Ileenium was a lush green land between Naboo and Onderon that boasted thick jungles, winding rivers, clear lakes, and rolling grassy hills. Ruined cities left behind by a long-forgotten war dotted the countryside and served as the foundations for the capital cities of Ileenium's three independent provinces.

D'Qar was the grassy coastal province under the rule of Duchess Elling, a longtime ally of the Rebellion and the Resistance. In the months leading up to the Battle of Endor, the Duchess gifted a section of coastline to the Rebellion for them to establish a new base. The war ended before its completion, but the rise of the First Order gave the project new life. Since then, the Resistance used D'Qar as their headquarters in their struggle against the First Order.

The Resistance base looked to an outside observer to be a simple fishing village with several large grassy islands. In truth, extensive networks of tunnels sprawled under the village and the "islands" were expertly disguised ships. For thirty years, the secret had been tried and tested against the Empire and the First Order, with neither discovering the village's secrets.

Finn stepped onto the docks, awed by the subterfuge. What interested him more, though, was the familiar looking sky pilot climbing out of the black crosswing on the airfield nearby. He jogged towards the pilot wanting to congratulate him, then stopped and stared. Bibi-Eit rolled past him making a beeline for the pilot, almost tripping Finn.

Poe lit up on seeing Bibi-Eit. "Hey! My buddy! Oh, it's so good to see you!"

Finn stood slack jawed, hardly able to believe his eyes.

Bibi-Eit chirped.

Poe blinked with surprise. "Finn saved you? Where is he? Is he here?"

Bibi-Eit looked in Finn's direction and blipped.

Finn started jogging towards Poe, whose smile couldn't have been bigger. "Poe! Poe Dameron, you're alive!"

Poe ran towards Finn with his arms wide. The two embraced and Poe laughed. "Buddy! So are you!"

"What happened to you?"

"I got thrown in the crash. I woke up at night. No you, no TIE, nothing. Bibi-Eit says you saved him."

"No, no, no, it wasn't just me."

"You completed my mission, Finn-" Poe's brow raised in realization. "That's my jacket." He looked Finn up and down, smiling.

"Oh." Finn started to remove it.

"No, no, no," Poe said. "Keep it. It suits you." He unconsciously bit his lip then cleared his throat. "You're a good man, Finn."

Finn's smile slowly faded. "Poe, I need your help."

Minutes later, Poe led Finn into the bustling command bunker. Finn had expected a command center to be neat and tidy, since that's what he was accustomed to. The rough hewn stone, hanging roots, and somewhat haphazard arrangement of scrying stations greatly surprised him.

Poe pushed through the assorted staff to the High Command. "General Organa. I'm sorry to interrupt. This is Finn. He needs to talk to you."

Leia looked at Finn. "And I need to talk to him." She smiled. "That was incredibly brave what you did in renouncing the First Order and saving this man's life."

Finn nodded. "Thank you, ma'am, but a friend of mine was taken prisoner."

Leia's smile disappeared. "Yes. Han told me about the girl. I'm sorry."

"Finn's familiar with the weapon that destroyed Hosnia," Poe said. "He worked on the base around it."

Leia's eyebrows shot up. "We're desperate for anything you can tell us."

"That's where my friend was taken," Finn said. "I've got to get there fast."

"And I will do everything I can to help, but first you need to tell us all you know."

While Finn relayed his knowledge of Starkiller Base to the Resistance High Command, Chewbacca sat on a bed in the medical bunker as one of the doctors tended to his gunshot wound. He told of his and Han's exploits over the past few days while bacta was applied to the wound.

"That sounds very scary," the doctor said.

Chewbacca nodded.

"You must be so brave."

The Wookiee grunted in agreement.

Threepio held the sapphire lens from Bibi-Eit in front of his eye to examine it. "General, I regret to inform you, but this map is only partially complete." He placed the lens in front of a magelamp and the blue map appeared on the stone wall. "And even worse, I can't positively identify any known coasts from these lines. We simply do not have enough information to locate Master Luke."

Leia released a frustrated sigh and banged her fist on the table. "Can't believe I was so foolish to think I could find Luke and bring him back."

Han put a hand on her shoulder. "Leia..."

She pulled away. "Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Anything." Leia walked away.

Threepio shook his head. "Princesses."

Han followed Leia. "I'm trying to be helpful."

Leia scoffed. "When did that ever help? And don't say the Death Star."

Han sighed. He knew that she was lashing out because of her disappointment, but her words still had teeth.

Bibi-Eit remembered something that may help his friends. In a back corner of the command center, a black tarpaulin sat draped over something akin to a keg with a domed top. The micronaut extended a grasping claw and pulled the tarpaulin away revealing an old white and blue nautical automaton.

Bibi-Eit warbled a greeting but received no response. He tried gently knocking on the nautomaton's chassis with his head, but this too failed to rouse him.

"Oh, Bibi-Eit," said Threepio in a sad tone. "I'm sorry to say, but you're wasting your time."

Bibi-Eit looked at the diplomatic automaton and gave a curious chirp.

