful.
"In order to complete this mission Poe will pilot the New Order ship to Vulpes. Once in range we will need you to reach out with the force and locate the satellite beacon," Leia explained, "From there you will drop off Finn in the forest near the base. Finn will infiltrate the base and attempt to make contact. You and Poe will then fly back here to relay any new information."
"Finn is going into the base alone?" Rey asked worriedly.
"That is the plan," Finn said his own doubts clear in his tone.
"Finn knows how they work and is the mostly unlikely to be detected," Leia said in a way that made it clear she did not want to argue.
"What if I go with-" Rey began but was cut off before she could finish.
"We cannot jeopardize you," Leia said reminding Rey of my new status, "And having more than one person going under cover would just put the mission at risk." Leia sighed before continuing, "Now it may take some time to contact the other resistance. I will be giving Finn a beacon similar to that that you used to find us after your training. Rose was able to modify this one to be able to send short messages. Finn, you will be able to send us updates when you are undercover. There is a time limit to how long this beacon will last though. In one month's time it will run out of power. You need to call for extraction before that happens, do you understand me?" Finn nodded his doubt now replaced by determination.
"Alright we'll leave at dawn," Poe smiled, excited to be in the action this time.
"You packed a blaster right?" Finn and Rey loaded the small ship with supplies for the mission.
"Yes, Rey I packed a blaster." Finn rolled his eyes at her as he dropped the final bag into the cargo pit, "I'm going to be fine. These outposts are notoriously sloppy and very rarely visited by the superior branch. They're maned entirely by recruits from neighboring planets. The purpose of an outpost is just a representation of the power and oversee New Order taxes and regulation. They will never notice one more janitor."
"I hope for all our sakes your right," Rey looked at him squarely, "Don't take any chances though. If something doesn't feel right signal us, okay"
"Yes General," He playfully punched her shoulder. "We can handle whatever they throw at us."
Overhearing them Poe ran up and slung his arms over their shoulders, "The last Jedi, a rebel stormtrooper and the legendary Poe Dameron, are we a dream team or what?" Unhooking his arms, he laughed and jumped into the small supply ship.
Rey sighed and shook her head before boarding. She had a feeling that they were one more 'what could go wrong' phrase away from dooming this entire mission.
The flight there was uneventful for the most part. There were a few close calls in the asteroid belt, but Poe's skill allowed them safe passage. As they neared the outpost, they all changed into New Order uniform to avoid rousing suspicion. The planet Vulpes was a small dwarf planet, not much larger than the moon they came from. Vulpes surrounded by a force field with large gates lined up on its equator. Ships could be seen entering and exiting the gates as they flashed green allowing access.
They approach the nearest gate and waited.
"Access code and Identification number?" A women's bored voice rang out through the intercom.
"B45374, ID GEN701 dash 04," Finn replied doing his best to sound confident.
"GEN701 dash 04? Just to confirm this is civilian recruit Vivian Troole. Is that correct?" The skeptical tone was easy to detect in the gate keeper's reply.
Wide eyed they looked at each other in panic. Vivian? The identification number was for a female recruit.
Thinking quickly, Rey leaned over and pressed the intercom button, "*cough**cough* Yes, sorry. Confirmed this is GEN701 dash 04 Vivian Troole."
"Oh honey you should really get your throat checked out, you sounded like a man there for a moment," The woman laughed a bit, "You're clear for entry." the light on the gate shined green.
They rode in silence as they passed through the gate.
"What the hell Rey?" Finn suddenly exploded, "I can't go around using a girl's ID code."
"No, you can't," Rey looked at him levelly, "But I can."
"Rey, no. You can't put yourself at risk like this." Finn argued back.
"You said it yourself. Security is sloppy here. I'll be fine," He still looked unconvinced, "We need to get into contact with the other rebels and this is our best chance." Rey looked to Poe for support.
Poe looked pensively between them before sighing and running a hand through his wayward locks. "I gotta side with Rey on this one. If she gets into trouble she can either use some of that Jedi mind magic or signal us to come get her."
Rey gave him a flat look at the fundamental misunderstanding of the force, but decided not to comment since he was supporting her. Instead she put my hands on Finn's shoulders forcing him to look at her squarely.
"I'll be fine."
He slowly nodded, "Alright. But if something even feels off you better be setting off that beacon you, hear me?"
