The Redemption of Ben Skywalker

by AngelofTartarus

Reylo AU. While the fight against Palpatine is over, the war is not finished. The First Order has regrouped and its generals have seized power in the absence of Kylo Ren and are continuing their mission to conquer the galaxy. Rey, Ben, Poe, and Finn must overcome their differences to defeat the First Order once and for all. Pairings: Reylo, Poe/Finn

15. Not the Cooperative Type

Chapter 15 – Not the Cooperative Type

---

Ben shifted his jaw to ease the ache of being punched countless times.

"What did the Resistance give you in return for your help in infiltrating the Retribution?" the interrogator asked again.

Ben almost laughed at how incompetent the interrogator was. He was far too inexperienced at this and it showed in how he kept looking to the commanding officer for guidance. With General Trem out of the picture, the starship's hierarchy had been thrown into chaos. Ben had hoped that rumors of Trem's assassination would spread like wildfire and cause a revolt due to the leadership void, but there was no such luck. The commanding officer before him had managed to restore order – just barely – and had come to take over the interrogation. When the man had stepped into the room, Ben had done a double-take because the man's coloring and demeanor had reminded him so vividly of General Armitage Hux with his bright red hair and over-the-top stuck-up attitude. He'd introduced himself as Colonel Revvin Tarlkon. Ben suspected he was the highest-ranking officer on the Retribution after Trem despite his mid-level rank.

"Again," Tarlkon nodded.

The interrogator's fist landed on Ben's jaw with punishing force.

"Do I need to repeat myself, traitor?" the interrogator shouted, getting in close.

Ben gave him a bloody smile, offering nothing else.

"The Resistance fighters are long gone. They left you behind," Tarlkon told him matter-of-factly. "They abandoned you. You don't owe them anything."

Ben relaxed inwardly. Rey and the others had escaped successfully.

"Why did those three Resistance fighters board this ship with no reinforcements? What were they looking for?"

Tarlkon and the interrogator exchanged exasperated looks at Ben's continued silence.

"Let's up the pain," Tarlkon ordered. "See if that will persuade GB-8275 to answer our questions."

The interrogator took an electrostimulation rod off the wall of torture devices and activated it. He snapped it against the table, trying to be intimidating. Ben would have respected them more if they skipped ahead to using the poisons derived from the carnivorous plants on Tanidor.

Ben kept his tongue out of the way of his teeth as the interrogator jabbed the rod into his diaphragm. His muscles seized as electricity coursed through him and seared him with agony. Not as bad as Force lightning but not a walk in the park either.

"Colonel!"

An officer burst into the room and the interrogator and Tarlkon turned to face him. Ben panted through clenched teeth as he was given a reprieve.

"What is it?" Tarlkon asked briskly, annoyed by the interruption.

"We tracked down everyone GB-8275 has made contact with in the past day. We think we've found a potential accomplice," the officer breathlessly reported. "According to the security footage, he had a lengthy conversation with a Sergeant Mikhail Childsen in the detention block where the prisoners were being held. He stole the woman's lightsaber from the storage locker with Childsen's assistance and the prisoners escaped not long after their exchange."

"Bring Childsen here," Tarlkon ordered. "I want to speak with him."

"Yes, sir!" the officer turned on his heel and spoke into his comlink as he exited the room.

"Your criminal enterprise is crashing down around you," the colonel told Ben coldly. "Last chance to confess your wrongdoings."

"Alright, I admit it," Ben relaxed in his restraints in a parody of confession. "I'm guilty."

"I'm listening," Tarlkon's impassive mask slipped, his face lighting up with boyish joy.

"I waste resources," Ben said, barely keeping his lips turning up in a self-satisfied smirk.

"What?" Tarlkon frowned in confusion.

"I use far too much conditioner for my hair. It's a problem, I freely admit," Ben turned his head to the side to spit out the blood pooling in his mouth. "I also took a B-50 bomber out for a joyride once, just because I could."

"What are you kriffing going on about?" Tarlkon turned pleadingly to the interrogator.

"He's fucking with you, sir," said the interrogator, looking straight ahead. "Wasting time."

Ben couldn't help the chuckle that came out. The colonel turned back, scarlet bleeding into his cheeks as his temper rose. He grabbed Ben's jaw in a fierce grip.

"Do you think this is a joke?" Tarlkon hissed.

"I think you're a joke," Ben stared him down. "Are you aware you still have your baby fat?"

The insult was worth the punch he got for it. This man may be in command of the dreadnought, but he didn't have the bearing or authority it took to lead. He possessed no leverage to command through respect or fear. He was lucky he hadn't been usurped yet in the several hours he'd been in control.

The doors to the interrogation room swished open and a stormtrooper squadron entered. Among the sea of white armor, the disheveled officer caught in their grip was a stark contrast. Childsen had been roughed up before he'd been dragged in.

"Mikhail Childsen," Tarlkon gestured for the stormtroopers to restrain the man in one of the empty chairs. "What did the Resistance promise you in return for your assistance?"

"I would never help those traitors!" Childsen denied it vehemently. "I'm loyal to the First Order!"

"Your actions speak to the contrary," Tarlkon persisted. "You're often seen in the company of your friend here. And we know for a fact that GB-8275 helped the Resistance scum assassinate General Trem and then escape unscathed. The odds that you had nothing to do with this nefarious plot are slim to none."

Ben met Childsen's gaze and the man's jaw dropped in shock. His ruse had evaporated like water vapor on the hot sands of Tatooine.

"This isn't GB-8275. I've never seen this man before in my life," Childsen said, getting over his surprise quickly. "I'm telling the truth!" he said, shying away from the shock prod the interrogator brandished in his direction. "Look him up in the database. This man doesn't look anything like GB-8275!"

Tarlkon snapped his fingers and an officer obediently handed him a datapad. With a few swipes, he brought up the file and stared at it blankly. The air was rife with curiosity as Tarlkon analyzed the information.

"Well, it seems like we have a more interesting mystery on our hands," Tarlkon beckoned a trooper to release Childsen from the restraints. He turned the datapad and thrust it in Ben's face. "Who are you?"

Ben was expecting to see the man he'd overpowered on the Falcon, but the image on the datapad was of a blonde, fair-skinned male. Who the hell had he stolen this armor from?

"It all makes sense now. You're Resistance too, aren't you?" Childsen glared at Ben as he stood up and straightened his collar. "You've been impersonating my friend ever since the others came aboard. What did you do to him?"

"What's it to you?" Ben snarkily asked.

"You asshole!" Childsen lunged forward and shook him by the throat. "Where is he?"

"Sergeant, control yourself. We are civilized beings," Tarlkon reprimanded him, pulling him off Ben. "Tell us your side of the story."

Childsen glared at Ben as he relayed his tale. "A while after the Jedi and her friends were detained in the detention block, a man who I thought was GB-8275 came and said he was there to drop off another confiscated Resistance object. I had just opened the cell block storage box for him when General Trem came to retrieve the rebel scum. I got distracted," He blushed in shame. "This man must have stolen the lightsaber when I wasn't looking. The general took the Resistance fighters to the interrogation level and he followed them. The next thing I know, the general is dead, the Retribution is on lockdown, and the Resistance fighters had escaped."

"Aww, does this mean we can't get drinks later?" Ben pouted in mock disappointment.

Childsen snatched the electrostimulation rod from the interrogator and jabbed the point into Ben. Surprised by the sudden retaliation, Ben let out a sharp cry before he cut off the noise and endured the pain through clenched teeth.

"You're going to pay for attacking my people," Childsen said cruelly. He took the torture device away and turned the dial up. The rod crackled harshly as the power increased.

Ben tutted at him. "Did I hurt your feelings by impersonating your best friend?"

Childsen snapped the weapon against his shoulder and Ben almost bit his tongue in half as electricity arced down his spine.

"Tell us where the Resistance base is," Childsen ordered him.

Ben spit the pool of blood in his mouth into the sergeant's face, covering him with the red spittle. "Bite me," he bared his teeth viciously.

-oOoOoOo-

"Finn, who is this?" Rey asked again, getting antsy as she felt Finn's disbelief and shock growing. She was about two seconds away from locking the unidentified man back into the storage locker.

"This…" Finn coughed and swallowed hard. "This is DJ, the slicer that Rose and I met in Canto Bight," He finished unraveling the crude restraints binding DJ's arms. "DJ, this is my friend, Rey."

"I wish I could say it was a pleasure to meet you," DJ stood up, rubbing the feeling back into his arms. "B-But being locked in a metal box for hours on end hasn't put me in the best mood."

Rey frowned, instantly biased against him. She hadn't liked him before due to how he'd double-crossed Finn and Rose to save his own skin. She didn't like him any better now, having met him.

"Believe it or not, this is a fortunate turn of events," Finn told him. "We've been looking for you. We need a slicer who knows the Canto Bight Casino's systems and you're the expert."

"No can do," DJ shook his head. "I ain't going back there."

BB-8 rolled forward and whistled threateningly. A port opened on the droid's dome and the electroshock prod came out. The droid jabbed the crackling tip at DJ's calf.

"Hey, once was enough," DJ nudged the droid away. "I admit, I probably deserved it the first time."

"Probably?" Finn crossed his arms. "Rose and I trusted you to help us and you stabbed us in the back when the going got tough. And for what? Credits?"

"It was nothing p-personal," DJ shrugged apathetically. "As I told you, it's just business. There's always some war or other going on and each side believes they are the good guy. Is it so r-reprehensible for me to look out for myself?"

Finn's eyes flashed dangerously and he clenched his fists tightly.

"I understand you, DJ," Rey cut in before Finn's temper could boil over. "As a scavenger on Jakku, I had no one else to look out for me. If I didn't climb over other scavengers to take valuable finds for myself, I didn't get to eat. If I turned my back on someone, I would get stabbed. But then I met BB-8 and Finn and all that changed."

"Spare me the sentimental, motivational speech," DJ rolled his eyes and pushed past them.

"I found a cause worth fighting for," Rey followed him into the main hold, refusing to give up. "I made friends I can trust. That is worth more than a pile of credits."

"It was a pretty large pile of credits," DJ grabbed a spare jacket lying on the bench and put it on. He slid into the booth and activated the dejarik board.

"Then let's talk credits," Finn took the seat across from him. "We're going back to Canto Bight to take everything they've got. The casino is in cahoots with the First Order and we're going to cut off their credit flow."

DJ chose his characters and started the game. The Grimtaash hopped forward to challenge the Molator with a grunt.

"We need you, DJ," Finn told him plainly. "We need your skillset to ensure this mission is a success. If you help us, we'll make sure you're handsomely compensated."

"How much does it p-pain you to ask for my help?" DJ wondered as his Mantellian Savrip lumbered across the spaces to attack another piece. The computer retaliated with a double attack from the Monnok. "Do us all a favor and drop me off at the next spaceport."

"I'd rather-"

"I think what Finn means to say," Rey clamped a firm hand on Finn's shoulder as her friend made to stand up. "Is that if we work together, we will all benefit. You'll earn a hefty commission and notoriety for bringing down a powerful organization. We'll be able to dismantle the Canto Bight operation and cripple the First Order's funds. We'll part ways amicably. Surely that's a fair trade?"

"Nothing is f-fair," DJ retorted. "You should know this."

"Rey? Finn?" Poe's voice sounded from outside the corridor.

"In here!" Rey called back to him.

"What's going on?" asked Poe as he came into the room. His gaze snapped to DJ playing dejarik. "Who are you? Isn't that Ben's jacket?"

Rey's gaze snapped back to an uncaring DJ. She narrowed her eyes. That was Ben's jacket.

"This is DJ," Finn introduced him. "The slicer we've been trying to find."

