Hovering city of Geld:
The crew-workers at the landing-pad hook up hoses and cables to the luxurious shuttle. Inside, Finn is ready with the blaster while Rose reads the information that BB-8 digs up in the computer.
"Come on, Rose" Finn says over his shoulder.
"I got something. Good work, BB-8" Rose says. "Tons of standard communications and contacts that you can expect from a scoundrel. But, lately, we also have several logged transmissions to Moncala."
"Moncala?" Finn says.
Luxury Yacht:
"Moncala?" Poe says, speaking into his communicator. "That means either a moncal or a quarren. Good work, guys. Now get the hell out of there."
Hovering City of Geld:
"Copy that" Finn says.
Rose shuts down the computer and BB-8 disconnects. They all move to the exit and are forced to stay onboard and out of sight thanks to the crew-workers doing some exterior repairs to the shuttle.
Luxury Yacht:
Rey and Poe moves through the crowd, scanning for a possible quarren or moncal spy.
"There" Rey then says and points.
Leaving the top-deck is a small group of dignitaries, including a quarren and a chevin and four others. The chevin limps and uses a cane.
Rey gets a bit troubled by who she's spotted. "But it can't be him. That's Chancellor Holdo's personal attach . He's here to negotiate a treaty with the Kramalgi Federation."
"It's the only quarren around with ties to the Republic" Poe says. "Come on, before we lose them."
They move through the crowd to follow the quarren and the others. They are stopped, however, by Grand Admiral Armitage. Both Poe and Rey freeze, terrified that they have been recognized!
"Good evening" Armitage says and smiles a predatory smile, displaying his needle-teeth. "Forgive me, but I could not help but take note of the young lady from across the floor. I hope I don't intrude. Please, allow me to introduce myself; I am Armitage Xizahr, prince of House Xizahr and cousin to the heir apparent of Falleen. At your service" he adds and bows like a noble gentleman.
"Actually " Rey says.
But gets cut off by Poe. "Why don't the two of you get more acquainted and I will deal with that thing we really need to sort out."
Poe slaps Rey over the shoulder and hurries after the quarren, leaving Rey on her own with Grand Admiral Armitage.
"Well" Grand Admiral Armitage says. "Might I inquire your name, young lady?"
"Re Remmie" Rey says, almost revealing her real name at first. "Remmie Darkbright."
"Darkbright?" Grand Admiral Armitage says. "What a fascinating name."
"It's corellian" Rey says.
"Corellia? I spent some years there in my youth" Armitage says. "Tell me, where on Corellia are you from?"
Rey doesn't know what to say and just smiles like a buffoon.
Meanwhile, Poe follows the quarren down a flight of stairs and into a bar. The quarren and the chevin and the others moves through the bar and through a backdoor. Poe sneaks out onto a catwalk and finds a good spot to hide and listen in on the conversation taking place in a storage.
"The Republic are planning ahead, for after the war" the quarren says. "Chancellor Holdo believes the war will soon be over."
"The war will go on for many years" the chevin says. "The First Order should not be underestimated."
"Holdo is a fool" the quarren says. "She has convinced the senate that victory is within their grasp."
"So let them believe in that foolish idea" a third, very familiar voice, says. "I know that the First Order has something special planned for the Republic."
Meanwhile, Grand Admiral Armitage and Rey sit down in a booth, drinks on the table, luxury all around.
"So what do you do?" Rey asks. "For a living I mean."
"I am an admiral in the First Order navy" Armitage says. "In command of more than five-hundred warships."
"Really?" Rey feints surprise and excitement. "That sounds really exciting. But you must be hard pressed to win. As I understand it, the Republic is winning the war."
"It may appear that way, my dear" Armitage smiles and sips his drink. "Things will soon turn around, I assure you. But enough of boring military matters. Let's discuss more interesting topics, such as your marital status."
"My mari It's fine. My status is just fine" Rey tries to keep calm. "But the war will turn in the First Orders favor, you say? That sound really interesting to me. I was under the impression that your forces were on the run all across the galaxy."
"Tactical withdrawals, nothing more" Armitage says. "Consolidating our forces, luring the enemy into overconfidence. The Republic will soon be made aware of their error."
"Really? Don't stop, please, tell me more. It's really fascinating."
Armitage leans in closer, disgustingly close. "You know, we could continue this talk of strategy and tactics at a more intimate location."
"What could be more intimate than this?" Rey asks in a futile attempt to get Armitage off track.
