Chapter 17 - Settling Differences

Chandrila

Senatorial Housing District

Borsk Fey'lya, the Bothan Senator of Kothilis, the founding and core member of the Centrist Party, and Leia's political rival since their days as cabinet members of Mon Mothma's administration. It was these undisputed facts that would've led Leia being labeled desperate and insane in equal measures for what she was about to attempt.

From the corner of his desk situated against the plas-window overlooking the bustling city below, the Bothan cracked a wry smile, "I suppose the irony is not lost on the two of you, is it?"

The smugness of it oozed from furry alien's face with such deliberateness Leia had to resist gagging and Lando to resist throwing his chair at him. But it was to be expected, the first in the manipulator's opening chess move. Lando was quick to counter with his own smile, leaning in to emphasis the point. If nothing else, it was to lessen the situation's blow on Leia.

"Irony, Mr. Fey'lya, is cheapest form of humor one could buy, and one might consider rude. Especially in the company of friends."

"Cheap perhaps, Mr. Calrissian, but impressively common and rare at the same time. Besides, what harm is there for friends, as you put it, to point out such a rarity? Especially one of this kind?"

"You mean when you tried to ruin my career over a simple business disagreement?"

"You mean when you ruined my business prospects over Endor?"

"Child laws still apply, Mr. Fey'lya, even to Ewoks."

"I had nothing to do with that… unfortunate, situation."

"Nothing as in it was never proven that you were involved in it?" Lando smirked, and to his credit Fey'lya took it in stride.

"Precisely. Though... unsubstantiated rumor is just as a dangerous as substantiated ones. I am surprised that you did not try your hand at deconstructional journalism."

"Never had an interest in the subject, or stooping that low for that matter."

"So says the gambler with penitent for underhanded tactics."

"You mean cheating, Mr. Fey'lya?" Lando smiled broadly, "Yes, what you say is true. This I will never deny, for it is also fact that one cannot play Sabacc without such underhanded tactics, as you call them."

"But?"

"Never did I actively set out to ruin my opponent in both his professional or personal life."

Fey'lya's fur ruffled slightly, but he was quick to suppress it with his own counter statement, "You make it sound like there is such a thing as honor in Sabaac."

"I take it you don't believe so?"

"The point of the game is the acquisition of wealth by manipulating your opponent into all but handing it to you."

Lando shook his head at the Bothan, "Hence why you were never good at the game."

Fey'lya frowned, "I have won hands against even you."

"Yes but you miss the point of the game. Sabaac is and never has been about, as you put it, the manipulation of your opponent or the acquisition of money. That is merely a result and bonus, respectfully."

Fey'lya stroked his beard, shrugging, "I suppose you're going to tell me what the point is, then?"

"The fact I have to speaks volumes about your character," Lando smiled, "no, the point has always been the matching of wit, strategy and, of course, a little luck, and seeing who will win out. A duel, you might say."

"Except no one dies from the exchange," Leia replied with the shrug of the hand, and Lando nodded.

"The point of the game, Mr. Fey'lya, is inherently honor itself."

"What point is there in honor when cheating is the norm?"

"Oh, any player worth his spice can recognize the foul hand and his own in regard. Cheating is not the disqualification of honor. It is merely another extension to the match, and some would argue the true matching point between the abilities of the players."

"And if one loses, where is the honor then? Such as you did to Han Solo? He did take your ship after all."

It had been a cheap shot and Lando had been well expecting it. His smile became causal as he leaned back into his seat with his leg over the other.

"Oh, I took that loss hard, don't mistake me. But the reason for it had less to do with my parting of the Falcon, and more so my wounded pride. I had built myself a reputation for being unbeatable, and Han at the time had no reputation to speak of," he shrugged simply as he continued, "he outplayed me, both over the table and under it. It was a clean win for him, and I learned a valuable lesson from it."

"And what lesson was that?"

"Pride, Mr. Fey'lya. Never let it blind you to the truth."

"Such as now, I suppose," Fey'lya grumbled softly as he rose from his chair, standing before the window with his back turned to them. He stared out at the city before them, the traffic below hitting its all time peak with the sun slowly peeking over the skyscrapers in the distance. Everyday, the world was more and more resembling Coruscant back when that world had been the center of the galaxy. It was much an extension of Fey'lya's machinations and consolidation of power but…

"I miss the old days," he sighed after a moment, "when things were simpler. When politics could be clearly defined. When emergencies, circumstances and events defined what it was we did, not the rhetoric that followed."

