They entered the fray only to soon realise they were hopelessly outnumbered. The First Order was slaughtering Zorii's people and they were helpless to stop it. Rey looked desperately to Poe for ideas, "What are we going to do?"
Poe shook his head, "I sent a distress call to the Resistance but the closest fleet is hours away."
"Do you think they'll follow us? Lead them away if we jump to lightspeed?" Rey asked, cringing at the sound of another of Zorii's ships being disintegrated near them.
"They waited to follow us the first time, doesn't mean the won't again." Poe answered, trying to pull them around for an attack run when the Falcon came to a stuttering halt.
"No no no no!" Poe and Finn shouted in unison as the controls stopped responding.
"Tractor beam?" Ben asked as Finn exploded into the cockpit.
"Tractor beam." Finn confirmed.
Sure enough a pair of light cruisers had managed to get close enough to snag them. They were held fast.
And then, as suddenly as the fighting had begun, it stopped, all of the First Order ships suddenly retreating back towards the Finalizer. The sound of blaster fire on the ground ceasing and Rey could see the drop ships rising back into the sky to follow the rest.
"That's been quite enough wanton slaughter for one day, don't you think?" a female voice crackled out from their comm, "I actually didn't come here to kill you all but I couldn't resist destroying a resistance base, even if you all helped me with a little diplomatic problem by destroying General Baze's battle cruiser for me. Thanks for that."
"Why isn't she just blasting us?" Poe wondered aloud.
"She must need us alive." Rey answered.
"She followed us? Do you think she was looking for the same thing we were?" Finn asked.
"I guess we're about to find out…" Poe said as they were slowly dragged towards the Finalizer.
The voice continued, "I have taken your friend Zorii Bliss captive, if you want her to keep breathing I suggest you cooperate. See you soon."
"That voice, it's Parnadee…" Ben said thoughtfully, "She is looking for Sith artifacts. We need to hide that wayfinder."
"How do you know that?" Finn demanded, turning to Ben.
"Because she knows how powerful they can be. I tasked her with sending teams to track them down for me. She has seen what they are capable of. She has been to Exegol. I think she is looking for an advantage over the other Generals. Maybe she wants to be the next Supreme Leader?"
Finn shook his head, "She isn't force sensitive, how can she hope to be Supreme Leader and use Sith artifacts if she can't use the force?"
"Not all of the artifacts we found needed use of the force to activate. But if she does need the force she has a prison full of desperate children she can make do what she wants..." Ben looked to Rey, "We cannot let her find the Vergence Scatter. We need to hide that wayfinder."
Rey nodded and scrambled to detach the wayfinder from the nav computer while Finn caught Poe up on their conversation, "Where can I hide this?" she said finally, holding it up.
Poe smirked, "I know the perfect place… But what about the tracker? We need a plan."
"I have an idea for that," Ben said.
The Falcon was settled roughly into the docking bay, they'd hidden the wayfinder as well as the droids, hoping the latter might help with their escape. They'd cobbled together a haphazard plan that, with any luck, might just work. Ben had rejoined Rey, they couldn't sense any force users aboard the Finalizer but that did not mean they were not there, it was just safer for him to stay hidden.
The hangar bay quickly filled with stormtroopers, all with guns pointed directly at the bottom of the gangway. It had been decided that Rey would lead the way so that if they opened fire she would have a chance to deflect the bolts.
She nervously descended, eyes and senses cast out over the crowd of troopers. When no blasts came she let out a breath, stopping at the bottom of the gangway with Finn and Poe behind her. Ben busied himself with monitoring for surprises while Rey now focused on the woman wearing a black General's uniform that was slowly approaching them.
"Well, well, well. The leaders of the Resistance, had I known I was to have such prestigious guests I would have arranged for more stormtroopers."
Rey's eyes narrowed, hand on the saber at her hip.
"Ahhh, Rey Palpatine… Welcome." Parnadee smiled at the shock on Rey's face when she said her last name, "Of course the Dark Lord of the Sith told us all about his granddaughter."
"Then you should also know that I killed Snoke, and him, and if you hurt any more of my friends you'll be next." She could feel her anger rising, Ben tried to soothe her, calm her, without too much success.
