A/N We finally get to see who these mysterious people Finn needs to collect before meeting up with his cohort are.
"So what exactly is this 'first stop' anyway?" Finn—now all decked out in standard Storm Trooper armor—asks as he's led down a hallway. Nines had suggested the change of clothes so if they were seen Finn wouldn't be recognized, and he also gave him a comm unit to make things easier.
"There are a couple people we need to grab before meeting up with your friend." Nines supplies over his shoulder.
"Okay, but who are they?"
"One of them is Zeroes."
"What?" Finn stops in his tracks; he had been so caught up in everything going on that he hadn't thought to ask about that member of their quad, and definitely not about the final one, because he already knew what happened to him; died right in front of his eyes, smearing his own blood over Finn's visor and helmet during that fateful assault on Tuanul. Which was actually the catalyst that got him to leave the First Order, so you could say that it was thanks to Slip's sacrifice that any of this was able to happen.
Finn shakes himself out of his reverie and jogs to catch up to his friend. "Okay, so Zeroes is alive, that's good. Now who is the other person we need to grab?"
"Eh, I'll introduce you when we get there." Is all Nines offers in way of explanation.
"Okay, can you at least tell me where they are?" Finn asks, wondering how long it would take to get all this done, wanting to get to the meet-up place on time, but also trying to mask his impatience.
"Not far; we just need to get to the end of the hall where Zeroes is, then make a left, go inside the door and we're there. Don't worry; shouldn't take long, we'll get to your friend with time to spare." He finished, as if reading Finn's mind.
They round a corner and come upon a 'Trooper pacing back and forth with their weapon at the ready. "That's her." Nines says to Finn, causing Zeroes to turn on her heel to face the direction from which the words emanated.
"Who's that?" She questions while pointing at Finn, seeming to have somehow recognized Nines even though the red-head had his helmet on.
Finn removes his own helmet in response and the Trooper across from him just stares for a few seconds before aiming her weapon directly at Finn and shouting "Traitor!"
Finn rolls his eyes as he moves to go past his old teammate. "Yeah, I know you're faking, come on let's go." He throws over his shoulder as he quickly makes his way to his next destination.
Zeroes can't help but stare in shock, wondering how the heck Finn could possibly have known that. The words "Yeah, I already used that on him." coming from Nines as he too passes her up explains it though.
"What?" Zeroes removes her helmet in frustration, revealing dark skin and short cropped black hair, similar in appearance to Finn, but several years older. "No fair!" She shouts in indignation at the situation, eliciting a smirk from her compatriot (one which she can't see, but knows is there).
Feeling like she should get on with life though, she then moves to catch up with Nines. "So, what exactly is going on anyway?"
"We're starting a revolution." The redhead replies offhandedly.
"Okay cool; that's basically what I figured." Zeroes falls into step beside her friend, glad to have her theory confirmed, but then a thought comes to mind. "Wait, does he know?" She asks, casting a serious look to her side.
Nines meets her gaze through his own helmet. "No, but he's about to find out."
~•~*~•~
"Where the hell- I thought I was supposed to take a left. Maybe the stupid directory is in code." Rose scratches her First Order hat adorned head—having knocked out another guard, but this time with their own taser (which she was happy to keep as a souvenir)—as she tries to make her way through the labyrinthine ship. Just then she gasps, an idea having formed. "That's it; it is in code!"
With that in mind, she tries to figure out the most likely turn to make next.
~•~*~•~
Finn, well on his way to the room, quickens his pace further as he nears, having a feeling that something interesting was about to happen.
Now standing in front of the double doors he takes a deep breath before pushing them open to reveal a room filled with what looks to be physical therapy equipment, and the instant his eyes lock onto the room's only other current occupant he lets out a gasp and removes his helmet "Slip?!"
The man in question looks up from his stretches and says "87?" Almost non-believingly.
"...YOU'RE ALIVE?! They shout in unison.
