Meanwhile on the planet of Utapau, Rey sat in a quieter outdoor canyon observatory paging through one of the old books she had recovered from the Jedi temple on Luke Skywalker's island. The texts were quite old and she had taken some time to scan several pages through some computers hoping to clean up the grammar and translate it into something more modern and understandable. While these particular pages had mostly gone through the translator with success, it was still slow going in trying to decipher the cryptic meanings of the Jedi philosophies. For a simple girl who had grown up as a poor scavenger on a desert world, Rey had always preferred to rely on her intuition and senses rather than waste time with arcane and esoteric philosophies of an ancient religion.

She furrowed her brows and rubbed her temples barely noticing the other young woman who came down to sit beside her on the bench. Rose Tico gave a friendly wave and placed a small metal lunch pail down between them, "Hi Rey… would you mind a little company?"

Rey sighed and closed her translated notes inside the book, "Not at all. Take a seat."

Rose sat down and offered some of her lunch but Rey shook her head and politely declined. Rose gave a curious look and peeked over, "So… what are you reading? Anything interesting?"

"I'm not sure I'd call ancient Jedi philosophy interesting," Rey muttered in dismay.

Rose nodded and began to eat a sandwich, "Oh right… you mentioned before that you went to see Master Skywalker so you could learn to be like him, didn't you?"

"I did. I just had no idea all this reading and writing was part of being a Jedi either," Rey admitted in dismay, "I was never really one for books and schooling."

"I see. Well, any gems of wisdom in there so far?" Rose asked curiously.

Rey frowned thoughtfully, "I'm not sure yet. The passages I'm reading talk a lot about how the Jedi viewed things like emotion and attachment. If I'm reading it right, they tended to try and avoid it."

"Really? Why?"

Rey shrugged, "It seems like they were really worried about falling to the Dark Side of the Force by giving into emotions like anger or hate, or even fear of losing someone you love."

"So the Jedi weren't even allowed to feel love?" Rose asked with a troubled look, "That sounds horrible. If you want to be a Jedi you don't seriously buy into that, do you?"

Rey chewed her lip in thought, "I… don't know exactly. I mostly grew up alone so it's not like I really have any family or people I'd be afraid to lose."

"But what about your friends?" Rose asked, "You have some people here, don't you?"

Rey remained uncertain thinking about how she almost related a little to Ben Solo; being steeped in the Force and Jedi tradition while also feeling very much alone inside. Rose sighed and continued, "In my opinion, I think some of those old Jedi teachings are garbage. If the Jedi were so smart, then see how well that turned out for them."

"Rose…"

"No. I'm not done yet," the female mechanic said, "I think it's a silly thing to close off your emotions and try to be like a robot. I think it's silly to deny the way you feel about people and the chance to enjoy life with them. I think there's an argument to be made that things like love and emotion can be a source of great strength too."

"You think so?"

Rose nodded, "I've already lost my sister in this war Rey. When I think about her fighting the enemy to protect us, I still have feelings of hate toward the First Order and that makes me want to cry. But I'm also grateful for having those feelings about my sister too. If I didn't, I wouldn't have mustered up the courage to join Finn and try to help the Resistance in the way that I did. I've already done some crazy stuff and I've seen a completely different side of me come out. I used to be afraid of my own shadow and there I was standing toe to toe with a bunch of stormtroopers in a firefight."

"I guess I kinda know the feeling," Rey smiled in agreement.

Rose looked away for a moment, "Those feelings also make me want to be strong so that I can help protect the things and people I love too."

"You're not actually talking about Finn now, are you?" Rey asked while raising an eyebrow.

Rose nodded sheepishly, "I know... I admit, it's kinda silly and maybe a little romantic of me, but it's true. He's a good guy who makes me feel things I never have before. He makes me want to be better and stronger, you know?"

Rey furrowed her brow again and shrugged, "I guess. Maybe you have a point there."

Rose gave Rey a sisterly pat on the shoulder and rose from the bench as she finished her lunch, "Just think about it Rey. Maybe there's some wiggle room to amend that old Jedi code and maybe if you found the right person who made you feel the same way, perhaps you'd understand too."

As Rose left the observatory, Rey sat in silence and glanced at her Jedi tome before setting it down and gazing out over the canyon with a long conflicted sigh.