Armitage chuckles. "You're a tease, aren't you, Remmie Darkbright from Corellia."
"And you are very handsome" Rey says. "And enthralling."
Armitage smiles confidently. "And you are very, very, beautiful."
In the storage, Poe listens in on the conversation between the chevin and the quarren and the third mysterious person.
The chevin turns to look at the quarren, holding up a data-stick. "Grand Admiral Armitage will be most pleased with the information on this data-stick."
"It was not easy to come by" the quarren says. "If the grand admiral succeeds, he could destroy half the Republic fleet in one move. Just make sure that the grand admiral does not forget who it was that gave him this victory. I expect to be well compensated when the war is over."
"Do not worry" the chevin says. "The admiral will not forget."
"I will make sure of that" the third person says. Poe tries to get a better view of the mysterious person, but can only make out that the man is wearing fancy clothes, a cape and a cane. "Just make sure that the Republic behaves accordingly, and let the First Order continue with their plans the third person says. Do that and we will all be rich in the end." Then a communicator beeps on his belt and he picks it up. Excuse me he tells the chevin and the quarren.
Hovering City of Geld:
A small troop of Republic guards walks out onto the platform and talks with the crew-workers.
"I can't believe this" Finn says, holding on to his blaster.
Rose turns to the droid. "BB-8, start up the cockpit. But keep it quiet."
BB-8 rolls off.
"What are you doing?" Finn asks.
"Getting us a way out of here" Rose says. "If I have to chose between getting arrested and flying out of here, I'm flying out of here."
Finn looks at Rose and then nods. "Alright. We're getting out of here."
The guards react to the shuttle's airlock closing and then the shuttle is slowly taking off. The guards pull out their blasters and open fire as the shuttle flies off. As the shuttle flies through the city, it hits a flying commercial-sign. In the cockpit, Finn looks at Rose, clearly not comfortable.
"I'm a mechanic" Rose says. "Not a pilot."
Finn tries to calm down. "Try not to hit anything else, alright?"
Luxury Yacht:
Grand Admiral Armitage and Rey are taking a walk along the railing of the yacht, a romantic stroll with an amazing view, had it not been one of Reys greatest enemies.
"So when admiral Ackbar moved his three heavy cruiser to secure his right flank, I knew he was confident of his victory" Armitage says, retelling a battle. "That's when I sprung my trap and moved a Star Destroyer up behind the three heavy cruisers and had it deploy all of its TIE Bombers. The combined firepower of the Star Destroyers turbolasers and the proton-torpedoes of two dozen bombers was enough to cripple all three cruisers. The battle was won and Ackbar retreated."
"Amazing" Rey says, pretending to be amazed.
"Oh, that was nothing" Armitage grins. "Let me tell you of when I arranged a cunning ambush that in the end killed admiral Ackbar, but also the infamous general Organa."
"I've heard much about her" Rey says. "One of the greatest heroes in the Republic."
"A pawn of politicians, nothing more" Armitage says. "She did Chancellor Holdo's dirty work when Holdo sent her to form a resistance against Supreme Leader Creel."
"She was the brother of Luke Skywalker" Rey says. "She was one of the prominent leaders of the rebellion against the Empire."
Armitage looks at Rey with some interest. "She seems to be a hero of yours, lady Darkbright."
"A fascinating woman, no more" Rey is quick to reply.
"On that, my lady, we can agree" Armitage smiles.
Poe rushes in. "I am so sorry, grand admiral, but I really must steal the young lady. We have an urgent matter to discuss."
"Good bye" Rey says as Poe drags her along.
"Good bye, my lady" Armitage says, a bit surprised at the sudden turn of events.
Poe and Rey end up in a somewhat remote part of the yacht.
"Well?" Rey asks.
"The quarren is the spy" Poe says. "He gave a data-stick to a chevin, containing information that will allow the First Order to take out half the Republic fleet."
"We have to get that stick" Rey says.
"We have not much time" Poe says. "Come on."
They climb down a ladder into a dark corridor, deep within the yacht, far away from its luxurious parts. Walking past exposed pipes, cables and machinery, they sneak down the corridor. Rey stops when she is lit up by pale blue light, and turns. Luke Skywalkers Force Ghost is standing in the corridor.
"We have to talk" Luke says.
"Now is not a good time" Rey says.
Poe turns around in the dark corridor. "What?"
"Nothing" Rey says. "Keep going."
