Alpha-Wolf619- I'm glad her age sounds about right (i pretty much only write teenage girls since it's all i know from life experience). I think you summed up her struggle perfectly 'the order is all she knew but the resistance is all she ever wanted'. I'm glad that you're enjoying it so far (:

Dera- Even if you do think you're lazy, thanks for making me feel better

Zeran- C-7717 is her name while she's with the Order. She does get rechristened once she's with the resistance

Guest- Thank you so much!

From what the scouts reported back with, Autari was a planet made mostly of large stretches of forest, and then large stretches of open fields. There were also plenty of rivers and streams running all over the place. A lot further away from where the Resistance had touched down were all of the abandoned mines. They served as a dark blot on the otherwise beautiful place.

Iris already knew all that, of course. But the scouts had still insisted on mapping it out for themselves. They did make sure to fly pretty low, though, even though they hadn't been detected by the Order on their way down, they didn't want to risk being caught now.

Iris was currently high up in a tall tree. She was leaning back against the trunk, not bothered by the rough bark scraping against her back, and she was straddling a thick branch, so her legs were just swinging freely beneath her. Her head was tilted back and her eyes were closed; she looked to be at peace.

It had taken her a pretty lengthy walk to actually find somewhere quiet. All around that clearing were the echoes of people starting to erect new buildings. Autari certainly had more trees than it could ever need, so it wasn't that big a deal that so many were being cut down.

And just to be on the safe side, Leia had made a rule that at least one seed needed to be saved from every tree that was taken, and the seed would be brought to one of the other clearings where it could be planted. She thought it made more sense to just build on one giant clearing rather than having smaller bases scattered all around.

And Iris wasn't much help at all in the construction department, considering the fact that her shoulder was still injured. Three days wasn't quite enough time to get over being stabbed by a sharp piece of metal. Well, it didn't really hurt that badly, but she'd been told that she should rest some more before doing too much heavy lifting.

After a while of just sitting around and relaxing, Iris had to refrain from shouting nervously when she heard rustling in the trees beneath her. She slowly pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her knees, so that none of her would be visible from the ground below.

While Iris knew that she'd have to find something to help the Resistance with eventually, for now she just wanted to keep lying around in this tree. It had taken forever to climb up, and she wouldn't want to have wasted all that effort just for an hour of relaxation. Then Iris's communicator (she'd managed to grab it before vacating the previous base) crackled loudly, and she jumped in surprise.

That offset her balance, and Iris rolled right off of the branch. Since she'd been the one to painstakingly climb up, she already knew that other than the one she'd been resting on, there were no branches on this particular tree above the halfway point.

And suddenly she was falling, quickly picking up speed. She had been so high up in the tree, she knew that when she hit the ground she'd most likely be dead, or at the very least, severely damaged forever.

Even though it wasn't a frequent habit of hers, even when facing her own death, in this situation, she couldn't hold back the loud scream that tore it's way out of her throat. Iris didn't want to die. Not like this. It wouldn't be so bad if she were going down for an important cause, but for something as stupid as not being able to keep her balance in a freaking tree?

As she fell lower, closer to the other trees that were around, branches reached out and scratched at her arms and legs and face. Leaves curled into her hair and clung there like they'd found a new home. And Iris kept screaming.

Then the strangest thing happened. Even though she clearly had a straight shot to the ground with nothing else to break her fall, the branches were suddenly closer, scratching at her more, and just barely slowing down her descent. It wasn't enough to keep her safe though.

Iris was just inches from the ground, and she squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to have to face her imminent death. Then Iris felt like she'd been punched in the chest, and she couldn't feel the wind whipping at her face anymore. Was she already dead?

She slowly opened her eyes and peered around, trying to figure out why she'd never hit the ground. Iris's eyes widened comically when she looked down and saw that she was a couple feet above the ground. But there was nothing holding her up, so how was this even possible? As soon as she tried to figure it out, she fell the last few feet. But since it wasn't very high up, it just stung a bit upon impact, and there was a soft crack beneath her.

Iris struggled to sit up, and carefully held her hand up for inspection. It was tilted at a funny angle, and her wrist felt like it was on fire. The way she'd fallen on it must've broken it. She got to her feet by grabbing one of the nearby trees, and inspected herself quickly. Other than her wrist, she just had a lot of scratches and bruises. That wasn't a big deal though.

