Fandom Star Wars: Loose Threads [Closed]

[witchingly]

Skye had never flown a TIE fighter before so it took a moment for her to get used to it as soon as it launched into the air. She'd piloted many ships before though, and while she wasn't as good at Poe — she excelled more at fighting than flying — she could certainly handle a ship if she had to.

And right now she kind of needed to.

"Not far at all," Skye told the woman in response. "We're going back to Jakku."

Skye knew not only that it was the only area close by for them to land — or crash land if they were fired at too many times. And aside from that, BB-8 was somewhere on Jakku, with a map that was important to both sides of this war. Skye wanted either her or Poe to be the ones to get their hands on it instead of the First Order.

A quick glance outside her window saw another TIE — the one with Poe and the helpful stormtrooper, she presumed — moving to take out the ship's canons.

~***~

FN-2187 nodded at Poe's words. He was ready to fire — he just hoped it would work.

"Up ahead!" He called out to him once again. "Do you see it? I've got us dead centered. It's a clean shot."

"Okay," FN-2187 nodded once more. "I've got it."

He did his best to aim right at his target before firing and watching as the canon exploded. Unable to contain his excitement, FN-2187 yelled out in celebration. "Yes! Did you see that?"

Poe seemed to share the victorious feeling, even if they were hardly far from the ship yet. "I saw! Hey, what's your name?"

"FN-2187."

Poe paused for a moment before replying. "What?"

"That's the only name they ever gave me," FN-2187 explained. All those in the FN Corps were the same.

"Well I'm not using it," Poe declared and seemed to think on it for a while as he flew further away from the ship. "FN... Finn. Finn! I'm gonna call you Finn. Is that alright?"

FN-2187 gave it a bit of thought. Finn. A proper name, not an assortment of letters and numbers. With a name he was more like a human being than a soldier. He liked it, and this was evident with a smile. "Finn," he repeated before nodding. "Yeah, I like that."

~***~

As both TIE fighters flew off, Skye noticed that more canons were coming online which meant that they still had trouble, despite Poe and the trooper having taken out the turbolasers.

"That's not good," she muttered, mostly to herself. Time to put her flying skills to use and hope that they wouldn't get hit.

"Can you try taking some of those out?" Skye asked the woman behind her, referencing the canons and the blasts they were about to shoot. It felt odd asking her to help fire on her own ship but, well, it was better than ending up as a corpse floating through space.

 

[Lucyfer]

Cadence wasn’t inclined to argue with the comment of going to Jakku. It was their best option for escape, even if it was also going to be combed over by the Order. It’d be difficult to acquire a ship, but not impossible. She assumed the Resistance members would have some way to get off planet.

‘And perhaps you can escape them there. Get lost, go your own way.’ Not that she was certain where that would be, or what that would be.

The Order had been all she wanted. Now she had ruined that, because she chose to value her life over the Order’s goals.

She didn’t focus on that. She trained her guns on the canons. It was odd, but it was better than dying in space, or firing on TIEs – and TIEs were starting to pour out of the hangars to give pursuit.

Including one TIE that was only too easy to recognize at a distance, “You may want to just fly towards Jakku,” Cadence advised as another cannon was taken out. “We have a better chance of surviving if we’re in the atmosphere of the planet, and no offense – I don’t think you’re a good enough pilot to shake Kylo Ren.”

And she wasn’t a good enough shot to take him out, either.

Kylo Ren was definitely closing on their ship, over the other. TIEs split under commands they couldn’t hear, and Kylo Ren started to fire a barrage of lasers at their left wing.

~***~

“I’m Poe. Poe Dameron,” the Starfighter introduced himself at last, as they drew away from the ship. He could see other cannons coming alive, but he thought he had dealt with those that would be a concern as they pulled away. ‘Come on, Skye.’ He thought, some of his cheer dimmed by the knowledge she didn’t seem to be close behind.

Other TIEs were, though.

“Hey buddy, can you get those TIEs off our back?” Poe would prefer not to do a crash landing. “I’d rather land on Jakku without them knowing where I’ve set this ship down.”

He intended to ditch this TIE as soon as possible to escape the Order’s radar, at least a bit. With TIEs behind, that’d be difficult to manage.

 

[witchingly]

Skye noticed the TIEs beginning to fly toward them. Even if they landed safely on Jakku, trying to get away would be a hard task, but it was their only escape route at the moment, so Skye didn't bother arguing. Getting closer to Jakku was the only option for them at the moment.

She tried to move the ship out of the way every time a blaster fired at them but it was growing increasingly hard. She couldn't even look out to see whether Poe was doing okay because she had a million other things on her mind — mainly how to land the ship safely on Jakku before they were destroyed out there in space.

And if that wasn't bad enough, she sensed him nearing. It was the same feeling she got on Jakku earlier, when he'd stepped onto the ground from his ship. Now she knew he was gaining on them. He couldn't let them escape.

But Skye couldn't go back.

Lasers were still being fired and Skye did her best to avoid them, for the most part.

Until she couldn't any longer, and their left wing was hit.

~***~

FN-2187 — or as he was now known, Finn — nodded when Poe asked him to help get rid of the TIEs that were now advancing toward them. There were quite a few, and it worried Finn but he began firing at them nonetheless.

He paused momentarily, however, when Poe mentioned landing on Jakku. "Jakku? No, no, no, we've got to get out of this system."

That's what Finn assumed they'd been doing so far. If they landed on Jakku, they'd be killed. They had TIEs right on their tail.

"I've got to get to my droid before the First Order does," Poe explained, moving them out of the way as a few lasers were fired in their direction.

