News of Poe Dameron's capture spread rapidly through the Resistance. With him gone, morale was considerably low; Rey decided the best course of action would be to regroup and fall back while she pondered the next move. She did her best to seal the bond between her newfound Sith counterpart and herself, in order to deter any eavesdropping of her plans. She was sure bits and pieces would trickle through, but nothing of consequence. She sent a message to her squadron through her comm link, demanding a full retreat.
Giving up now, are we? Kylo taunted. She knew that he was fully aware of Dameron's capture. She simply ignored him, attempting to push as much coldness through the bond as she could muster. He appeared to give up on antagonizing her shortly afterward, leaving her sharp presence alone for the time being.
Rey rushed through the trees, fumbling with her comm link as she walked. She paged Leia and waited patiently for a response, watching her movements carefully as she trudged through the underbrush. After a few moments, Leia's voice patched through.
"Rey? Rey, are you there?" The princess inquired worriedly.
"Yes, General Organa. It's Poe. Poe's been—"
"Captured. Yes, I know." Leia paused, contemplating what could possibly be done about the situation. "Return to base with your men. The battle at large must continue, but we can't fight without Dameron."
"Understood. Rey out." Rey shoved her comm link into her satchel and gestured for her men to pursue her as she sprinted into the woods, headed straight for base.
As she arrived, she was met with tired gazes and half-hearted smiles. The battle was taking a toll even on the technicians and auxiliary fighters. She offered as much positivity as she could, but it was clear that they were being worked too hard for it to have much effect. She continued into the main control area, where Leia was bent over a map of the battlefield.
"General," Rey addressed, approaching the map to assess the situation. Rebel forces were being pushed back in droves partly due to Rey's withdrawal. Leia looked down at the map with disdain, and shortly after turned to address Rey.
"We're losing footing out there. Having Poe gone is putting a massive burden on our air fighters' morale, to boot." She paused for a long time, pondering something as she chewed her thumb nail subconsciously. After a long silence, Rey spoke.
"What about a rescue?" She offered with confidence.
"Are you insane? How would we even manage something so brash?" The General quipped, glancing around the room at the serviceable troupe of men Rey brought along with her.
"There are enemy reinforcement ships present and unattended on D'Qar, correct? Could we not simply board one and wait in the cargo bay? I'm sure there would be extra uniforms lying around as well…" her tone became increasingly hopeful as she worked through the plan aloud. "This could work, General."
General Organa sighed deeply, looking at Rey and noticing that same gleam of bravery in her eyes that was present in her son long ago. "Take someone with you. Leave quickly and quietly." She paused and looked up and down at her, as though she were trying to absorb as much of her appearance into her memory as she could. "May the Force be with you."
"Yes, General." Rey ran off and out into the same area where she was before, glancing over the tired rebels. Many were struggling to stay awake, let alone perform their duties. A pang of guilt tugged at her heart, and she realized she couldn't ask any of them to risk their lives any more than they already are. She simply continued to jog past them and into the general direction of the battle; she was aware she would face repercussions for disobeying orders, but she was willing to deal with that consequence.
As Rey drew closer to the battlefield, she could hear the familiar whiz of gunfire echoing off the trees. She instinctively lowered closer to the ground as she walked, attempting to avoid any stray blaster fire. She could feel the heat of Kylo Ren's presence somewhere on the battlefield, though it was far from her. She was sure he could feel her as well.
You're back, I see. A very slight air of concern laced through the message sent through the bond. Rey continued to trek over some loose rocks, paying little attention to what he had to say. She projected a vision of what she was doing to him for just a few seconds. She would need practice controlling what he can and cannot see for this particular venture, so she took this opportunity to do so. The sight of Rey's feet feeling for secure stones with a deep ravine off to her side was transported to Kylo Ren; in return, she received a small sense of dread, as though he was anxious about her losing her footing. Other than that, there was total silence over the Force bridge. She pressed him out of her mind shortly afterward and continued on, expertly minding her footfalls as she went.
She came upon a ridge above a clearing where a group of rebels collided with the First Order; she noticed the rebels were pushing them back considerably here due to their understanding of the terrain. Rey looked closely at the section of woods that the First Order was funneling out of. She quickly deduced that a carrier vessel must be concealed somewhere in those trees. She moved faster now, speedily dancing through the brush as she ran the length of the ridge.