When Poe finally came to, he groaned and rolled over on the cold hard floor. As he cracked his eyes open and tried to shake off a dull throbbing headache, he saw the form of Lando Calrissian pacing around what looked to be some sort of jail cell. Poe sensed a pair of hands reach down and help him up to a sitting position while giving some support. It was Finn. The younger man gave his shoulder a nudge, "Poe? Hey... are you okay?"

"I've been better," Poe mumbled as he stumbled to his feet and made his way over to a small bench to lean against the wall, "Where are we?"

"In a Cloud City detention center," Lando answered unhappily as he gave a sigh, "Seems the First Order commandeered this little prison and is keeping us here for the time being. I imagine they'll have someone come later to ship us off to that Star Destroyer over the city."

He grimaced and touched a force field barrier keeping them in, "For now, we're trapped behind a force field cell. Over across the hall there is Kerensky too."

Poe rubbed his head and gave a weary nod, "Mr. Calrissian? I didn't know you'd even be here still. I thought you might have been gunned down at the spaceport."

"I've been in a lot worse gunfights before kiddo," Lando said idly before sitting down and taking a rest. "It'll take a lot more than that to put me down."

"We've got to find a way out of here," Poe muttered trying to rise but Finn restrained him and forced him back in his seat.

"You're not going anywhere. You need to rest right now and get your head on straight."

Poe glanced over and saw Finn giving a pointed frown, "What's with the look? It's like your mad at me or something."

"I'm not giving you a look."

"That's a look," Poe bickered in reply, "You're mad at me, aren't you?"

"Of course I'm kinda mad at you right now," Finn huffed indignantly, "Back at the landing pad, you had a chance to get out of here with Kerensky. You ignored me and just blew our chances at getting that cloaking tech back to General Organa."

"Because you were being an idiot," Poe retorted, "You think sacrificing yourself like that is the way either? No. I wouldn't let you do that."

"Well a lot of good that did," Finn answered in agitation, "Now we're both going to be strung up by the First Order and probably die some slow horrible death."

"We've been through this before. We'll figure something out," Poe sighed but Finn was not having it.

"Have you completely lost your senses man? We had one job to do and that was to save the lives of the other Resistance members."

Poe fixed his younger friend with an equally firm glare, "And I'm going to, but asking you to throw away your life isn't how we're going to do it. After D'Qar, I made a personal vow to protect the lives of my friends and I made a personal promise to Rey to look out for you... and to bring you home safe."

Finn stopped and calmed down slightly, "She... she made you promise that? She really said that?"

"She seems to care about you a great deal," Poe nodded, "And so do I. You're a member of my squadron now... one of my wingmen, and I'd never let any harm come to you if I could help it."

Finn relented and sat down beside Poe in silence, "I... don't know what to say. Thank you Poe."

The ex-stormtrooper slowly extended a hand and the Resistance pilot took it giving it a strong shake to quietly reaffirm their friendship to each other. From where he was sitting in the cell, Lando smiled quietly, "You know, in a funny way, you two are kinda making me think of the way my buddy Han and I were when we were younger. The man drove me nuts at times, but he was like a brother to me and I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't die for him too."

"I take it I'm like you then," Finn said to Lando with a light smile, "The better looking one with the voice of common sense and reason?"

Lando gave a loud laugh while Poe simply rolled his eyes and accepted Finn's teasing jabs.

"All right, ha ha. You got me there. But let's get serious for a minute. How are we going to get out of here?"

Finn turned to Lando, "You wouldn't happen to have any more friends on the outside who can come to help us, do you?"

Lando grimaced, "I kind of do, but the problem is I have no way to contact them. They should already be on their way, but I was expecting we'd be clear of Bespin by now. I'm not going risk having them try to get past that Star Destroyer over the city."

"Great," Finn sighed while slumping against the wall, "It's times like this I wish I was sharing a cell with another code-breaker."

"You might not want to jinx that last sentence," Poe pointed out as they heard a light banging sound coming from a ventilation shaft on the wall outside the prison cells. All the commotion drew the attention of two armed stormtroopers who were standing guard and they walked over to the hatch.

The first guard looked to the prisoners and snarled, "Quiet down! Stand back!"

The other bent down to investigate the rattling ventilation grate and frowned in confusion, "What the... is that a..."