"A droid? No droid can be that important!" Finn had left his controls for the time being, and he wasn't focusing on the outside either. "We need to get as far away from the First Order as we can! If we go back to Jakku, we die!"

"That droid's got a map that leads straight to Luke Skywalker," Poe said, turning away from his controls briefly to look at Finn.

"You've got to be kidding me," Finn sighed. "I—" Before he could say anything else, their ship was thrown off course.

They'd been hit. And now they were hurtling toward the surface of Jakku.

 

[Lucyfer]

For her part, Cadence was doing much the same in targeting wings of the following TIEs. It took them off their tail, without killing. For the most part. She tried not to focus on those that lost control and spiraled into other ships or made their condition worse.

Then, their own ship was hit, the Silencer at fault for it. “Fuck!” Cadence heard the alarms as they went off in the ship as it tilted and spun. Anger took over a moment, and she unloaded the missiles the TIE had, all at the Silencer, which had to swerve and dive to avoid them.

“Can’t you—” another strike. Perhaps Kylo Ren was trying to kill them. Cadence didn’t see that one, but she felt the heat as the ship started to lose its form as it was drawn into the atmosphere of Jakku. The guns were jammed. There was little she could do about those following.

‘Count.’

She shut her eyes and tuned out the blaring alarms, the darkness, the pursuit. “Good luck out there, Rebel.” Her hand felt for the familiar button on the side of the seat. TIEs didn’t used to have ejectors, a late addition of the Empire when they started to take the lives of their TIE fighters seriously.

She felt sunlight on her face, and knew they’d crossed close enough onto the planet to be certain that ejecting wouldn’t kill her by doing it out into space – and she pressed the button, her hand immediately clenching the seat just before it was thrown from the ship. The straps would keep her in it, and the small parachute would make sure the landing wasn’t too hard, so long as no following TIE took notice.

Thankfully, the TIEs didn’t notice that – most in pursuit of a ship that was falling into greater ruin, and Cadence was able to reach the ground relatively unscathed.



Poe had thought something similar – he had jammed on his own ejector seat, and found it stuck – or at least, he thought. He would black out, before waking up some distance from his own wreck, lost, confused, and assuming the worst about his new friend, Finn. He wasn’t sure what direction his own ship wrecked in, was unaware he’d been thrown from it before it wrecked since he didn’t find the seat attached to him when he woke.

Or his jacket.

That was probably a good thing, given he was on Jakku.



Kylo Ren would not follow that TIE.

He only followed Skye’s as it made its wild descent, not even noticing the ejection of one when he could still sense Skye. He counted it as little more than debris in the moment, not worth his attention in the pursuit.

There was also the problem that a couple of missiles had struck his ship, as well. Smoke billowed behind him like a flag.

 

[witchingly]

Skye could barely turn back to look at her partner. She was busy trying to do something to get the ship to fly straight, to do something to soften the blow of the landing — which would no doubt be a crash landing.

She'd been prepared for this since she knew it couldn't have gone smoothly, but actually being faced with it was a different situation entirely.

Skye heard the voice of the woman bidding her farewell. She was off, and Skye didn't blame her. She needed to look out for herself, and in any case, she was just glad the woman didn't turn around and kill her once they were on the ship.

For now, she was only concerned about landing.

It was a bumpy ride, and the ground was getting closer. Despite that, the ship wasn't slowing down.

With some effort, she did her best to change the direction that the TIE was facing but it was still a terrible landing nonetheless. It was a long skid and a bounce before it finally slowed to a stop. Skye felt sick and she quite frankly couldn't recall if she'd even been knocked out for a while there or not, but when she came to, her priority was getting as far away from the wreckage as possible.

The TIE was likely to blow up any minute, and she wanted to be far away from it when that happened. Skye quickly scrambled to her feet and looked around. All she saw were sand dunes for miles, but since she had nowhere else to go, any direction was as good as the others.

Glancing once toward the sky, she moved forward, pushing through the exhaustion that was only made worse by the heat.

~***~

When Finn woke up, he was nearly blinded by the bright sky. It was hot. He was thirsty. How long had he been like this? It was hard to tell.

He blinked a couple of times before he sat up and looked around. He recognised the battered TIE fighter a few feet away and forced himself to stand. Poe.

Wondering what had happened to his new friend, Finn rushed toward the wreckage and began to dig through it. "Poe?" He found the sleeve of his jacket and feared he might not like what he'd find if he kept looking. Regardless, he pulled it some more and got just the jacket. Tossing it aside, Finn tried to get a better look inside, but the thing started to sink into the sand.

And before Finn could make sense of the situation, he felt himself beginning to sink too. "Shit."

He scrambled backward and then stood at the top of a dune, watching as the sand began to swallow the ship up — or what was left of it anyway. Finn didn't even get a chance to find Poe's body. He didn't—

Suddenly, caused by an explosion from below the ground, sand flew everywhere, as well as debris from the TIE fighter. Surprised and disoriented, Finn knew he couldn't stay here any longer. He had to keep moving.

So, he picked up Poe's jacket and gave the place one last look before he started to walk. He had no idea where to go, or what to do, but he needed to get to a source of water, and soon.

Vaguely, he wondered what had happened to the other team of two. He didn't notice any other stranded ships in the vicinity but he knew that if Poe had wanted to come here, then Skye probably did too. Maybe if he kept walking he'd run into her as well as Admiral Faraday. If she had stuck around.

He'd just have to wait and see.