"He just happened to be the man that BB-8 locked in a storage locker?" Poe asked in disbelief.

"Funny how life works, huh?" DJ said dryly.

"Yeah, it is," Poe agreed and decked him in the face. "That's for having no honor."

"My kind has a different type of honor," DJ moved his jaw around to soothe the ache. He seemed unperturbed by Poe's sudden attack. "You wouldn't understand, Rebel boy."

"You're right, I don't understand," Poe said angrily. "I don't double-cross people."

DJ's eye twitched at the word. Rey barely noticed it. Blink, and she might have missed it.

"Who double-crossed you?" she asked curiously.

"No one," DJ replied, but there was a hint of steel in his voice. "War is a business, and it s-sometimes gets involved with politics."

He played the Scrimp piece against the Ng'ok, but it fell with a tiny shriek and lay lifeless on the dejarik board.

"It was the First Order, wasn't it?" Finn asked knowingly. His brow crinkled as he concentrated his growing mental powers on DJ. "It happened just after our encounter on Canto Bight."

"You thought you'd made a deal with them," Rey gleaned from DJ's surface thoughts and emotions. She knew she was on the right track as DJ's shoulders tensed. "But you were taken for a fool instead."

"Stop that!" DJ shouted at both of them, standing up and backing away. He finally met their gazes, his brown eyes bright with anger and fear.

The dejarik board chimed a note of defeat as the computer system won the game.

"You were deceived, twice betrayed," Finn surmised.

"I said, stop that!" DJ backed up until he hit the wall.

"Tell us what happened," Finn said, moving in and crowding him.

Rey blinked in surprise as she felt the compulsion to speak. It wasn't a request, it was an order.

"I…" DJ wavered for a brief second. He swallowed heavily and spoke as though the words were being pulled from him. "I returned to Canto Bight to deal with some unfinished business after I traded you and Rose for the c-credits. But when I tried to use the credits, I couldn't."

"Why not?" Rey asked.

"They were worthless counterfeits," DJ bared his teeth in outrage as he remembered. "When I was a-arrested and incarcerated, I learned what the credit chips had truly contained. Illegal narcotics and bank codes for one of the First Order's secret accounts. They used me as a m-mule to smuggle it into the casino and provide Spice for those fat pigs."

"All the more reason why you should help us," Finn argued. "The Canto Bight Casino owners and their patrons need to be brought to justice. And in doing so, we will continue to chip away at the First Order's power."

DJ sneered at him, but Rey could tell he was affected by the suddenness of which he'd bared his soul for them.

"I have no interest in justice," he said.

"Yes, you do," Rey retorted. He would probably deny his true intentions all day. DJ was a complicated man, but his true feelings were rising to the surface. This betrayal had cut him to his core and he was angry. A proper, bone-deep anger. "Why else would you have been aboard a First Order dreadnought if not for revenge?"

DJ's mouth moved without making a sound as he floundered for something to say. What could he say to convince them that he didn't really want to go with them?

"Help us, DJ. Hack into the casino's mainframe for us and shut down their whole enterprise," Finn pleaded. "Help us make this right, not only for yourself but for the entire galaxy."

DJ gave him a long, calculated look. Interest flashed in his eyes and satisfaction bloomed in his aura before disappearing quickly. "If I do this, I want what I'm owed. I want my credits. I'm not a righteous person like you."

"It's called having a purpose," Finn said. "I'd rather have that than a pile of credits any day."

"Perhaps o-one day I'll see things your way," DJ shrugged, back to his unfeeling ways. "But not today. Credits are better."

"Then we'll get you your credits," Finn smiled with a hint of disdain as it was clear DJ had capitulated, but not for honorable reasons. He did want revenge on the First Order, but he just wanted to do it on his own instead of getting involved in their crusade. "We'll get you in, you hack them, and we'll take them for everything they've got."

"This better not go wrong," DJ warned him. "I'm not saving y-you again if you get arrested."

DJ sidled around them and exited the room.

"Should we call this a successful negotiation?" Rey wondered. It just felt like he'd capitulated too quickly.

"I would wait until after the mission to pass judgment," Finn cautioned her. "He's agreed to help, but he could still bail or sell us out to the Canto Bight authorities."

"I'll watch your backs for you," Poe assured them. "He won't get another chance to betray us."

A faint beeping sounded from the cockpit.

"Those are the long-range sensors," Poe said. "They've picked up something."

"The First Order?" Rey guessed. "I thought we got rid of all the trackers."

"They might have just followed our trail to Corsin," Finn noted, but he sounded a little unsure.

They rushed back towards the cockpit, passing DJ who was raiding the pantry for food.

"Hey, that food needs to last for five more cycles!" Poe pointed a finger at the man. "Don't eat all of it!"

DJ just grunted and took another nutrient pack from the storage container and shoved it into his pocket.

Poe slid into the pilot's chair and flipped a toggle to bring up the sensor data.

"It's the First Order alright," he said. "A scouting party. They're orbiting Corsin, but none are pursuing us. They don't know where we went."

"They could be setting up a base and sending out probes," Finn cautioned. "The Falcon has a pretty distinctive vapor trail."

"I'll change a few things," Poe got to work, adjusting their trajectory and engine settings. "It should be enough to throw them off our trail."

"Let's search the Falcon again," Rey suggested, not wanting to take any chances. She had a bad feeling about this. They weren't going to the base on Ajan Kloss, but they were meeting up with the Resistance. "I'll start with the below-deck regions."

"I'll come with you," Finn offered.

They started their search again for any tracking devices. Rey was able to rig up crude detectors to help them. Their search turned up nothing, to her relief. Her impending sense of dread had nothing to do with their situation, but she feared it had to do with Ben. Even as she thought of him, her arm twinged with phantom pain and her bones ached. He was a grown man with a fearsome past, yet she could not help but worry about him because of the Force-suppressor bindings he wore. The sooner they completed the Canto Bight mission, the sooner she could go after him.

-oOoOoOo-

Ben kept his tongue safely away from his teeth as he didn't want to accidentally bite it off. The electrorod landed on the same spot on his right arm. The skin had long since lost feeling, but the muscle beneath could still receive stimulation. He grunted as sharp pain radiated from the area. The bones were surely broken by now and causing their own damage with each hit that Sergeant Childsen dealt him.

The air around him shimmered and it took him several seconds to recognize it wasn't his double vision acting up. He pushed back against the dyad, refusing to let it establish a connection with Rey. It would serve neither of them any good. She wouldn't be able to see where the dreadnought was and he couldn't tell her where the ship was. And seeing his pain would only make her suffering worse. He would get himself out of this bind and wreak havoc on his captors.

"Do you still maintain you're not a Resistance fighter?" Colonel Tarlkon asked. There was a hint of respect amid the annoyance in his voice for Ben's continued defiance. "You've gone to a lot of trouble to defend your friends who have abandoned you."

Ben shifted his arm to a position that was a little more comfortable. He'd do anything to protect Rey. They'd underestimated his stubbornness on the matter. Arms could be replaced. In fact, this could work in his favor. At least then he'd be rid of one of the suppressor cuffs.

"Colonel!" A stormtrooper with a scuff mark on their helmet entered the interrogation room and gave a snappy salute.

"Trooper," Tarlkon nodded in response. "Has Medical cleared you to return to active duty?"

"Yes, sir. I was discharged not too long ago," she acknowledged.

Ben recognized the stormtrooper who'd been a part of the initial search of the Millennium Falcon. She'd been knocked out by BB-8 during their pursuit of the swift little droid.

"I returned to the docking station the intruders used and searched for clues about what they were here for," she reported clinically. "I found someone knocked out in one of the storage rooms. I thought he might know something." She gestured sharply for someone to enter the room.

A fair-haired man in loose, disheveled undergarments and an ill-fitting rumpled overcoat stepped into the room. He had a nasty cut above his right eye. Tarlkon wrinkled his nose in distaste at the man's lack of uniform.

"Sir," said the man as he gave a salute. "My designation is GB-8275. I was on duty near the docking station."

"Thank the stars you're okay!" Childsen interrupted. He rushed to the man and gave him a warm embrace. "I thought the worst had happened."

"I'm alright," the stormtrooper said with a tired smile.

"What happened, trooper?" Tarlkon asked with a hint of impatience.

"I was disarmed and taken hostage," he relayed. "I was forced to access the computer core. I don't know how he did it, but he hacked into the mainframe and downloaded some data to a chip. He got angry because he couldn't break the encryption to read the information."

"Is this the man who overpowered you?" Tarlkon gestured sharply at Ben.

The stormtrooper blushed. "I never saw his face. He was wearing a mask."

"Bloody hell," Tarlkon growled. "Does nobody have any answers?"

"I'm sorry, sir," the stormtrooper apologized profusely.

"Go get cleaned up," the colonel dismissed him with a wave of the hand. He turned on Ben as the stormtrooper left the room accompanied by Sergeant Childsen. "What data did you steal? What does the Resistance want with it?"

Ben remained stubbornly quiet. He was also deep in thought about what the mystery man could have stolen from the dreadnought. And why had he been trying to use the Falcon's computer to decrypt the data?

"Colonel, we just received a transmission from the Supreme Leader!" reported an officer at the communications console.

"Read it out," Tarlkon commanded.

"Cease interrogation of the Resistance fighter. The Supreme Leader will take over the questioning. Estimated time of arrival is five hours via the Dreadnought Vespira."

"Who the hell informed the Supreme Leader?" Tarlkon's eyes flashed dangerously and his lip curled into a sneer.

Silence answered him as no one wanted to speak up and risk his ire falling upon them. The irate colonel jabbed a finger at Ben.

"Count your lucky stars," he said. "You get a momentary reprieve."

He stalked out of the room, angrily talking into his comlink and ordering some poor soul to find out who leaked the information. The other officers followed him out of the interrogation cell, leaving only a couple of guards. Ben subtly jiggled his shackles to see if there was some give in them. He noticed the metal band on his right wrist hadn't engaged fully into the locking position since it'd gotten caught on the suppressor cuff. He gently worked the shackle against the chair, biting his lip to fight against the pain radiating through the ruined arm. He had five hours to get free, overpower the guards, and steal a ship. Time to get to work.

-oOoOoOo-

Rey's senses were working overtime as she led the change against the main entrance of the casino. It might as well have been a compound with all the security personnel and measures they'd put into place. Her senses tingled and she raised her lightsaber without even thinking about it to deflect the blaster fire, shielding the Resistance fighters and locals behind her. The parried energy bolts zipped back towards the casino guards and their hired mercenaries with lightning speed and they ducked to avoid getting hit. She thrust her right hand out and visualized the beam above them being crushed. The metal creaked as it bent and cracked and then fell onto the unaware adversaries.

"Damn it," she complained as her right arm ached something fierce.

It had been acting up ever since she'd cut through the electric fence despite not having been injured there.

"Hold the line!" shouted the lead guard. "Don't let them get through!"

Rey swung her double-sided lightsaber in a tight whirl as the blaster fire rained down on them. Kriffing casino owners had plenty of blood credits to buy scarce Dedlanite fuel for their blasters. Her people raised their forcefield shields as she defended them. It was the best they could do since they were wielding antiquated rifles they'd managed to salvage.

"Keep going!" Rey encouraged her squad. "We're almost to the door!"

She ran forward, making herself the most threatening target. With her lightsaber, she drew the most attention, but that was the point. Her job was to distract the casino's security detail while Finn, Poe, and DJ broke in through a side door that they knew about thanks to the locals. She just had to stall long enough for them to hack past the security to open the gates.