The two stormtroopers jumped back in surprise as they saw a round spherical droid with orange and white coloring burst through the hatch and roll onto the floor of the prison block. They fumbled for their laser carbines while one called out, "Hey! Who are you? What are you doing here?"

The droid gave a digitized retort and began to roll forward as Finn broke out in a surprised grin, "BB-8!"

"Blast him!" the other stormtrooper called as he and his partner opened fire. Because of the droid's low profile and mobility, the laser shots missed and BB-8 surged forward before deploying its short range grappling cables to the ceiling above. The cables latched onto some pipes and BB-8 used his momentum to lift himself up and swing forward like a miniature wrecking ball.

The sudden move caught the stortroopers completely by surprise as they were both clobbered in the head by the swinging droid. The raw impact was enough to bowl them over and knock the troopers out cold. The little droid rolled off its victims and vocalized again before turning to see his beloved owner trapped in the cell. Poe pointed to one of the unconscious stormtroopers and their side pocket, "Go for the keycard."

BB-8 deployed its cigarette lighter appendage, responding with its version of a thumbs up before it plucked a keycard from one of the fallen troopers. The droid rolled over and inserted it into the panel of the cell to deactivate the force field cage. Poe immediately rushed over and picked up his droid, embracing it in an overjoyed hug, "BB-8! You saved us! That was incredible! When we get back to the base, I promise I'll give you whatever new upgrades you want."

As Finn came over to pat BB-8 on the head and thank him too, Lando stood aside crossing his arms with a smile watching as two grown men laughed and treated their droid companion just like they would a little puppy dog. Once the euphoria died down, Lando cleared his throat and picked up the carbines from the guards. "Gentlemen, I hate to interrupt the little reunion, but we still have a job to do."

Lando handed the rifles to the two younger men and used the other keycard to deactivate the force field around Dr. Kerensky's cell, "Doctor, would you care to join us?"

Kerensky gave a flustered nod and followed the men out of the cell block along with BB-8. As Poe and Finn led the way with their rifles at the ready, Lando guided them from the second rank, "Follow my directions. If we are where I think we are, we should be able to get to a spaceport platform and get out of here."

"You have another ship?" Finn asked in surprise.

"We could always borrow one if you know what I mean," Lando replied with a grim smile.

Poe nodded, "All right, whatever it takes. We all leave Cloud City together or not at all. Show us the way Mr. Calrissian."


Some time later, the small Resistance group made their escape as discreetly as possible and slipped into the busy crowds to blend in. Despite looking over their shoulders at every turn, the group followed Lando until they came to another parking dome where starships were docked. Despite the First Order having control of a district of the city, it wasn't uncommon to see their shuttles and landing craft temporarily parked in other areas of the city either while on business.

They entered the building and took the turbolift up to the top of the dome where the docking pads were and found a small First Order transport craft docked for refueling. The crew looked to have left for the time being leaving another pair of stormtroopers to guard the ship. Kerensky glanced over to Lando and asked in a nervous voice, "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

"Relax," Lando smiled with a confident wink, "Just stand back and let the boys and I handle this."

As they approached the transport, Lando extended his hands toward the troopers, "Pardon me boys. I'm afraid there's a little problem here. Seems you're illegally parked."

The troopers exchanged a puzzled look with one another before raising their rifles toward Lando but the Resistance fighters were too quick. Poe and Finn raised their guns and blasted both stormtroopers aside sending them toppling to the ground. Finn covered the loading ramp as the others hurried up the shuttle, "Come on! Let's get a move on before they raise an alarm."

Once inside the craft, Poe sat down in the pilot's seat while Finn took the shotgun seat. As he strapped in, Finn reached down and picked up BB-8, placing the droid on his lap and securing him from rolling around. BB-8 chirped a short statement and Finn shrugged. He didn't understand the little robot but he could recognize the feeling behind the tone, "I know buddy. I'm kinda scared too."

As Poe fumbled around with the controls and went through a fast startup procedure, Kerensky looked around skeptically, "Do you think you know how to fly this ship?"

"Of course," Poe said with a mixture of impatience and agitation while thinking back to his and Finn's escape on a stolen TIE fighter, "I can fly anything."

"He's not joking," Finn agreed, "But just try not to get hit by any missiles this time, huh?"

