'Surely we're not walking the entirety of this sixty-kilometer monstrosity' Rey thought as she marched down the hallway alongside the tall figure clad in dark leather. They'd been on the move for twenty minutes. 'Ten. Eleven.' She'd been counting the Stormtroopers they passed on the way, each of them taking an attentive stance at the wall as their Commander walked by. She looked down, making sure her simple long black shirt covered the Lightsaber on her belt, having left behind the long gray robes she'd arrived in. She eyed the restraints, now wrapped tightly around her to sell the illusion. She didn't mind, of course. Being in Ben's hands was now something she was fond of. She knew that even though he was escorting her as his prisoner in this ship,he was hers, as well. She looked up to Ben, his face forward, focused on getting to the archival room as quickly as possible. They continued on, entering another lift, surrounded by high class officers. She kept her head down, acting intimidated by her captor. The Officers were silent, aside from acknowledging their leadership's presence as they boarded. Time crawled before the doors finally opened to their intended floor. As she began to step, she felt Ben's hand on her back, shoving her forward.
"Move." He ordered, looking down on her as she stumbled forward. "Scavenger scum."
"Wretched snake!" She retorted, looking back at him as she caught her footing.
As the lift doors sealed behind them, they smiled gracefully to one another for a short time, glad they acted so well together to fool the lift occupants. They both regained their composure and carried forward, approaching a large door. Ben reached toward the panel to access the door control, the words Archive Hall printed across it in areubesh. 'Finally.' Rey thought. The doors opened to a large, spacious room, lit only by the green glow of the holo-terminals that lined the walls. It was eeriely empty of any other beings, aside from some dull droids that played the role of librarian. As they walked deeper, she pondered all of the information that might be stored there. Historical records, fictions, art, motion-hologram entertainment, and of course, maps. It was all in this room.
"Here." Ben pulled Rey to the side, accessing one of the terminals. A small electronic cylinder slid out into his hand. He pressed a button, revealing a small hologram of a massive star chart. "A galactic chart from the records of the Empire." he indicated before shutting the device off and stuffing it in his pocket. The two turned around and left the room, returning to their "prisoner transfer" routine. After what seemed like another half-kilometer, they entered another lift. They stood together, this time not sharing the ride with any others.
"Ren!" Hux's voice muffled voice filled the room. Ben frantically pulled his communicator from his belt.
"What?!" He loudly asked back into the device. "Excuse me. What is it, General?" he continued, calmer, minding his startled tone.
"What is your location?" the General asked with an annoyed voice. "I need to speak with you personally about a matter in the detention center."
"I told you I'm with Re-" Ben looked down to her, her eyes wide, hoping he wouldn't blow their cover in his panic. "...with the scavenger." She closed her eyes and let out a relieved breath.
"I'm outside of your quarters now. Open the door." Hux demanded. Ben raised his hand to his forehead, trying to think of an answer.
"You took me to the interrogation room." Rey said under her breath. Ben looked at her, confused. "You took me to the interrogation room to keep me better restrained."
"I took her to the interrogation room to keep her better restrained." Ben said with an overly confident tone.
"That's across the bloody ship!" Hux spoke back, even more annoyed. "I really must speak with you in person. Our precious Captain Phasma has done something… vile." Ben's face turned confused once more.
"What did she…" Ben started to ask, genuinely curious, before stopping himself. "No. You wanted to tell me in person. I'll be done here by the time you arrive."
"Very well. I'll inform you of the details when I reach you. I've just never seen her act this way toward a prisoner." The General's seemingly disgusted voice paused for a second. "Hux out." The communicator finally fell silent. Ben returned it to his pocket, loudly sighing in relief that the conversation was over.
"What was all that about?" Rey asked, now the curious one.
"I… have no idea." Ben said back slowly. A green light activated above them, indicating they'd reached the requested level. "And honestly, I don't care. We're here." The lift doors opened and a massive hangar revealed itself. As far as they eye could see were transports of every kind. Civilian vessels, smuggler ships, luxury craft. Rey hadn't even seen this many ships in a single place in the ship graveyards on Jakku.
"So, which one's ours?" She asked, looking up to Ben.
"New arrivals are down this way." He grabbed her shoulder and started walking speedily through the hangar. "They're still fueled before processing." They weaved between the tightly packed ships, nearly tripping up a couple of times in the unnatural maze. They arrived at the sector containing craft that hadn't yet had their hyperdrive fuel syphoned and seized for use in the First Order's own vehicles. Ben stopped and began to scan the area with his eyes.
