Paralyzed

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A/N-thank you very much to everyone who kindly reviewed the last chapter.

Chapter Thirty-Five-Traitor

A natural limestone cave close to the starfighter landing zone was used as a hangar for the Tantive IV, and the command centre for the Resistance. The Tantive IV, also served as a generator, barracks and was the main spot for any major gatherings. The ship was beginning to fill with bodies as the Resistance crew began to arrive for the meeting that Poe had called. He was ready to share with the group what he and the others had been working so tirelessly on for the past few days. Rose stood on one side of him, Ben and Rey on the other. Although the members of the Resistance had reluctantly grown used to Ben's presence around the camp, they were still very uneasy seeing him mingling so casually with their trusted leader.

Finn was one of the last ones to arrive. He had been keeping his distance from everyone since his fight with Hux. He had been using the time alone to ponder his life's choices. As soon as his dark brown eyes alighted on Ben standing so boldly at the head of the group along with Rey, he spoke up. "I think I speak for everyone here when I say we'd feel more comfortable if he wasn't here."

His brash statement was soon followed by murmurings of agreement from the assembled crowd. Finn pushed his way to the front, his gaze fixed on Rey in silent apology. He wasn't doing this to deliberately cause trouble or hurt her, although by the betrayed look in her eyes he could tell she was thinking exactly that.

"Finn, a word!" Poe said abruptly as he tried to draw him to one side.

"I am not backing down on this, Poe." Finn stated firmly. "Look at everyone's reactions. No one trusts him. It wasn't too long ago that you felt exactly the same."

"Things are different now." Poe argued. "You are just causing division for the sake of it."

"You know that's not true." Finn continued to stand his ground.

"It's fine. I'll go." Ben's voice came from behind them.

Finn and Poe turned to face him. "This is ridiculous." Poe muttered.

"It's the right thing to do." Finn said at the same time. He avoided looking at Ben as his eyes sought Rey's. "You can't expect us all to suddenly trust him like you do." He said to her. "Not after everything he has done."

Rey didn't say anything, but her disappointment in him was clear on her face. Finn watched as she turned to Ren and gazed deeply into his eyes. It always unnerved Finn to see them together like this, like they were having a whole other conversation that no one was privy to but themselves. They were wrapped up in each other to the exclusion of everyone else. His eyes flicked to Poe standing patiently on their other side. He seemed content to wait until they finished whatever silent conversation was flowing between them. Finn wondered exactly what it was that Ren had confided in his friend the night he had overheard the two of them talking together to change Poe's attitude toward the guy so much.

Eventually Rey and Ben broke eye-contact. Ben raised his hand to touch her face in a tender caress, before finally taking his leave.

As soon as Poe's speech ended there was a tumult of noise from the crowd. With Rey and Rose's help, Poe managed to field the majority of their questions.

"This is all very interesting, Poe." Beaumont Kin called out. "But what exactly are you hoping is going to happen if we manage to track down these other stormtroopers who mutinied. Are you hoping to recruit them to our cause?"

"This isn't a recruiting mission, Beau." Poe responded wearily. "These stormtroopers revolted on their own, some actually laying down their arms because they refused to fire on innocent civilians. From the information we've managed to uncover from the encrypted files, it seems that this is something that has been happening more and more often. Rose and the First Order spy, Hux, uncovered a conspiracy by the stormtrooper Captain Phasma. It was Phasma who oversaw the training of the stormtroopers. In order to hide the growing unrest amongst the ranks, and unbeknownst to Hux himself, she altered the records to hide the extent of the problem. Many that mutinied managed to escape, but those that didn't were forced to undergo a severe mind conditioning programme called a brain scrape."

Finn found himself under scrutiny as everyone's eyes turned to him. He ignored them and kept his gaze trained on Poe. "You expect us to trust the word of that traitor Hux." He demanded. "He could be twisting the information to suit himself. That bastard was complicit with all of it. He's just trying to divert attention from himself."

"That's not possible. I was with Armitage the whole time." Rose answered before Poe could respond.

"Armitage?" Finn scoffed when Rose referred to Hux by his first name. He saw her cheeks turn pink and he frowned, sighing heavily. He hated upsetting her.

"It wasn't just Rose and Hux who worked on those files. Ben, Poe and I did, too. There was no way that Hux could have manipulated anything. He didn't have the chance." Rey spoke up. She stood next to Poe, surveying the troubled sea of faces looking to them for answers. "We believe that there are many within the First Orders stormtroopers ranks who feel exactly the same as those who mutinied, but just don't have anyone strong enough to guide them to stand up to the oppressive regime."

"Are you suggesting one of us goes undercover? That would be suicide." Beaumont Kin accused.