"Yes, General," Rey smiled and playfully punched his shoulder to try to ease the tension.
Rey entered the base with surprising ease. It was unlike any other New Order base she had been on. The difference was that rather than a military base, this base was used more for legislation and collecting taxes from the surrounding colonies. The base itself was a cone shaped black tower surrounded by landing platforms and satellite disks.
The atmosphere was relaxed, there was no marching synchronous lines of Stormtroopers or tense shouting of orders. Even the uniforms were more relaxed. A simple black coat and pants with a black beret hat was worn by the workers. Only variation found was some of the uniforms were grey or white signaling a different rank.
Rey entered the base through the front door using the access code. She walked into an entrance room with a security desk and looked around, unsure of how to proceed.
"Come on over here. You must be one of the new recruits," The man said with disapproval, "They always come in here with the same stupid expression on their face." He crossed his arms, "You come in, you give your ID number and then you go through the door, why is this such a hard concept for you people."
"Umm," She felt more than a bit uneasy at the sudden confrontation. She hadn't even been on the base for 5 minutes and already felt like she blew it. "ID GEN701 dash 04" She said trying to musher some confidence.
"There you go. See it's easy," he smiled condescendingly and handed her an ID card, "Here you go Vivian. You'll find the ship bay on the east end of the base."
"Ship bay?" Rey asked before she could stop herself.
"Yeees. Ship bay," he emphasized the syllables as if that would help her understanding, "You are a mechanic are you not?"
"Oh, yes of course. East ship bay. Got it," Rey quickly took the card from him and went through the door. So not a janitor… I can still work with this. She thought to herself as she made her way, deciding to play along before trying to find a way to broadcast.
After getting lost and asking for directions a couple time she finally made it to East ship bay. She was greeted by a large blond woman with a smile that seemed to stretch a bit too far across her face.
"Hello there you must be GEN701 dash 04." At Rey's nod of confirmation her smile dropped to a disapproving frown. "Tut, tut we were expecting you here 2 days ago. This kind of tardiness is not to be tolerated by the New Order do I make myself clear?" She raised a thin eyebrow then without waiting for an answer pulled out a tablet, "Since it's your first day, I'll just have you go through some routine checks. Take this," She shoved the tablet into Rey's hands, "Do not loose that. If you do you will be paying for it and more. On this tablet is the ships that need to be checked as well as a check list. As soon as a task is complete check it off the list. Do not forget to check it off the list…"
She continued to describe the mundane and frivolous tasks Rey was going to be expected to complete. "The lights have to be checked every day? But they very rarely ever need replacing."
"Everything must be maintained. The check list must be followed, do not question protocol. It is beyond your feeble understanding." The lady finally concluded her lecture and went off to torture some over recruit.
"Don't mind ole' Yexlis, she's just a stuck in the mud for the rules," A young man with short red hair and a face full of freckles come out from under a nearby ship. He went over to Rey with a crooked grin. "I'm Tomud, a lotta people call me Toto though" he reached his hand.
"I'm Vivian," Rey replied shaking his hand. The name still a bit awkward on her tongue.
"Nice to meet you Vivian. If you want, we can work on some of these together. I can show you the ropes."
"Sure," She smile somewhat uncertainly hoping he would notice exactly how unsure she was of working with someone from the New Order.
"Yexlis is just on edge cause she's worried that the Supreme Leader's gonna surprise visit us like he did the other outposts."
"The Supreme Leader?" Rey felt the bite of cold fear at the title.
"Yeah ever since the rebel scum snuffed out the old Supreme Leader, Lord Ren has been turning about the galaxy trying to find them." He spat and wiped his mouth on his sleeve leaving a grease mark across his check. "Darn terrorists. All haul the New Order."
"Yes," Rey replied weekly, "All haul the New Order." Rey was barely able to contain the sarcasm in tone. This news was troubling though. If he came here it would be disastrous.
She briefly considered sending a message back to the rebellion but decided against it. She felt like she needed to at least contact the other rebellion first. Telling them of a very unlikely possibility of Kylo Rin showing up would could just cause them to prematurely retrieve her. The desire to prove herself kept her relaying the new information.
'I can do this.' She thought like a mantra as she continued to work on the New Order ship.
Rey could not be happier when the day finally ended. Tomud lead her to the female barracks where low level employees slept. The barracks consisted on a single long hallway with small dormitories branching off. Each dorm has two bunk beds squeezed in with four metal dressers lining the back wall. On the doors it had the identification numbers of the occupants.
