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Chapter 3

Rescue mission


Finn grunts as he is shoved to the ground by more men than he can count, the weight forcing him lower and lower. He tries to fight, yet it isn't exactly fair. In the end, he merely lifts his head and stares into the eyes of his capture.

She smirks back, dark eyes glistening as she stares at him. The woman has dark, sleek skin, her hair tied back into a sharp pony tail, and body hidden beneath fitted armor. "Hello, Finn." She says, enjoying as his hands are roughly tired together and the man then dragged to his feet.

"Who are you?" he growls, "and what do you want with me?"

"I have a friend who is dying to meet you," she grins, making a gesture to her guard. In an instant, he feels a blaster digging into his side. "After you," she announces with a laugh, pointing forward, "thanks for making it so easy, Finn. I thought being the son of a Senator, it would have been a bit harder to capture you."

He feels his face flush as the others laugh, suddenly feeling very stupid indeed. Admittedly, his defences had been down – he hadn't know that threats lay in this planet too, and being with Rachel had certainly put him at ease . . .

Rachel.

He cranes his neck, looking around for her, but once more there is no sight. It'd been barely moments ago that she'd wandered off to look at the stall, yet Finn did not anticipate this. The man inwardly curses, head spinning a mile a minute as he attempts to figure out exactly why he is now held captive once more. Turning, he sees the trail left behind by BB – 8, the droid he'd sent away the minute he'd smelled trouble.

If only Finn had been fast enough himself.

"Let me go!" he shouts out to the girl, fighting against his restraints, despite its futility.

She scoffs, "please, wear yourself out. As long as you're alive, I've done my job."

His face scrunches up in confusion, mouth hanging open. Overwhelmed with feelings, he isn't quite sure what to focus on right now, but inside there is a big looming cloud, almost as if being shrouded by an approaching storm. Finn doesn't quite understand what that means – he just knows that he doesn't like it.


Puck runs and runs, and then he runs some more.

His chest aches, each breath a painful affair, until he has to stop, winded. His feet scratch the dusty ground, the man reaching out a hand to lean on the nearest object, which just happens to be a person hat moves away from the panting man. He stumbles slightly, though straightens up in an instant. "Where are they?" he whispers to himself.

He closes his eyes in concentration, trying to think like Finn and Rachel. "Probably took her someone nice," he pulls his face, not quite sure how he feels about Finn's relationship with the girl. If anything, it leaves a bitter taste in his mouth. There are houses all around him, followed by two paths. One leads to a rather rowdy bunch of drinkers, the other to a large street market. Then he smells the mouth-watering aroma of food, and takes off in that direction. He knows his best friend well enough that Finn is easily tempted with food, no matter what the kind.

Despite his body's protests, he sets his legs into motion again. He heats up instantly, the humid air difficult to breathe as he runs, but he doesn't stop. Finn is in trouble, Rachel too. He just hopes he isn't too late.

Hearing a familiar sound, he slams down his foot and skids to a halt, twisting around to see BB – 8 rolling away with impressive speed. "Hey!" he shouts, waving his arms about and trying to catch his attention, only to realize that he's being chased.

BB – 8's head turns toward him, the droid suddenly heading in his direction. "That's right," he mumbles with an eye roll, "bring them this way." Panic surging through him, he grabs the nearest weapon toward him, which just happens to be the biggest, mankiest book he can find, and hides behind a large set of furniture.

As the droid rolls past him and moves to hide behind the man, he readies himself, swinging the book with great force until it hits BB – 8's pursuer square in the head. The next man dodges his swing, throwing a punch at Puck. It winds him in an instant, forcing him to the ground where he is too exposed. He frowns, bracing himself for whatever is about to come next. . .

Until BB – 8 bravely rolls forward, electricity shooting from his arm and headed straight for their attacker. Surprised, he jumps back, but this gives Puck just enough time to grab the other's blaster and shoot, the pair watches as the plasma knocks him feet away. He shoots again, just to be sure, and there runs for it.

"Where are Finn and Rachel?" he asks BB – 8 as they flee together.

He chirps back erratically.

Puck frowns, "they're not together? Crap, that's not good. How could they be so stupid?" He shakes his head, trying to think, "Alright, alright – take me to Finn first. We're gonna . . . we'll help him." He stares straight ahead, fear once again overwhelming him, "we can do this."