"No." Poe glared at Beaumont irritably. He had never liked the guy, though he was friendly enough, there was just something that didn't sit right with him. Rose and Kaydel knew the guy better. Beaumont was a self-proclaimed historian. A historian who once aspired to become an educator, after the destruction of the Hosnian system Beaumont Kin abandoned his academic career to become a captain in the Resistance's intelligence division.

"Then what?" Beaumont persisted.

"Yeah, what is your thinking, Poe." Finn added.

"I want to find some of those stormtroopers who mutinied. Not specific individuals, but the ones who were part of a whole company. I want to understand what made them collectively decide to lay down their arms. I think that knowledge could prove really useful in the future when faced with them in battle."

"I see where you're going with this." Finn said eagerly. "I was alone, but these others were part of a large group. There is a possibility that other companies of troopers could be persuaded to lay down their weapon or turn them on their oppressors."

"Exactly." Poe agreed.

"You'll need volunteers…." Finn held Poe's gaze.

"We already have some. Chewie, Kaydel and…."

"I want to head the mission." Finn said fervently, finally feeling like he had found his purpose. "I need to do this, Poe. I'm the best person for the job. You know it."

Poe's eyes glimmered with suppressed emotion. "I never doubted it for one minute, buddy." He agreed with a small smile.

With everyone's attention focused on Finn and Poe, no one noticed Beaumont Kin sneaking out of the meeting early.

Rey hung back while the others said their goodbyes to Finn and the others. After the decision was made, everyone collectively came to the conclusion that there was no time to wait. They were taking the Falcon to Ansett Island to try and track down the troopers who belonged to Company 77, the ones who had mutinied and collectively laid down their weapons when ordered to shoot innocent civilians.

"Are you okay, sweetheart?" Ben's voice was like a soothing balm in her frazzled mind. "I can feel your reservation."

"I just hate goodbyes." Rey tried to stem the tide of her rising sadness.

"This is about Finn." Ben guessed.

"He was my first friend." Rey felt the tears burst forth like water from a dam, spilling down her face. Her chin trembled like a small child's. "My best friend. I hate this distance that has grown between us."

"He's in love with you."

"You're wrong." Rey's denial was weak. "We've only ever been friends."

A feeling of love and tenderness washed over Rey as Ben wrapped her in the security of their love. "Maybe that's true for you…." He let out a soft exhalation. "I mean how could he not love you? You're perfect!"

"I'm yours." Rey cried fervently.

"I know." Ben answered gently. "That's the part he can't accept. That you would choose to be with someone like me."

"Don't say it like that, Ben." Rey pleaded. "You…you're my everything."

"And you're mine." Ben promised as his voice faded out. "I love you, sweetheart."

And then Finn was in front of her. Rey looked up into his expressive dark eyes and she finally allowed herself to see the love that was hidden in their depths. She trembled when his arms wrapped around her in a gentle hug of goodbye for a while. "Take care of yourself, Rey." He whispered in her ear. "You may not believe it, but I really am sorry. I just wish things could have been different. He doesn't deserve you…"

"But he's the one I've chosen." Rey was almost choking on her tears. "I love him, Finn. I always have."

Finn's eyes closed in pain at her words. It was like she was stabbing him in the heart. "Fine." He said tensely, taking in a deep shuddering breath as he released her. "Goodbye, Rey."

As soon as Finn stepped away, she was engulfed in Chewie's strong hairy arms. The Wookie lifted her up high in the air, whining softly. "Goodbye, Chewie." She whispered, relaxing into his embrace as she hugged him back.

Chewie's arms were soon exchanged with Kaydel's. Rey hugged the younger girl's slim body against her own briefly, before giving her up to Rose. In the distance she saw Finn and Poe exchange a few last words and a hug, before the small group walked up the ramp of the Falcon together and disappeared inside.

Rose's lower lip quivered as she tried to contain her emotions. She bit her lip tightly in attempt to hide any sound that wanted to escape from her mouth. Watching Finn leave had torn her in two. If things hadn't been so tense between them then she would have been the one to go on this mission with him. Instead Kaydel had taken her place. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Armitage glancing often in her direction. To her relief he had been very discreet, not asking any questions about why her eyes were so red from crying.

"I think we could do with a break." She said shakily as she pushed herself back onto her feet. They had been trawling through the last of the encrypted files to double check anything they might have missed. "I'll go and get us something to eat from the canteen."

Hux stood up, preparing to come with her, but Rose shook her head and told him to carry on working. "You're going to leave me here unguarded?" He asked in surprise.

"I trust you." Rose said with a small smile. "Anyway, I won't be long. I'll bring back some of those starfruits you like."