Leia allowed the silence that followed to build substantially enough to emphasis her following point, "So… you'll help us?"

Fey'lya turned his head to the them, "You're asking me to betray ten years of party policy, Leia. To go against exactly what it was that got me to my position of power in the first place, and what got many of my constituents elected. Including Chancellor Borealis."

"Yes," Leia said simply, rising from her chair to stand at the Bothan's side, "I am. Because what we are dealing with is bigger than whatever grudge you and I hold."

"I'm not blind to the danger the First Order poses," he began, "but I also know they are not stupid. They couldn't possibly win a war against the New Republic. Never."

"Never is a strong word," Lando tutted, "after all, we were in a worse position than them thirty years ago and look how we turned out."

"We had the backing of the galaxy then. What does the First Order have? A small pocket of an under-developed and uncharted part of the galaxy."

"And thirty years of time to their lonesome," Lando countered with a shrug, "a man can do a lot with thirty years."

"But invade a galaxy? Conquer the New Republic? I'm sorry, but I can't believe that."

Leia exchanged a look with Lando, and sighed, "What if they could?"

Fey'lya turned to stare into her eyes, the furrows around his cheeks ruffling softly as he frowned, "What aren't you telling me?"

Leia's face remain impassive as she repeated the question, "What if they could, Fey'lya?"

"Does this have something to do with your delegation coming here?" he asked, staring out the window.

"Still dabbling in the spy world, Fey'lya?" Lando asked. The Bothan merely shrugged.

"Don't need an elaborate spy ring to see that three admirals, one retired, and the representatives of three major sectors with ties to the both of you all have charted visits to this very world within a week of each other? The representatives I could understand, but Syndulla and the Ackbars? Not very subtle."

"Wasn't the point," Leia mused softly, "our enemies certainly are not. They used their emergence to attack my brother. That should have been enough for Chancellor Borealis."

"Leia, there wasn't enough evidence-" but a hard glare from her caused the rest of his sentence to die in his throat.

"We're at war, Fey'lya." she declared, her eyes burning with the same fire he'd seen over a generation ago. Age had done nothing to hinder her spirit. In fact, it had merely harden it. "We've been at war for over thirty years, and the First Order is getting ready to make its move. The galaxy needs to be ready when it does. I can't do that without your help, political differences or not."

"But why me?"

This was met with an unfazed look and the Bothan sighed, his fur becoming almost curly.

"I've been your adversary since the Rebellion. I built my career off of demonizing you and your ideals. Hell, Borealus wouldn't be in office without me or my campaign against… well, you," he nodded at Lando, who simply shrugged, "out of all of the people you could have come to for help… why me?"

Leia stared into his eyes for a long, unsettling moment. Fey'lya almost felt as though she were searching his soul for something he didn't know what. It produced a cold chill down the back of his spine until she asked, "Why didn't you go after the Jedi?"

Fey'lya looked at her for a long moment, confused, "I don't understand."

"Why did you not join the political bandwagon to have the Jedi brought to heel? Why did you defend them when the rest of your party didn't?"

"Especially considering you and Luke didn't have the best of working relationships," Lando added. To this, Fey'lya stared back into the city below. He'd been here for almost two decades, working to secure the future of his people and the government they'd helped built. He sighed, and shook his head. He hadn't even seen Kothlis, his home, since Mothma offered him a position in her cabinet. Even as his people's Senator.

"Because," he began wearily, closing his eyes as he did, "we needed the Jedi. Celestials strike me down for saying this, but we still need them. The Old Republic only survived as long as it did because of the Jedi, and their fall began the rise of the Empire. How can we expect to survive a fraction of that without them? Yes, my party may have wanted to stick them to the wall, but I thought of the New Republic first. Because I am a patriot."

To this, Leia smiled and took him by the shoulder. No words were needed, for the look she gave him was worth a thousand of them. The bothan nodded once, and clasped his hands behind his back, his ears springing upward. It was a sign of political mind going to work.

"I can't publically support you. It would be political suicide for me. But I will speak with those I trust. Speak in a few ears, let the word spread."

"Perhaps bribe a few seasoned folks?" Lando asked with a chuckle. Fey'lya responded in kind.

"Perhaps," he then looked over at Leia and smiled confidently, "everything will be ready by the time of the assembly. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to arrange a few meetings."

He then pressed a button, and the mag-doors to his office opened to reveal a pair of Senate Guards, who quickly escorted the pair out into the waiting arms of their own Ranger escort. Leia stopped for a moment, turning to shoot a smile over at the Bothan.