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo Ren’s landing was a bit less messy, but he still had to take his ship down long before he wanted to. He had followed the TIE closely, and was able to follow for a while, but eventually his engines started to give. He wanted to force them further, and even drew on the Force to try and do just that, but it was no use.

His Silencer hit the ground roughly, and stuck there, rather than skid. He was out in seconds, abandoning the TIE in order to make up the lost ground from where Skye’s own ship had landed.

He could see the trail of its smoke, anyways.

Kylo had regrets soon after leaving his TIE, though. The heavy black attire had been fine while it was night on Jakku. The heavy black attire was not so generous during the day, and every step forward seemed harder, slower, heavier, as he trekked under the merciless sun. ‘Remember your training.’ He tried to tell himself.

Pain was something to overcome.

Pain was something to fuel himself with.

Although right about then, he wished he knew how to use the Force to cool himself off. At last he never quite lost the sense of Skye’s presence; he’d passed by her ship sometime after it exploded, sending chunks of doonium across the sands.


And he did use the Force to push against his desire to rest, and all of his other desires to go back or call for help.

He had to find her, and he intended to be far more relentless than her in this matter. He didn’t know how long until it got to her, but eventually, he was able to make out the silhouette of someone ahead of him. ‘Her, Poe, some stranger, it doesn’t matter who.’ And he pushed the Force through his body, and sprinted ahead.

~***~

The Admiral of the First Order ditched her belt as soon as she got to her feet. The landing hadn’t been gentle, but it hadn’t been terrible. She expected bruises, but at least she had no open cuts. ‘The sun will kill you soon enough.’ She was going to be charred in hours. She cursed her complexion more than once as she pulled her blaster from the belt and started walking.

She didn’t know what was out there, but she knew she wanted a blaster.

Well, until the sun heated the metal so she felt it through her gloves.

She tossed it aside, and kept walking, debating if she wanted to throw her tunic off or not. Her attire was heavy. ‘Better to sweat than to burn.’ She told herself, as if she knew anything about surviving in a desert. Still, she unzipped tunic and wore it open, the undershirt modest enough. Not that she was terribly concerned about modesty.

Mostly, walking.

Finding civilization.

‘Or….’

Or finding the one who got her into this mess in the first place. He stood out on the shifting sands of Jakku only too obviously, dark complexion and dark attire making him easy to spot over the bleached sands and bright sky. There was a part of her that wished for her blaster in the moment, and another part that thought it would be better to turn away, and pretend as if she’d never seen him.

But she was angry. The temperature wasn’t doing her any favors, and so she screamed: “Eighty-Seven!” across the desert to get his attention, even if her throat was too dry and cracked on the last word. She wasn’t sure what she wanted from him – to throw a punch at his face, or to understand what they were doing on a sun-blasted planet, but she knew she wasn’t just letting him walk off.

 

[witchingly]

Skye hadn't been walking for very long, but she should have remained alert nonetheless. She was more preoccupied with finding some kind of civilisation to pick up on the familiar sensation that was drawing closer.

She was far from her TIE fighter now but she hadn't realised that someone else hadn't been very far behind.

Skye had just about finished climbing another sand dune when she finally recognised that familiar sensation. It was almost like a tug, but it was mainly a reminder. A reminder of what she'd just been through and who were still after her.

It caused her to turn around and there, in the distance, heading toward her, she saw Kylo Ren.

Shit.

She didn't think he would catch up so fast. Skye contemplated running but there was nowhere she could go. She didn't even know where she was going, so that wouldn't help.

She noticed the absence of a ship which meant he must have crashed too. The woman she'd been with did some reasonable damage, which Skye was grateful for because it at least bought her some time. She knew that just because he was without a ship for the time being, didn't mean that there would be no backup.

Based on instinct, Skye reached to her belt — only to realise it wasn't there. It had been taken from her aboard the Finalizer, along with her blaster and her lightsaber. Great.

There wasn't much she could do at the moment except talk. The fact that they were on Jakku, where BB-8 was, didn't help matters.

As Kylo Ren neared her, Skye spoke up. "Still not going to take off the helmet?" She glanced briefly toward the sun. She herself felt fatigue slowly creeping up on her. It couldn't have been any easier for him with what he had on.

~***~

Finn felt like the desert was endless and he was never going to find any signs of civilisation. He had long stripped off his trooper armour in favour of the clothes he had on underneath, which was slightly better for the weather. He still held Poe's jacket and used it as a shield of sorts, against the blinding light in the sky.

Part of him felt like resting. Part of him felt like giving up even though he'd come so close. All of that faded away when he heard a familiar voice.

Admiral Faraday?

Finn spun around, and sure enough, the admiral was there. Her reddish hair shone brighter under the light of the sun, making it look almost like fire.

Finn's initial instinct was to turn and run. Why should she be any lenient with him now, given everything that had happened and what he had dragged her into? But there really wasn't anywhere to run, and he knew two heads would be better than one. She was likely exhausted as well.

So Finn walked forward instead of turning around, intending to close the gap between them a little quicker.

"Admiral Faraday," he spoke up once they were close enough to hear each other. He also noticed she was alone, just like he was, which begged a few question. "Where's the other woman? Did you happen to see Poe?"

Perhaps those weren't the questions he should have asked her when she was clearly angry about a situation that began with those particular people — and also him — but Finn couldn't help himself. he seemed to forget, in that moment, that Faraday had been forced to cooperate. That didn't make her a willing ally in this moment.

 

[Lucyfer]

The Force aided his speed, and Skye did not seem to have any plans of trying to run away. Of course, she was also unarmed. It seemed she hadn’t spared a moment to restock before escaping. Her weapons were on the Finalizer.