Parnadee laughed lightly, menacingly, "Threats? I thought you were a Jedi. Jedi don't murder innocent people." she gestured to the troopers around her, "Your friend there, FN-2187, was once one of them."
It was Rey's turn to look menacing, "Oh I don't have to kill them to kill you…" She felt Finn's hand on her shoulder then, he gave it a squeeze and whispered, "Zorii…"
Rey took a deep cleansing breath, releasing some of her anger,"Where's Zorii?" she demanded finally.
"She is safe, for now. This need not descend into violence. If you give me what I want we can part ways peacefully, me with my prize, you with yours." Parnadee gestured behind her and the troopers parted, "Come, let us discuss it somewhere more comfortable."
"Don't follow her." Ben said, reminding her that their plan counted on them staying in the hangar bay.
"That's not necessary, I am comfortable right where I am. Bring Zorii here and we can talk." Rey spoke firmly, confidently.
"You think to tell me how these negotiations will go?" Parnadee said with a shake of her head, "You are captive on my ship with hundreds of blasters aimed at your head."
Rey lifted her hand and focused, with Ben's help she tugged and pulled all of the blasters in the room towards her, sending them clattering to the ground, leaving everyone looking bewildered except for her, "You were saying?"
Pure, impotent, rage crossed Parnadee's face; Rey could see her hands were balled into fists at her side.
"Bring Zorii here and I am willing to consider your offer." Rey said, pushing the blasters further away, piling them all up against the back of the hangar behind her.
The General spat a few words at a nearby stormtrooper who signalled to someone else. A few moments later a beaten and battered Zorii was led out between two stormtroopers, barely able to walk.
"There." The troopers pulled up short behind Parnadee, "Now. Tell me where to find the temple and I will turn her over."
It was subtle, barely there, but Ben caught the thin tendrils of it and followed them to their source. There, in a room not far away, sat a group of children with blue skin and blood red eyes. Force users. They were shackled to chairs, sitting before consoles. They were also sedated, not entirely conscious. This is probably why hadn't sensed them. It was horrific… He'd heard rumors of how the Chiss managed to navigate the unknown regions but to see it himself...
Rey felt Ben's alarm but it was indistinct, it did throw her off a little. Parnadee must have seen a change on her face, "Please do not tell me you are having second thoughts…"
Poe stepped forward, "Zorii, you okay?"
Zorii slowly raised her bruised face to look at Poe, giving a little nod.
While they'd been talking BB-8 had snuck off the ship from a secret exit, heading over to a hatch and hacking into the hangar bay controls.
"Where is the temple?" Parnadee demanded.
"Right where I crashed your scout ships." Rey answered truthfully but also with the knowledge that if they were to go there they'd see nothing.
Parnadee shook her head, anger plain, "You risk your friend's life with obvious lies!"
"The temple will not show itself to you unless you are worthy, guess you aren't worthy." Rey said the last with a smirk in her voice.
The General snapped, screaming, "Kill them!"
Rey pulled on Zorii, tugging her free of the stormtroopers and into Poe's arms, at the same time she pushed, sending all the the troopers and Parnadee flying backwards. The three of them ran back onto the ship, closing the gangway behind them. More stormtroopers arrived and she could hear the sound of blaster bolts against the hull.
3P0 and R2 were in the cockpit, R2 plugged into the nav computer. "BB-8 should have the doors open any moment mistress Rey," 3P0 said. Poe settled Zorii in the seat behind him before spinning up the engines.
Moments later the hangar bay doors began to open and the stormtroopers scrambled to retreat so that they wouldn't be sucked out into the vacuum of space. Poe lifted off, turning the ship around towards the exit just as BB-8 rolled into the cockpit.
"Did you do it BB-8? Did Kylo Ren's codes work? Did you turn off their tracker?" Rey asked hopefully.
BB-8 trilled happily in the affirmative and Poe cheered, "Good job buddy!"
The forcefield keeping atmosphere in the docking bay disappeared and the blasters she'd pulled on earlier were all released into space, Poe hit the thrusters and they shot out past them. Finn, already in the turret, let off a few shots back towards the blasters, turning them into makeshift bombs. They exploded in succession behind them, rocking the Finalizer sideways with the force of it.
"Punch it!" Finn yelled over the comm and Poe did just that, firing them into hyperspace with the pull of a lever.