Kylo Ren stood at the floor-to-ceiling windows of the repair bay watching droids endlessly shuffle about. Records recovered from the resistance base on Crait revealed the actions Admiral Holdo and her shameless attempt at heroics. The losses she had inflicted on the First Order had taken some time to recover. The damage to the fleet had been significant but not critical. Hux's incompetence still grated on Kylo Ren's nerves. The heavy-cruiser, Raddus had clearly been preparing to jump to light speed, yet in Hux's arrogance and inane ignorance, he did nothing. Kylo Ren once again considered killing Hux as he peered into the repair bay.

Officer Mitaka approached, "Supreme Leader," he began his address, "We have located the resistance base below on Tarik. It appears the rebels are attempting to signal for help from the outer rim systems. We traced a transmission through Tatooine."

Kylo Ren slowly turned from the window to face the officer, "You have the base on scanners?"

"Yes, sir, we await only your orders to fire and destroy it." He answered.

Kylo Ren's eyes took on a glow with a stinging fire that made Mitaka flinch instinctively.

"How many life forms?" He asked, his voice cracking with tension.

"Twenty, sir."

Kylo Ren turned back to the window.

"Sir, the transmission from the surface appears to have been signed by General Leia herself. It is an excellent opportunity to eliminate the last of the resistance leadership."

Silence fell over the officer as he felt tightness form in his throat that could only have one explanation.

"Ready my vessel." Kylo Ren ordered, his voice stronger again, no longer contemplative.

The officer's shoes clicked on the slick black floor as he fled the dark lord.

Lost in thought, Kylo Ren made his way to his chambers, he immediately passed through his small, but distinguished room to the window. The position of Supreme Leader did have some advantages.

Kylo Ren's eyes narrowed as he studied the planet before him, the image fading away into the outline of a girl. Her familiar form invading his vision once again.

"It's you." His said quietly as her features solidified before him.

"Why is this still happening?" She asked, glancing around him, avoiding looking at his eyes.

"Trust me, I wish it didn't." He said, his gaze never leaving her face.

"Your mother..." she began, but stopped, glancing to her left.

"What about my mother?" He asked his eyes narrowing, not wanting to give away that he knew her location and soon would be on his way to continue the conversation in person this time.

"She's ill, Ben, I mean...Kylo."

His concern turned to hurt for just a moment as she corrected herself, remembering how she had called him 'Ben' in Snoke's throne room.

"What is wrong with her?" He asked trying with every fiber of his being to seem indifferent but knowing that Rey could probably sense exactly how he felt anyway, if his familiarity with her feelings was any indication.

Rey softened slightly, "We don't know, she fell ill shortly after we left Crait, after Luke..." she bit her lip as his face hardened upon hearing the name of his uncle, "The medical droids can't explain it."

"If only she would give up her foolhardy plans. I could help her."

"She's not foolhardy." Rey countered.

He was about to challenge her with a defense of the First Order and all the political responsibilities his mother never understood when a beam of red emanated from the ship somewhere below his feet and shot out toward the planet before him.

"No!" He jolted forward, finger tips pressing against the glass in front of him.

"What is-" but she didn't have time to finish, her form fell to the ground and she disappeared.

"Rey!" He shouted. He spun toward the console behind him, slamming his fist into the communications panel, "Who ordered you to fire?" He bellowed.

The officer who had the misfortune of manning the bridge communications station answered, voice quivering, "General Hux did, Sir."

Rey rubbed her head gently, noting dripping blood from two separate places. She hadn't hit the floor hard, but the pieces of glass and wood at her feet from the ancient structure that housed them lay all around her guiltily. She tested her legs carefully and pulled herself to her knees. Her eyes began to focus on the chaos surrounding her but sounds were still coming to her jumbled and garbled.

Her eyes settled on the man who had introduced himself as Poe a few days before. He lay on the ground a few feet away from her, tilted to his side, appearing unconscious and bleeding from light lacerations as well.

"Rey, are you ok?" She heard a man's voice asking her. Where was it coming from?

"Rey, can you hear me? Are you ok?" The voice asked again, more desperately this time.

"Yes," she answered, her own voice sounding strange to her numb ears.

"Can you stand up? We need to get out of here. Now." She recognized Finn finally, pulling her to her feet and securing a steadying arm around her waist.

As he started guiding her to an opening that only moments ago stood as a firm wall she glanced back. BB-8 was inspecting Poe with his diagnostic scanners , "Wait, we need to help Poe."

"Rose and Connix are getting him on a repulser gurney," he answered, pulling her forward.

A few other Resistance fighters shuffled past them into the waiting Millennium Falcon, wheeling a makeshift gurney of their own, balanced atop was General Leia, still inside the bacta tank.

"Is she ok?" Rey asked, her voice hoarse.

"No change since before the explosion." Finn answered as he shifted to push her up the ramp in front of him.

She looked back at him, hesitating, "Why haven't they fired again?"

Finn shook his head in bewilderment, "No idea, but we're not waiting here to see what else the First Order has in mind."

She nodded, the motion making her head swim momentarily.

"Send a comm to the others, tell them we will rendezvous on Tatooine." Lieutenant Connix's voice was low and tired.

It had been a controversial decision, the group had broken into three different factions on the matter of where to go next.

Tensions were still running high as the order was given.

"I still say it's suicide," a voice grumbled from somewhere in the huddled group.

Connix looked around the group again, "Leia knew it was time to gather support for the Resistance from around the galaxy and enlist the support of other members of the Populist caucus of the former New Republic if we have any chance of defeating the First Order."

Rey shifted uncomfortably, her head aching. The talk turned political but through the haze that still encompassed her thoughts from the blast and her limited access to political news on Jakku she had difficulty following the debate.

Quietly, she slipped out of the group and limped slowly into the makeshift medbay. Rose was applying a bacta bandage to Poe's forehead when she arrived.

"You alright?" She asked.

"Yeah, I've seen worse." He answered, his brow furrowing slightly as he caught sight of her limp. "Has anybody looked at your leg?"

"It's nothing..." she waved him off.

Rose looked at her, "It isn't nothing, we have plenty of med supplies, for now anyway. You should sit down and let me look at it."

"What about General Leia?" Rey asked as she gazed reverentially into the bacta tank.

"I don't know, she seemed to slip away somehow, after Crait. Then she started to look pale and stopped eating. The next day...well, this..." Rose motioned to the tank.

"The droids at the base?" Rey asked.

"They ran every possible scan." Rose whispered. Rose was not especially trained in medicine but her familiarity with tech easily made her the most qualified among them.

Suddenly, the tank started beeping, breaking Rey's train of thought.

"What does that mean?" Rey asked, glancing back at Poe and Rose but they were already closing the distance.

Rose's fingers began tapping the control panel, putting in instructions Rey didn't understand.

"She's...waking up." Rose said, engaging the opening procedures of the bacta tank.