"Thank you, Borsk."

The Bothan nodded, "I just hope I don't regret this."

As the Emerald Raptor tore an interdimensional hole in real space and made it's escape into the pocket dimension of Hyperspace, Poe let out an exhausted sigh as he collapsed in his seat. His body felt and probably looked drained, worn and gaunt to the bone. Though at the moment, he was more aware of the droves of sweat drenching through his clothes and making him feel like a soup cup. Still, this was only a momentary awareness as the reality of the situation set in.

They'd made it. Against all odds, twists of fate and general terrible luck, they'd made it. They had the map that Lor San had died to get to him, they had valuable intelligence on First Order doctrine and technology, and to top it off, he'd even managed to bag a Jedi survivor on his way out.

"Bag?" Rey asked with a bemused, almost teasing smile. Poe swiveled in his chair, shrugging slightly.

"Okay, maybe not bag… hey wait a minute, what'd I say about-"

"Poe, you were practically thinking out loud," Rey chuckled at him, "I'd have to be dense not to pick up on that."

"Ah, fair enough. Still, all things considered, this wasn't a complete disaster. We all got out this alive, and with the map."

"Yes," Rey nodded sadly, her eyes downcast, "but at what cost?"

"Yeah…" Poe shook his head as he braced it against his hand, snorting softly as he did. How many people had it taken for them to get to this point? Lor San, the Rangers, those people in the village? He shook his head again. It was pointless to ponder on it.

"No, not pointless," Rey chided him, "never pointless."

Poe smirked and raised an eyebrow, "Come on. I can't be that loud."

"Yeah, you actually are," she laughed as she leaned back in her seat, her eyes staring up at the ceiling for a moment. After a while of looking at nothing in particular, she sighed, "so, what now?"

"Well, as long as this thing holds up, we should be at the rendezvous coordinates in a couple of days."

"Are you doubting the integrity of my baby?"

"You did crash it into a million pieces."

"That's not fair! I got hit by an asteroid!"

"Wait, you're telling me you're so bad at flying you can't avoid a simple asteroid?"

"Yes… no, I mean… it wasn't that simple!"

"Uh huh," Poe beamed smuggly, "just be glad you got me to fly you around."

"Oh really?" she smirked at him, "Where would you be without me making sure we didn't pancake?"

"Pfff, that's just a bonus. Nah, it's me and me alone we're out of this mess."

BB-8 was quick to slap him over the head.

"Ow! What the heck, man!?"

Veed-bee-Boop-zee

"Okay, okay. So, we're both useful."

But not as useful as me! BB-8 boasted with his arms pressed against what would considered his hips, jutting out his chest.

"You have seriously inflated sense of self importance," Rey deadpanned.

And you're mighty proud of your big words!

Rey was quick to respond by levitating a thermos just sitting there and hurling it at him. BB-8 shrieked, ducked under Poe, and when Poe tried to shove him away from him, he bolted for the open doorway and down the hallway out of sight.

"Run little BB! Run!"

I'm gonna get back at you! Eventually!

"I look forward to it, BB!"

"Hey Rey? Don't provoke the flying beach ball. When he wants to hold a grudge, he holds a grudge."

"Poe, I've had to deal with the grudges of crime lords, Sith Lords and Cultists! I can handle a love stricken, cranky old droid."

"You say that now, but then…" he let the silence of the moment add to his point and Rey rolled her eyes.

"So, once we get to the rendezvous, what then?"

"For me, I dunno. Probably some much deserved R&R."

"And perhaps some beautiful women?" she asked with a sly, teasing grin.

"Well, yes," he deadpanned, "no R&R is truly complete without Sabaac, lots of brew, and lots of women. Oh, and you're invited if you'd like."

"Eh… I don't know. I still don't remember what happened the last time I went such a party."

"Hey, offer's on the table. Free to look at any time you'd like, and I take rainchecks. Now, I'm assuming Leia's going to want to talk to you when we make contact?"

"Yes, I suppose so," was all she said and Poe didn't push the issue.

"Now as for Finn… hey what's wrong?"

She looked up at him, sighing, "Poe, we need to talk about what you did in the Outpost."

"What about it?" Poe asked defensively, "Don't tell me you're saying I should feel sorry for what I did?"

"It's not about me, it's about Finn."

"Rey, those guys had no qualms about strolling into that Outpost and shooting everybody on sight, armed or not. I say what I did was fair."

"Poe, I'm not disputing that. From my point of view, I agree with you. But I'm not talking about me here. I'm just… I'm concerned about Finn."

