Poe sat in the cockpit of the x-wing, unflinching, staring at the Star Destroyer. Silently, he counted down the seconds.
From the command center, General Hux watched the encounter unfold over the live feed. "What are you waiting for, blast that plane!" he commanded.
"Sir," a control panel operator said, "We were given orders to capture the pilot to get the location of the remainder of the resistance."
General Hux's face turned a deep red. Clenching his fists, he said, "Patch me in to Supreme Leader Kylo Ren." Before the operator could begin the transmission, the screen they were using to watch the stand off suddenly filled up with more resistance ships, appearing out of nowhere.
"Sir!"
Hux's gaze turned to the monitor. "What….are...those…"
"They appear to be…"
"Reinforcements!" Poe exclaimed from the cockpit. "You made is just in time!" Poe grinned from ear to ear as members of the fleet from the outer rim appeared by his side. Piloted by the alien armored guard and their drone army, several ships smaller in size to the Star Destroyer materialized behind Poe along with fifty fighter planes.
After being released and engaging the crystal leader of the outer rim uprising, Ametrine, Poe worked out a plan for a surprise attack on the First Order. He knew it was risky but with their new numbers, he was certain they could catch the First Order off guard. The plan was two fold, knowing that the remainder of the resistance was counting on them for reinforcements, this surprise attack had been carefully crafted to do just that. He knew the stakes were high for the resistance but he also knew that taking this risk now, engaging in battle, was potentially the only way he could get help to Leia and the others. The First Order would have noticed the large number of ships from the outer rim moving through the galaxy. This attack allowed them to use only some of their resources, leaving the rest to find Leia and the others.
"I need units 205, 405, and 60 to focus on the main power source! Concentrate all firepower on the Star Destroyer! The rest of you, pull up over there, follow my lead. We should be getting company very soon."
As soon as he uttered the last syllable, a flood of tie fighters came flying at them from the base of the star destroyer.
"Here they come! Pull up on the left!" Poe shouted.
Red and green laser beams whizzed through the cosmos as Poe lead the smaller fighter planes on the attack against the tie fighters.
The larger ships in the fleet, stood guard, while the remainder of the fighters raced toward the Star Destroyer.
"Hurry up and get to that destroyer! We have to disable it before more show up!" Poe yelled into his headset.
From the safety of the First Order observation deck, Hux's impatience and anger grew expodentially. "Get the rest of the fleet over there now! We must crush them where they are! And find out who these reinforcements belong to! The First Order shall not allow traitors in the galaxy! And for crying out loud, someone find the Supreme Leader and get him down here. For someone claiming to be all powerful it is very unfortunate he did not see this coming!"
Blasts rang out and explosions could be heard on all sides along with cries for help and shouts of triumph. The battle raged on. Adrenaline was high as fighters propelled forward, dipping and dodging. Among all of the chaos, Poe heard static come across his communicator.
"We've made it past the First Order fleet!" Finn howled with excitement as he flew through lightspeed with the rest of the outer rim army in tow.
"Get off this frequency so you are not detected!" Poe demanded, too concerned with concentrating on staying alive. He spun the x-wing around to avoid colliding with a tie fighter before acknowledging Finn one more time,"You know what you need to do!"
…
Sweat streamed down Rey's faced as she raced to keep up with the others. Her legs felt weak as she sprinted down the path. She had not had a moment to rest since she came to Dagoba and she could feel her body wanting to shut down. Clive was several paces in front of her. She could sense the twins, Cory and Emory closing in behind her, followed by Amell, the alien with four arms. Light Footed and spritely ahead of Clive was Scarlett, the young girl. Directly in front of her was Theo, leading the pack.
Physical training was not the first lesson she was hoping to go through with her new found Jedi companions. Before Theo had announced it was time to train together, Rey filled them in on the details of the state of the resistance, of Luke fighting until the end, and her encounters with Kylo Ren and the First Order. Of course she told them only what they needed to know about Kylo Ren. She was not ready to share the details of the intimate connection they had. Right now she could not think about that, she needed all of her strength and concentration focused on the task at hand. She needed to learn who these Jedi were and learn how to work with them. The Knights of Ren had years to train together and as Rey looked around she knew the Jedi would not have much time at all.
Rey refocused on her stride as she sprung over a rock formation and landed next to Clive. She quickly passed him and caught up to Scarlett. She concentrated and focused what energy she had into her legs and her lungs, willing herself to keep breathing, to keep moving forward.
Around the outer edges of Scarrette's tiny frame, Rey could see Theo several yards ahead. Trees and shrubs flew by on either side of them. She was thankful that this area seemed to consist of only dried mud, not the thick swampy stuff that made up the rest of the planet. Still, she kept track of her footing, making sure she did not find herself tumbling to the ground unexpectedly.
The trees thinned out to reveal what looked like a small clearing. Squinting, she tried to make out what looked like…
"A cliff!" she screamed.
It was too late, Theo had already leapt and disappeared over the edge. Rey dug her heels into the ground, bringing herself to a stop but Scarlett pressed on, appearing to increase her pace as she neared the edge. Rey's eyes grew wide as she watched the small girl heave her body off the side and fly through the air.
"Nooooo!" Rey yelled. Instinctively, her arm shot up from her side. Her hand opened up. Her fingers spread wide. Being too far behind to physically grab Scarlett, Rey reached out with her mind. Scarlett's body jolted to a stop in mid air.
Behind her, she could feel the rumble of Clive and the others come to a stop. Grinding her teeth to muster every last ounce of strength, Rey used the Force to gently bring Scarlett back over the edge of the cliff. Scarlett's face was twisted into a look a disgust as Rey turned her around to set her down.
The others stood silent watching Rey, who was now face to face with Scarlett, waiting for her to speak.
"What do you think you are doing?" Scarlett demanded.
"What was I doing? You were flinging yourself over a cliff! I would have stopped Theo if I'd have known what he was about to do!"
With a scowl on her face, Scarlett motioned for Rey to follow her to the edge of the cliff. Rey moved forward and cautiously peered over the side. Below she saw dozens of ropes and vines fastened together, hanging from various tree branches, descending to the ground. Suddenly, she realized it was set up to be an obstacle course.
Embarrassed by her mistake, Rey turned back to Scarlett, "I'm sorry..I.. I didn't know this was part of the training. I was just trying to save you. This...looks sort of dangerous anyway."
"Well next time have more patience and more trust in us," Scarlett said, looking back at Rey. "Now come on, let's go."