Luke follows them. "It concerns the future of the galaxy" he argues.
Rey turns, slightly annoyed. "I'm sort of in the middle of something."
"Who are you talking to?" Poe asks, looking a bit baffled.
"No one" Rey says, annoyed. "Move."
Poe and Rey find a spot where they can peek past some pipes and get a glimpse of a meeting in a docking-bay. The chevin is there and Grand Admiral Armitage walks up to him. Luke appears again next to Rey.
"We must talk" Luke argues.
Rey turns and holds up a finger at Luke. "Not now."
Luke is clearly upset, angry even. "Why do I even bother " and then he fades.
Rey turns back and finds Poe looking at her, somewhat worried. "I'll explain later" she tells him and the two focuses on the chevin and Armitage.
The chevin hands Armitage the data-stick. "All you need" he tells the falleen. "All you requested."
Armitage holds up the stick and studies it. "You have done well, Master Gom."
"Please, call me Artham" the old chevin says, resting against his cane.
"Your contact in the Republic" Armitage then says. "Get rid of him."
This surprises the chevin somewhat. "I have spent a lot of wealth to secure such a high profile contact."
"And now you don't have to spend any more" Armitage counters. "It's either him, or you, Artham Gom."
Armitage turns and leaves. Artham Gom remains for a moment, thinking of his options, and then turns to leave as well.
"Poe! Poe are you there!"
Poe quickly picks up his communicator that could reveal his and Rey's presence. "Not now, Finn."
Midair, between the Hovering City of Geld and the Luxury Yacht:
The stolen shuttle moves at full speed. Rose is piloting and Finn is speaking into his communicator.
"Sorry, but we have a situation here!"
The shuttle is chased by two X-83 Twintail fighters firing blasters after the shuttle.
The Luxury Yacht:
Rey and Poe exit the interior of the yacht and run up to the railing, spotting the shuttle being chased as it and the two pursuing craft fly past the yacht. On another deck, the quarren spy also spots the chase.
The third person at the secret meeting is also watching the chase, standing next to a railing. He turns over his shoulder at a couple of henchmen.
"Prepare the cruiser. And get me another shuttle down here."
Poe and Rey walks a stairway and reaches the same deck as the quarren and spots him.
"There he is!" Poe says.
"Hang on!" Rey says and then removes the parts of her clothing that are more fit for a social event, but in the way while on an adventure.
Stolen Shuttle:
The shuttle moves in a tight turn around the luxury yacht and Finn is holding on for all his worth to not fly out of his seat. BB-8 rolls across the floor of the lounge-area and up against the wall. The two X-83s keep firing, missing most of the time but a few shots hit their mark.
The Luxury Yacht:
The chevin, Artham Gom, together with four thugs, is moving across the deck towards the quarren. Moments before they reach him, the thugs have even drawn their blasters, Poe and Rey runs up to the quarren.
"Representative Tentac" Poe says as he grabs the quarren by the arm. "On behalf of the Republic, you are under arrest for high treason."
"What?" the quarren is clearly taken by surprise. "Who are you? Do you know who I am?"
"Yes, we do" Rey says. "You're a spy and a traitor."
Poe pushes the quarren along. "Move it."
They don't get very far before the yachts captain and a group of guards stop them.
"What's the meaning of this?" the captain asks. "That man is the personal attach of the Republics chancellor. Explain yourselves!"
Poe takes a step forward. "Captain, I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but this man is a spy working for the First Order. I was sent by the Republic to arrest him."
Now, Artham Gom's thugs appear and draw their blasters. Rey spots them and drags Representative Tentac with her into cover. The thugs open fire and everyone ducks into cover, apart from a few of the yachts guards he get hit.
Poe is not pleased. "Thanks for the warning!" he growls at Rey.
"I'll try and remember it next time" she snaps back at him. "Hold him" she then says and pushes Tentac into Poe's arms.
Rey then unhooks her lightsaber, gets out of cover and activates the weapon, one blade only. She parries all shots aimed at her, deflecting a few back that kills two of the thugs. Another thug she uses the Force to throw over the railing, the poor man falling towards the ground far below. The last thug drops his weapon and runs.
Rey turns to Poe and their prisoner. "Get him out of here!"
Poe pulls Tentac on his feet. "What about you?" he then asks Rey.
"I'm going after Armitage!" she says and runs off.
The Shuttle:
The shuttle takes a couple of hits from the pursuers. Rose takes the shuttle through a hard turn and lines up with the yacht.