He scoffed at the consideration of his helmet, even if he did, in fact, consider taking it off. He was not enjoying it in the least right then. He could feel his hair sticking to his face from the sweat that was pouring off of him.

And yet, this time, he did reach up.

He unhinged the helmet, and pulled it off, tucking it under an arm as he fixed his gaze back on her. “It’s not that different out here,” he commented, because it wasn’t. If anything, it was almost worse; the heat was dry out there. At least in the helmet it had been humid. “Satisfied?” The question was sarcastic.

She’d finally gotten him to take off the helmet.

“How long have you and Dameron been working with the traitors?” He assumed the two, the Stormtrooper and the Admiral, had been tied to the Resistance for a while and saved the pair of them so that the Resistance wouldn’t lose them, or lose the information that they carried.

He was surprised to have never noticed it in the Admiral’s mind. “How many more are there?” Like she was going to tell him that.

~***~

Where was the other woman?

Where was Poe?

As if either of those two should matter. Cadence bristled under his questions, bristled at the fact she didn’t have any authority to stand on any longer. She wanted to be able to truly say he wasn’t in any place to question her, to wield a title she could no longer claim. It almost made his address of her as ‘Admiral’ offensive, when she thought about it.

She still wanted to think of herself that way, but it wasn’t true, was it?

Cadence didn’t answer him. She stared at him for a few moments as those questions, and those realizations, sunk in. That he suddenly cared so much about those two rebels…that she’d thought he could be something so great for the Order – the future of the Order – and now….

It came out as she raised her hand, mind made up, and she would attempt to slap him. “YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!” She was unlikely to have much success, but she wanted him to hurt, right then, for the way he spoke of the Resistance fighters. For what he’d just done, for how they’d damaged the Order, and how she was suffering under the damned hot sun.

She didn’t feel the tears that spilled or she would have been furious with herself for wasting precious water, even unintentionally. Regardless of if she struck him, the questions would pour out, “Why did you do this?”

 

[witchingly]

Skye wasn’t expecting Kylo to remove his helmet despite her asking for the second time in a span of just a few hours. This was why she was a little surprised when he reached up to take it off.

It was soon tucked under his arm and Skye was able to properly meet his gaze. He wasn’t the same as she remembered. Even if, technically, he was, he looked different. Or maybe it just felt that way because they were on opposing sides. Whatever the case, Skye didn’t let it bother her for too long.

“Very.” He asked a question sarcastically but she was still going to answer.

His next question wasn’t very hard to answer either but the one after that... no way was she going to give out such information. Even if there wasn’t much to give. But he didn’t need to know that.

“They weren’t with us,” she explained, not seeing any reason to lie about it. For some reason she didn’t feel like lying to him at all, but keeping information hidden was a different story altogether.

“They were just part of a last minute plan. Forced cooperation,” Skye explained with a small shrug. The sun beating down on them made her more uncomfortable with each passing second. She could have spent this time getting closer to a village. Instead, she was stuck being confronted by Kylo in the heat.

“You really feel confident asking me about questions like that?” Skye asked him in reference to his second question. He knew she wouldn’t give up information so easily.

“Where’s your ship?” She asked, deciding to throw a question his way. Maybe if it was far enough they still had time. Rather, she still had time. She didn’t know what she was hoping for but time was always good.

~***~

Finn knew as soon as he asked the questions that he was asking the wrong ones. He wasn’t even really in a position to be asking her questions when he dragged her into this mess. Still, despite all that, he wasn’t expecting to be met with violence. In hindsight, he should have seen it coming from a First Order member.

Now former First Order member.

Finn saw her raise her hand and he scrambled back on impulse. The action made him trip since it was sudden and he landed on his back in the sand, staring up at the Admiral as she yelled at him, blamed him for ruining everything.

And the truth was that he was right. She had a good position in the Order. She was respected by many. He had just been a trooper. A nobody. Now, no matter what she said, they’d look at her as a traitor. She couldn’t go back, but she also had nowhere else to go. Just like him. The only difference was that he chose this. She didn’t.

“I’m sorry!” He tried to defend himself by holding his hands up in the air, as though he was surrendering.

Then he saw her expression and he felt even worse.

“I’m sorry,” he repeated, though in a softer voice. “All I wanted was to get off the ship. I couldn’t be there anymore. I didn’t want to drag you into it.” But it happened. And there wasn’t anything either of them could do about it now.

“I just... I couldn’t. I’m sorry.” Finn looked away from her and down at the sand at the ends of his feet. He remained in the sand despite how it burned his legs and even though he’d sat up, the sun only burned his back the longer he sat there in apologetic silence.

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo didn’t even waste his energy rolling his eyes at the response he got to his question. He had asked for that. His face was rather stoic even without the mask, as if it had become a mask in and of itself. That Skye sensed something off, or different, wouldn’t have surprised him in the least, even if he wouldn’t have had the word for it, or the knowledge.

The face of Ben Solo was a mask to him. A very immovable and stiff one. Stuck, as if rigor mortis had already taken over it. As dead as Ben Solo was, even if his eyes retained all the emotions he felt.

And he did believe Skye when she spoke of the Admiral and the Stormtrooper. They were last minute additions, two who had reacted poorly to Jakku, who apparently opted to act on that. He ignored the thought of ‘forced cooperation’. That mattered little, as the two clearly knew when they chose to flee.