Poe had convinced the locals to join their fight against the casino outsiders. Many of them had lost their livelihoods due to the interlopers from the destruction of their land or through gambling losses. They'd been forced to indenture themselves as casino workers to pay off their debts or just to earn a living. The horror of their working conditions had been tearfully relayed to the sympathetic Resistance fighters and their stories made Rey glad they had come to help. Rose was beating herself up about not having come sooner. The working conditions for the children in the stables had indeed become inhumane. She had taken a few of the locals with her to go to the stables and take the children to safety before the mayhem reached them.

"There's too many of them!" Daria Gser shouted to make herself heard as they took cover behind the massive fountain in the middle of the courtyard. "We can't even get close to the gates!"

"Once DJ hacks into the system, he'll be able to turn off the gate security. The guards will split their focus and then we can make our move," Rey told her friend as she levitated some small rocks from a pretty little garden and threw them at the enemy. Some of the stones bounced off the forcefields but others found their targets.

"They should have reached the server room by now!" said a local as they fired off several shots. "What's taking them so long?"

Rey pressed a button on her comlink to buzz Poe discreetly. Hopefully, he'd be able to answer.

"Rey?"

"I'm here," Rey responded, bringing the device close to her lips to make sure she could be heard despite the fountain stone shrapnel hitting the ground around her. "How much longer until the gate protocols are overridden?"

"We've hit a snag," Poe told her. "We can turn off the power to the gate, but we can't open it. There's some protocol we can't speed up."

"What do we do now?" Daria asked, ducking as a volley of firepower came her way.

"Poe, pull up the specs on the gate. How thick is it?" Rey used the Force to trip some guards as they tried to charge them. The locals leaped on them and exacted their revenge.

"The purchase records say three feet," Poe said after a brief pause. "The steel is from Bothawui and there's aurodium gilt work. Can you cut through?"

"No other choice," Rey told him. "Is DJ ready to cut the power?"

"Now he is," Poe confirmed. "On your mark, Rey."

Rey considered the battlefield and how long it would take her to get to the door. "Daria, I'll need some cover once we make it to the gate."

"We've got you," Daria said as she reloaded her rifle and checked the battery power on her shield generator.

The locals with them murmured their agreement and nodded with resolve.

"Turn off the gate's power in thirty seconds, Poe," Rey told her friend. "I want to take full advantage of their distraction and panic."

"We'll be in position to attack from within," Poe assured her. "See you on the inside. Thirty seconds starting now."

Rey clipped the comlink back onto her waist.

"Charge the gates!" she ordered. "Deflector shields up at maximum!"

She leaped out from behind the battered fountain and let the Force flow through her as she ran forward. The gate guards' firepower was ineffective against her lightsaber and the combined force of their shields. They shouted above them as her small group reached the massive gate and gathered in a protective huddle around Rey.

The slight blue tint of the doors suddenly faded as the power was drained. Rey swung the hinge of the lightsaber so the dual blades were on one side and plunged the weapon into the gate, forcing it through the layers. Her muscles protested as she cut a semicircle in the gate as the guards panicked above them and fired on them with everything they had. As soon as she'd cut through enough of the gate, Rey and her squad pushed the useless metal block forward and gained entrance to the casino. The gate guards tried to stop them, but Poe's squad had arrived and together they forced the casino guards to retreat.

"We need to get to the main floor," Poe stepped into place next to her. "The casino owners and their financial backers will be there. We have to stop them from escaping if we're to succeed."

"Lead the way," Rey blocked some blaster fire from the last guard on the gate.

The combined squads ran forward through the casino doors. The black metal walls turned into brighter colors as they gained ground and the walls became adorned with priceless art and stunning gems. The opulent surroundings served to mock the pain and suffering of the people whose credits had been used to purchase the frivolous decorations.

They made it to the casino floors in minutes and the well-dressed attendees screamed as they burst through the golden doors. The guards on duty in the room brandished large glowing orbs at them which were filled with a bright purple liquid.

"Take cover!" Poe yelled and dove behind a casino table and overturned the thick wooden furniture.

The squad had just followed suit when bright circles of purple light left the orbs and spiraled toward them. The light hit their barricades and the scent of burnt wood and metal filled the air.

"Ow!" hissed one of the local fighters. He clutched his hand to his chest, cradling the injured appendage. The metal of the slot machine he was hiding behind oozed and glowed red as it melted down.

"Avoid the orbs!" Rey yelled out the warning. She hated to think of what the purple light would do if it made full contact with a person.

She leaped out from her hiding place and thrust out a hand to Force-shove the security guards off their feet.

"Go, go, go!" she shouted as she ignited her lightsaber and charged the guards.

They put up a valiant effort and managed to activate the orbs again, catching a few unfortunate locals in the blast, but they ultimately were overpowered.

"Please, I just work here!" one of the table croupiers yelled desperately.

"Shut up," spat one of the locals as they tied the man's hands together and shoved him against the wall.

"Cooperate and you won't be harmed," Poe's voice rang through the large room as patrons on the floor were handcuffed or bound and those on the second floor were brought downstairs.

"This is an outrage!" complained a patron with a mass of tentacles on their head who was wearing a glimmering gold outfit that must have cost thousands of credits. "You can't treat us like this, you mongrels!"

"A bold statement for someone who is fine with being waited on by mistreated individuals," Daria stated hotly, gesturing at the waiters who had been spared being tied up.

The locals who'd been pressed into being unwilling employees had weathered faces and thin figures as a result of their mistreatment, but they were standing proud and beaming at the massive power shift that had just taken place.

"I have diplomatic immunity!" the individual's hair thrashed in agitation. "I demand to speak to your leader."

"You took the words right out of my mouth," Poe said as he stepped forward. "Sit down and be quiet. Where are the owners?"

Every patron and turncoat employee avoided his gaze in an effort to not answer his question.

"They fled to the safe room," One of the servers stepped forward timidly, readily answering his question. She gestured to the huge aquatic tank by the roulette wheels. "It's behind there."

"Rey," Poe nodded his head at the tank. "Check it out."

Rey stepped in front of the tank and extended her senses, seeking out people behind the tank. The lifeforces of the fish and amphibious creatures in the water were mildly distracting, but she could definitely sense at least five people in a room behind this structure.

"They're in there," Rey confirmed.

She found the control pad to shift the tank aside. The gigantic tank shifted slowly as the hoverpads worked to move the thick slabs of glass and the several thousand gallons of water.

"It's locked from the inside. You'll never get in!" crowed the loud, entitled patron and shook their bound hands at them.

"Our slicer is still occupied," Poe noted, ignoring the patron. "Do we need to hack it?"

Rey pressed her hand against the door and tried to get a sense of the locking mechanism from the power running through it. She followed the current of power to the source and imagined the shell receiving a puncture. A dull thud sounded and the door sagged on the hinges. Rey pulled on the handle and the door popped open, revealing five terrified individuals. Their wardrobes were made from the finest fabrics and their fingers and limbs were adorned with the most precious of jewels. There was no question they were the wealthiest people on the premises and had to be in charge of the casino.

"What are you?" one of them asked, terrified beyond their wits. The mini blaster they held shook violently in their grasp.

"The Resistance," Rey replied, purposely mistaking their question and flicking the blaster out of their hands.

The owners were dragged out into the open and restrained. Daria and her fighters had to hold back some of the locals as they wanted revenge on the owners.

"Give us the codes to access your communications with the First Order," Poe ordered them.

"We don't work with the First Order," one of the owners dressed in a smart black suit shakily answered him.

"We have intelligence that says otherwise," Poe retorted. "The First Order gives you money and you do transactions for weapons on their behalf. That's no coincidence. Again, I want to know how you communicate with them."

"We… we use-"

"Don't tell them anything!" growled an owner with spotted feathers framing their face. "It's not worth it."

"I don't know about you, but I don't want to die today," argued the owner in the smart suit.

"I don't care. I'm your boss. You listen to me, not this little freak!"

"In case you didn't notice, you're sitting on the floor in chains," they retorted. "We're at their mercy and now is not the time to quibble with them!"

"I order you to be quiet!" the owner's feathers ruffled indignantly.

"You," Poe cut in, pointing at the one willing to speak. "Tell me what you know."

The owner started to speak over the objections of his counterpart, but he stopped as the floor beneath them started to rumble like an earthquake. Tables rattled, gambling machines shifted at an alarming speed, and credit chips spilled to the ground as the source of the shake grew closer.

"What is that?"

"The casino isn't built near a fault line!"

Confusion was rampant throughout all of them as they tried to figure out what was going on. Rey had a very bad feeling about this.

"Get to high ground!" she ordered, pushing Resistance fighters and casino patrons alike to get them moving. "Now, hurry!"

The ceiling-to-floor windows of the casino floor rattled from the disturbance. Half of the people had made it to the stairs when the grand double doors burst open and were stampeded to pieces by fathiers. The creatures ran through the room at full speed, running over people who hadn't been quick enough to avoid them. The owner wearing the black suit screamed as they were caught beneath the cloven hoofs. The overpriced furniture was trampled and the artfully arranged artifacts were kicked into the walls.

Rey jumped onto the staircase banister as the herd headed toward her. As she flipped into the air, she noticed the children riding the fathiers. They were small lumps on the backs of the large, powerful animals. They hung on tightly, their faces stark with fear as the fathiers ran without direction. She reached out to the creatures through the Force to calm them, but all she could sense was searing pain and animalistic fear.

"Rey, watch out!"

She was snatched out of thin air as the railing beneath her feet crumbled. She was tugged to safety and she looked up to see she was ensconced in Finn's arms.

"Thank you," she said gratefully. Her eyes narrowed when she didn't see DJ with her friend. "Where's DJ?"

"Still in the control room," Finn said as he took in the chaos. "I left Wedge's slicer with him. It looked like you needed me here."

"Rose!" Poe yelled.

Rose and her team had entered the room and climbed onto the glass statues by the staircase that the fathiers had somehow missed.

"Up here!" Poe reached a hand down to pull Rose onto the second level. Others helped the rest of the team to safety as the herd demolished the glass statues. The pieces fell and joined the crumpled fragments of the staircase to block the door, caging them all in the casino's main rooms. "What happened?"

"We tried to free the children and their fathiers, but the stable managers and a security team interfered before we could," Rose panted from exertion. "They tied the children to the fathiers and whipped the animals' backsides bloody before setting them loose on a path to the casino."

"A last-ditch effort to distract us," Poe inferred. "They'd rather demolish everything than let us win."

"A coward's move," Rey snarled.

One of the fathiers tried to jump through the window, but it just bounced off the new shatterproof glass and shook its head, whining pitifully as it stumbled away. A few others tried their luck but had the same results. The herd grew agitated as they realized they were trapped and started to buck and twist rapidly.

"We need to calm the fathiers to untie the children," Finn said with concern. "A fall from that height and speed would be fatal."

"I can't reach them through the Force. They're in too much pain," Rey told them. "We need to address that first."

"Together, then," Finn took her hand and squeezed it gently.

"We can't accept the risk of waiting. We'll cut the children's bonds while you heal the fathiers. Come on, Rose," Poe took a deep breath and took a running leap off the raised floor and landed on a bucking fathier.

"Oh stars, please let this work," Rose issued the prayer before following suit and landing on a speeding fathier.

She flipped a knife open and cut at the rope tying the child to it. Other brave Resistance fighters followed suit, jumping off the second floor to help the children and frightened animals.

"I'll open a line," said Finn. "You do the rest."

Rey nodded and took a deep, steadying breath as she closed her eyes and opened her mind to Finn. The steady, soothing presence of her friend easily meshed with her mind. A solid path formed for her to follow to the injured fathiers, like a brick road that led to a city of flashing green lights. The animals' minds were simplistic as their intelligence had been chased away by their agonizing wounds. Remembering how she had once run afoul of a red-hot whip on a scavenger mission and the grueling healing process, she channeled energy into the fathiers and visualized their wounds closing.