"Now's not a good time to heckle me," Poe warned him before he succeeded in powering on the shuttlecraft, "Aha! We're in business!"

"Not a moment too soon," Lando remarked as more stormtroopers hurried out onto the docking pad and began firing their rifles at the rear of the shuttle. The attacks were useless against the heavy hull plating and as the engines flared, the troopers were all blown backwards in the engine-wash.

Finn gave a loud cheer as the shuttle opened its wings and the stolen spacecraft roared out of the hanger with the escapees. Poe gripped the controls and took the shuttle in a steep climb while setting the engines on full power. Kerensky gripped his chair and held his breath looking green in the face at the death defying experience. As they shuttle departed the airspace of Cloud City, it climbed higher making a fast break for the upper atmosphere of the planet. If they could get clear of Bespin's gravity, they could make a hyperspace jump out and flee back to Utapau.

"Hang on, we're not out of the woods just yet," Lando remarked as he checked a side console and then pointed out the menacing enemy Star Destroyer looming overhead from the clouds.

Finn held his breath and gripped his seat, "You guys don't think they know what's going... do you?"

Poe glanced down as he suddenly saw the shuttle's HUD warning light go on signalling that they were being targeted. Moments later, they saw a volley of green laser blasts rain down from the destroyer's cannons. He swerved away in an evasive maneuver and replied with a grim smile, "I could be wrong, but I have a feeling they might have just caught on."

Another hail of enemy fire rained down on the fleeing shuttle and Poe deftly maneuvered the craft clear again but just barely. As the crew was jostled about, BB-8 called out in a panicked tone voicing his own dread. Finn gripped his harness and growled, "Damn! We're too slow. We're not going to make it clear in time."

"Sensors have a new flight of TIE fighters coming in from 10 o'clock high," Lando called out from his sensor screen.

Poe struggled to maneuver with the sluggish controls of the heavy shuttle taking short breaths, "Well guys, looks like we've got a full dance card."

As the enemy TIE fighters bore down on the shuttle like a pack of hungry wolves, they were surprised as a handful of X-wing fighters emerged from the thick clouds above and blindsided them with a hail of laser bolts. Several TIE fighters were shredded apart in the surprise attack while the survivors scattered and took evasive maneuvers. As Poe, Finn, and the others watched in slack jawed amazement at the sudden appearance of some allied fighters, a female voice came in over the comms, "Think you can squeeze us in for a dance?"

An X-wing with a blue painted stripe down its fuselage zipped by and chased off a few TIEs before coming around in an escorting pattern. Poe grinned from ear to ear and laughed, "Jessika Pava, I've never been more happy to hear your voice!"

He recognized the voice of one of his closest friends and wingmates from Black Squadron as she and some of the others checked in, voicing their support. "Hang on Poe, we've got you covered."

Lando gave a whoop and pumped a fist, "I knew they'd do it!"

Fin glanced over in shock, "Are these the friends you were talking about?"

Lando grinned and gave a nod as the stolen shuttle and the X-wings throttled up and evaded the airspace of the Star Destroyer. As they climbed higher and broke through the clouds of the gas giant, Finn could see a Nebulon-B escort frigate sitting in low orbit over the planet waiting for its rescue party to return. "I might have been able to get into contact with a couple of Resistance cells and had them send help. It's not much, but a frigate and a wing of fighters isn't a bad start."

BB-8 gave his own little cheer while Dr. Kerenesky looked like he was ready to pass out from the sheer adrenaline of the escape. The Resistance X-wings quickly made their way into the open hanger bays of the frigate followed by the shuttle. As they taxied in and touched down on the landing deck, Poe heard Jessika ask him over the comm, "What's going on here Poe? Where are we headed to?"

"Long story Jess," he replied while clapping a hand on Finn's shoulder, "Right now, we need to get moving and rendezvous with General Organa. Let's lay in a course for Utapau and bring the welcome wagon."

"Roger that," she answered cutting off the comm link.

With all its passengers and fighters safely aboard, the Resistance frigate powered its main drive engines and left the orbit of Bespin. Despite the attempts of the slower and heavier Star Destroyer to ascend and give chase, it was a futile effort as the frigate laid in its next coordinates and rocketed away into the safety of hyperspace.