“No,” he deadpanned. Even without the helmet, it was rather monotonous. His voice had certainly gotten deeper since his time with Luke’s padawans. “I don’t expect much at all from you.” That was the truth of it, and he glanced briefly over his shoulder as he considered his ship. “Somewhere, a smoking mess.”

That wasn’t a concern to him.

The Order was able to track him directly, not just his ship. He didn’t think it’d be too long before someone was sent to retrieve him, once they realized his ship was offline.

Unless Hux was going to be petty and wait until he had orders to pick Kylo up. Which…was entirely possible. “It seems we’re both stuck for the moment.” A true thought, and so he added, “We should find shelter.” He obviously wasn’t going to be leaving her alone, but a fight right then seemed pointless to him.

If anything it just meant he’d be carrying her body around and adding to his misery in the desert.

~***~

It was likely for the best that Cadence didn’t actually hit him, but she still begrudged FN-2187 for moving away all the same. Even if there was some satisfaction in the way he tripped up and had to look up at her. Her anger held under his first apology, under the gesture of surrender.

‘If you hadn’t dropped your blaster….’

Thrown it far away, really.

He apologized, again, and again. Sincerely. Cadence wished for it to be lies. She wished to find a reason to hold her anger longer, or at least, more intensely. It didn’t leave her, stars no, she was still formerly of the Order and everyone knew how to hold onto anger and petty grudges, even her, but it burned lower.

He hadn’t meant to get her involved. He had meant to disappoint her by leaving, even if he didn’t consider that. He just wanted off the ship, and out of the Order. “Because of the innocents,” she murmured, more to herself than to Finn, “because it was wrong.” Which she didn’t deny.

He didn’t have the same faith in the future of the Order as she did.

She wanted to slip into the sand. To sit there, a while longer, and digest it all – but that wouldn’t help her. And it wouldn’t help FN-2187. “Well. There’s no going back now.” For either of them, really. “You can make it up to me by finding us a ship off the planet. I’ll drop you wherever you want to go after that.” And she’d go find Terex, wherever he ended up. Her mentor had chosen to leave.

Perhaps he could help explain what happened. Why someone so loyal to the Empire, so hated the First Order. What flaws, what reason, he had. Perhaps it would make this feel…better. Or at least help her figure out what to do now. “You’re going to need to go by something besides FN-2187 if you don’t want to get caught.”

 

[witchingly]

Skye supposed that expectation was accurate. She wasn't going to give him the information he was asking for, as long as it concerned the Resistance, and she doubted he'd have questions about anything else, but those off topic at least, would be on the table still.

She knew it wouldn't be long before he'd have back up and she didn't want to be waiting around till it happened. It was hot and sunny and she needed food and water if they were going to survive the weather conditions alone.

Kylo obviously believed it would take time for reinforcements to arrive as well because he suggested finding shelter. Part of her wanted to argue out of spite but she couldn't afford to do that right now. She'd just die out there and it'd be a waste.

Under different circumstances, she would have found it comical, the idea of walking with Kylo Ren, in his full attire, in the middle of the desert to find shelter. A fight would have made more sense but she was unarmed, and also tired. Shelter seemed like the only option.

And again, it bought her more time. Kylo wasn't about to let his guard down but there would be more opportunities to sneak away and hide, or do something. Out here, it was open. He'd see her from anywhere.

"Let's get going then," she said, turning away from him and continuing the way she'd been walking. She felt like they might be close, so she didn't want to change courses just yet. If they were lucky, they'd stumble upon something soon enough.

~***~

Finn wasn't sure what he expected her to say in return. There was a moment of silence that was almost painful, probably because it was paired with the harsh sun, but the woman soon spoke and he lifted his head to look at her.

She knew his reasons. He'd told them to her on the ship, even if he hadn't made it clear back then that it was his reason for leaving and not just failing to fire on innocents. He was just grateful she was beginning to understand. There were plenty of others who would have dismissed his reasoning entirely. It was easier to believe what you wanted to rather than being forced into believing something.

Finn began to rise from his seated position in the sand, coming to a standing one as she explained how he could make it up to her. That sounded like more than a fair deal, though at this point he might have said yes to anything. He was just desperate to see other people because it would mean food, water and some kind of roof to keep them out of the sun for much longer.

"Sounds like a plan," he said with a nod. Honestly, he was just glad she wasn't as angry anymore. The worst probably wasn't over, by any means, but for now at least, he could focus on other things.

Picking up the jacket, he used it as a shield from the sun once again while he began to walk, and when Faraday pointed out the name issue, he was happy to respond. "Finn," he told her without batting an eyelid. "I'll go by Finn from now on." He decided, in the moment, not to bring up that it was Poe who had given him the name. No need to anger her once more and he felt like mentioning either him or Skye might just do that.

Despite that feeling, however, he thought it was safe for an almost harmless question. "Do I still need to call you Admiral Faraday?"

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo Ren had no arguments with the direction that Skye chose. He didn’t have a better sense of which way to go. The planet was hard to get a read on; it had its own energy in the Force. All planets did, some were stronger than others. He could feel Skye, of course, but he could not feel Poe from this far away.

At least, he assumed Poe was far.

If Poe had died, he thought Skye might have noticed, and might be in a much fouler mood.

Yet he couldn’t quite sense where other civilizations were from so far. The planet’s own life pulsed out, and it was dark. He didn’t know why; if he had, it would have made sense. Sith artifacts had been destroyed there only a few decades ago, after all.

Their energies, however, lingered.

Shielded someone else on the planet, just as well, from being felt far beyond it.

The sun was beating down on them all the while, and the silence was grating more than it was comfortable. Kylo kept glancing up at Skye's back and wondering more and more about her life, her path, since the fall of the Jedi Temple. Wondering if others had survived, as well, although he doubted that Skye would tell him that.