"An interesting theory, but it is very doubtful that Artu would possess the rest of the map."

A questioning series of beeps.

"Artu-Deetu has been in a standby state ever since Master Luke went away. Sadly he may never be his old self again..."

Bibi-Eit warbled sadly and cast his eye to the floor.

Elsewhere in the command center, Han sighed in frustration. "Leia, listen to me, will you? We've been avoiding this for too long."

Leia took a deep breath and looked at her husband.

Han looked into her eyes and spoke in a soft voice. "I know every time you... Every time you look at me, you're reminded of him."

Leia frowned. "You think I want to forget him?" She shook her head, but never took her eyes off of Han. "...I want him back."

"There's nothing more we could have done... There's too much Vader in him."

"That's why I wanted him to train with Luke. To bring out the Anakin in him instead." Leia looked down. "I... I should never have just sent him away... That's when I lost him." She looked back up with a tear welling in her eye. "When I lost you both."

"We both had to deal with it in our own way." Han shrugged. "I went back to the only thing I was ever any good at."

Leia nodded. "We both did."

Han's face bunched up into a look of anguish. "...We lost our son. Forever."

"No. Snoke may have seduced him to the Dark Side just as Palpatine did to my father, but I know we can save him. Me. And you."

"If Luke couldn't reach him, how could I?"

"Luke is a Jedi, but you're his father." Leia looked deeply into Han's eyes. "There is still Light in him. I know it."

Admiral Ushos Statura approached the couple. "Er, General?"

Leia cleared her throat. "Yes, Admiral?"

"Snap is coming in with his reconnaissance report on the enemy base."

Leia gave Han a knowing look before following Statura back to the map table.

Han knew the look well. He had seen it plenty of times from Leia during the Rebellion and reconstruction. That little glance of hers still held the same meaning: "I need your help to do the right thing."

Rey awakened with a jolt, causing her restraints to clang loudly. Wherever she was, it was fairly cold, but the lighting let her observe her surroundings without any issue. She was bound to some kind of tilting table in a round room of metal and stone.

Her eyes slowly trailed to her left as she had the increasing sense that she was being watched. Rey flinched at not only seeing the dark warrior from before, but seeing how close he was.

Kylo Ren sat hunched forward with his elbows on his knees and his chin on his interlaced fingers as though in deep contemplation. He made no visible reaction to Rey's waking whatsoever.

Rey regarded him with contempt. "Where am I?"

"You're my guest," he replied innocently.

"Where are the others?"

"Do you mean the murderers, traitors, and thieves you call friends? You'll be relieved to hear I have no idea."

While Rey didn't trust the dark warrior, his words did relieve her somewhat. She stared at him with disgust, her eye twitching with anger.

Kylo Ren tilted his head slightly. "You still want to kill me."

"That happens when you're being hunted by a creature in a mask."

Kylo nodded and pulled his hood back. He stood and slowly lifted his full helmet off.

Rey gasped. He was not some disfigured horror like she had imagined, but was instead a man with dark hair. What had shocked her the most was she recognized him.

He was older and had grown into his big ears, but he so very strongly resembled her childhood imaginary friend. Rey stared at him silently, all while his eyebrow slowly raised in curiosity.

Kylo walked over to a tray of ashes and placed his helmet inside it. He then took his seat next to Rey again.

Rey was shaken to her very core. The vision she had had showed her her imaginary friend and then this man. Why? What did all this mean?

"Tell me about the automaton," Kylo Ren said calmly.

"...He's a micronaut pattern nautical automaton with a gyroscopic stabilizer and a top of the range active/passive combination scrying apparatus."

"It's carrying a section of a map. We have the rest from the green and red lenses recovered from the Imperial Archives. Your friends may have stolen the originals, but that is of no consequence anymore. All we need now is the last piece. Somehow, you convinced that automaton to show it to you." He shook his head in disbelief. "You. A scavenger."

Rey felt that her mere existence somehow bothered him just as his bothered her.

Kylo Ren straightened himself. "You know I can take whatever I want."

Rey recoiled as much as she could as Kylo extended his hand towards her head. The strange humming in her mind returned and he leaned in close enough for her to feel the warmth of his breath.

"You're so lonely," Kylo said, his voice barely above a whisper. "So afraid to leave."

Rey's pulse quickened and her breathing sped up. She could feel something moving through her thoughts and dragging them to the surface. There was another sensation too, as though a lock was being picked.

"At night, desperate to sleep... You imagine the World Sea... I see it. I see the island with the bright golden tree." Kylo let out an amused huff. "Your favorite fairy tale."

Rey let out a stuttering breath. Nobody in the world knew that about her.

Kylo Ren frowned. "And there's Han Solo... You feel like he's the father you wanted in your life." He shook his head. "He would have disappointed you."

Rey gritted her teeth. "Get out of my head," she spat.

Kylo smiled smugly and stood. He moved in front of Rey and continued to pick through her mind. "I know you've seen the map. It's in there." He leaned forward. "And now you're going to give it to me."

