Chapter Seven – Rey's Exile

As the Resistance flagship, a Mon Calamari cruiser, departed Alderaan, Rey gazed out her cabin's window as Leia's asteroid receded from view. Once it became too small to distinguish from the other asteroids she got up and walked to the bridge. Once there she found Poe looking at a screen on the command terminal. Finn and Rose, who functioned as his chief lieutenants stood nearby chatting.

"Generals," Rey said by way of greeting.

"Hey," Poe said, without looking up from the screen.

"Hi!" Finn said, smiling.

Rose, who had still not quite gotten comfortable around Rey, looked at her and said, somewhat nervously, "Hello, Master Rey."

Rey shook her head and said, "Rose, you don't need to call me 'Master'. It's not…accurate."

"Aren't you a Jedi Master?" Rose asked, somewhat confused.

"No," Rey said softly.

"Oh…why not?" Rose asked.

"What do you mean, 'why not?'" Rey asked, somewhat taken aback.

"I mean, you are the highest ranking Jedi right?" Rose asked. "Because you're the only Jedi. And shouldn't the highest ranking Jedi be a Master?"

"I …don't know," Rey said.

"I mean what's the difference between a Master and Knight?" Rose asked. Then she said, somewhat excitedly at having an idea about the answer, "Is it an age thing? Are you too young to be a Master?"

"I don't know that I am even a Jedi Knight," Rey said.

"Of course you're a Jedi Knight," Finn said.

Poe finally looked up at Rey, a surprised look on his face, and said "You're not a Jedi Knight? I have definitely been telling people you are. For a while now. Years."

Well, there's rules for all this. And the rules say there has to be a Jedi Council to make someone a master, and a master has to make you a knight. But there hasn't been a Jedi Council in 60 years. Plus you have to pass a trial," Rey explained. Poe looked back down to his screen midway through the explanation.

"Did you pass a trial?" Rose asked.

"Sure she did. She fought Kylo Ren, killed Snoke and saved us all on Crait," Finn said proudly.

I've told you Finn, I didn't kill Snoke, Kylo did, and…," Rey began to say.

Upon hearing her Poe looked up again from his screen and turned to Rey, waving his hands in front of him to warn her to stop, while saying, "Hey, hey, hey, let's keep aware of where we are. I thought we agreed to not share all those details."

"No, you said that we shouldn't tell people that, and I said I thought that was ridiculous," Rey said.

Poe looked somewhat surprised as he said, "I thought you agreed with me."

"Why would you think that?" Rey asks.

"Well I think very highly of you Rey," Poe said while smirking, eliciting an eye roll from Rey.

"Either way, Crait should serve as your trials," Finn said.

"That makes sense," Rose said. "Anyway, what would be wrong with you just calling yourself a Master? I mean there's no one to say you are wrong."

"There's me," Rey replied. "And you all, now that I just told you."

"More details that were probably better left unshared," Poe said cheekily.

"Can you share with me what we are doing next?" Rey said.

Poe turned back to the terminal he had been looking at and activated the large central display in the bridge calling up a galactic map with a transparent red sphere in one corner of the galaxy to which he pointed as he explained, "The fleet is moving out soon. We know the First Order is somewhere between Korriban and Telos, living off of old Sith worlds. They don't have much fuel. They have to stay close to where they can resupply with food and water. So if we proceed world by world, starting at the edges and moving in, we are bound to run into them eventually."

"It means splitting up our fleet into about 20 different divisions," Finn said, annoyed.

"Are we going through this again Finn?" Poe asked, frustrated. "It's only divided up that much at the start. As we tighten the cordon, divisions will meet up with each other. And even at their smallest each one can hold out against everything the First Order has left for at least as long as it takes our nearest divisions to get there. We take out their fleet and we free those worlds."

"It could take months to find them though," Roe said, shaking her head.

"You too?" Poe yelled.

"The whole time they are bleeding those worlds dry, and taking their children," Finn said angrily.

In response to Finn Poe and Rey responded at the same time, Poe saying, "So you want to assault those heavily fortified worlds?" and Rey saying, "They aren't doing that anymore."

The three Generals stopped talking turned around to look at Rey and said "What?" in unison.

"The First Order isn't kidnapping children to train as stormtroopers anymore. They're only conscripting adults," Rey said.

"How do you know that Rey?" Rose asked tentatively and skeptically.

Rey opened her mouth to speak then shut it and looked at Finn. Poe, who initially looked confused at Rey's announcement, has a look of comprehension cross his face and turned to look straight at her. "Are you still talking to him?"

Rey hesitated for a moment before answering, "Sometimes."

"WHAT? WHY?" Poe yelled.

"Guys, keep your voices down! That or clear the bridge," Rose said quietly but sharply.

"You are telling me that you are talking to the enemy commander, and you are taking his word for it that he has stopped doing this terrible thing? This terrible thing that happens to be the thing most responsible for generating opposition to him? And you are just repeating this here, on my bridge, like it's true?" Poe said, barely keeping himself from yelling.