“Where did you go?” He asked instead, “After the Temple fell – where did you go? What did you do?” How did she end up with the Resistance? Perhaps, in a way, that was a given. The Jedi would always go to the Resistance. He wondered if Leia had reached out to her, though, or if she had found Leia and offered her services. “How long have you known who I used to be?”

~***~

The woman followed behind FN-2187 this time – Finn, he told her. No hesitation. It made her wonder if he had long thought on what he’d call himself. She was familiar with plenty of Troopers who looked at Phasma, Pyre, and once, Cardinal, with adoration. They wanted names. ‘You were like them.’ Once.

And Finn’s question only seemed to bring that home in a terrible way as he asked if he should keep calling her by a name that had come with rank and accolades in the Order. She laughed. She couldn’t help it, although it was a terrible sound. Not only because she desperately needed water, but because the emotion was far from amused.

It was all she could do to keep from crying and sinking into the sand.

Laugh.

“No, Finn, you’ve made sure I can never go by that ever again.” All that she’d done, slipped through her fingers in seconds. Gone. She ought to hate him. “Kay. I’m Kay.” Cadence Faraday was as lost to her as FN-2187 was to Finn.

The difference remained that she hadn’t wanted to lose it, and returning to Kay was an insult, but it was better than the lie of ‘Admiral Faraday’.

She’d never have that title or be deserving of that name again. She had chosen the name to show her loyalty to the Order, and she had failed. When it mattered, she was selfish.

 

[witchingly]

Skye's aim was to find shelter. She didn't think they'd do much talking along the way but she also wasn't going to stay quiet and ignore Kylo as he tossed her a few questions. He was still curious about her, which she thought was understandable, given he assumed she had been dead all these years.

She glanced behind her to look at Kylo briefly before turning ahead and continuing to walk. "I stayed with my father for a while," she explained to him. She vaguely wondered how much she knew about him if he suddenly wanted to live up to his grandfather's legacy. Did he know he had once been her father's mentor? Or something like that. Skye didn't know if she could refer to their relationship as that of a mentor and a mentee.

"Then I travelled," Skye continued, never slowing down in her walking speed. She felt like there might be life nearby but she didn't want to give herself false hope either. "I didn't have a teacher anymore so I needed to find other ways to learn." Turned out she didn't need to be trained by someone Force sensitive to be able to learn how to control the abilities she was given.

"When I felt I'd learned enough, I found General Leia." And she'd been with the Resistance ever since.

As to how long she'd known who he was... "A while."

Skye decided not to get into specifics. And even if she wanted to, something stopped her. Up ahead in the distance, but close enough for her to see with her own eyes, was a small settlement. "Shelter," she breathed. She was sure she'd probably collapse from fatigue pretty soon so the sight of that made her speed up, which she hoped would encourage Kylo to do the same.

The closer she got, the more she was able to make out. Some establishment in the shape of a half circle. A lot of scrap metal. It looked quiet and empty. She just hoped that there were people there. Or if not people, at least some water source.

~***~

Finn looked to Faraday as she began to laugh. He knew it wasn't a genuine laugh — quite frankly he was scared of what it meant. He realised he needed to tip-toe around her for a while and stop asking stupid questions that could get her more angry.

She may not have a weapon right now but if he kept this up, she'd use whatever she first got her hands on and Finn didn't really want to be on the receiving end of that.

Instead of apologising yet again, Finn merely nodded as she told him what he could call her instead. Kay. He wondered if she just made that up or if that was her real name. Then he wondered what her real name actually was, if she'd had one all this time.

Instead of actually asking her that though, Finn remained silent. He knew better. He didn't want to anger her any more than he already had.

It would soon turn out, however, that some of that anger might fade, since as he came up above a sand dune, Finn looked down to see a settlement below. He saw people milling about, meaning there'd be food and water, and hopefully a ship to get off of this desert planet.

"Finally," Finn muttered under his breath. He felt hope beginning to swell up inside of him and he glanced to Kay to see if she shared that feeling.

Without saying anything more, he continued down the dune, intending to get to the outpost as soon as possible. Then maybe they could put all of this behind them and start fresh.

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo listened. The answers weren’t that difficult to understand. He had recalled that Skye had a father who was also Force sensitive. It made sense to return to him to finish her training. She hadn’t thus been left on her own all this time, to question how to use her powers, or even to try and forsake them entirely. Then, she explored.

Kylo’s pace didn’t hitch as she mentioned Leia. He knew that was coming – and somehow, the admittance that she had known who he was for a while wasn’t surprising. Nor the fact she never attempted to reach him.

Leia hadn’t.

He shouldn’t expect more from her.

There was an interruption in the form of shelter, and Kylo had little intention of passing it up. He matched her pace, and as he drew closer, he certainly got the sense that there was life there.

That became more obvious with the sound of laughter, and a girl with pink hair bursting into sight, holding a bit of scrap metal. Behind her was a slightly older boy, with lekku and hair both, followed after with his own scrap metal. It became obvious they were playing at swordfighting, and they both paused to see the approach of strangers.

“Mom!” The young girl cried, as the boy grabbed her hand, dropping his stick to hurry her inside. It was on Kylo that his eyes lingered before he’d vanish around a corner.

~***~

Kay was at least grateful for Finn’s silence. She knew her mood wasn’t going to improve any time soon. The planet didn’t aid in making her cheerful, nor did her situation. Nor her own inner monologue. When she saw the town, she didn’t share in Finn’s hope. Sure, it meant she wasn’t going to die, and she could see ships on the outskirt of the town, but that didn’t mean much to her right then.