Once on the same level as the battle, she paid even closer attention to her noise level. The last thing she needed was for a stray Stormtrooper to alert the squadron of her presence. She stayed very low and reduced her pace to almost a creep, watching movement through the trees very closely. After a few moments, she noticed the glint of sunshine off the body of a vessel. She subconsciously quickened her pace as she came to the edge of the smaller, detached clearing where the carrier vessel had strategically landed. The sun was lowering at an agonizingly slow rate, and she realized it would be suicide to attempt to board with sunlight revealing her. She sat and crossed her legs, concealed by the tall grass around her, and carefully observed the movement of the First Order about the vessel.
She closed her eyes after a moment and sighed. It would be another few hours before she felt safe attempting to board. Distant blaster fire kept her alert, but she still longed to simply rest for the time being. After a few moments, she felt the presence of Kylo Ren enter her mind. She did not have the energy to push him away, although she refused to open her eyes to prevent him becoming aware of her plan.
You seem tired. He said to her after a long pause.
I want nothing more than to sleep right now, to be quite honest, Rey responded, almost immediately cursing herself for revealing a weakness. After a few moments, her vision was no longer dark; she was startled to see Kylo Ren's figure slowly fading into her vision, seated across from her inside of an unfamiliar cruiser. She nearly jerked her eyes open in surprise but suppressed it, realizing she could still feel the overgrown grass brushing around her corporeal body. The bond had strengthened. They could now physically see each other.
He had removed a considerable amount of his armor and was seated in a cowl, his helmet a few feet away from him on his bench. His scar from their battle on Starkiller base, all too familiar, was there in full view, and it caused her to wince slightly. He noticed, but did not say anything. He was equally as stunned to see her there, cross-legged on the deck, looking up at him.
"Can you see me right now?" Rey asked after a moment, her fingers curling over her kneecaps. He nodded slowly, his own tension becoming visible on his face.
"I didn't know this was even possible," he muttered quietly, unable to contain his surprise for a moment. He quickly regained his composure, however.
"Maybe this will make it easier for me to help you understand the Light," Rey stated after a few moments, resolve solidifying in her countenance.
"Maybe…" he trailed off, still in disbelief over her presence. He was staring at her absentmindedly for quite a while, and he realized Rey was staring right back at him. Their eyes locked for what felt like an eternity. So much emotion was twisting around behind her eyes that he was forced to look away. He could feel her eyes on him still, and he felt his face warm slightly. "I have to go. I have to deal with that Dameron."
Rey clenched her fists, anger building in her stomach. Every time she felt she could trust him, it was dashed away. Rather than giving away her plan, she simply stated "very well." As they both pressed the bond shut, their vision of each other faded, and soon she was staring at the carrier vessel once again. It was night time, and she realized that she must have been sleeping while communicating with Kylo Ren, as she felt far more rested. Noticing that the clearing was empty of Stormtroopers, she quickly rose and ran to the open carrier, her desire to save Poe Dameron now stronger than ever.
Her boots fell as silently as possible as she ran up the ramp into the vessel. She paused at the top of the ramp and glanced toward the pilot seat, only to see a sleeping Stormtrooper with his feet propped precariously on the controls. Rolling her eyes as she moved into the ship, she noticed that the pilot was the only person onboard apart from herself. Taking note of how fortunate this was, she slipped into the cargo bay below deck.
There were countless barrels and crates strewn about, and quite a few lockers lining the walls. She began to test each one to see if any were unlocked, cautiously muffling her sound; after testing four of them, she finally found one that opened to reveal a cadet uniform. It would fit a little large on her, but it would work. She changed clothes as quickly as possible, gently placing her saber and satchel off to the side while she worked. When she was fully changed, she stuffed her robes into her satchel and attached it to herself in such a manner that it wouldn't be noticeable; she similarly attached her saber horizontally to her belt, to avoid detection. The larger size of the uniform made it notably easier to conceal her equipment.
She glanced around the room, looking for the best place to hide for the flight up to the Star Destroyer overseeing the conflict on D'Qar. After a few moments, she noticed a tarp over some crates in the corner of the room. She moved as silently as her rubber boots would allow her to and slipped up underneath the tarp, pushing some crates out of the way to accommodate for her size. Once she was as comfortable as one could be in her situation, she closed her eyes once more, allowing herself to drift off once again.
A/N: I'd like to apologize for the near 2 years between uploads. I noticed a major plot point in this work was touched on in The Last Jedi - I won't mention what it was for those of you that haven't seen it, but it inspired me to come back to it. Please let me know what you think. I will keep working on this as long as I feel inspired to. Thank you for reading.