"Look, I'll handle Finn."

"Poe, how would you feel if he killed your squadron indiscriminately like that in front of you?"

"That's not a fair comparison, Rey. I didn't have a sudden epiphany about who I was and what I was serving and promptly helped in a jail break. Look, we're at war, and like it or not, Finn may very well have to take that next step. It'd be stupid to believe otherwise."

"Poe-" before she could finish, an alarm rang from the instrument panel and Rey growled something as she shot from her seat to head for the door.

"Um, what is that?"

"Fuse line!" she called from the doorway, "It got fried, remember?"

"Oh, what's that? I thought you said I shouldn't doubt the integrity of your baby!"

"Oh shut up!" and she was gone and down a ladder. Poe chuckled to himself, and set about setting up an autopilot and hyperdrive warning system to inform him via intercom when they got close to their destination. A few more instinctual checks later, and he was unstrapping himself from the pilot seat, grumbling as he did.

"Okay Poe. Time to have a little heart to heart with-"

He heard heavy footsteps behind him and he spun around to find Finn standing in the doorway. Poe visibly paled at this, and slowly stepped away from the seat to somewhere with a bit more room.

"Uh… hey, Finn. I… um, was gonna go find you."

Finn nodded, his brow creasing as crossed his arms and leaned against the doorway, "Speak."

Poe straightened himself, the color returning to his face as he narrowed his eyes, "Okay, buddy. Here how it is. I ain't sorry for what I did, and if I had to do it again, I would."

For a long stretching moment, nothing changed in Finn's face or body language. He just stood there, stock still like a statue. Emotionless. Then something snapped in his eyes. He lunged forward like a panther, and before Poe could so much as breathe; Finn's hand was against his throat and he was slammed against the wall. His ears rang, his vision swam, his hands clasped desperately around the iron-like grip digging into his neck as Finn bellowed at him like the fiercest bass of a thunderstorm:

"THEY WERE MY BROTHERS, POE! YOU HAD NO RIGHT TO KILL THEM AS YOU DID!"

"Finn…" Poe wheezed and wriggled beneath the Stormtroopers grip as he gasped out, "they... were... massacring...gah, the settlement! They wouldn't have… ah, hesitated... to kill us!"

Finn bore into his eyes as he snarled, "They were doing their duty. They were following their orders."

"Not… good enough!"

For a moment, Poe saw in Finn's eyes the same desperate anger he'd saw not a day earlier when he'd admitted that he wanted to die. That he felt he no longer deserved to live. Now however, it was now directed at Poe himself, and he could feel Finn squeezing his throat tighter and tighter. But then, just as he was beginning to see light, Finn released him. As he collapsed on the floor, Poe saw why.

Rey was standing in the doorway.

"Stay out of my head," Finn growled, but Rey just shook her head at him.

"Not until you calm down."

"How? How can I calm down? He murdered my brothers in cold blood!"

Poe coughed behind him and fought his way back to his feet, "You frickin' kidding me with that? Did you not see what they did?"

"Of course I did," Finn shot back, "they were fighting armed hostiles. They dealt with them the way soldiers do."

"Those armed hostiles were just people, Finn!" Rey shouted at him, "People who just wanted to be left alone! Their only crime was being in the same area as us! Zuvio's only crime was employing me!"

"They killed them not because of what they did," Poe added, "but because they were in their way! That's why I did what I did!"

"And you didn't do the same, Poe? Your New Republic isn't exactly clean of its own crimes either."

"We don't go kicking in people's doors and killing them without a reason, Finn!"

"Don't be naive, Poe," Finn growled, "after all, your own government housed a conspiracy that got thousands killed just to kill to a mere few hundred."

"I may be a lot of things, Finn, but naive ain't one of them. And we dealt with them! And the New Republic is still standing!"

"At what cost, though?" Finn narrowed his eyes, "The Hutts and Zhan's criminal cartels are still puppeteering the Outer Rim. People under your New Republic's responsibility, and yet they do nothing."

"It's not that simple, Finn," Rey attempted to cut in, but Finn shook his head.

"It is that simple, Rey. If put in the same position, the First Order would have dealt with the issue before they'd let it grow out of hand."

"Oh really?" Poe shook his head, "You do realize that every single damn insurgent group, and every damn cult of frickin' maniacs we've had to deal with was funded by your government?"

Finn narrowed his eyes, "You have no proof of that, otherwise we wouldn't be merely talking it."