Iris began heading back towards where the rest of the Resistance was camped out. They'd probably call her silly for managing to fall out of a tree and break her wrist. Before she actually entered the clearing, Iris slowed to a stop. She looked around, and shivered.

How had she been suspended in the air like that? How was she not dead right now? It didn't make any sense. None of it seemed possible at all. Unless…

Iris's head darted around, taking in all of the forest around her. She couldn't help suddenly feeling paranoid. Had Kylo Ren followed the Resistance to Autari? Had he just saved her life so that she could continue to be a good spy? But how was Iris expected to be a good spy if she constantly felt like she was the one being spied on? And why would Kylo Ren have not immediately destroyed the base?

She couldn't give it much more thought, though, because the trees in front of her rustled for a moment, and then Poe appeared. He grinned when he saw her, and waved one of his crutches in greeting. Iris rolled her eyes. "You are so not wandering around in the woods on crutches."

Poe frowned. "But you were wandering around with a wound." Then he actually took in her appearance, and his frown became genuine. "What happened?"

Iris shrugged. She wasn't even entirely sure what happened. "I fell out of a tree. I think I might've broken my wrist." She held up her arm, and Poe gave her a serious look. "I didn't mean to fall out of the tree, obviously."

Poe sighed. "If you wanted to get out of helping with the construction work, you could've just said so." He motioned for Iris to follow him. "Come on, let's get someone to look at your wrist before you make it worse."

Iris groaned. "Does this mean that I have to wait even longer to learn how to fly?" Poe said something in response, but Iris didn't hear him. She froze in place as she thought about what she'd just said. Learning how to fly. If Kylo Ren had somehow come to Autari and used the force to save her life, that would mean that she flew, even if it was just for a moment, right?

She realized a moment later that Poe was just staring at her, and she blinked a few times to reorient herself. He gave her a concerned look. "Iris? Are you alright?"

Iris shook her head. "Um… the tree I fell out of was really tall?" She wasn't sure why it came out sounding like a question.

Poe furrowed his eyebrows. "Okay." He only looked more concerned now.

Iris sighed. "I fell out of a really tall tree, and there was nothing to break my fall, so I should be dead right now."

She wasn't sure if there was really much more that she wanted to say. It didn't really matter, though, because Poe interpreted the pause as that being the end of what Iris had to say. He gave her a comforting smile. "So then you've almost died for the second time in one week. It's like you're trying to set a record or something."

Iris let her muscles relax, and she just nodded. "Yeah. I guess so." Poe sensed the melancholy mood she was in, so he didn't say anything else as they headed back into the clearing. They crossed the makeshift camp that had been put up until more permanent structures had been brought up.

The general walked out of a tent, and when she spotted Poe and Iris, she hurried over to them. "Hey! There you guys are!" Iris glanced at Poe, but he just shrugged, clearly not knowing why Leia needed them anymore than she did.

Before Leia could continue, Poe felt the need to interrupt her. "Sorry, but Iris probably just broke her wrist. We should get her some medical attention before we start focusing on anything else."

Leia's eyes instantly shifted into sympathetic ones, and she nodded once. "Sure, go on. I do need to talk to you both, though. As soon as possible. If you don't come to me by the time it's nightfall in a few hours, I'll look for you in the medical tent." Then she turned and walked away, and was immediately flocked by people who had a million questions for her.

Iris scoffed. "It won't be dark for a while. You'd think that after a few days, people would be used to the fact that days last much longer on Autari."

Poe shrugged. "It's tough for people to get used to new time zones and such. I'm surprised that you're so good at it, though. You were probably trained to not be affected by that stuff, right?"

Iris rolled her eyes. "Can't a girl just have some natural talents occasionally?"

They were both silent the rest of the way to their destination. When they got to the medical tent, they saw that there were four sets of bunkbeds that had three beds stacked on top of each other. There were two people who looked like doctors standing around.

Poe cleared his throat to get their attention. " is Iris. She thinks that she may have broken her wrist. Could you check it out?"

One of the doctors stepped forward. "Of course. We want everyone running optimally." She smiled. "Besides, everyone in the Resistance knows who Iris is. Stormtrooper turned rebel who has been a major help in a lot of things lately. It would be my honor to make sure that you're quite all right." She directed Iris over to one of the bottom bunks, and then gently grasped Iris's injured wrist.