"Wait!" Two people skid to a stop just inside the entrance to the room. "Aww man, we missed it." Says a hangdog Zeroes, slumping against the threshold in defeat.
Nines lets his helmet slip from his grasp and tumble a few feet away in disappointment, having removed it on the way so he could have an unobstructed view of the meeting/reveal.
"How come no one is wearing their helmet? Is there a thing going on?" Asks a thoroughly confused Slip, standing with some trouble.
"There is now!" Nines and Zeroes raise their hands above their heads and shout just out of sync with each other, seeming to have gotten over their recent melancholy state.
"Huh?" That did not help explain at all.
Finn slaps a hand to his face and decides it's up to him to keep things rolling. "Alright, long story short: I convinced all the Stormtroopers to join me and leave this place, now we need to meet up with the person who came along with me, and we're kind of in a hurry. You in?"
Slips' eyes glaze over at all the new information his painkiller fogged mind has to deal with and, not being able to quite process it correctly in such a short timeframe, goes with his gut. "Okay, I don't really know how to feel about this, but I might as well go along with it." He shrugs as he efficiently straps his armor on over his undersuit and eyes his crutches.
"Okay great!" Finn takes what he can get. "Can you walk?" He asks, noticing where his friend's attention was directed.
"Yes, just not quickly; I'm still recovering from that shot I took to my midriff back on Tuanul. I think they had to replace some of my spine, but I'm not quite sure; they don't tell me anything." He grumbles as they all make their way towards the door, Finn now helping support his friend's weight with an arm pulled over his own shoulders.
"Wow, that's intense. Does it ever itch?" Finn lets his curiosity get the better of him.
"Thankfully no, and I sincerely hope that it never, ever does; it would be impossible to scratch." Slip grimaces at the thought. Just then though, another thought comes to mind. "Hey wait, does your friend know you got all the 'Troopers on your side now?"
Finn looks over at his friend, a brow raised in question. "Not yet. Why?"
Slip meets his eyes and gives a sly grin.
~•~*~•~
Finn and Rose both screech to a halt, having somehow arrived at the meeting place at the exact same time.
"How do you keep finding people to knock out who are your size?" Are the first words out of the ex-Stormtrooper's mouth, seeing his accomplice decked out in another well fitting First Order uniform.
"Never mind that!" Rose tries to keep them on task. "So anyway I didn't find transport, but I found something else maybe even better, but I don't know if we can get out of here alive if we use it, since there might not be time-"
"Don't worry about that;" Finn cuts her off. "we can get out of here plenty alive and safe. I'm sure of it." He assures with a big grin as Stormtroopers flood the area from a few different directions.
Rose takes in the sight for a few seconds, stunned, before turning back to face Finn with a grimace.
"It's ironic how you said that right before a ton of Stormtroopers swooped in; now we'll never escape!"
"What?" Finn says, then realizes how this looks: like they just got caught. "No! They're-" he deflates "I was going for a dramatic moment but- yeah anyway, they're here to help; they're coming with us." He says, head hung low at his failed delivery. It would've been so cool if it had worked.
"Oh." Rose eyes the wall of 'Troopers suspiciously for a few seconds before just giving up and shrugging, deciding to go along with it (not having much other choice anyway).
"Well anyway, what did you find?" Finn asks after recovering. His only solace being that his old squad didn't see his failure, him having sent them to the ship they'd be taking to make sure Slip got there in time, and to oversee things in general.
Rose just smiles at him somewhat manically, knowing now that her plan could actually work without getting them killed. Probably. "We blow this popsicle stand. And by that I mean 'boom';" she emphasizes by mining an explosion with her hands. "I found the reactor core and I know how to overload it."
Finn just stares at her for several seconds, but before she can ask what's wrong he speaks up. "That, yes that could work." He says, thinking the idea over in his head. Then he turns around and, addressing the throng of 'Troopers, says "Alright everyone, get back in position; we'll meet back up when I give the signal, just as planned." And as quickly as they came, the wall of Stormtroopers depart, leaving no trace that they had ever been there.