"It's working," Finn murmured, his voice seeming to come from miles away. "Keep on going."

Rey felt the animals calming as their vicious injuries gradually healed. Soon, they would be sedate enough to allow the children to be rescued in short order.

"Ah!" Finn yelped.

The secure connection between Rey and the fathiers snapped and Rey opened her eyes to see Finn clutching his shoulder and grimacing in pain. Rey's second sense warned her of incoming danger as his eyes widened as he looked at something over her head.

"Get down!" he shouted as he tackled her to the floor.

They'd taken cover just in time to avoid a flurry of blaster fire. The casino guests cowering nearby screamed in terror as the weapons' discharge caused major damage to the roof. Rey raised her hand to deflect the ceiling timbers that had fallen.

"Mercenaries," Finn grunted as he brushed rumble out of his hair. "And what's left of the casino's security forces."

"Why am I not surprised?" Rey sighed in exasperation. She pressed her hand to Finn's shoulder and healed the wound quickly, causing a wince of discomfort.

"Come on. Let's take care of them so we can get back to helping the children and fathiers," Finn activated the shield generator on his wrist and checked the ammunition in his antique blaster.

"Follow me," Rey flicked her lightsaber open.

Together, they leaped into the fray, Rey deflecting blaster fire and Finn taking out enemies like the most skilled of snipers. Their fellow Resistance fighters and the friendly locals were bolstered by their success and gathered behind them to help drive back the casino security. Some were still riding the panicking fathiers and trying to cut the children loose despite the added chaos.

Rey watched in horror as one Resistance fighter was hit by a stray shot and fell off a fathier. The child slid to one side of the bucking fathier but didn't fall to the ground because he was still tied to the animal by one wrist. The boy tried to get a grip on the creature's mane, but couldn't get a good hold and was flopping around like a rag doll. One of the mercenaries threw a grenade and the fathier shrieked as its side was hit with shrapnel. It twisted rapidly as it tried to find an escape route. The child cried out in pain as he was jerked around.

"Go help him!" Finn yelled, giving Rey a little push toward the child. "Fighters, form a shield barrier!"

The squad flocked to Finn, connecting their shields to his and forming an impenetrable barrier. They stepped forward together, forcing the mercenaries to retreat.

Rey caught Rose's eyes as they both ran to help the injured child. Rose was closest, so Rey gestured with her hands to indicate Rose should cut the child's bonds. Rose nodded in agreement. Imagining strings wrapping around Rose and lifting her into the air, Rey used the Force to propel Rose onto the fathier like the acrobatic performers she'd watched in one of Larma's holovids. Rose clamped her legs around the fathier's straining bulk as she cut at the thick rope trapping the boy on the animal. Rey ran alongside the fathier, using her influence to get it to slow down or at least run in a straight line. Rose shouted a wordless cry of triumph as the rope frayed and broke and she was able to gather the child into her arms.

With a jarring crash, the glass windows splintered and exploded as an enemy starship fired into the casino. The fathier saw the escape route and lunged for it. Rose was forced to jump off without first checking where she would be landing in order to avoid being carried away. The escaping fathier bumped into the starship on its way out and took out one of the cannons. The rest of the fathier herd perked up at the smell of fresh air and made a beeline for the open window. Rey caught Rose and the boy in midair and used her abilities to guide them safely to the ground. Rose moved them against the window and activated her wrist shield as the fathiers leaped over them through the window. The tiny force field blinked and holes appeared in the energy field as the fathiers hit it on their way out. The starship which had tried to regain control hadn't a hope of combatting the stampeding animals and crashed to the ground in a fireball.

Rey ran to Rose, noticing along the way with relief that all the children had been saved and were safely out of the way of the firefight as Finn and Poe drove off the last of the security force and mercenaries. In the distance beyond the casino perimeters, Lando's sky forces were driving away any external reinforcements the casino owners had been able to contact. They had won. The casino was theirs.

"Where is he injured?" Rey asked as she knelt next to the boy she and Rose had just rescued, careful to avoid the shattered glass.

"Everywhere," Rose said grimly.

The boy hunched into a ball and flinched as they tried to tend to him. Undeterred, Rose pried his wrists from his chest and held them in a firm grasp as she sprayed bacta where the ropes had bitten into his flesh. The skin was purple and blue and it was clear the blood flow had been severely restricted. After the ghostly pale hands had returned to a healthy color, Rose released him. The boy snatched his hands back and hugged himself protectively despite the pain it must have caused due to his dislocated shoulder.

"Hey, it's okay," Rose said soothingly. "We're here to help you and your friends. Do you remember me?"

The boy raised his head tentatively and moved his shaggy black hair out of his eyes. He stared at her for a long moment and then there was a spark of recognition.

"You're that Resistance fighter!" he said, bobbing his head excitedly. "You gave me your ring."

He tugged a cord out from beneath the neckline of his ragged black shirt. Dangling from it was an antique silver ring. He activated the catch, revealing the Resistance symbol.

"I knew you'd come back," he smiled tremulously.

"Of course I did. I'm sorry I couldn't come sooner," Rose extended a comforting hand to his shoulder. "Hold still while I check you over." He nodded and she gently prodded the mishappen shoulder for damage. "My name is Rose Tico and this is my friend, Rey."

"Hello," the boy gave Rey a shy nod. He gasped as Rose pressed a tender spot. "Ow!" His whole body twitched and jerked involuntarily to get away from the pain. The glass fragments he was sitting on cut into his legs and he gave a yowl of distress.

"Damn it," Rose pressed her hands to his legs to still his body.

"Hold on."

Rey concentrated and visualized the glass sweeping away into a corner as if taken there by a wave of water. She kept all thoughts of wind from her mind. The last thing she wanted was to create a whirlwind of glass shards. The pieces quivered and then slid gracefully across the casino floor and gathered in a neat pile in the corner. The boy's jaw dropped as he watched her work.

"There's major damage to the ligaments from what I can tell," Rose frowned as she softened her touch. "Rey, can you-?"

"Of course," Rey drew in closer. "May I?" she asked the boy for permission to touch him.

The boy nodded, still awestruck. Rey gently pressed her fingers into his skin, extending her gift and searching for deeper damage.

The sound of crying and distress carried across the casino floor. They looked over to see a few of the children whimpering as adults tried to restore circulation to their fingers.

"My friends. They need help," said the boy, shifting as if he was going to try and help them.

"Stay still," Rose said sternly. "I'll go." She took out bacta cartridges from her pouch and handed one to Rey before going to assist the other children.

"What's your name?" Rey asked, trying to distract him.

He gritted his teeth as she found the edge of a torn muscle and fed healing energy into it. The tendrils of energy spread through him slowly to prevent excessive pain.

"Temiri," he gasped as his muscles and tendons knit back together.

"Well, Temiri, you're a very strong and brave lad," Rey complimented him. "You're going to be just fine." She motioned for him to turn his legs over. She sprayed bacta on the cuts to prevent infection and then began to heal the wounds there made by the broken glass.

"How are you able to do that?" Temiri asked breathlessly as he watched the open wounds close and scar into faint white lines.

"It's a gift I have," Rey told him as she double-checked his arms and torso for other damage. "I was born with it."

The Force fed information back to her, informing her that the deeper damage had been healed. Now to pop his shoulder back into its socket. She winced in empathy as she positioned her hands. She couldn't count the number of times her arm had been dislocated as a child by Platt.

"How long have you been on this planet, Temiri?" Rey asked.

"Years now. My parents-"

Temiri shrieked as Rey moved his shoulder back into alignment. A few tears fell even as she soothed him through the pain.

"My parents gambled away everything they had," Temiri finished saying. "They fled to avoid being jailed and left me behind."

"I'm so sorry, Temiri. My parents left me too," Rey could relate. Her parents had abandoned her as well, no matter that their intentions may have been to protect her.

"My friends are my family now," Temiri shakily got to his feet. "Are they okay?"

"Let's go check on them," Rey offered a helping hand to steady him. Clearly, he would not be deterred.

"Oniho, Arashell!" Temiri called out as they joined Rose and a couple of stable kids. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Arashell nodded stoically as Rose tended to a deep cut in her leg.

"Is your shoulder okay?" Oniho reached out tentatively to Temiri, his brow creased with worry. "I saw Jaco throw you off."

"It wasn't his fault. I'm better now," Temiri took Rey's hand and tugged her closer to the girl. "Ara, this is Rey. She can heal you."

"She can?" Ara asked incredulously. "How?"

"She has powers!" Temiri explained excitedly.

Rey smiled at his exuberance and drew upon her waning energy resources to heal the girl's injury. The cut was deep and would be debilitating if it wasn't healed.

"They're with the Resistance. They came back for us!" Temiri continued talking, holding his friend's hand in support. "Rose is the one who gave me the ring, remember?" He wrapped Arashell's hand around the silver ring.

"That's amazing!" Oniho exclaimed as he watched his friend's wounds disappear before his eyes.

"Isn't it?" Temiri grinned and bobbed his head in agreement. "I'm going to join the Resistance when I get older," he said enthusiastically.

"Me too!" Oniho and Arashell said together.

"We'd be lucky to have you three on our side," Rey smiled, though she fervently prayed that the Resistance wouldn't still be fighting this war for decades to come.

After Arashell's wounds were healed, Rey went around the room to check on the other children. Temiri followed on her heels like a shadow, though he was chattering too much to truly be one. He helped apply bacta and watched avidly with wide eyes as she healed broken fingers and knitted skin and muscle back together. As they passed the broken fountain, tears pricked her eyes at the body of a fathier half-lying in the water. It'd been electrocuted when the overhead light fixture had fallen into it.

"Tirol," Temiri said sadly, smoothing the fur on the animal's snout. "Peace be with you." He turned to Rey for comfort, his eyes suspiciously shiny.

Rey hugged him close, providing wordless consolation. They continued on, providing aid to the wounded and injured. The snap of electricity zipped through the air, drawing everyone's attention. Finn and a medic from Wedge's base were attempting to revive a motionless Resistance fighter.

"He tried to save me," Temiri tugged her hand so she would move faster. "One of the casino people shot him and startled Jaco."

"Stay back so we can help him," Rey said sternly, firmly setting the boy a few paces away before going to assist Finn.

"Again," Finn nodded to the medic.

She pressed a button on the resuscitation device and it delivered another shock, lifting the unconscious fighter's chest into the air for a split second. A rhythmic beeping sounded from the device and they all breathed in relief. Rey and Finn lay their hands over the blaster wound and concentrated their waning energy to heal the injury. Slowly but surely, the burn marks faded and the flesh knit back together.

"Is he going to be okay?" Temiri asked worriedly, trying to peek over their shoulders.

"He's out of danger," Finn replied and gestured for the medic to ready the man for transport. "He'll need a bacta tank to fully recover."

All the fighters regrouped and led the way to the exit. The casino employees freed from indentured servitude joined them, the stablehand children in their midst. Those who could not walk were assisted using hovercraft pads.

"Where'd the casino patrons go?" Rey asked, suddenly realizing she hadn't seen the pompous individuals in a while.

"Poe and his squadron just escorted them to the dungeons," Rose said, falling into step next to her and Temiri.

"Good. Give them a taste of their own medicine," Temiri celebrated with a fist pump.

"One of the remaining casino owners cracked and is singing like a songbird," Rose said with satisfaction. "We'll get the information we came here for."

"Are we all set to leave once we have it?" Finn asked.

"Yes, the force field generators are set up and the new security protocols are in place," Rose nodded. "No outsiders will be able to access the city without the locals' approval. Their days of being powerless and downtrodden are at an end."