Hux watched her shoulders slump dejectedly as she walked away and felt a spike of anger surge through him. This was the former stormtroopers fault he was sure of it. He hated to see Rose hurting and even more he hated the man who was the root cause of her pain. In an attempt to divert his growing resentment onto something more productive, he picked up one of the datapads and began to skim through it. As Hux shifted his body into a more comfortable position, he noticed Beaumont Kin looking around furtively as he stood in front of one of the consoles. For the moment the area was completely deserted as the other personnel had gone to lunch. Hux immediately shielded himself behind another console as he spied on Beaumont, his curiosity piqued by the guy's strange behaviour.

Beaumont cast another furtive glance around the area before hastily using the console to key in a coded message. He was so intent on his task that he was totally unaware that Hux had sneaked up on him. It was only when he felt Hux wrest his blaster from its holster and point it to the back of his head that he realised he was in dire straits.

"Its not what it looks like." He said shakily, slowly revolving to face a smirking Hux.

"I think it's exactly what it looks like." Hux sneered as he took the safety off the blaster and directed it firmly against Beaumont's left temple. "Who are you working for? Mmmm…Pryde? Engell? Come on, speak up! I can be very trigger happy when I want to be."

"You've got it all wrong." Beaumont was beginning to sweat. He licked his lips, his eyes darting from side to side as he tried to find an avenue of escape.

"I don't think so." Hux pressed the barrel of the blaster harder against the side of Beaumont's head. "I'll ask you one last time. Who are you spying for?"

Beaumont cowered as he stared up into Hux's steely green eyes. "We can cut a deal. I know you want out of this place. You could prove very useful to my master. He'll reward you well. What do you say, Hux?"

"Master?" Hux felt a cold shiver run down his spine as it dawned on him who Beaumont was really working for. He grabbed the traitorous wretch by the back of his shirt and hauled the smaller man upright, always making sure to keep the blaster trained on the back of his skull. "Don't you dare move or I'll blast a planet sized hole in your head." Hux threatened as he began to download a copy of the coded message that Beaumont had transmitted.

Rose felt like her world had dissolved around her when she returned with a tray of Armitage's favourite food to find him gone. The tray dropped from her nerveless fingers, crashing to the ground violently as she began a frantic search for him. Despite her best efforts he was nowhere to be found. Her despair was like a heavy blackness, the notion of hope becoming meaningless, her broken trust twisting inside her like some cruel trick. She felt utterly betrayed and used. Her eyes dripped with tears. The walls, the walls that held her up, made her strong just... collapsed. Moment by moment, they fell. Salty drops continuing to fall from her chin, drenching her shirt. Rose struggled to pull herself together as she left to find Poe, to tell him she had failed in her duty…. failed to realise that….

Rose stopped that train of thought as she hastened toward the command centre where she had last seen Poe. She ran blindly, totally unaware of her surroundings, pushing past anyone who got in her way. "Poe! Poe!" She screamed in distress. "He's gone. Armitage is gone!"

Poe seemed to materialise out of the ground in front of her. He wasn't alone. Rey and Ben were with him. She slammed into Poe, forcing him to steady her. "Rose, just breathe." Poe said gently.

"You don't understand. Its Armitage. He's…." Rose paused for breath when she realised the whole camp had fallen silent. She turned in Poe's arms to find the cause of the sudden deathly silence.

It was Armitage. Armitage walking through the centre of the camp with a blaster trained to a quivering Beaumont's head. Rose couldn't believe what she was seeing. This couldn't be happening. Why would Armitage take Beaumont hostage? None of this made sense. She heard Poe yelling at Armitage to put the blaster down and let Beaumont go. But Armitage wasn't listening. She could see his lips moving but couldn't process what he was saying.

And then Rey…Rey was stepping forward, one arm outstretched, her fingers splayed wide, with hazel eyes sparking with fury. Rose watched in horror as Armitage began to choke, the blaster dropped from his clawing fingers as he was physically hoisted in the air by the strength of Rey's power.

"Stop! Please stop!" Rose suddenly found her voice as she pushed Poe away from her and ran toward Armitage. In the background she heard Ben urgently pleading with Rey to let go. Suddenly Armitage dropped to the ground at Rose's feet like a sack of wet noodles. His eyes were almost bugging out of his head, his breathing harsh and shallow as he looked up at her in fright. "Why Armitage? Why did you do it?" She pleaded as she dropped to her knees beside him.

Armitage could barely speak. "He's a traitor." He rasped as he shakily pressed something small and solid into the palm of her hand. It was a flash drive.

Poe, Ben and Rey surrounded them. Rey looked horrified at what she had done. She was shaking badly, her hazel eyes filled with remorse as she sought comfort in Ben's arms. Rose could hardly see through her tears as she handed the flash drive to Poe, before pulling Armitage's head into her lap. "You are such an idiot." She scolded him through her tears as she stroked her fingers through his damp hair.

A/N-thanks for reading! Please review if you have the time.