"Oh gimme a break!" Poe shouted at him, "Who else stood to gain from the Crises, from Antiga? And let's not forget what Rey told us about what happened to the Jedi! And now everything that's happened on Jakku!"

"I didn't take you for a conspiracy nutter," Finn shook his head at him, "and you've ignored what the New Republic did to Admiral Daala and her Remnant."

Now it was Rey's turn to shout in indignation, "Daala!? You're actually protecting that maniac!? She tried to destroy the Jedi and the New Republic! She had to be stopped!"

"How? By bombing them in submission? By blockading Pro-Imperial worlds who supported her? By kicking in doors and killing people who don't support your form of government? By doing no less than the First Order has done?"

"You're actually defending the folks you betrayed? After what they made you do on Jakku?" Poe asked in disbelief. Finn shook his head again.

"I'm not defending anyone. But you're being hypocritical with your justifications."

Poe's face grew as red as a raging inferno ready to erupt and take them all with him in the fiery aftershock. Before this could happen though, Rey stepped between the two men and quite suddenly the room felt… calmer. Yes, the anger was still very much there, but for a moment the two men were allowed to think and realize what had just happened.

"What did you do?" Poe asked.

"Telepathy," Finn answered, "trying to calm us down?"

"Well, you were about to hit each other," she shrugged, "and I didn't really calm you down, so to speak. I mean, you both have strong wills, and well I'm not exactly a schmuck myself but-"

"Rey," Poe interrupted her with a smile, "you're rambling."

"I know I am," she replied exasperated before her face grew serious, "Finn, I need to ask. Where do you learn about what's happened in the galaxy, and more importantly, from who?"

Finn narrowed his eyes, "The First Order, but..." then he trailed off.

Rey nodded, "Then I suppose they wouldn't have told you that her 'government', as you call it, sponsored terrorist cells that attempted to bring down the New Republic? That they directly financed Lumiya and her campaign that murdered thousands to kill not even hundreds, but just a few dozen? Did they even tell you that?"

Finn looked at her for a moment before he sighed, "No."

"Finn… I won't deny that we've done some questionable things, but we were dealing a faction whose sole purpose was my own people's complete and utter extinction, including my parents. There was no choice in the matter. It was either them or us, and we gave them every chance to come to terms."

"So you did what you had to in order to survive," Finn nodded, "this is no different than what my brothers did."

"Including what they did at the village?" Poe rebutted. Finn closed his eyes, his body becoming as tense as stone, and Rey could feel deep within him a conflict raging over his very soul. The very fact he was able to keep it contained, keep it out of sight and compartmentalize it was almost remarkable in a way.

After a moment, Finn shook his head, "I don't know what it is I am supposed to believe in anymore. Who I am or…" he sighed before he rested his eyes on Poe again, "I would have accepted what you did if there hadn't been a choice. That it was your life, or theirs. But it wasn't. We were free to leave, and yet you turned around and turned this ship on my brothers. That I cannot accept."

Poe shook his head disparagingly before he locked eyes with the man who had risked everything to save him, and now Poe in turn was trying his soul. "Finn... tell me something. Do you honestly believe that you will be able to keep your hands clean, or that I would be able to when the war officially starts up again?"

Finn stated, the fight gone from his voice, "There isn't a war yet."

"Finn, you and I both know that it's just around the corner. That even what we're doing ain't gonna stop it. I'm sorry, Finn… but there isn't any other way around it," he pointed a finger directly at Finn's chest, "you are an enemy of the First Order now. And they will do their damndest to kill you."

"I know," Finn said, "my own platoon commander was going to execute the both of us," he nodded at Rey, "regardless of orders, because he knew what I represent. I am a fault in the system. A compromise in the vision. And they will not stop until that fault is... corrected."

With this, he at last slumped into a chair, his face drained of its color and energy. After a long moment, he muttered, "I don't know what to do anymore."

Rey sat at his elbow, her hand at his shoulder, "We'll figure that out. Together."

Finn nodded, whispering, "I suppose so."

Suddenly, there was an ear splitting alarm as warning lights bathed the room in cycled crimson overtures.

"No no no no!" Rey screamed as she darted down the hallway, and in a few moments of perpetual confusion, Poe and Finn followed. A moment later, they ran into BB-8 running around like an Eopies with its head cut off, brandishing a fire extinguisher.