Rachel has never felt like this before

A concoction of terror, exhilaration and complete confusion overwhelm the young girl as she stares ahead at her attacker.

Fear stares back at her. Shock, too. He hadn't expected the tables to turn so quickly, she knows that. Rachel hadn't either. Moments ago she feared for her life, and now she feels like this is the start of it, like this is the first breath she's ever taken – albeit kind of shaky and filled with trepidation. She feels more alive than ever.

Her eyes move to the object in her hand, the lightsaber. It's like the one she'd seen in her vision, that one that had so easily sliced through metal and left damage in its path. Rachel has no doubt that this could do serious damage; no wonder Jesse stares with barely contained worry. She takes a moment to observe the man, who had only moments ago infiltrated her mind, stealing her of her privacy. Then something had shifted, a beast awoke inside of her and fought back.

With its strength, she had seen into his mind, into his thoughts and through the eyes of this monster. How? She has no idea, but she knows that she wants – no, needs to know more. But still, her question lingers in the air. What have you done with Finn?

He clenches his jaw, eyes narrowing. "Finn," he says, almost as though the name is poison on his lips, "is not the reason I am here. He is Santana's problem."

She frowns, wondering who this woman is on top of all her other questions. Rachel's head begins to ache with the effort, shaking slowly from side to side.

"Who are you?" she asks again, hoping to make some sense of this mess.

"You already know my name," he states, emotionless.

"What did you do to me?" Rachel demands to know, wielding the weapon dangerously closer, "and how did you . . . do that?" In her mind, she hears a quiet, how did I do that?

He doesn't speak then, lips creating a tight hold on his words.

"Tell me!"

"I know just as much as you, Rachel."

She grits her teeth together, "liar." Her words are laced with emotion, though which ones precisely she doesn't quite know. "You were sent here to capture us, but I don't – I don't know why. I only saw . . ." she trails off, the amazement flooding over her once more. "How did I see?" Her words are quiet, but he still hears.

"You saw what I let you see," he says, though doesn't seem convinced of his own words.

Rachel frowns, "what you let me see?"

"Yes." He dares a step closer, though his gaze does not leave the weapon in her hands. Rachel's jaw tightens, as does her grip on the lightsaber. "I allowed you to look into my mind." She gives pause, her intuition telling her otherwise. It hadn't felt like he had been in power, and the dread in his eyes had definitely told a different story.

"I don't believe you."

"Do you really think that you could have overpowered me?" he asks, a cocky smirk beginning to grow.

"You, the little girl from some nothing planet. Don't think you're so special."

Under his gaze, she suddenly feels about two inches tall, and not so powerful as she did moments ago. Her eyes peer down, if only for a few seconds, but that's all that he needs.

She feels his hands grasp over hers and taking control of the lightsaber before she can even fight back. Rachel struggles against his strength, mindful of the dangerous weapon between them. In the tussle, it find its way back into Jesse's ownership. He lifts his hand in the air once more – for a moment she fears he will once again enter her thoughts, but this time is different. His focused eyes meet her terrified ones; that is the last thing that Rachel sees before her world plunges into darkness.


Puck watches, hiding behind of stack of musty, old dresses before being shoed away by the stall owner. BB – 8 almost topples over as he scrambles to get away from her too, but Puck quickly steadies the droid in one quick move. He glares back at her, shaking his own hand toward the woman to move her on. "I'm not doing anything!" The man grumbles, "stop shooing me." She suddenly stops, rushing to hide behind her own things as she spots something in the distance. He halts, frozen, as he realizes Finn and his captors are headed this way.

"Shit, shit shit," he mumbles as he dives behind the nearest thing for cover. It curses even further as he stubs his foot on the piles of crap that sit around them. "I can't wait to go home," he laments aloud. BB – 8 chirps in agreement. Puck lowers himself further as they walk past, a parade of impressive looking blasters and white guards. He peers around the village, watching as people cower from the sight of them.

Who are these people?

He spies Finn again, hands clamped together and being forced forward with a gun to his back. The dark skinned girl in front of him walks with satisfaction, each step one of proud success. Puck really hopes that he can ruin her day. "C'mon BB -8, we need a plan to get Finn back. You're his droid, any ideas?"