Finn braces himself. "I hope you know what you're doing!"
"So do I!" Rose replies.
The shuttle flies on towards the yacht and does a crash-landing on its top deck, dignitaries running to get out of the way. The shuttle coming to a stop as it hits the yachts central structure.
Finn turns to Rose. "You're not a pilot" he says.
She nods. "I'm a mechanic."
"You're a mechanic" Finn repeats.
Poe opens the airlock and drags Tentac with him onboard. "Who the hell is flying this ship?!"
Finn and Rose run to meet up with Poe in the lounge.
"Where's Rey?" Finn asks.
Luxury Yacht:
Armitage, followed by six stormtroopers, enters a docking-bay where a First Order shuttle is waiting. As he begins walking up the ramp, Rey runs into the docking-bay. Everyone turns to look at her, and as they do, she ignites both blue blades of her lightsaber.
The Shuttle:
Poe jumps into the pilots seat and flips switches and turns dials. Rose ties the quarren to a chair using cords and cables. Finn joins Poe in the cockpit.
"Can you get us out of here in this thing?" Finn wonders.
"Finn" Poe says, "do you even have to ask?"
The shuttle takes off, lifting vertically, and flies away. Within seconds, the X-83s gives chase.
The Luxury Yacht:
"Kill her!" Armitage commands and gets onboard his shuttle.
The stormtroopers opens fire while the ramp and airlock closes. Rey relies on spinning her lightsaber to deflect incoming blaster-rounds, deflecting some back and killing half of the stormtroopers this way. Two stormtroopers she kills by throwing the lightsaber and letting it spin in an arch. As she catches the weapon again, she Force Pushes the last stormtrooper out through the open docking-bay doors. Rey then runs, full tilt, and leaps! She manages to grab onto the shuttle and hangs from it as it leaves the luxury yacht behind. She holds on as hard as she can, but in the end, she can no longer hold on and lets go, falling through the clouds towards the ground below.
Out of nowhere, the Falcon appears, moving in under Rey and positions itself there. In the cockpit, Chewie manages the controls. Rey is slowly falling towards the stable and controlled descension of the Falcon, until she actually lands on its dorsal hull and can hold on. She crawls over to the dorsal airlock, pulls a lever next to it and climbs inside as the airlock opens.
Armitage's Shuttle:
The First Order shuttle leaves the planet behind and flies through space, leaving orbit. Grand Admiral Armitage is sitting in the passenger-compartment and turns to an officer.
"Get us to hyperspace immediately" Armitage orders. "We need to get back to the fleet as soon as possible."
"Yes, sir" the officer says and turns and leaves.
Armitage studies the data-stick that the chevin gave him and then closes his fist around it.
The shuttle makes the jump to lightspeed.
The Millennium Falcon:
The Falcon leaves flies through the atmosphere and leaves the planet. Onboard, Representative Tentac is secured with cuff-binders and tied to a chair by Chewie who gives him a proper growl to keep him in check. All our heroes are now onboard.
Poe looks at their prisoner. "We'll get back to Republic space in a couple of days. They'll love interrogating this guy."
Rey nods. "We'll find out what was on that data-stick, sooner or later."
Finn kneels in front of Tentac. "Do yourself a favor and tell us what was on that stick. You want to go through interrogation? Why not just tell us now?"
Tentac looks at them all, slightly worried how they are crowding him. BB-8 extends his miniature cattle-prod device and lets it flash.
The Falcon rocks suddenly and a red light flashes. Chewie growls and heads for the cockpit.
"Now what?!" Finn wonders.
Rey hurries after Chewie. "We're caught in a tractor beam!"
Rose sighs. "Just great."
Both Finn and Poe pull out their blasters.
The Falcon is pulled into the belly of a slightly larger vessel ( mirroring how the Tantive IV was pulled into the Star Destroyer in Episode 4 ). Our heroes are standing by by the airlock, weapons ready. An astromech droid enters the Falcon and plays a hologram of an alien speaking to them in an alien language.
"Please, surrender. If you chose to fight, we will flood your ship with poisonous gas and then we will jetison your atmosphere into space. The ship will be ours and you will be dead. Or, you lower your weapons, surrender, and live. I trust the choice is an easy one."
The crew of the Falcon lower their weapons and step out of cover. The droid move to the side and the alien in the hologram steps onboard together with a dozen armed mercenaries. The mercenary leader takes a look around and shakes his head.