Cheers greeted them as they exited through the massive gates. The locals patted them on the back and shook their hands vigorously. Parents rushed forward to reunite with their beloved children. They sobbed with joy and clutched each other tightly, refusing to be parted. There was a glint of sadness in the eyes of the children who had no parents or loved ones to be reunited with. They were alone in this world with only each other to care for.

"What will happen to us now?" Oniho asked Rose.

"We'll find a safe home for you all," Rose assured him. "I'm sure the villagers could take you all in-"

"No, they won't," Temiri shook his head. "Otherwise, they would have done it years ago."

"There's no room and little supplies to go around," Ara explained as she nervously tugged at a loose thread in her tunic sleeve.

"Well, now there are plenty of resources," Rose said thoughtfully. Her cheek twitched, betraying her inner anger.

Rey shared her frustration about the local adults who hadn't tried to protect the orphans when they had rallied to free their own children.

"We don't belong here," Temiri shrugged carelessly, visibly trying to pretend it didn't matter to him.

"Then you will come with us," Rey said impetuously.

She didn't know what made her offer sanctuary to them, but it felt like the right thing to do.

"Really?" Temiri asked in shock while Oniho and Arashell gasped. "Thank you! Let's go tell the others!"

He ran with Oniho and Arashell to the group of desolate stable hands standing around awkwardly and excitedly gave them the good news.

"Stars, they're so young to have gone through so much strife," Rose lamented as she watched the little group hug each other and cheer.

"I can only hope I'm not putting them through more trouble by bringing them back with us," Rey said.

"It's the right thing to do," Rose assured her. "We can at least give them the care and emotional support they need."

"Don't blame the locals," Rey canted her head close to Rose. "Their priorities had to be themselves and their families before all others in order to survive."

The truth might not be pretty, but that was the case in many places in the galaxy as Rey knew all too well.

A ruckus off to the side drew their attention. The people were speaking in hushed, harsh voices, a juxtaposition to the jubilant cheers and light laughter of the locals.

"Finn? What's going on?" Rey asked as she joined the group.

Finn and Poe were supporting a young Resistance fighter between them. Her legs wobbled and she had a nasty bruise on her head. Rey recognized her from General Antilles' base. Marca Sunil was a talented slicer. She'd been specifically requested for this mission before it became known that DJ would be using his skill and familiarity with the casino to hack into the system.

"We were betrayed… again," Finn said through gritted teeth.

"The hacker… DJ," Marca said slowly. Her unfocused gaze tried and failed to land on the people around her. "We were finishing the new security protocols… when he hit me over the head."

"Do we know where he went?" Rose asked.

"There's nothing to indicate where he slunk off to," Finn shook his head. "All we know is that he took some state-of-the-art power cells with him. He crimped them right off the casino mainframe."

"Let's get her back to the Millennium Falcon," Rey was concerned by how unstable Marca seemed on her feet. "I need to scan her head before I attempt to heal anything."

"Finn, help her," Poe allowed Rey to take his place supporting the wounded slicer. "I'll wrap things up with the locals."

Rey wrapped her arm around Marca's slim waist and with Finn's help, they moved into the village where they'd hidden their starships in a few derelict buildings. They bypassed the rusted door hanging on its hinges to enter the shabby building and stopped short.

The space where they'd parked the Falcon was empty.

"Rey, tell me I'm hallucinating," Finn said with barely contained fury.

"I wish I could," Rey was aghast.

"He stole it."

Not only had DJ attacked one of their own, he'd taken one of their ships, a damn important one.

"I'll figure out where he went," Rey nodded toward one of the large scout ships. "Let's tend to Marca first."

Marca was practically catatonic on her feet and they had to half-carry her into the ship. Finn grabbed a medic kit and held a scanner to her head as Rey sat cross-legged on the floor and closed her eyes. She breathed in deeply and let her mind go blank except for one question. Where had DJ gone with the Falcon?

She pictured his smarmy face and the careless swagger with which he walked. She cast a net out that searched for any trace of DJ like a pack of wild, bloodthirsty ranats. She didn't have to search for long as the net latched onto something familiar. She focused hard and opened her eyes to see the Falcon around her. The starship was flying through hyperspace, the stars and planets white and blue blurs. A glance at the navigation panel showed they were on course for Zygerria, not far from Cantonica. She rose to her feet using her astral projection and went searching for DJ, curious as to why he'd wanted the Falcon as opposed to another of the starships available to him. He had to have known that they would come after the Falcon. Besides being a phenomenal and unique starship, it also had an incredible amount of sentimental value.

She found DJ in the engineering room, fiddling with a console. The casino's expensive power cells were attached crudely to the console. DJ was inserting a cable into a small black datapack in his hands when he stiffened as if he felt like he wasn't alone anymore. He looked up and met Rey's eyes and his jaw dropped dramatically. The connection snapped and Rey blinked her eyes rapidly as the image of the Falcon was replaced with the scout ship.

"DJ is en route to Zygerria," Rey informed the crowd of Resistance fighters that had come onboard while she'd been meditating. Temiri was sitting next to her, copying her pose. "I think he needs the Falcon's supercomputer to run a decryption algorithm. He had the power cells hooked up to it."

"We can catch him if we leave now," Poe said from where he was crouched over a motionless BB-8.

With a few deft turns of a hydrospanner, BB-8's headpiece lit up and it let out an indignant chirp as it powered back on.

"Hey, bud," Poe sighed in relief. "Are you alright?"

BB-8 let out a series of trills and whirs.

"Yeah, I know DJ hijacked the Falcon," Poe rubbed the droid's head. "Don't feel too bad about not being able to stop him again. He really wanted the ship."

Poe took the helm and relayed orders to the starship armada awaiting his command.

"All ships, this is General Dameron. We'll be making a detour to Zygerria to retrieve the Millennium Falcon. Follow me to the Shaltin Tunnels hyperspace lane entry."

Poe took the controls and the scout ship smoothly rose into the air, clearing the battered warehouse. The other starships under his command followed him into the atmosphere.

The Resistance fighters went about their business, healing each other's wounds or answering the thousand questions that the former stablehand kids had. Rey checked in on Marca to make sure the slicer was recovering. Finn had diagnosed her head injury and luckily they'd had the medication on hand to reverse the damage. She had to nudge Temiri to join his friends as she ventured back toward the cockpit so she could have a private conversation with Poe, Finn, and Rose.

"Any word on Ben?" Poe asked as they entered hyperspace.

"I can't reach him through the bond," Rey said, frowning as she still felt a block in place. "He won't let me through."

"Then they're torturing him," Finn reasoned.

"What?" Rey gasped. She had no reason to doubt her friend. He knew how the First Order operated. "Why wouldn't he let me see? I could help."

"Not entirely," Finn told her. "You can't do anything to truly help him unless you were with him in person. He knows that and that's why he's preventing a connection from forming. He needs you to focus on gathering support to return and rescue him."

Rose raised a finger to interject. "General Antilles and Calrissian are aware that we'll be calling a war meeting in a couple of hours to discuss your failed mission to retrieve the specs for the new hyperspace tracking technology that the First Order is rumored to be developing. We can broach the rescue plan with them then."

Rey nodded sharply, still trying to wrap her mind around the likely fact that Ben was being tortured as she sat here. It made the importance of retrieving the Falcon pale in comparison.

"We're coming up on Zygerria," Poe reversed the position of the hyperspace flight toggle and the starship dropped out right before the blue and gray planet.

Rey thanked the stars that DJ had chosen to go toward Zygerria. The conglomeration of planets in its region created a stronger gravitational pull that made traveling on the Shaltin Tunnels faster than most hyperspace lanes. Instead of hours of travel, they were only half an hour behind him, if that.

"I see the Falcon," Finn said as he read the scanner data on the console. "DJ landed outside the capital in the grassy plains. I'm not picking up any life signatures onboard."

"He's probably already gone then," Poe entered a sequence to land the starship. "All ships, stay in orbit. Await my command."

He landed the scout ship neatly beside the Falcon. Finn led the way to the ship's extended ramp. Outwardly, he was calm, but Rey could feel a simmering rage just below the surface mixed with disbelief that he'd been so naïve to put even a little bit of his trust in DJ again. He was blaming himself for losing the Falcon and putting Marca in harm's way.

They entered the derelict ship. Nothing was amiss. The supplies were still there and the navicomputer was still intact. In the cockpit, a large leather jacket had been placed over the back of the pilot's chair. But in the engineering room, it was as Rey had seen in her vision. Several stripped wires hung loosely from one of the Falcon's panels. The stolen power cells that had been jammed into the console to give it extra computing power were burned out. One of the ports was still smoking. The datapack she'd seen DJ holding was missing from the scene. Whatever DJ had wanted with the Falcon, it looked like he'd gotten it and fled. A holoemitter had been conspicuously placed where they would immediately see it. Silently, Finn took the holoemitter in his palm and pressed the button to activate the recording. DJ's mildly repentant face popped up.

"Sorry, kid. It's nothing p-personal. You pay well, but my employer pays better. Perhaps we'll meet again on b-better terms."

"What an ass," Finn growled.

"It doesn't look like he did anything other than access this panel here," Rose brushed the broken wires out of the way as she examined the inner wall.

"Let it go, Finn," Rey cautioned as she felt her friend's emotions spiral. "Marca is fine. The Falcon will be fine. It's not worth running DJ to ground."

"It sure would make me feel better," Finn said. He sighed and rubbed his eyes, the poisonous need for revenge leeching out of him. "But you're right. He's not worth my time and thoughts."

"The Falcon's power systems are burned out," reported Rose as she ran a diagnostic. "Likely from receiving input from these." She nodded at the consumed power cells.

"Is the ship flyable?" Poe asked the question on everyone's mind.

"With a few temporary adjustments, we'll be able to get it back to base so Baso can repair everything," Rose confirmed. She reattached the wiring and typed a command into the console. "The sooner the better. Many of the files are corrupted."

Poe's comlink buzzed.

"General, the Zygerrians are asking what we're doing in their space."

"Let them know we're retrieving our stolen property and we'll be going on our way now," responded Poe. "Rey, can you pilot the scout ship back to the base?"

Rey nodded. Soon both starships lifted off promptly and entered hyperspace on route for Ajan Kloss.

"Isn't that the Millennium Falcon?" piped up a child in the seat beside Rey.

Temiri had snuck into the cockpit and was avidly looking ahead at the Falcon ahead of them in the hyperspace stream. Oniho and Arashell were hanging onto the seat behind him with similar awestruck expressions.

"Yes, it is," Rey confirmed with a smile at their exuberance.

"It's famous!" Oniho said excitedly. "Han Solo flew the Kessel Run with it in fifteen parsecs."

"He said he did it in twelve," Rey countered.

The children gasped and their eyes comically widened.

"You met him?"

"He's a legend!"

"Tell us about him!"

Rey smiled and leaned in close to the children and told them the story of the intrepid smuggler and brave Rebel general Han Solo.

-oOoOoOo-

"Colonel! The Vespira has arrived. The Supreme Leader is piloting a shuttle here as we speak."

Ben cursed to himself. He'd been able to loosen the restraining band on his right wrist since it hadn't been fully clasped, but not to the point where it would come off easily.

"Finally," Tarlkon muttered under his breath and smoothed his red hair down.

The colonel looked as harried and disheveled as Ben. He'd spent the last several hours trying to track down who'd revealed Ben's presence on the Retribution as well as stamping out a brief rebellion led by a lower-ranking major who thought he would make a better leader.