It stares blankly at him.

"Are you serious? What is the point of having your expensive ass around if you can even think of an escape plan?!" He fumes, crawling along the floor to keep his eye on the moving group. The urgency of the situation is not lost on him, knowing that their ship is not going to be far behind. "Keep it, BB – 8," he whispers, moving around a cowering kid. It makes his heart sink to see such fear in the boy's eyes, only further fuelling his curiosity as to who Finn's captors are, and what they're capable of.

He frowns when he bumps into a suddenly stationary BB – 8. "What?"

The droid beeps back, eyepiece spinning around over his circular body toward a certain stall. Lay among the chipped wood are hundreds of fireworks of all shapes and sizes. His eyes glisten excitedly as he suddenly grins, "You, my little friend, are one smart droid."


Finn trudges along, exhaustion taking over him. The heat of the two suns combined causes a sweat to build on his brow, eyes squinting closed so that he can see ahead. He moves forward, however, with the ever present feeling of the blaster held to his back. He cranes his neck to look around, hoping to catch glimpse of Puck or Rachel, or anyone that can save him.

"Dammit!" The captain slaps the communicator on her wrist, frustration building. "St James," she tries once more, practically growling when she gets no reply. "Jesse, come in." She looks over her shoulder at him, a glare that sends a shiver down his spine. Still, he makes a point to send her the same look back.

Sighing loudly, she tries another person. "Brit," she starts, "update me, babe."

"I thought I was already dating you?" The confused voice comes through, and Finn feels his blood run cold. Brittany is working with this girl? But wait, Rachel brought them to her – does that mean . . . No, he shakes his head. He trusts Rachel, he really does, and he quickly forces any thought of her being somehow involved out of his head.

"We are," she deadpans, "how is our guest doing? Please tell me you have Puckerman under control."

"Who's control and why is he under them?"

Finn stifles a laugh, despite his situation. When Santana looks at him again, he's particularly glad that looks cannot kill.

"Do you have Puckerman?" she yells into the communicator, stopping everyone in their tracks.

There is a long pause. "Sanny, he left me to go and save his friends. He's a nice friend."

"You let him go?" She slaps a hand to her face, slowly lowering it. To Finn, the words are music to his ears. If Puck is free, then hopefully he's working on a plan, and with any luck he'll be with Rachel and BB – 8. "What do you mean you let him go? Where is he?" The anger in her voice has everyone around them wincing, Finn included.

To add to her annoyance, she finally hears back from this Jesse. Finn strains his ears to listen in, "Santana, come in."

She hurries to reply, "You better have good news for me."

"Afraid not, the girl escaped – had some accomplices in the town." He gives a defeated sigh, "slipped away from me. We'll just have to proceed with Hudson."

Rachel escaped. He can't help the smile that spreads onto his face, only for him to be shoved forward once more.

"I am done with you amateurs today," Santana hisses to him, "don't even bother getting on the same ship with me."

"I'll head back first and tell the Empress."

"You better hope she doesn't want to mount your head in her collection," she deadpans, followed by a sneer. "Why am I the only one who can do my job?" she mutters under her breath, spinning around to face her subordinates, clearly pissed. "Any other of you idiots want to mess up today?"

They reply with a stony silence.

A silence that doesn't last for very long.

Not too far away, an explosion of smoke and noise bursts into the sky as fireworks shoot this way and that. The dim red sky is suddenly filled with color as each one shatters with an eruption of blues, greens and oranges.

Finn panics when he realizes that they are not only going upwards. Nope, they're coming toward them. "Get down!" he yells as one whizzes past with a screech, knocking a guard down to the floor. The villagers flee in a panic as the whole stall sets alight, more and more fireworks flying in every direction. Smoke spreads quickly, soon blinding their eyesight so that Finn can only hear the chaos going on around him.

"What is happening?" Santana yells.

He no longer feels the weapon shoved against his back, and he tries his best to shake off his captors, but in the confusion he can't tell who's an innocent bystander and who is a part of Santana's group. The earth is hard beneath his hands, cracked and dry, but he scrambles at it to get away.

"Hudson!"

