Once they'd detoured to drop the stunned stormtrooper off at a cantina, the Resistance members continued to the rendezvous point. Rey was relieved to see that not only Poe and BB-8 made it, but Rose, Jannah, Connix, and everyone else she knew, including the droids C-3PO and R2-D2. She was even surprised to see Zorii and Babu Frik among the group, who were conferring with Poe when they arrived.
"Thank goodness," Poe clasped Rey and Finn on the shoulders. "What took you guys so long?"
"An unexpected visitor on the Falcon" Finn answered.
Poe's eyebrows knit together in confusion. "A visitor?"
"A stormtrooper to be exact," Lando tossed the trooper's comlink to Poe. "We learned more than we'd ever thought we would, and I'd wager we'll learn more if you're able to decrypt where the messages on this comlink were sent,"
Poe handed the device to Babu Frik, who turned it over in his little hands. Giving a side glance at BB-8, he replied "I can decrypt, no trouble,"
"Excellent," Poe returned his gaze to his friends. "So, what did you find out from your 'visitor'? He tell you why one of our bases was attacked out of the blue?"
"It's not so much why they were there, but who sent them," Finn said.
"Ok, who sent them?"
Finn turned to Rey, who answered "Vader,"
A look of shock crossed Poe's face, but after a moment he replied "That's impossible, Vader's dead. Leia told me Luke saw him disappear and become one with the Force with his own eyes,"
"It's a clone," Rey specified. "Apparently Snoke wasn't the only being the First Order created,"
Poe crossed his arms as a thousand thoughts ran through his head. Looking to the sky at the galaxy that lay beyond, he said "One maniac from the past comes back, then another takes his place,"
"I remember times of Vader," Babu Frik said somberly. "I was around. Much fear and oppression,"
Finn tried to remain confident. "If the Resistance was able to defeat Palpatine, then we can defeat Vader as well. The Force has pulled us through many trying times, and I know it will do so again,"
Rey held her tongue. While she had every confidence in the Resistance's abilities to fight against whatever remained of the First Order, she knew it would not be easy. After all, when Rey fought Palpatine, she ended up losing her life…a cost that Ben ended up paying the price for.
If Rey died at the hands of evil again, this time there would be no one to bring her back.