Iris winced, and the woman nodded. She jotted something down on the tablet she had put down on the bed next to Iris, and then went over to a small cabinet to pull out a bandage. Iris raised one eyebrow. "So? What's wrong? Is it broken?"

The woman shook her head cheerfully. "You're quite lucky, Miss Iris. It got a bit sprained, but as long as its kept tightly wrapped up, you should be completely better in just a couple of weeks. I can also give you some pain medication so that you don't have to be so bothered by it."

Iris let the doctor wrap up her wrist, but shook her head when she was offered the small needle that contained a thick purple substance. "I'm not really a fan of pain meds. I prefer to use the tough it out method. If I find that I can't handle it, I'll come back, but for now, I'm going to decline."

It had been years ago now that Iris had learned that a stormtrooper who couldn't handle pain was useless. Anyone who relied on medication to be able to keep going was unfit to be a soldier. The cadets would be pushed to the very brink when it came to their exams, and those that cracked and asked for a relief to their pain were given their relief in the form of a blaster to the skull. And since Iris was going to go back to the Order someday, when the time was right, she wasn't going to let all of her values and lessons deteriorate just because she didn't have a superior standing behind her to tell her she was wrong.

Then again, if Kylo Ren had saved her life, then maybe Iris did have a superior standing right behind her. She had to refrain from peering all around once they exited the tent because she didn't want Poe to start to worry about her. He probably already had enough on his mind with everything else that was going on, between being lured into a trap and getting injured pretty badly, and then having to more bases.

Iris cleared her throat. "Then I guess it's time for us to go and pay the good general a visit?"

Poe nodded. "Sounds about right. Do you think we should grab Finn first, though?"

Iris thought about it for a moment, then grinned. "I don't see why not. He's as important as anyone else around here. And I already know that he's way better than me at a bunch of stuff."

It wasn't hard for them to track down the ex-stormtrooper. He was with the large group that was working on construction. When Poe and Iris caught up with him, he was in the process of helping three other men carry an entire tree back to the clearing. He gave a quick smile, but it was obvious that he was busy. So they followed him and waited to talk until after he'd put down the tree.

He wiped some sweat off his forehead, then looked at Iris and Poe curiously. "Hey guys. What's up?"

"We're going to have a meeting with Leia. We thought that it would be most appropriate to have you come with us there."

Finn didn't seem to know why his presence would be necessary, but he wasn't going to argue on the matter. He told another guy where he was going so it wouldn't seem like he was just slacking off. Then he pulled his jacket back on, and followed the other two to the general's tent, where Leia was waiting for them. If she was disappointed to see Finn, she didn't say anything about it.

Leia motioned for the three to sit down. Poe was grateful to sink down into a seat to get pressure off his leg, and Finn was tired from hauling around wood all morning. Iris didn't move though. She bit her lip for a moment, then looked up at the general. "So what did you want to see us about?"

Leia glanced down at Iris's bound up wrist. "Is everything alright?"

Iris nodded. "Yeah, great. What did you want to see us about?" Poe reached up to pinch the back of Iris's good arm. He gave her a stern look, and she sighed. She turned back to Leia. "I'm sorry, that was rude of me. I guess that even a perfect specimen such as myself must run out of patience eventually."

Leia's look softened. "That's perfectly understandable. I just wanted to know if you think we're still up for taking Tabuula. We obviously have a greater disadvantage now than we did before, and you know that place the best out of any of us."

Iris couldn't help looking surprised. "You're asking me whether I think you can do it or not?" She tilted her head thoughtfully. It would've been just barely possible before, at their other base. But now they were lacking many resources, and they couldn't afford to leave their new base undefended when it wasn't even close to being finished yet. So she hesitantly shook her head. "Honestly? I don't think that you can do it. Not at the moment."

Leia nodded. "Thanks. That's all for now."

Iris headed to the tent flap, and noticed that neither of the guys had followed her. She glanced back, and Finn gave her a friendly smile. "You go on. We'll catch up in a few minutes, okay?"

Iris nodded and left the tent. Outside, Iris looked down at the ground beneath her. She knew that like any mining colony, there had to be towns and cities where the miners stayed until the end of the job. And with those places abandoned now, there would be a few things to scavenge. Being able to find useful supplies might be a good way to help the Resistance out at the moment. She'd take her friends with her, but since they were occupied, she was perfectly okay with just going on her own. This should be a fun distraction from everything else.