Perhaps after she slept this off.

She slid the white tunic off as Finn darted ahead, and tossed it behind her. The pants didn’t have the First Order insignia on it, but the tunic did. She didn’t know what sort of greeting the Order would get here, but it was better to just…be no one.

And there was shade down there. She might not burn so terribly if she stuck to the shade and got off the planet quickly.

She kept at her walk, and ignored the stares as they came, ducking under a tent as soon as she could. There was a trough of water nearby that she ignored entirely, in spite of its promise of refreshment. She had a bit more dignity than that. She sought out humans in the crowd, figuring she might at least be able to speak to them easier – unless none spoke galactic basic, but those in the village seemed to….

‘At least you don’t have to worry about survivors.’ She considered as she noted one woman with a droid – and then her immediately getting assaulted by what seemed to be tuskan raiders. ‘Of course.’ This was no one’s day, apparently.

 

[witchingly]

Skye still felt like it took forever to reach the small settlement — perhaps because her movements were now becoming a little sluggish — but they drew near anyway, and Skye noticed the outline of people in the distance.

As they got closer, she realised they were children. She would have said something, but as soon as they noticed them approaching, the children ran indoors and out of sight.

Skye should have assumed as much. They both looked extremely out of place — Kylo more than her. She'd taken off her jacket in favour of the tank top underneath because of the heat, and she now had it tied around her waist, using the sleeves.

Since the girl cried for her mother, Skye expected to see a woman poking her head out sooner or later. Before that happened though, she turned to Kylo. "Let me do the talking."

She figured that wasn't the way he usually dealt with things, but they needed water and shelter and this would be the best way to acquire those things.

Sure enough, after a few moments, an older woman came out from around the corner where the children had disappeared. She stepped closer, though still kept a safe distance. It was understandable to be wary of strangers.

Skye did her best to hold a soft tone. "We've been wandering in the desert for a while and we'd appreciate any help we can get," she explained, keeping it brief. "All we need is water. And shelter for some time. We'll be on our way soon after that."

Well, she was going to find a way to be on her way alone but she could worry about that later.

~***~

Finn reached the establishment before Kay did because he more or less sprinted. He was desperate for some water, and he was desperate to get out of the sun. He didn't bother looking around to see who was there, or if there were ships nearby. Not yet, anyway.

He found a trough of water and immediately bent down to scoop some into his mouth with his hands. It tasted awful, which caused him to spit some out, right before he dived back into it again because at the end of the day, it still quenched his thirst.

He hadn't noticed any scuffle nearby. He didn't even see where Kay was. In fact, he was just about to stand up and inform her of the water source, when he was knocked to the ground by something falling on him.

Rather than see what it was, Finn got up to see where the fight was. Some woman was turning the tables on two big looking thugs. She seemed to be doing okay for herself, so Finn wasn't really bothered. Not until she dealt with them, walked over to a fallen sack and pulled it off only to reveal a droid that Finn easily recognised, based on Poe's description of it.

Finn stepped closer to Kay, wanting to say something, but his mind was racing so he ended up remaining silent.

BB-8?

Finn got his answer soon enough because the droid turned and spotted him, and then began to beep like crazy.

 

[Lucyfer]

The mother seemed human enough. ‘The father must be non-human.’ He had a suspicion of twi’lek, although togruta were also known for lekku. Kylo let Skye talk in either case. He could see the girl peeking out to listen, her brother not far at all.

“Wondering the desert in that?” The woman pointed at Kylo, “Can’t have been that long.”

Kylo found some wry amusement in her statement, “I’d prefer not to wander long enough that I die of dehydration,” he said, immediately grateful that his attire had no insignia on it. Maybe he just seemed strange, although as the woman glanced to the sky, he knew that she was aware of where he must have come from.

The Finalizer was visible, an arrowhead in the sky still.

“If you two promise to behave, you can stay the night. My husband will be back by dusk. He can take you with him to Niima Outpost in the morning where you can figure things out. It’s one of the few marketplaces on Jakku.” And she considered too far to walk in this heat, particularly in that man’s attire.

He’d collapse long before he made it to Niima, even if he looked to be in his prime.

~***~

Finn, apparently, had no sense of dignity. ‘Or he has no idea how strange it is.’ Kay considered that just as likely. Finn had never been outside of the Order – and likely hadn’t been allowed holonovels or much in the way of creative thought, before this moment. The galaxy had opened up to him, and Kay felt her revulsion at his action fade to some mix of pity and jealousy.

It had cleared from her expression by the time he was on his feet again, and joining her in watching the fight. She had debated going to assist, but the woman was capable. ‘Like Phasma.’ Another pang. Another agony. Though any hopes of a relationship with Phasma had been infinitely small before, now they were impossible.

The woman handled things well, and Kay meant to approach her, but before she could, the droid noticed them.

Noticed Finn.

Kay understood the beeping, “Looks like the droid knows your rebel friend.” And was not happy. Nor, apparently, was the girl, who got to her feet and took a running start – the droid added in a bit about who Kay was, as well, apparently its programming recognized First Order leadership without the need of her attire.

The smart thing to do might have been to run, but where? So, Kay didn’t. “Wait, wait!” She yelled at the fast approaching woman, throwing her own hands up – although with a step back her posture took on a defensive one.

She knew how to fight if it was necessary. “We can talk!” Maybe. Probably not.