"I'll escort her here," Tarlkon said. He pointed at Sergeant Childsen who'd rejoined them after making sure his friend would be alright. "Download the data on the Resistance fighters' movements and their suspected purpose on this ship. She'll want to see it before she interrogates the prisoner."

"Yes, sir!" Childsen saluted his commander. "Want anything for your last meal?" he mockingly asked Ben.

"Not if you're offering that slop from the mess hall," Ben sneered. He wriggled his right hand and with a twinge of pain, his thumb popped free. Yes!

"It's probably far better fare than whatever moldy crap the Resistance can get their hands on," The sergeant let out a sharp laugh.

"Tell you what," Ben said, trying to mask his excitement at finally getting free of his restraints. "Why don't I bring a sample of Resistance food and we'll compare it? Who knows, you might be able to finally grow a pair and be a true soldier."

Childsen bristled at the perceived blow to his masculinity and stepped forward into Ben's space to take a swing at him despite the Supreme Leader's standing order not to touch him. Ben accepted the punch and pulled his right hand free of the chair cuff. He took advantage of the close proximity and decked Childsen, knocking him to the floor. Ben almost blacked out from the pain that came from using the damaged arm, but he swallowed the rising bile and forced himself to concentrate on his current predicament. The sergeant was half-conscious and his eyes were out of focus, the pupils different sizes. But the two guards in the room were perfectly awake and they shouted in surprise and stepped forward to subdue him. Ben snatched a laser-electrorod from one guard's belt and wielded it with deadly accuracy. With two swipes, Ben had slashed open one of their throats and sliced deeply into the other guard's thigh. The one guard gurgled as he sank to the floor and desperately tried to stem the gush of blood coming from his throat. The other keened as he clutched at his leg and tried to use the wall to keep himself upright.

Ben tightened his grip on his stolen weapon as the fresh blood was making it slide in his hand. He flipped it around and sawed through the metal connecting the remaining three cuffs to the interrogation chair. No time to waste by trying to saw through the cuff itself and risk slicing open his own skin. Free of the restraints, Ben compelled his protesting limbs to move and he rose to his feet.

"GB-8973… to security."

Ben whipped his head around. The guard with the leg wound had his comlink out.

"Prisoner escape in Interrogation on Level 5," he gasped into the device.

Ben stumbled over to the man and silenced him with one slash of the laser weapon.

"Trooper, say again," The comlink crackled to life. "We didn't catch that."

Ben didn't waste any more time and hurried to the exit. In the colonel's everlasting wisdom, he hadn't seen fit to lock the interrogation room, so sure that his prisoner wouldn't be able to escape. Ben took a second to orient himself and took off with lurching steps down a corridor that led to a secondary hangar where officers sometimes stored their starships. It should be quicker to steal a vehicle from there instead of from the main hangar. His right arm flopped around as he ran and Ben grit his teeth as pain radiated from the limb. Keeping a hold on the laser-electrorod with his left hand, he also clutched his right arm and held it close to his body to minimize the jostling and nausea. The corridors were strangely devoid of people and he made good time getting to the secure sector that housed the secondary hangar.

He was within sight of the fancier starships when his dulled senses hummed a warning and he skidded to a stop as a crackling red beam of energy shot across his path. The deadly length of the lightsaber was mere millimeters from his throat. Ben held extremely still as the wielder spoke from the shadows beside him.

"Well, hello there," said an amused feminine voice. "Escaped just to come here and welcome me aboard? I'm flattered."

Around him, a squad of stormtroopers in gray armor emerged from the shadows, pointing their blasters at him.

"Drop the weapon!" ordered one of the troopers.

The lightsaber blade twitched upward, forcing Ben to expose his throat to avoid contact. He let the laser electro-rod fall from his grip and it clattered onto the floor.

"Supreme Leader!"

In his peripheral vision, Ben saw Colonel Tarlkon and a different squad of stormtroopers rush down the corridor to join them.

"Supreme Leader, are you alright?"

"Perfectly well, colonel," the newcomer said, sounding slightly offended. "As you can see, I've recaptured your prisoner. Are you having trouble keeping him in line?"

"No, ma'am," Tarlkon replied, his ears turning as red as his hair from embarrassment. He waved to his stormtroopers to restrain Ben. "Take him back to the interrogation room."

"Belay that order. We'll take it from here, Tarlkon," the woman said calmly. "I want him on the Vespira. You will accompany us."

"Ma'am, I'm needed here on the Retribution," Tarlkon told her.

"Consider this your interview for a promotion to the rank of general," she snapped at him. "Thus far, I'm less than impressed with your conduct."

"Yes, ma'am," Tarlkon saluted her.

"Captain, restrain him."

Ben grunted as the stormtroopers in gray armor twisted his right arm as they bound his hands again. The lightsaber disengaged and he turned his head fully to look at the Supreme Leader.

The delicate features of Rokrisa Kandia were as beautiful as always. Her honey blonde hair was pulled back in a tight bun and her uniform was crisp and immaculate. The insignia on her chest proclaimed her elevated status as leader of the First Order. Her eyes widened as she saw the Resistance prisoner was him. He'd been dreading this moment ever since he'd been unmasked. Finally, here was someone who would recognize his face.

"Well, I'll be," she said ecstatically. "Kylo Ren."

"Ma'am?" Tarlkon asked in startled confusion, looking around.

"The last thing I expected to find when I came here was our former glorious Supreme Leader," Kandia smiled, stepping in close to examine Ben closely. "What a delightful turn of events."

"Hello Rokrisa," Ben said lightly, deliberately forgoing any titles. "I see you finally clawed your way to the top."

"I have," she stated plainly. "And I deserve the role, I assure you. I took the fragments of our people that you left behind and forged a stronger organization."

"You should have let it all burn," Ben told her. "Everything the First Order stood for was destroyed at Exogol."

"Not quite everything," Rokrisa smirked.

She raised a hand to his throat. He caught a glimpse of dark silver metal on her wrist with runic symbols before she made contact. At the merest brush of her fingers, a surge of power overwhelmed his mind and he lost consciousness.

-oOoOoOo-

"It's disappointing to hear we couldn't get our hands on the datapacks of the hyperspace tracking technology," Lando said plainly. "But I'm glad you three were able to make it out safely and take out that sadistic fucker, Jadriel Trem."

Finn nodded at Lando's holoimage. He glanced sideways at Poe and Rey felt his guilt begin to recede and be replaced with relief. She nodded back at him in reassurance.

"We'll have another chance to retrieve the information," Wedge Antilles spoke up. "The Dreadnought Striarym is reportedly passing through my sector within the next few weeks. Snap has offered to lead a team to board the vessel and steal the upgraded specs."

"The First Order will have undoubtedly increased security on all their ships and ground bases," Poe cautioned. "It will be a dangerous mission."

"We'll take the necessary precautions. We're in the process of doing reconnaisance right now," Snap acknowledged the warning with a sincere nod. "I'm curious, General Dameron. How did your team escape the First Order's clutches? You said all three of you were captured."

"That actually leads into our next order of business," said Poe haltingly. "The mission squad was actually four of us and BB-8."

"I don't understand," General Antilles frowned. "You said you were only taking Rey and Finn with you."

"We had an accidental stowaway." Rey stepped in as Poe struggled with how to phrase Ben's impromptu escape from Ajan Kloss. "Ben was doing some after-hours work in the shipyard and happened to be on the Falcon when we flew out. When he figured out we'd been captured, he stole a stormtrooper's armor and came to our rescue. We got separated and he wasn't able to make it off the Retribution."

The generals and commanders across all bases were silent with shock and disbelief.

"He's back with the First Order?" Antilles was the first to speak.

"As their captive," Rey clarified. "We have good reason to believe they're interrogating him."

"Does he possess any sensitive information?" Wedge asked analytically.

"The personnel number on the Ajan Kloss base and our knowledge of First Order communication encryption methods," Poe offered, referencing the hyperspace nodes. "He has no knowledge of our sister bases except that they exist."

"According to our intelligence, the Retribution is headed in Taris' direction," Finn said. "We have at least a day to formulate a rescue plan before the opportunity bypasses us."

"Who is the current commander?" Lando asked.

"Trem didn't promote officers to high ranks," Finn explained. "For fear that one of them would amass enough power and authority to usurp him. My best guess is that the highest-ranking officer assumed power or that there's a power struggle currently going on."

"It'll be a little easier if it's the latter," Lando told Wedge.

"Yes," Wedge said, his brow creasing as he thought things through.

Rey recognized his hesitancy for what it was.

"General Antilles, you can't possibly be thinking about leaving Ben where he is."

"I won't commit my resources for a lost asset," Wedge said simply. "Attacking a star destroyer is a large ask with little reward, and they're already expecting us. We would be putting ourselves and the cause in great danger."

Chewbacca let out a roar of disapproval.

"Chewie's right. We don't leave one of our own in the hands of the enemy!" Lando bellowed. "By the Force, Wedge. This is Han and Leia's kid we're talking about! Your best friend's nephew!"

"I'm aware of that," Wedge snapped back sharply. "He is also the man who led to their deaths."

A harsh pressure grew in Rey's forehead. She couldn't believe this was the direction this conversation was taking.

"Yes, he's done some horrible things," she admitted. "None of us are denying it. But he's on our side now. We can't turn our backs on him."

"In addition, if they don't kill him, then he'll be worse than before," Poe astutely pointed out. "He'll make it his mission in life to hunt us all down for stabbing him in the back for a second time. And this time, we'd deserve it."

Wedge didn't change his expression, unmoved by their arguments.

"If you won't help us, then I'll do it myself!" Rey shouted.

Electricity snapped from her fingers and hit the glass pane of a navigation board and shattered it.

"Let's take a fifteen-minute break," Snap ordered, giving his father a reproving glance. "And consider what we've heard."

Rey stormed out of the tent to cool her temper. Her rage was simmering under her skin like an electrical current. She clenched her fists into balls in an attempt to keep her powers at bay. She ground her teeth together to keep from screaming her frustrations and instead focused on taking deep breaths. But the meditation technique and the nice cool breeze wafting from the jungle did little to soothe her fury.

She walked the short path to the lightning tree and pressed her hands into the tough bark, digging her fingers in until they turned as white as the wood from the pressure. She released her energy with a wordless shout and it surged into the tree. There was a loud crack and the trunk split. The separation traveled up the tree, causing several branches to break off and fall onto the ground. The broken wood smoked but wasn't aflame.

"It'll be okay, Rey," Finn said from behind her.

He must have followed her here after seeing her struggle to contain her powers. He drew her into a bear hug and rubbed her back in a soothing circular pattern.

"I hope you're right," Rey said, suddenly having to hold back a sob.

Stars, what if she never saw Ben again? It would be her fault, for closing the blast door on him and leaving him behind.

"Wedge is just upset," Poe said, voicing his presence. He joined in the hug and pressed his lips to her hair. "Luke was his best friend. He's very aware of the strained relationship between Luke and Ben. It's hard for him to reconcile the Ben of the past with the current Ben. He'll concede that Lando is right. We don't leave our people behind."

"We just need to figure out the logistics so no one else gets captured," Finn said with a hint of amusement, squeezing her a little.

Rey chuckled, sharing in the slight humor. She was just glad her friends were seeing Ben as a comrade instead of a former enemy.

Her head suddenly buzzed with unleashed energy and her fingers and arms tingled as if she'd left them out in the cold for too long.

"Rey?" Finn leaned back as he felt her shivering.

Rey couldn't answer. She gasped as power washed through the dyad and the air around her shimmered and started to turn white like the white walls found on a star destroyer. Ben was finally letting her through!

-oOoOoOo-

"Why are you letting him wake up? Sedate him!"

"Use your brain, colonel. If he could escape, he would have done it ages ago."