He ducks further, which is really hard when you're over six foot. He inwardly curses and hopes that the cover of the smoke is enough.

Finn dodges that feet that stomp around him, then stops as he picks up on a different sound – one that sounds close to the roar of an engine. He can hear its struggle forward, choking on the air . . . only for him to realize that it's moving straight toward him.

"Crap," he says, coughing on the smell of sulfur with his eyes closed shut.

"I can't see!" the disfigured words of the guards sounds through.

Santana's voice follows. "Get hold of Hudson and get him to – what the hell is that?"

He peers up then, squinting to see his best, only to make out the blur of a red shape. It grows in size until his vision is nothing but rusty red staring back at him. As it nears, the clunking of the engine grows with it, a deafening sound that makes his ears ring. Finn squeezes his eyes closed, bracing himself as best he can.

A hand reaches for his back, grasping onto his clothes.

He fills with relief as he hears Puck's familiar voice. "Get the fuck on, now." When he glances up, Puck's face is wrapped in a scarf, huge goggles protecting his eyes. He smiles, standing shakily and jumping on top of the stolen speeder. "BB – 8!" he announces as he sees his droid, who greets him with a chirp.

"Let's get the hell out of here."

They surge forward, Finn clutching tightly to the hot metal and watching as his captors become smaller. As expected, they're shooting at them in a matter of seconds, forcing Puck to have to zig zag away to avoid damage.

"Where are we going?" he asks his friend, staring back at the carnage of the scene.

Puck frowns, "the fuck away from that crazy woman."

"Wait, wait." He suddenly panics. "Rachel – we need to find her."

"Are you serious dude? I'm gonna save my own ass first," he seethes, "you're welcome, by the way." He has to swerve as a blaster hits the ground before them, a cloud of dust appearing before them. He focuses ahead, before slowing the speeder to almost stop.

As if instantly, Santana and her cronies are catching up, shot after shot aimed toward them.

Finn freaks out. "Dude!" He then follows his line of sight. "Oh no."

"It's a Senate ship."

The pair stare at the huge command ship which has settled neatly on a nearby hill. At over one hundred times bigger than the falcon, the ship is an intimidating sight, but for these two a welcomed one too.

"What are you waiting here for? Go!"

Puck kicks the speeder into action. "You do realize that your step dad is going to kill us, right?"

"Better than being killed by those guys!" He yells in return.


Burt Hummel stares ahead in wonder at the scene before him. Some sort of small uprising in the Jungai village had been on their attention for the past few minutes, and now there are some idiots escaping on an outdated speeder toward their ship.

Good luck with that. He gives a soft chuckle – this ship is the pride of the entire Senate, meticulously crafted by the best engineer available. Him.

"Get a closer look at that speeder," he tells Sam, "I want to know who they are and what they're doing."

"Yes, sir."

He peers at the scan as it zooms closer to them, showing a crystal clear picture of something that makes his heart beat a little faster. "It's Master Hudson, sir." Sam says after a few moments and an identification test. "With Master Puckerman."

Burt sighs, "Of course it is."

The feeling of relief of having found Finn is quickly overshadowed with worry. They're being followed, and their pursuers are catching up fast. "Well what are we doing sitting here, let's go and get them. And prepare the cannons! I don't want those criminals within one hundred feet of my step son, alright?"

"Charging the cannons." Sam echoes, "Primed in ten seconds."

"Good." He pats his shoulder, then reaches for his blaster, "I'll be back soon." He rushes out of the control room, moving through the winding corridors with ease, until he finds himself at the entrance hatch. Sided by his guards, he opens it up, immediately feeling the heat of the planet.

He cocks the blaster, "alright fellas, either of you accidentally shoot Finn or his friend and you are fired, got it?"

They nod in understanding, before rushing out onto the planet's surface. He joins them, concentrating on the group behind Finn. Burt doesn't have to wonder who they are – he knows. This is the work of Sue, trying to get to him through those closest to him. How they found his step son so easily, he isn't sure, but he hopes that it bodes well for him finding her. Then it's one step closer to rescuing the Madame President.

"Ready," he shouts, aiming with high precision. "And fire!" They send a well-trained wall of plasma gets sent toward the assailants.


"Finn, Burt is firing at us!" Puck's voice rises with worry, hands hesitating on the thruster.