Slowing making her way down the hall Rey did her best to avoid catching the attention of the somewhat rowdy residents. All around her girls were running around, some laughing, some yelling. It was chaos, and reminded Rey a bit of life at the old Rebel base. It was difficult to see the enemy like this. So full of life with friends and laughter, like any other people.
Rey found her ID number at the very end of the long hallway. She felt a rush of relief when she saw there was only one other ID number on the door. She wasn't sure she could handle staying in a room with three other people.
Her relief quickly morphed into horror as she opened the door to a room filled with propaganda posters and New Order flags. A girl about her age sat on the bunk bed to the right that was adorned with black and red blankets and pillows.
The girl herself looked normal. She had short curly black hair, her dark eyes magnified by large round glasses. She looked up and smiled at Rey, "Hello, you must be GEN701 dash 04. I was wondering when you'd get here."
"Uh yeah hi," the sheer number of New Order flags in the room still had Rey a bit shaken, "You can call me Vivian."
"I can call you Vivian? Is that not your name?" the girl replied with a strict expression before bursting out into a snorting laughter, "I'm just messing with ya, no need to look so worried. I'm Jellet."
"Nice to meet you Jellet." Rey laughed nervously.
"Nice to meet you too Vivian. All your bedding and clothes are in the wardrobe to the left. I hope you don't mind that I already decorated. I am just so excited to do my part for the New Order, aren't you?" Jellet's cheery nature was quickly becoming creepy.
"Umm, yeah all haul the New Order." Rey replied weakly as she made her bed.
"I'm so happy you feel the same. It really grinds my gears all these nobodies coming here to work just for the pay. No respect for the vision of the New Order and its glorious leader."
"Yeah…," Rey looked at Jellet is silent horror before letting out a very loud, very fake yawn. "Working on the New Order's vision today sure has me beat I think I'm going to go ahead to sleep so I can be real ready for work tomorrow."
"You're right, great idea. Let's go to bed early so we can work extra hard tomorrow, I like your way of thinking!" She turned out the lights.
Rey laid in silence waiting. Occasionally she reached out with the force to check if her roommate was asleep. When Jellet's breathing and heartrate finally to their rest rate Rey rose slowly. She tip-toed across the room and went out the door.
Finding a broadcasting beacon was not hard, getting to it was another story. Rey scaled the side of the tower to avoid the patrols of the base's security. Lucky for her the controls were on the base of each satellite. Finally reaching the platform Rey inserted Rose's drive. The control prompt acknowledged the error but continued to function independent from the system.
She switched to settings to an old rebel frequency. She sent out a simple message that identified herself and asked for reply then waited. No answer. She sent out another but still got no reply. She scanned through different rebel frequencies. No answer. No answer. No answer…
Suddenly the screen came to life, "This- rebellion-m-yd-elp-Do you-op-" Rey's face lit up, they were there! If she could just get a clear signal.
Rey tried again and again but ended up abandoning her effort for the night deciding to try again tomorrow night. She snuck silently back into her dorm and fell asleep nearly immediately.
"Rey…Why are you still fighting? It could all be over, we could have peace, but still you fight."
Kylo Ren stood across from her somehow illuminated in the black space. There was no discernable difference between the ground and sky just all-consuming darkness.
"I fight for peace. Surrender will not bring peace, only oppression" Rey's face was expressionless. She stared straight ahead unfocused. She lowered her into a sitting position and closed her eyes. This was not the first time he had invaded her dreams. It still scared her though. She breathed deeply in pursuit of the calm that Luke had taught her to strive for.
"Is oppression not the Jedi way?" His tone bitter and sarcastic, "Even now you struggle to suppress your emotions. Why control your fear when you could let it free? Why not use it achieve more than you could before?"
"There is a difference between self-control and subjugation." Rey did her best to keep her voice calm.
Rey felt fingers push her hair behind her ear "How is that self-control working out for you?" His voice whispered into her ear.
"Ahh!" Rey bolted upright.
"Ahh!" A high-pitched scream from the other side of the room followed by a pillow being launch at Rey face.
Rey blocked the pillow with ease.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Jellet yelled, her checks red and her hair stuck up at odd angles.
"Sorry, bad dream." Rey got up and began getting ready for another day of work.
Chapter one done, woot.