"Buddy, what the blazes is-"

They ran into the engine room to find it on fire. Rey was in a corner, trying desperately to hold back the inferno that was slowly but surely growing in strength and intensity. All around them, power fluctuated as the lights and consols flickered on and off, and Finn had to jump out of the way as a door almost chopped him in two. This sudden reaction broke their confusion induced stupor and they quickly grabbed spare extinguishers and went to working helping BB-8 beat back the fires.

"Can't you put this stuff out!?" Poe shouted as Rey slowly advanced forward. Through clenched teeth and shaking hands, she shouted back:

"The chemicals are feeding off of air in the room! I can't exactly force that out!"

Finn took the flank and started applying the foam directly to the engine compartment.

"Wait don't do that! You could damage the hyperdrive!"

"It's already on fire! It can't get much worse than that!"

"Oh yes it can!" Rey shouted, "It always gets worse!"

"Oh to blazes with this," Poe grabbed BB-8 and headed out the door.

"Hey where you going!?"

"Tie yourself to something! I'm gonna drop us out of hyperspace and open an airlock!"

"Um, are you sure that's a good-"

"Just do it!"

The two of them looked at each other for a moment, and then Rey pried open a door and hurled herself and Finn through just as the flames raged after them. A moment later, the Raptor tore through immaterium into material space. Already, the fire in the engine room was affecting the power systems, and Rey and Finn soon found themselves floating in the air. Worse still, Poe was quickly losing power in everything else.

"Guys, I hope you're ready! BB-8, open the airlock and bulk door," he checked the diagram, "5D. On my mark..."

On the other side of the vessel, BB-8 readied himself for the inevitable uphill battle of not getting sucked into space. Finn and Rey grabbed onto whatever they could as Poe's voice rang over the intercom:

"Mark!"

Suddenly, a loud scream rang out through the ship as the power of a thousand whirlwinds whipped through the halls and bulkways, tearing away anything not bolted down or magnetized into place. Finn, Rey, and BB-8 all struggled not to get sucked out with the rest of the garbage. Yet behind them, the engine door had not opened, and now the lights in the subsection had gone dark, with only the flames the source of illumination.

"Damnit, power's gone out in that area! I need to-chzzk!" and the intercom went dead. With only moments to spare, Finn gestured out to Rey and she nodded. She released her grip on the harness, and for a pivotal moment she floated in freefall before Finn grabbed at her belt and pulled her back in. Now with both hands free, she closed her eyes and focused all her power and might into what she prepared to do next.

With a groan of twisting metal and rending fibers, she forced the door apart. The flames blasted out, rearing out in a massive explosion. With a mere moment and three inches to spare, Rey brought her hand forth to halt the ball of fire and direct it right back in the sucking air current. BB-8 dove for cover as the flames roared his way, his gyros catching a breath or two as the inferno was sucked into space. Once cleared, he slammed himself onto the door controls, sealing the airlocks as fresh air was pumped back into the ship.

And then the lights went out for a final time.

"Okay… I think I got it gah!" Rey jerked her hand back as the electric coil shocked her hand. Fortunately, the result was enough as first emergency power and then dimmed sub-dermal lighting. Unfortunately, the gravity was still incredibly wonky, everything was still flickering and now the door to the room was opening and closing at random intervals.

"Well, that's a start," Poe replied as he pushed himself back down onto the deck platting, "how bad is it?"

Rey didn't even bother to look at the smoldered remains of the compressor, fuel and power lines, "Oh, we're basically dead in the water," she said with an exasperated smile, "the hyperdrive's fried, sub-lights out, and we're now running on auxiliary power."

"No chance of fixing it?"

"Nope."

"That's just swell," Finn groaned, "Poe, do you think you could contact someone out here?"

"Yeah, but the moment I do, everybody with a sensor array's gonna know we're here."

"Well, it's either we freeze to death, choke to death, or get shot to death," Rey beamed cheerfully, "which do you prefer?"

"Eh, probably the latter one… hey, buddy! What's wrong?"

BB-8 floated in in a hurry, Did any of you turn on an emergency beacon by any chance?

"Um, no. Why?"

Because there's one going off in the cockpit!

"Oh for crying out loud," Poe groaned, "Rey?"

"No idea."

"Well, let's go take a look, shall we?"

They didn't even bother running back to the cockpit, the feeling of exhausted defeat killing that kind of spirit in a heartbeat. Sure enough, a single red light indicating an outgoing transmission was blaring from the control panel. And right before anything else could be done, a ship a hundred times their size appeared out in front of them and all but buried them in its shadow.

"Hey Rey?"

"Yeah?"

"What was that you said about things getting worse?"

"I did tell you."

"Yup. You did. So much for things going smoothly."