He can barely hear Puck over the sound of his own heartbeat throbbing in his head. With shots fired from both sides, it's an intense few moments for the three as they speed through the sea of dust and plasma.

BB – 8 beeps frantically behind them, alerting them to the tiefighers appearing high above them. The three ships hover around them, their shots more accurate and deadly.

"Just gonna throw this out there, but I am never trusting Rachel again!" Puck yells.

Finn's heart stops. "Rachel," he whispers.

"Puck, where is she?" he asks, his face grave.

"I don't know!" He frowns, "I'm kind of busy at the minute!" As if to emphasise his point, a loud blast forces them sideways.

Yet Finn struggles to get the brunette out of his mind, which sweeps him up with worry. She'd saved their lives and now they're just going to leave her here? Besides, he likes Rachel – she's nice and sweet and he doesn't want to leave her behind. Friends just don't do that.

Despite the onslaught on them, they plough on. Burt's forces fight back, and when Finn looks to their pursuers, he sees them plucked off one by one, yet Santana still stands. Her dark eyes are honed in on them; he fears that this isn't the last they're going to see of her. The sky is alive with fire as Burt's ship shoots out, too. The power cannon blasts every few moments, filling the red hue with dark smoke. Not fifteen minutes ago this place had been a peaceful little fishing village, and now it's a battleground, nothing but chaos and destruction.

The nearest tiefighter is so fast that it almost knocks him off the speeder, Finn gripping it with a painful hold. "Are we almost there?" he shouts over the noise.

Puck revs the engine, "I'm trying my best. You wanna drive?"

"Just hurry," he insists, unable to sit still as struggles to know where to look next. The speeder jerks to a halt as a tiefighter hits too close to home, only to be instantly hit by Burt. Finn hardly has time to celebrate as they are thrown to the floor.

"No, no, no," he mumbles, scrambling to his feet, "c'mon, the ship isn't far." He rushes to untie BB – 8 from the damaged machine, his droid stuck upside down and head spinning around dizzily. "You alright, bud?" he asks.

When upright, BB – 8 shakes his head and refocuses his eyepiece, before giving Finn a nod. Glancing ahead, he spies Puck already hurrying away, the urgency of the situation catching up with him again. Together, he and his droid run from the burning ship, until Burt is close enough so that he can make out the man's face, every stern inch of it. He gulps. Maybe being captured would have been an easier alternative to the fate ahead of him.


Santana knows when she's lost a fight, and she begrudgingly pulls her troops to a halt. While she doesn't particularly care whoever dies or lives, she knows that she isn't going to be successful against Senator Hummel, not with this armoury at hand. She watches with annoyance as their last tiefighter falls to the ground in a cloud of orange dust.

"Retreat!" she yells, "back to the ship!"

They hastily return to the cruiser, all climbing aboard as the shooting stops.

"The empress is not going to be happy," TR 358 asks, the Stormtrooper lowering himself to one of the seats. His armour is no longer the pristine white, but matted with dirt and blood.

She shakes her head, "no, unless . . ." She stops, then peers toward the Senator's ship as they are rising higher in the sky, "unless we lead them all back to the Empress. Why have one prize when we can have a whole ship of the enemies? There have got to be hundreds of people on there." Santana smiles then, though there is nothing joyous about the sight, "imagine the carnage."


"I can't believe that you would steal one of my ships and sneak off, especially without telling anyone," Burt continues into what feels like the fourth hour of his lecture. "Do you know how worried we have been? How concerned your mother has been?" Finn sinks further in his seat at this, wishing that a hole could just appear and swallow him up.

"I'm sorry," he repeats, "I just – I don't know . . . we just wanted to have a good time."

He continues to pace around the room, shaking his head. "And this," he gestures to the crashed ships, "is a good time? You have caused damage to this village which will take months for these people to fix! Do you not consider your actions?" His breaths deepen, though still remain angry, "as my step son, you are a representative of me and the Senate, and this behaviour is not acceptable."

Dropping further still, "I know."

"Then why do it?"

He has no answer for that, only averting his gaze to the suddenly interesting floor.

"I hope that this teaches a lesson – the both of you." Burt glances between the two sulking boys, "if the scanners hadn't picked up the millennium falcon then we might never have found you."