"So many stories he says. This ship is a legend... Never thought it would be so easy to capture it."
Mercenary Starship:
Our heroes, along with the quarren, are escorted through the ship and into a lounge area. Here, the mysterious third person from the surface is sitting by a table overflowing with food and drink. It is Lando Calrissian!
"Chewbacca!" Lando exclaims and gets on his feet. "I knew you would find my old hunk of junk!"
Chewie growls and walks over to Lando and they hug. Chewie is sad when he speaks to Lando.
Lando nods. "Yes, I heard. I heard about Leia too. Im sorry, old buddy."
Chewie turns and speaks to the rest of the gang.
"Come, sit" Lando says and invites them all. "Please, help yourselves."
"Who are you?" Rey asks as she and the others sit down.
"The name is Lando Calrissian. Old friend of Chewbacca and Han. We go way back."
"Dont trust him" Poe says. "I recognise that voice. You were there when Tentac sold out the Republic. You're the middleman."
"I'm a businessman" Lando explains. "I admit that I did indeed set up the meeting between Artham Gom and Representative Tentac." Chewie is not ok with this. "Only business, old friend. I don't pick sides, you know that. A good deal is a good deal, no matter who offers it."
Finn puts his drink down. "So what did the scumbag quarren here sell to the First Order?"
Lando grins. "You'll have to ask him. That is none of my concern."
"What is your concern?" Rey then asks. "Why are we here?"
"You are here" Lando says, "because I needed to know who stole my shuttle and who interfered with my business. You're in luck that Chewbacca here is with you. That's the only reason why Im not selling you to the First Order here and now." Chewie growls to this. "Don't worry, Chewie. That's not gonna happen. In fact, I will help you. I will bring you all safely back to the Republic. The First Order has no reason to attack me, nor does the Republic. And I'll do it through quicker hyperlanes than old Chewbacca here knows about" he adds the last part with a smug grin and a wink.
Then the ship shakes heavily as it takes several hits. The mercenary captain enters the lounge.
"What is going on?!" Lando demands.
"We are being attacked!" the captain says.
"By who?!"
The captain frowns. "Artham Gom."
Another ship flies in and fires at Landos vessel. Three shuttles leaves the second ship and moves in and attaches themselves to Landos ship. The shuttles are boardingcraft and cut their way through the hull and mercenaries/pirates board Landos ship; the leader of the pirates is a Wookie with a cybernetic eye and cybernetic arm and leg. A battle errupts onboard between Landos crew and the boarding party. Lando and our heroes join in on the fighting.
At one point, a large droid that belongs to the boarding party takes aim with a big gun that is replacing its right arm; it launches a web that snakes Represenative Tentac and pulls him in with a tether, the quarren being dragged along the floor towards the boarding party. Finn throws himself ontop of the quarren and is dragged with him; Finn guns down the droid, then shoots the tether and pulls Tentac up over his shoulder, getting ready to run back with him. Thats when the pirate Wookie grabs hold of him and throws both Tentac and Finn back to the pirates. Finn tries to get back on his feet, but the Wookie pirate picks him up and uses him as a shield, holding a blaster against his head.
The wookie pirate growls at our heroes as the pirates withdraw with both Tentac and Finn as their captives. The pirates enter their shuttles and leaves, heading back to their mothership.
Poe runs up to a window and looks at the shuttles and the hostile ship. "We need to go after them! Tentac is the only one who knows what was on that data-stick, and I'll be damned if I abandon Finn."
"Unfortunately" Lando says, "my ship is in no condition to go after them."
"We have a ship" Rey says. "We have The Falcon."
Rose nods and turns to Lando. "Do you have any idea who took them?"
Lando nods in return. "I have a pretty good idea, yeah."
The Millennium Falcon detaches itself from Landos damaged ship and flies away, shooting off into hyperspace.
To be continued...
I tried to create a fun sequence where we get to see some fun aliens at the social event and have our heroes do some fun stuff, stealing a shuttle, chasing a spy and trying to capture Grand Admiral Armitage. There's a big risk this is just as horrible as Canto Bight, but I hope it is a bit more exciting. And of course, then Luke appears and reveals to Rey that something dark is brewing in the Force and it most likely is the return of a Sith lord. In the rewrite we now run into Lando, learning he is up to his old scoundrel tricks. Our heroes are now also on a quest to recover Finn and a spy they need in order to learn what information was sold to the First Order.