"He didn't tell me," Rey said. When Poe just stared at her, waiting for some explanation, she continued, "I saw it." When Poe's expression changed to confusion, she said, "In his mind."

"Like he can't lie that way too?" Finn asks rhetorically.

"No he can't," Rey said, "not to me." In response to this, Finn turned away angrily.

"I am not going to pretend to understand how this kind of communication works, but Rey, if you can see into his mind, then can't he see into yours?" Rose asked.

Rey thought about Rose's question for a moment before admitting, "He probably can."

Poe slammed his hands down on his console and yelled, "He probably can!? Dammit Rey, you have sensitive information! And you're saying the enemy can probably see it?"

After Poe's outburst everyone on the bridge had turned to look at the Generals and Rey, leading Rose to yell, "Everyone out! We are having a meeting of the command staff! Here, in the middle of the bridge!... Apparently. So please leave."

As Rose ushered everyone out Poe glared at Rey, bursting with anger, and after the doors to the bridge closed, he said, "Why are you doing this? Why are you talking to him at all?"

"You said that connection was something Snoke put in place. How could it be good for you to use it?" Rose asked

"If you all would just listen!" Rey yelled back before turning to Finn. "I told you, I can get through to him."

Rose reacted to this revelation with alarm. "You told Finn? About talking to Kylo Ren?"

Poe turned to Finn as well and said, "And you didn't think this was something you should tell me?"

"It was Rey's place to tell you or not," Finn replied.

"That's not how this works Finn!" Poe insisted. "You aren't some guy off on your own! You don't get to put your relationship with your friend above the security of this fleet. You have a responsibility that outweighs your personal…"

"Give him a break Poe, he didn't know about this risk, did you Finn?" Rose jumped in.

"I…," Finn began to defend himself before falling silent, not sure what to say.

"He just knew I talked to him at the funeral, and a couple of times over the years. Finn didn't know anything about any risks. But there aren't any…," Rey said.

"Really? You know that?" Poe shouted. "You know that he hasn't gotten in your head? That he hasn't found things out he shouldn't?"

"What is he going to find out that he doesn't already know? That he is losing? That he is trapped? That his choices are dying fast in a battle or being slowly hunted down? He knows that. Everyone knows that. We've won Poe! There's nothing he can do with any information I might have that he might get a hold of," Rey argued.

"Then why are you still doing this? If it's all over, what is the point?" Finn asked sharply.

"You don't understand. You weren't there with me…," Rey said before trailing off.

"We were actually!" Finn shot back angrily. "We were on board Snoke's ship at the same time you were. About to be executed by his soldiers. Poe was watching his friends die, ship by ship. All the while you two were having your little moment."

"Finn, calm down…," Rose said, worried that the discussion was escalating beyond reason.

"No, I am tired of you defending that monster!" Finn yelled.

"He's not a monster! You don't know him! I do!" Rey yelled back.

"Look at what he's done Rey, what else could he be?" Rose said, her tone the only one that remained anything close to calm.

Poe slammed his hands down on the console. "It doesn't matter if he's a monster or not. He's the enemy! After he surrenders, we can debate his responsibility for all the things the First Order did. But for now he is the enemy. And you can't be a member of this fleet if you are in communication with the enemy."

"What if my talking to him gets him to surrender?" Rey asked. "What if I can talk him out of fighting? What if no one else has to die?"

"Making much progress on that?" Poe asked sarcastically.

"He killed Snoke…," Rey offered.

"He killed Snoke so that he could take Snoke's place. It wasn't about you," Finn said.

"There is good in him, and I can draw it out if I get the chance," Rey insisted.

"He isn't worth it," Finn replied bitterly.

Tears were coming to Rey's eyes as she said, "He's her son."

"He is," Poe said, more subdued now. "And she knew him best. Knew him well enough to not try what you're trying. Leia didn't train you to turn her son. She trained you to defeat him. I have to know that you are willing to do that."

Rey looked at each of the three generals in turn, her face hardening to match theirs. "Then it's like you said, there is no place for me with this fleet."

"Rey, come on…," Finn started to say.

Rey silenced Finn with a look then turned and walked off the bridge. The door opened to reveal a hallway lined with the officers who had been on the bridge before Rose made them leave their stations. Rey walked between them, away from the bridge, the doors closing behind her. Poe, Finn and Rose stared at the door for several seconds in silence.

"What do we do now?" Rose asked. "Without a Jedi?"

"Poe, we can't let her go," Finn said.

"We can't make her stay," Poe said.

"We have to get through to her, make her see how important she is…," Finn started to say.

"No," Poe said sharply, "literally, making her stay isn't something we are capable of doing. We gave her our reasons. She didn't find them compelling. Everyone in this fleet is here by choice. They are here because they think destroying the First Order is more important than anything else. If Rey doesn't think that, then we not only can't we keep her here, we don't have a right to."

Finn, obviously unconvinced said, "It's a mistake to let her go."

"There's nothing we can do anymore buddy, she has her own path to walk. We have ours," Poe replied.

Finn thought for a moment before turning to leave the bridge as the bridge officers returned to their stations.