Ben groggily blinked his eyes, fighting his way through the fog that clouded his mind. It felt like someone had bludgeoned his skull open. A thumb pressed into the cracked bone of his right forearm and Ben shouted as agony raced through the limb. Adrenaline shot through him and his surroundings sharpened into focus. Kandia smirked and removed her finger from the raised lump on his arm with a multi-colored bruise.

"What did you do?" Ben asked, referring to earlier. She wasn't Force-sensitive. He would have sensed it when she'd worked as one of his officers.

"Not relevant," Kandia said dismissively. "Since I couldn't gain any useful information from your mind while you were unconscious, I'm forced to use a different method. You're remarkably close-minded."

"Lots of practice," Ben sneered at her.

"I would have thought your connection to the Force would be cut off with these on," Kandia tapped the black cuffs on his wrists. "It's the most noticeable thing that's changed about you since we last laid eyes on each other."

"Maybe I'm lulling you into a false sense of security," Ben rolled his eyes.

"Please, that's not your style," Kandia scoffed. "And the Resistance isn't the type to send an assassin."

"There's always a first for everything," Ben said, trying his best to knock her off-guard. If he could rattle her enough, he might get another chance to make an escape attempt. "Just look at you, trying to be a leader. Your sister would have done better."

"Do you think that's an insult?" Kandia's eyes flashed with dangerous intent. "Tishra knew how to follow commands and get promotions. She wasn't a leader, so she followed you to her doom on the Steadfast. But I am a leader. I know how to get results. Now, tell us the location of the rebel base."

"You won't learn anything from me," Ben leaned back in the uncomfortable metal interrogation chair and tried to look unconcerned.

"I always get an answer," Kandia unhooked an object on her belt.

She ignited the lightsaber and pointed it in his face. Ben's stomach dropped and his palms went clammy. It wasn't the dangerous beam that concerned him, it was the familiar hilt with exhaust ports that extended from the sides. This was his lightsaber.

"Recognize it?" Kandia twirled the weapon in her grip. "It's a beautiful work of art."

"How dare you," Ben could hardly get the words out, he was shaking with so much rage. "That's mine."

"Yours?" Kandia said with mock surprise. "Silly me. I didn't think you wanted it anymore. After all, I had to drag the ocean floor for it." She grinned, her teeth abnormally white. "But if you really want it back…"

Kandia extended her hand and the tip of the red blade bit into his shoulder. Ben almost bit his tongue in half and he involuntarily writhed in his restraints. Gloved hands grabbed him and held him still as Kandia slowly tortured him. He felt the brush of her mind up against his and he slammed up every mental shield he could to push her out. He wouldn't fall prey to letting his mind weaken from this. The lightsaber receded and Ben could take in a shaky breath.

Rokrisa hummed to herself. "What next?"

She moved the lightsaber to his thigh and lay the beam horizontally over it. Ben's vision went white from the brand, but he managed not to cry out. Kandia's mind tested the edge of his shields, probing for cracks.

"You're as bull-headed as always," Kandia shrugged, not at all perturbed. "To be honest, I was hoping for this. You know, I've gotten my revenge on several of the generals and admirals who weren't worthy to lead our organization. And now you're next," She smiled lazily like a predator chasing after its wounded prey, toying with it as it bled out and grew weaker and weaker. "It makes this moment all the more sweeter for me."

"Fuck off, you crazy bitch," Ben growled at her.

Kandia merely chuckled and shoved the lightsaber point into his other shoulder, deeper this time. Amid the blazing pain, Ben defended his mind against her attempt to enter it. Again and again, they repeated this dance of torture and willpower. There was no skill behind her mental attacks, just raw power. But despite his superior experience in defending his mind from exterior sources, she was making headway slowly but surely. The repeated use of the lightsaber and the resulting burns were distracting him and he struggled to maintain a shield against her attacks. He drew on his inner strength and built a nest of barriers, determined not to let her in.

A blast of what seemed like fire singed his neck and Ben couldn't help reacting with a startled scream. Kandia bludgeoned his mind and pried back the shield layers. Before he could push her out, he could tell she saw glimpses of his memories of him being accepted into the Resistance and interacting with them.

"How heartwarming," Kandia laughed. "The Resistance welcomed you into their ranks despite all you've done to them. I'm astounded by the blind faith they have." Her laughter tapered off. "And yet, they still haven't told you what planet the base is on. How does it feel to not be fully trusted?"

Ben couldn't answer through his mouthful of blood. He'd cut the side of his tongue on his teeth.

"He doesn't know the base's location?" Colonel Tarlkon cut in. He'd been sulking off to the side. "How could he not know?"

"The Resistance leadership is being smart," Kandia responded, a hint of respect in her voice. "If I were in their position, I would have done the same."

"So all this has been for naught?" Tarlkon swiped the interrogation tools and datapads off the table in a fit of rage.

"Sorry to disappoint," Ben chuckled, deriving amusement from the Hux lookalike's childish response.

"I still have one more trick up my sleeve," Kandia said, causing the smile to wipe off of Ben's face. "Your relationship with the girl. It's more than it appears to be."

Shit, she'd also seen evidence of the dyad in his memories.

"What of it?" Ben said contemptuously. "She was just an amusing distraction, admittedly a potent one. She's nothing to me."

"No, I don't think so," Kandia shook her head and stepped in close. "That's what you thought of me when you invited me to your bed. You truly care for this girl, in your own fucked up way." She dug her fingers into the tender flesh of his arm where the lightsaber burns crisscrossed. The skin splt and blood spilled out as Ben grunted and almost bit his tongue off again. "There's a unique connection between the two of you."

Kandia tilted one of her dark silver bracelets to catch the blood, coating the metal fully. Ben gasped as there was a shift of power in the Force. He could feel the massive surge of energy despite his muted senses. It came from elsewhere, something alien, instead of from within her. He didn't have more time to interpret it as Kandia cupped his face in her hands like a lover but with all the gentleness of an acklay grabbing its prey with its claws. She forced him to make eye contact with her and he was helpless to defend against her as Kandia poured the strange energy into him and into the dyad. The block he'd constructed disintegrated under the influx of the power flowing against it. The connection started to form, blurring the edges of his vision even as Ben tried to close it. But it was like trying to keep a sinking ship afloat by using a little pail to remove the water.

"Ben!"

Rey's voice was joyous and filled with relief. Her form began to coalesce and take shape.

"Rey, stop her!" Ben uttered harshly, barely able to get the words out. His strength was waning fast as Kandia took control.

"What?"

The connection solidified and Rey gasped as she took in his sorry state.

"Ben, hang on. We're putting together a rescue mission."

"So this is the woman who has caused so much trouble," Kandia said as the connection grew to grant her access to the dyad. "Well met, Rey. Any family name?"

"What… who are you? What are you doing?" Rey grappled for her lightsaber, which would do her no good in the astral plane.

"I am the new Supreme Leader and I am going to succeed where he failed," Kandia pressed her fingers into Ben's cheeks, fueling the dyad with more power. "I will crush your little ragtag group into dust so you can plague the galaxy no more."

Rey's outline grew thicker, taking on threads of brown and green.

"Rey, what's happening?"

That was Finn.

"Don't let her… see where you are!" Ben urged Rey, fighting with all his might to prevent her surroundings from manifesting. "Get inside!"

Rey took some steps back but still looked confused as to how Kandia was doing this.

"Too late," Kandia purred with satisfaction.

Color spilled into the room. The white-washed walls vanished and were replaced with the dark green foliage of a jungle. The stark white of the lightning tree was jarring in its intensity. A wave of humidity and the smell of nature enveloped Rokrisa and Ben, such was the strength of the connection. Finn and Poe stood close to Rey, their worried eyes only on her as they wondered what was happening. There was no place to hide.

Kandia turned her face skyward, taking in the planets that were still visible even during the day. Her strangely gray eyes moved quickly, flitting between celestial objects and taking it all in. There was the giant gas planet that took up half the sky – a mass of green and brown with a faint double ring of purple-black asteroids – and two small gray and white moons. Kandia gazed intently at the planetary objects and the distant stars, her mind working a lightyear a minute as she eliminated the unlikely possibilities.

"Not many inhabitable planets have that sort of view," she said with a growing smile. "Quite unique."

"Commander?" Colonel Tarlkon hesitantly asked, anxious about interrupting her but knowing he should probably speak up if he wanted that promotion. "What's our heading?"

"Ajara in the Cademimu Sector," Kandia said smugly as she made eye contact with Ben again, still using him as a conduit. "The base is on one of the satellite moons."

Ben knew that Rokrisa had correctly identified the planet that the base's jungle moon orbited. It was a little startling how accurate she was, despite knowing about her specialty in star system analysis.

"We will take both destroyers to wipe out this Resistance base immediately. No survivors. Relay my orders to the bridge and then return to the Retribution."

"Yes, ma'am!" Tarlkon saluted her, but there was a hint of a frown in his expression. "But surely the Retribution isn't needed. A Bellator-class destroyer like the Vespira has more than enough firepower to-"

"Are you questioning my orders?" Kandia broke eye contact with Ben and fixed a deadly stare on the colonel.

Her displeasure raced through Ben like a serrated knife, drawing a tortured scream from his lips. Rey's breath caught in her throat at the sound. The stormtroopers on guard duty in the room tensed up and averted their gazes, determined not to draw her attention. Tarlkon stumbled back a step at the cold fury in the Supreme Leader's eyes.

"No, ma'am!" squeaked the colonel. "Of course not!"

He ran from the room as quickly as he could to pass on the orders, his shoulder slamming into the door panel accidentally in his hurry.

"Order an evacuation," Rey said, a little breathless with horror as she finally found her voice.

"What?" Poe asked, an alertness creeping into his demeanor.

"Order an evacuation!" Rey raised her voice. "Now!"

She shoved Poe and Finn into a run back toward the command center.

"Too little too late, miss Jedi," Kandia taunted her. "You can't get everyone out before we arrive. All we need to do is to get in the vicinity of Ajara to determine which moon holds your pitiful little base. It'll be like D'Qar all over again, but this time the First Order will obliterate you."

"Rey, go!" Ben urged her.

Every second Rey spent in the dyad was one she could have spent saving everyone on the base. Rokrisa was not kidding around. He could feel his former subordinate's iron will and deadly determination to destroy the Resistance. They were in her way and she would remove any obstacle in order to achieve her vision.

"But-" Rey shook her head.

"GO!"

"No, do stay," Kandia's self-satisfied voice cut in. "It's just about to get interesting."

Her fingernails dug into his face and a strange tugging sensation caused his breath to stop for a second. What was she doing? His head felt fuzzy and his heart was beating faster. That tugging came again, centered at his core.

"Stop it! What are you doing to him?" Rey's voice resonated like it was coming through a tunnel.

Ben realized what Rokrisa was doing after a brief moment of confusion. He and Rey were able to give energy to others to heal and soothe. Rokrisa was reversing the process and draining his lifeforce.

"I learned this little trick recently," Kandia ignored Rey in favor of talking to Ben as she hungrily consumed his power. "I wish you could have been there when I did this to Hux. He practically wilted."

"Hux is alive?" Ben croaked.

He was still surprised anyone had survived the Steadfast's destruction on Exogol, but if anyone could it would have been that cockroach. Hux had always been a thorn in his side, able to overcome the worst odds.

"That's a matter of opinion," Rokrisa shrugged. "Let's see if you fare any better. I doubt you will."

The pull intensified and Ben's body and mind balked and tried to resist. But his determination was nothing against hers. Kandia was fresh and not nursing wounds. His energy left his body as if suctioned out by a powerful vacuum. His vision started to go gray at the edges.

"No!"