Still nothing from either of them.

Burt sighs, disappointment filling the room, "and how, dare I ask, did you get into trouble with these . . . these criminals?"

This is where Puck interjects. "You mean the people who have been chasing us for days?"

"Days?" He asks in surprise.

"Yes, like we told you. We were going to Chokko City when they started blasting at us, and we've had them on our tail ever since. We've crash landed, been prisoners – not to mention used as a bargaining chip for favors, and chased more times than I can count!" He glares at Burt, "we haven't exactly had the time of our lives, if you know what I mean."

He raises his brow, wearing that look that all parents apparently have. "All the more reason to show you that travelling unsupervised is dangerous."

Finn shares a look with his friend, who remains silent. "Look," he adds, "I know that we've messed up, and my mom is pissed . . . but we didn't mean for any of this to happen. We just wanted to have some fun, you know? Didn't you ever do that when you were our age?"

Burt doesn't answer, he only observes them with great annoyance. "You're lucky we arrived when we did," he states, "Otherwise I might have been bringing you home under different circumstances. The people after you – they aren't the type to quit so easily."

At this, Finn jolts up in his seat. "You knew them?"

"Not personally," he waves off Finn's concern, "but I know who they work for."

"Who?" The two ask in unison.

He looks to them like he never has before, and it's now that he realizes how tired Burt looks. He gulps, his voice barely a whisper as he asks, "w – what is going on, Burt?"

"Alright," he sighs, moving to sit as well. "What I am going to tell you is strictly between us, alright? No running your mouth off to everyone that you see." Puck is given a stern look at this particular point, "but I suppose you're going to find out anyway." He pauses once more, the two hanging on his every word. "We are in trouble," he eventually admits, "the Senate, the Crusader system – hell, every system out there in our galaxy is facing a huge threat."

Finn shudders at Burt's hollows words, though his silence encourages him to continue.

"An exiled Senator, by the name of Sue Sylvester, has drawn together an impressive army. She calls herself the Empress . . . and she wants to destroy everything we fight for. She doesn't have time for democracy, or people's rights. She is a heartless, cruel woman, and she is growing stronger with every second."

It takes a few moments to let the words sink in, yet as they do Finn is suddenly filled with energy, jumping to his feet. "Well, we need to go stop her before it's too late! We have enough men on this ship, Burt. We can do it!"

"Whoa, whoa – calm down, Finn. It's not as easy as just rushing in. She has many spies around the galaxy, the greedy and the corrupted. She will not go down without a fight, and I'll bet it will be a good one at that." The older man suddenly becomes more sombre now, eyes brimming with concern. "And she has the Madame President on board her command ship, alongside two Senators. My mission is to bring them to safety, fighting without the support of the fleet would be suicide."

"She can't have," he shakes his head in disbelief. "How?"

Burt shrugs, hopefully. "We do not know what power she has within our own walls, but we must be cautious. Sue wants to rule the galaxy to her own advantage, and not with peace." He shifts nervously then, more bothered than ever. "She also has another agenda – one that scares me more than anything."

"What?" Puck breathes.

"The prophecy," he states, "says that force wielders are the only ones who can bring balance to the world and so . . . she wishes to destroy them – all of them."

"Kurt," Finn says, quickly understanding.

"Yes, but not just Kurt. Quinn, Mercedes . . . and whoever the fourth will be. We need to protect them now more than ever."

He purses his lips together in thought. "Do they know?"

"Not yet. They already have so much to worry about – with their training."

"But if they don't know what they're up against, what's the point?" His voice grows angry now, the frustration of the situation getting to him.

Before it can escalate any further, Sam enters the room looking embarrassed as to interrupt. "We are set to follow the enemy ships, Sir. We have a tracker in place and a steady course set."

"Thank you, Captain. Keep me updated on everything. I want to know when Sue is near, understood?"

"Wait, no, no." Finn suddenly panics as the ship begins to ascend. "We can't leave, not without Rachel." He feels guilty for having forgotten about her in the brief panic, and now worry floods every inch of his body. "Land this ship, now."

"Who is Rachel?"

"She helped us escape from New – Ohio5," Puck supplies the answer, "and she was with us here. I don't know where she went."