Rose lets out a low whistle at that. "Well you sure have a commanding presence."
Okay, why does everyone keep saying that?! Finn thinks, but keeps to himself, wanting to get this whole thing done in as timely a manner as possible, before someone notices they're not in their cell anymore. "Alright, lead the way, we gotta make this quick!"
"You don't have to tell me twice. This way!" She says before running back the way she came, Finn following closely behind.
They somehow make it back to the suspicious door without being spotted (although there were a couple close calls) and she points out the reactor core they have to overload.
"Okay, now how exactly are we going to do that?" Finn asks the electronics expert.
Rose bites her lip and thinks for a minute before getting an idea and unclipping something from her utility belt. She looks forlornly at her newly acquired taser she was just about to unacquire.
"We're going to throw this into it." She explains as she quickly begins the necessary mods.
"And it's not just gonna blow up when it gets hit or anything?" Finn asks, concerned.
"No, it's not impact that will do it, but too much built-up electrical charge and heat that will get it to overload." She says as she tosses a couple no longer needed parts over her shoulder. Then she hands the equivalent of a time-bomb switch to Finn. "Now just make sure you get it to land in the red stuff in the center. And remember, we only have one shot." She finishes as she backs up to give him room.
"What? Why me?" Finn practically squeaks, trying to hand the now extremely dangerous equipment back to the one who actually knows how it works.
"Because we're a team, Finn. I supplied the tech and made the mod, now you get to finish the job: teamwork!" She says a little too energetically, as if compensating for something. But what?
Finn studies her face for a couple seconds. "You can't throw, can you?"
"...It's my one weakness." She begrudgingly admits, crossing her arms.
"Okay fine!" He gives, moving into the best position to make the throw, before looking back at her after a very important question comes to mind. "Wait; What happens if I miss?"
"Uh, let's just say... don't." Is all Rose supplies.
That was very reassuring. Finn makes a face he hopes conveys as much, then focuses on the task at hand. Literally. "Well, here goes nothing. Or everything." He checks the weight of it in his palm, estimates the force required to get it to its destination, primes his muscles, and...
"You didn't throw it."
"I know!" Finn shrieks in frustration. "You're making me nervous, maybe turn around or something."
"Okay fine." The engineer says, and does as suggested. Or at least pretends to, still peaking over her shoulder.
Finn closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, trying to calm his mind and the light tremors running through his body. Somehow it seems to work and he opens his eyes, feeling focused as hell, and without thinking, just feeling, he makes the throw.
The modified taser hits the platform and bounces around, nearly falling off the edge, but somehow it stills and rolls back to be in the perfect position, and the two let out a collective sigh of relief.
"Alright, that should give us between 5 and 10 minutes to get out of here."
"Okay cool, so- wait, Should?! You mean you don't know?" Finn asks, now fearing for his life.
"Well it's not like I got a chance to study the blueprints for the First Order's main ship's reactor core. I don't know what it's exact resting temperature is, just the potential minimum and maximum kelvin, and as for the modified taser I could only guess at its unobstructed voltage flow since it wasn't exactly written on the bottom in bold print! This is the closest estimation anyone is going to get, unless you want to give it a go?" Rose says, now holding the suspicious door open.
"Okay okay, I get it. Guess we just better hurry then." Finn supplicates, hands raised in surrender as he passes through the threshold into the slightly less suspicious hallway.
They are making good time in getting to the hangar bay, but for some reason Finn didn't feel like they were in the clear yet. He had a feeling something was about to go down. Something bad. And just when Finn was pulling out his comm unit to send out the signal, he hears a familiar and very unwelcome voice. "Well, well, well." And spins around to see Phasma in all her shiny chrome glory, standing armed, not 10 feet away. "87. Still getting into trouble I see." She remarks, blaster pointed right at him. Then, wasting no time, she shoots him center mass and he falls to the ground with a dull thud.
A/N *Plays Dear Sister Parody because I am evil*~
Feel free to yell at me in the comments. ^-^