"What are you doing?" Rey asked, wondering why he delayed their escape.
"Trying to pick a good one." He responded casually. He kept looking back and forth, silently judging each potential escape vessel. His eyes stopped on a couple, he shook his head on each. Rey stood still, staring right at Ben, slightly annoyed, but more desperate for him to get on with their plans. After so long he finally raised his finger to a mid-sized Correllian freighter. It's clean white hull and blue accents stood out among the rest of the dirty, modified, and otherwise rundown ships surrounding it. "What about this one?"
"Yes, yes! Of course! It doesn't matter!" She sputtered at him. "As long as it runs, I can fly us out of here!"
They stepped toward the ship, it's cockpit at the head of it with the entry ramp just underneath. Rey looked down the side of the ship as Ben brought the ramp down. About forty meters down were the large hyperdrive engines. 'A bit bigger than the Falcon, then…' she thought to herself. When the ramp finally touched the hangar floor, Ben began to board, having to duck his head to avoid hitting the metal underbelly of the freighter. He stopped midway up and looked back to Rey.
"Did you just say 'Fly us out of here'?" He asked as his face lit up. "Are you a pilot, too!?" He smiled, expecting a quick answer. She rolled her eyes and began up the ramp.
"Get up there." She said, pushing her restrained hands into Ben, guiding him up into the ship. They finally boarded and Rey began toward the cockpit.
"Wait!" He called to her. She turned around, now visibly frustrated.
"Ben," She started to say sternly, marching toward him to reprimand his less than serious behaviour in their desperate moment. "I swear to-" She stopped herself, feeling her wrists become free while Ben loosened the restraints, looking down at her with a smirk. He removed them and tossed them to the hangar floor before retracting the ramp, keeping his amused expression the entire time. She had to hold back the urge to smile back. "Thank you." she said, her smile finally cracking.
"Any time." He said with a sarcastic tone. Rey turned back again to take a seat in the cockpit. Ben followed her, sitting in the co-pilot's chair. She began to prime the engines, letting them warm up as they began to figure out their destination.
"Let's see the map." She said, pointing to his pocket. He pulled out the tiny device and activated it once more, revealing the small holographic projection of the Galaxy.
"The First Order has begun moving in on most of the major systems." Ben explained "They'll be awaiting orders from the Supreme Leader on what to do once they're in position. They can't hold anything for long without anyone commanding them. Still, it's obviously a good idea to avoid them for now."
"Perhaps there are some lesser known systems they haven't gotten to yet." Rey suggested.
"The Outer Rim is our best bet." He hovered his finger over a dark sector of the map, zooming in on a potential star. "They won't be moving around here."
"The Plazerband System" Rey read the text overlay. "One habitable moon. Sixth body from the star."
"Forested surface, but most covered in water. Occupied by some tribal natives." Ben continued.
"Looks like we have a winner." Rey said, an excited smile on her face. Ben nodded and shut down the holo emitter, then plugging the device into the ship's navigation console. She began to lift the ship from the hangar, emerging above the others until she saw the massive shielded door ahead, open space just beyond it.
"Commander!" Hux's voice cut in, once again interrupting the pair's escape. Ben pulled out the communicator to respond.
"I'm very busy, General."
"Phasma has…"
"You said you'd tell me when you got here. I have no time for this!"
"She's gone, Ren! She left the ship in a shuttle with two prisoners after slaughtering the guards in the detention center!"
Rey and Ben quickly looked at each other, surprised at the jarring news.
"How did this… what?" Ben said, not sure of how to respond to such an odd happening.
The freighter slowly carried forward. They looked to the space ahead, finally on the final leg of their escape.
"I have no explanation, Commander, but her stolen shuttle is about to…" Hux said desperately.
A bright light flashed in front of them as the freighter finally passed outside of The Supremacy.
"...jump to hyperspace." Hux growled.
Ben looked over to Rey, her hand on the hyperdrive controls.
"We're ready." She said quietly, as not to let the General overhear. Ben smiled again and leaned back in his chair.
"You know what, Armitage. Don't sweat it." Ben said into the communicator. "I think things will work themselves out." There was a brief silence.
"...what?" Hux asked, confused at the answer. "Ren, has the girl cut into your mind again?"
"Actually," Ben looked at her. "she has."
Ben crushed the communicator in his hand as the cockpit lights dimmed, instead becoming illuminated by the bright blue and white colours of hyperspace. They had finally escaped the grip of First Order.