The humming ramped up, as did the memory sifting and the lock picking. Rey screwed her eyes shut and fought against all of it.

"Don't be afraid, I feel it, too."

Rey opened her eyes and sneered. "I'm not giving you anything."

Kylo cocked his head to the side. "We'll see."

Rey gasped. More memories were coming to the forefront of her mind, but not all of them were hers. She saw Han, but much younger. She saw a woman tending to a scraped knee. She saw a man in white robes teaching. The more she fought, the more she saw.

Sweat beads rolled down Rey's face and she stared defiantly into the eyes of her captor. Minutes passed with the two of them fighting in Rey's mind.

Then Rey felt the "lock" finally open. It was as though her mind could breathe freely with the same sense of relief that comes after holding one's breath for some time. Her brow twitched as a flood of foreign memories poured into her head.

"You," Rey said. "You're afraid..."

Kylo flinched. Something had changed in the girl in front of him.

Rey scoffed. "You're afraid that you will never be as strong as Darth Vader!"

Kylo Ren recoiled and shuddered in horror. He was shaken, but also fascinated. How had this feral scavenger not only repelled him, but also seen inside his own mind?

Rey glared at him as he hurried out of the room.

The silver form of Supreme Leader Snoke curled his paper thin lips back from his teeth. "The scavenger resisted you?!"

"She is strong with the Force," Kylo yelled, pointing towards the door. "Untrained, but stronger than she knows."

"And what of the automaton?"

Armitage Hux stepped forward and cast a disapproving gaze at Kylo. "Supreme Leader, Ren believed it was no longer valuable to us. That the girl was all we needed. As a result, the automaton has most likely been returned to the hands of the enemy. They may have the map already."

Snoke narrowed his misaligned eyes. "Then the Resistance must be destroyed before they get to Skywalker."

"We have their location," Hux said. "We tracked their reconnaissance craft back to the land of Ileenium."

"Good... Then we will crush them once and for all. Prepare the weapon."

Kylo Ren's mouth twitched. "Supreme Leader, I can get the map from the girl. I just need your guidance."

Snoke rapped his skeletal fingers on the arm of his throne. "If what you say about this girl is true, bring her to me..."

Rey struggled against her restraints, putting every bit of her strength into moving them. For all the effort she put into her attempt to force them open, all she succeeded in was making them clank. She groaned and tossed her head back, panting heavily from her exertion.

The door guard's comm crystal crackled and an inaudible message came through. In her struggling, Rey had forgotten that she was not alone in the room. Admittedly, she was facing the far wall and the guard had been standing silently since he had arrived.

"...Rey..."

Rey looked around confused. Had someone just whispered her name?

"Rey."

There it was again, just on the edge of hearing, but coming from in her own mind. Rey's brow furrowed. The voice sounded like the old man from her vision.

"The guard, Rey. Tell him to remove your restraints."

Rey shook her head, trying to dispell the voice. That dark warrior must have done something to her mind. There was no other explanation, was there?

"Please, trust me."

Rey sighed. What did she have to lose? "You will remove these restraints and leave this cell with the door open."

The stormtrooper guard turned towards Rey. "What did you say?" He did not sound particularly persuaded.

"You will remove these restraints and leave this cell with the door open." Rey's voice quavered this time as doubt took hold.

The stormtrooper walked around the table to look straight at her. "I'll tighten those restraints, scavenger scum."

Elsewhere, Kylo Ren sensed something strange happening with his captive. He picked up his pace.

Rey looked at the stormtrooper's white faceplate with its black eye lenses.

"Relax, Rey," the old man whispered. "Try again."

Rey took a deep, calming breath. A second later, she felt as though there was the faintest resonance between them. She was aware of the living nature of the guard before her and sensed a faint cloud of light around him.

Rey focused on that curious light and spoke again, very calmly this time. "You will remove these restraints and leave this cell with the door open."

The guard relaxed somewhat. "I... will remove these restraints and leave this cell with the door open..." He tapped a short sequence of runes on the back of the table and the restraints popped open.

Rey rubbed her wrists where the restraints had been and watched the stormtrooper walk around her towards the door. He pressed the door rune with his thumb.

"And you'll drop your weapon," Rey added as the trooper walked out of the room.

"And I'll drop my weapon." The carbine fell to the floor.

Once she was certain that the guard was not coming back, Rey pushed herself off the table and darted out of the room, retrieving her empty pistol from a locker outside as well as the trooper's carbine.

Minutes later, Kylo Ren stormed into the prison block. Something was very wrong, he could sense it. He paused upon seeing the open cell door.

"No," he whispered, and ran inside.

The scavenger was gone.

"No!" Kylo ignited his Lightblade and cut the table in half. He did not stop there, though, swinging blindly and slicing glowing gashes into every surface of the room.

A pair of guards on patrol moved to investigate the commotion and on entering the corridor quickly realized the source. Not wanting to end up as collateral damage, they turned and walked away while Kylo Ren's roars of rage echoed through the prison block.