Finn is frantic now. "They were after her, too. I heard them on Santana's communicator, but he said that she had escaped . . . she would have found us though, right?" He turns to Puck, "right?"

"Dude, I dunno. Maybe she just used us to get a free ride. Look, this stuff happens."

He frowns deeply at that thought. "No, she wouldn't do that."

"Look, Finn." Puck's words are delicate, fit for the situation, "I know that you took a liking to her – I mean, she was nice and everything, but there are plenty more girls in the galaxy. Why is she so special?"

Finn doesn't say anything back then, unsure of exactly what to say without making his feelings appear too strong. All he knows is that abandoning her is not an option, especially not for him. He doesn't know why she is special, just that she is – to him, anyway. "We just . . . we need to find her, aright?"

"It's too late," Burt says, a sadness to his voice, "I'm sure that she is fine."

He doesn't accept that, he wants to know for himself. In an instant, he flees for the door, "I'm taking the escape pod – I'll look for her myself."

"Finn, don't do this!"

"I have to."

Burt shares a look with Puck, then turns his sights of Sam. "Captain, could you please restrain Master Finn and place him somewhere safe?"

"Yes Sir."

"Wait, no – get off me." He shrugs off Sam's hands, "you can't do this."

He steps closer, voice soft, "Finn, this is for your own safety. I can't let you go down there."

"Please," he begs, "I need to go."

Burt doesn't say anything, and moments later Finn finds more than one pair of hands on him. He fights with all he's got, but against three and doubled with exhaustion he is not match. All he can think about is Rachel, and the promise he'd made to bring her back to his home. As they move further away from the planet, he feels his heart sinking as he knows he can't fulfil that promise.


"What is the meaning of this, Jesse?" Shelby asks as she enters the room, voice curious and slightly raised.

Unlike everyone else, he is immune to its powers. "Shelby, close the door." He insists, his voice a harsh whisper.

Her brows knitting together in confusion, she does as he says yet remains dubious. He gestures for her to come closer, her heels clicking away on the hard floor until she reaches his spot. Shelby's eyes stare down to the unconscious girl on the medtable, hair strewn over the edge. She looks troubled, even in her sleep, and from her dishevelled appeared, it's clear that she has been through quite an adventure. "Who is this girl?" She demands to know.

Jesse shakes his head in wonder, smiling faintly. "She resisted my powers, Shelby. Me."

"She what?"

"Yes," he moves around, staring the analysis screen before him, "I entered her mind, and she – she pushed me out. I have never seen that before."

"Some people are more strong minded than others," Shelby insists, "you would not be able to see my thoughts."

He nods, "I know, but this wasn't the same. After she forced me out, she didn't stop there and the next thing I know, she could see my thoughts."

Shelby gives pause, eyes widening in awe. She peers down to the young girl, who looks nothing more than a common prisoner, and then back to Jesse, "you don't think . . .?"

"Her midichlroians are off the chart," he answers, "she is strong with the force."

"And Sue . . . does she know?"

Jesse shakes his head, "no one but you and I know she is here."

"She will be killed if she is found, as will you – she is dangerous to have here, Jesse." He sighs, having expected this reaction.

"The more power we have on our side, the more chance we have of succeeding. She could be a great ally."

"Ally? You kidnapped her." She deadpans. "You think that you can convince her you're nothing more than a common criminal?"

"Minds are easily influenced."

Shelby cocks her brow, a hand placed neatly on her hip. "What makes you so sure?"

"I saw inside her mind, Shelby. She is so desperate for a sense of belonging – we can use that. She has no family, no friends . . . we simply give her what she wants." His thoughts are overwhelming, yet he knows that she is essential to their plan. "She is what we have needed this whole time."

Though doubtful, Shelby continues, "and the Senate – will they not be looking for her? If she can use the force, they will surely be searching for the girl. They do not yet have the fourth."

He pauses then, peering back to Rachel. Jesse brushes a stray hair out of her face, staring at her troubled expression. "They don't know. Finn Hudson and Noah Puckerman are hardly geniuses, and I dare say that Rachel even knows what she is herself."

"So," she says after a moment of thought, "you offer her answers and she offers us her powers?"

Jesse smirks, eyes determined. "Yes."


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