A surge of life-saving energy entered him and a non-corporeal suit of armor seemed to cover him. The pressure lifted and Ben could breathe again.

"Oh, that's nice," Kandia said with delight.

She turned her attention to the influx of fresh energy and pulled that into herself as well with ease. The armor fizzled and vanished.

"I swear, I will end you," Rey growled at her. "There's nowhere you can hide from me, you bitch."

"That's Supreme Leader bitch to you," Kandia replied, not frazzled by Rey's threats. "Please, stay. You won't want to miss this."

Rokrisa redoubled her efforts and both Ben and Rey gasped as their lifeforces were pulled from both of them simultaneously. Ben's vision grayed again, taking on tinges of red as his lungs refused to metabolize oxygen. Rey was feeling the effects too, her hand going to her chest and her eyes widening with panic. He felt Rey try to draw back, but she was caught in Kandia's tangled net. Her efforts were as useless as trying to swim through a hurricane. But Ben was in the unique position of being able to throw Rey a lifeline since he was on the other side with Kandia.

Ben channeled the last of his energy not into destroying Kandia's link with him – as that had proved impossible – but into bursting the connection between him and Rey. It was the only way one of them would get out of this alive. The jungle blinked out of existence and the white walls of the interrogation room reappeared. The dyad closed down harshly and made Ben see stars, but not the good kind. He'd saved Rey, but without her extra assistance, he didn't stand a chance against Kandia since she had her own unknown power source. His mind called out into the Force with a tortured cry for help, but he didn't expect an answer. Kandia's lips turned upward into a gleeful expression as she continued to squeeze him dry.

"Supreme Leader!"

Ben knew someone was shouting the words, but it sounded more like a whisper to his ears.

"What is it?" Rokrisa asked. She sounded drunk on the energy she was stealing from him.

"There's an incoming transmission for you."

"I'm busy. Leave us," she said impatiently.

"Supreme Leader, the transmission is from her."

Kandia released her grip on his face and Ben's world snapped back into focus, or at least a pain-hazed focus. He had a splitting headache and his throat felt very raw.

"How long has she been kept waiting?" Kandia turned fully toward the person, starting to sound angry.

"She just called, but I had to walk over here," the officer said, shifting from foot to foot nervously.

"Unacceptable!" Kandia spat at him. "You should have commed me the second she called! Get back up there and tell her I'm on my way."

"Yes, ma'am! Sorry, ma'am!"

Ben wanted to be curious about who his mysterious savior was, but his head was too fuzzy and his body in too much pain for him to truly care about who the caller was.

"Captain, finish this," Kandia gestured to the stormtrooper with the gold insignia on their breastplate.

"Yes, Supreme Leader," nodded the captain. "What are your orders?"

"I'm done here," Kandia waved her hand impatiently. "Dispose of him and bring me the evidence."

Rokrisa walked out without a backward glance. Ben was a little shell-shocked. He figured – perhaps arrogantly, now that he thought about it – that he merited more attention than some random person. After all, he had been Kylo fucking Ren.

"Captain, what do we do now?" asked one of the squad in the ensuing silence. "Does she want us to plan an execution?"

"Nothing so grand, I think," the captain said consideringly. "I don't believe the Supreme Leader thinks the infamous Kylo Ren deserves such an honor."

The atmosphere was thick with growing anticipation as the stormtroopers looked at each other, wondering if they'd really get to choose what sort of revenge to enact on him. Ben tried to gather himself. He needed to come up with an escape plan and he needed to come up with it now. Clearly, no one here was a fan of him. He racked his brain for ideas, but it was hard to focus when he was floating in and out of consciousness and unable to call on the Force for assistance.

"Ideas?" asked the captain.

"I always wondered what would happen if I stuffed someone down the trash compactor," offered one of the troopers.

"Oh, I like that," said the trooper next to them.

"Intriguing suggestion, but I don't think we can get a camera in there to record it," the captain nixed the idea.

"Just shoot him and get it over with."

"What? He deserves a harsher death," argued the stormtrooper with a more nasal voice. "He needs to pay for all the suffering he's caused, especially to us."

"Well, then what would you suggest?" bickered the other trooper.

There was silence for a moment.

"There's an airlock just down the hall," offered another member of the squad who'd been silent until now.

Well, that's just terrifying. Ben couldn't imagine anything worse. With the safety forcefields surrounding the immediate vicinity of the airlocks, it would protect a person's lungs from exploding from the pressure difference but do nothing to prevent them from freezing and asphyxiating within a minute.

"I have a holorecorder ready to go," one trooper retrieved the item from their belt pack and raised it to show the group.

"Let's do it!" the captain said, waving for them to get him up. "Careful, he's still dangerous."

"Doesn't look that dangerous to me," muttered one of the troopers as they hefted him up.

Ben would have loved to stab them or tear out their throats, but he barely had enough strength left not to pass out as they got him out of the seat. He did blackout for a few seconds and woke to them half-dragging him down a corridor. His broken arm was on fire and the lightsaber burns were bleeding. Rivulets of blood were splashing to the floor and turning it slippery. The airlock was within sight and his heart jumped with a flare of panic. He shoved at one trooper, catching them off-guard. As the stormtrooper slipped on a patch of blood, Ben was able to snatch their blaster from their side.

"Get that blaster off him!" shouted the captain.

Ben managed to blindly fire the blaster in random directions and there was a grunt as one of them was hit. His wrist was grabbed in a firm metal grip and the bones were twisted and compressed until he unconsciously dropped the blaster. The stormtroopers bracketed him on each side and pushed him forward, stepping over their fallen comrade. There was a flicker of movement and a flash of something red out of the corner of his eye, but he was moving too fast to be sure there was someone there.

Ben struggled and put up one hell of a fight, determined not to make it easy for them. He was slugged in the gut and he doubled over, which put him at eye level with the trooper's hand. He grabbed at it with his less injured hand and twisted sharply. One of the fingers snapped and the trooper let out a wounded cry that echoed off the walls.

"Hurry up!" the stormtrooper captain shouted at their subordinate. "Get that airlock door open!"

"I'm trying!" retorted the panicking stormtrooper punching in the codes to open the door. He had to restart as he entered the wrong digits the first time around. "Okay, it's ready!"

The door opened silently and showed a black void with twinkling stars scattered lightly among it. The faint blue of the forcefield was visible at the edges of the portal. A low alarm sounded, indicating the airlock was open and that the safety protocols had been activated.

"I'm recording! Do it!"

Two pairs of hands turned him around to face the group. The holorecorder's light practically blinded him and distracted him for a crucial second. Ben tried to find purchase on something, but the stormtroopers were quick to shove him through the protective barrier into space.

At first, Ben felt okay. He didn't feel any different than he had on the other side of the airlock. He reached out, trying to grab at the airlock portal so he could pull himself back to safety. However, the silver metal was more than an arm's length away. Then his lungs started to protest the sudden lack of oxygen and his exposed skin burned as though someone had taken a blowtorch to it. He tried to scream, but no sound came out.

Through the airlock doorway, he could see the stormtrooper squad clapping each other on the back and pointing at him. They were laughing jovially and congratulating each other on a job well done as they watched him freeze and asphyxiate.

Ben desperately focused all his remaining energy on summoning the Force so he could reach the airlock. Every attempt failed and was pitifully weaker than the last. He was running out of time. His body convulsed as it made a last bid to draw in non-existent oxygen. The movements sent a horrible pain through his senses even as his limbs grew stiff. His skin had long since stopped sensing feeling and was starting to crystallize. The edges of his vision were becoming fuzzy as his heart beat faster and faster to make up for a lack of oxygen circulation.

Ben wished he could see Rey one last time, but their dyad was powered off and even if he could reestablish the connection, he wouldn't. He couldn't subject her to the horror of his last moments so that he could have a few seconds of peace.

The holorecorder light that had been shining in his face the entire time moved away. And then it moved to blind him again. As quick as it had come back, it moved away. There was sporadic movement at the airlock door. The stormtroopers must have had their blasters out because dull red bolts of energy were shooting in every direction. A circle of red was a bright beacon against the gray and white of the dreadnought. It must be someone's hair. They moved like a whirlwind of red and silver, dancing between the blobs of white that were the stormtroopers. The white spots dropped one by one out of sight, leaving only a dash of bright red in Ben's vision. The vibrant color grew larger and Ben thought there was an object extending toward him through the airlock. He was barely able to move his freezing limb, but it seemed important that he grab the object. He groggily reached out to it. His heartbeat was slowing, the pause between each thump elongating. The object latched onto him and his hand felt like it shattered under the pressure. He instinctively tried to let go, but the thing wouldn't release him. It exerted a force on him and then he was moving toward the bright red beacon. He blacked out before he reached the portal.

-oOoOoOo-

"Come back!"

There was a horrible pain in his chest. His heart felt like it was going to burst.

"Damn it. Don't give up!"

An object impacted his chest right above his heart and electricity arced through him. Ben awoke with a pained cry, his eyes rolling back and his head cracking against the unforgiving floor.

"That's it," said his rescuer with relief. "Welcome back."

Sensation came crashing back and Ben shivered uncontrollably as his body screamed that it was freezing. His eyes refused to work, only showing the world as a haze of colors and abstract shapes. He closed his eyes and tried not to bite his tongue in half with his chattering teeth as he took in heaving breaths.

"Here."

His jaw was forced open and an object was inserted for him to clamp onto with his teeth. Something crackled and then Ben felt a crinkly material being wrapped around him like a warm blanket.

"Let the wrap bring your body temperature up," ordered his rescuer. "I'm afraid the revival injection I gave you only does so much."

Ben couldn't relax, but the blanket did its job and incrementally raised his body temperature back to normal. The shivering began to fade and Ben could let go of the tension in his limbs. The injection was also hard at work within his body, repairing and stabilizing his organs from his brief jaunt in space. Soon, he could focus on his other senses and he could hear the airlock alarm still issuing a warning it was open. The scrape of armor against the floor went by his head multiple times before the airlock door was closed. The person came to kneel next to him. They checked the back of his head and let out a murmur of dismay when they encountered a bloody wound from when he'd cracked his head against the floor. There was a brief moment of pain as their fingers pressed against the wound and then there was instant relief, so a bacta gel must have been applied.

"Ten minute warning. Prepare to jump to hyperspace."

The ship-wide intercom transmission washed over them, repeating twice before ending.

"That doesn't give us much time," grumbled the person.

Now that Ben was a little better, he could tell his rescuer's voice was male. It sounded very familiar.

"I don't want to rush you, but we need to move."

A hand slid under his back and lifted him into a sitting position. Ben blinked and tried to get his vision to focus properly. He spat out the mouthguard and started coughing as his dry throat registered in his mind.

"Here."

A flask was pressed to his lips and Ben gratefully swallowed big mouthfuls of water. His need to wet his mouth was overriding the pain radiating from his throat. He'd developed quite a thirst after hours of interrogation and being thrown out of an airlock.

"Not too much or you'll throw up," cautioned his rescuer.

Ben took one last chug and pulled back, knowing that he was right.

"Do you know where you are?"

"Dreadnought… Vespira," Ben said, proud as he barely stuttered.

"Good. Can you tell me your name?"

Ben turned his head to answer the man and thank him for taking a big risk to save and revive him. The words died on his lips as he saw who his rescuer was. The red hair usually so slicked back was ruffled and messy. The uniform of a decorated officer had been downgraded to that of a lowly technician. The righteous expression that had always been stuck on his perpetually pompous face was replaced with one of compassion and concern.

"Are you alright?" Armitage Hux – his former compatriot and rival – reached out to steady him as he swayed. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

---

A/N: Let's toss these two together again and see what happens. Do you think they'll be friends or foes?