A/N: Sorry for the long semi-hiatus. Anyway here we go!

LIBERATION FLIGHT

Chapter 7: Friendly Forces

Control. Even now Rey could hear Luke Skywalker's steady admonition in her mind, reminding her to keep at bay the emotions that sometimes threatened to cloud her thinking. 'It's not just anger or fear, but also concern,' she told herself as she sat back in the pilot's seat of the small craft she'd borrowed for this leg of her mission. Even though she'd set the tiny corvette to autopilot, she still preferred being within reach of the controls.

The young woman fished a hologram chip out of her pocket and projected images onto the ceiling. "I should ask BB-8 to get more of these for me soon," she whispered as she watched a clip of Finn and Poe visiting a new planet, followed by footage of Jean Valjean and Luke Skywalker exploring the old Jedi Temple, and lastly a picture of General Organa and Chewbacca aboard the Millennium Falcon. 'I wonder what Cosette is up to. The last time I saw her was at Commenor,' Rey reflected. She could certainly feel that her friend was more or less safe; to her Cosette was a bright spot in her consciousness, steadier than even the sun over Jakku. It was rare that she felt any sort of disturbance concerning her fellow Jedi in training.

Yet it was at that moment that Rey heard a beep coming from her ship's long distance comm unit. "Hello there, what have you got?" she asked aloud as she pressed the button to view the message. She frowned on seeing the coordinates pointing to the planet Bakura, nearly halfway across the galaxy. The former scavenger sat up straight on seeing the familiar face of Cosette flicker onto the screen. "What are you doing there?" Rey whispered as she adjusted the controls to sharpen the image.

Cosette's face was calm, albeit streaked with soot, in the holo-clip. "Hello Rey. I don't know how soon this will get to you and the Resistance; I'm only tagging this to your tracking beacon and to the base. Anyway you might have seen by now that I'm at Bakura, near Endor. The First Order has just arrived here, and they have invaded the capital's spaceport. I do not have word if they have already reached the government and forced it to give up control of the system. But I'm telling you because Kylo Ren is here. His Knights seem to be absent, and the same with Snoke. But you and I have our orders. Please come as soon as you can. See you soon, Rey! And please stay safe!"

Rey shut her eyes as she closed the message. 'Ever since that day on the Starkiller, he and Snoke been calling to me too,' she thought. It was because, she decided, that she had the courage to face down Kylo Ren even if it had nearly cost her and Finn their lives. She knew that Cosette felt the same pull too, but perhaps not as greatly. 'Who else is out there?' she wondered. It was at times like these that she missed talking to Finn in particular; the pull on him was different but real nonetheless.

It was why she'd been spending her time tracking him all over the galaxy. 'This has to stop. He's being pulled in as much as we all are, but he's fallen and he has to get up again,' she told herself. Then of course there was General Organa's order—or rather, plea to her and Cosette.

'You both can understand my son,' the grim matron had said, stopping with her pacing. She glanced towards where Luke and Valjean were still talking. 'You'll be the next to face him. Not them.'

"What should we do then?' Cosette asked.

General Organa's eyes glistened for a moment but soon the steel was back in her dark gaze. 'Bring my son back. Alive.'

Rey took a moment to consult her star map before going over to the ship's holonet unit. "Hello boys. I'm headed to Bakura. We're all needed there. Don't take the trade corridor; there are sure to be First Order forces waiting," she instructed. Rey shut her eyes to gather herself even as she palmed the lightsaber hanging from her belt. Everything was happening sooner than she had hoped for. 'You made your choice when you left Jakku,' she thought as she took the ship off auto-pilot and keyed in a new set of coordinates for her route. She sat back after this, hoping for only one thing: to still arrive in time to stop impending disaster.