 

[witchingly]

Skye glanced back to Kylo when the woman spoke. He definitely looked more out of place than she did, but another look told Skye that the woman realised where they were from. Rather, where he was from. But for the moment they were putting up a united front.

This was the weirdest prisoner situation she'd ever been in but for the time being, she wasn't complaining. She just wanted water and some shade.

Whatever the woman may have thought, she was still willing to extend a helping hand, which Skye was grateful for. She began to nod almost immediately, agreeing to her terms. "We promise," she told her, giving Kylo a brief glance. That made her escape a little... troublesome. She'd have to figure something out. Maybe once she was hydrated.

"Thank you," Skye added as the woman turned to lead them.

Assuming that Kylo was following, Skye walked behind the woman as she took them around the corner and toward her home. The moment they were out of the sun, Skye was flooded with relief. It was still warm inside but it was much better compared to the outdoors.

The children had followed the woman inside as well, but hid around a wall, occasionally peeking to take a look at the strangers in their home. Skye gave the girl a friendly smile, which was returned, before she looked back at the older woman. "Are there many others here?" Skye had noticed that the place seemed pretty quiet. Perhaps most of them were at the marketplace that she spoke about.

~***~

Finn wasn't sure what was going on. Kay cleared it up for him — apparently she understood what the droid was saying — and Finn took a moment to understand who she was referring to. Poe? Of course, this BB unit had belonged to him.

The woman it was with looked to them as well, and began to run toward them. Finn backed up, fully prepared to turn and run without thinking about where he would run or even how far he'd get before she caught up with him, but before he could do any of that, Kay called out to her.

Finn looked at her with confusion, but he trusted she knew better what to do, so Finn remained rooted to his position.

At the mention of talking, the woman slowed to a stop in front of the two of them. She eyed both of them in a suspicious manner and seemed to notice that Finn looked ready to sprint. He had no weapons, and he wasn't sure how good he'd be with using his fists. In any case, he didn't fancy fighting this woman who seemed very capable when it came to handling herself against two thugs — he'd be on the ground in seconds.

He was surrounded by angry women everywhere.

"Talk?" the woman echoed, looking at Kay briefly before looking back to Finn. "Why would I negotiate with a thief?"

"Thief?" Finn looked as confused as he felt. "I'm no— Ow!" Before he had the chance to defend himself, BB-8 reached out with an extension to give him a small shock.

"The jacket," the woman said, pointing to the piece of fabric that Finn now held in one hand. "This droid says you stole it from its master."

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo knew this might not go the way Skye, or the woman, were hoping. He wasn’t above using hostages to get what he needed, and he suspected that Skye was going to attempt to escape again. If they could stay here long enough for the Order to turn their attention to the fact he went offline from his TIE, then he might be able to use this family against Skye.

It wasn’t a thought he found himself happy with, but it was necessary.

Just as all those deaths in the village had been necessary. He didn’t need rumor spreading about Luke Skywalker, or what the Order was doing.

Still, those plots broke away under the shelter of the home, which was more than just shaded. It was cool. He let out his own sigh of relief, and pushed back some of the strands of hair that were sticking to his face. The woman went ahead and got them two cups of water, offering them out as Skye asked her question.

Kylo took his with no questions and drank it down. “Now why would you be asking that?” The woman seemed defensive, “Making sure we’re easy pickings?”

“We’re not thieves,” Kylo objected.

“Then you don’t really need to know, do ya?” Apparently the woman was willing to help them survive, but not much else. When she caught sight of the kids still lingering, she gave a shooing gesture.

“But—but he has a laser sword!” The boy protested for why he didn’t want to leave.

~***~

Kay gestured to Finn, “Because apparently he doesn’t think he’s a thief, and perhaps that requires discussion before you determine if he is, or isn’t.” Kay suggested, “Finn, perhaps you want to tell the droid how you got its owner’s jacket?”

Kay had no idea.

And the droid started to beep angrily at her, suggesting she killed Poe because she was with the Order. “No, actually, he’s the one to pull the blaster on me and get me into this mess. Your owner’s a jerk.”

The droid definitely took offense, and the woman seemed more confused by the whole mess of the situation, but not confused enough to stop considering violence entirely. The staff was shifted in her hand, so it could be held as a threat to both of them. “Both of you, tell me what’s going on with this droid’s owner, now.”

BB-8 added to the demand.

 

[witchingly]

Skye accepted the water that the woman handed her and mouthed a small thank you. She was busy guzzling it down to actually say the words out loud.

The woman became defensive as soon as Skye posed her question, and by then, she'd finished all the water in her glass so she attempted to respond. "I didn't mean—"

Before she got the chance to say much, Kylo stepped in, making it clear that they weren't there to steal from anyone. Skye knew that was the truth, but thieves were the least of the woman's worries, considering she was in the presence of Kylo Ren and, well, his prisoner. This was temporary, and he'd have back up soon. The more Skye thought about it, the more she wished the woman had declined to help. Then she wouldn't be involved, and maybe she and her children would remain safe.

There was still something that could be done. At least, Skye liked to think so. They had time till the morning and Skye wasn't going to get anywhere while she was exhausted. She wasn't going to win any fights either, without her weapons.

When the young boy acknowledged Kylo's lightsaber, Skye tensed but spoke up. "We'll stay out of your way," she told her. "All we really needed was shelter for the time being and we'll be on our way once we're a little rested."

Maybe if the woman and her kids left them to their own devices, they wouldn't be involved in whatever was to come. Skye could only hope as much.

~***~

Poe looked between Kay and the droid as they communicated — he was going to have to learn how to speak droid one of these days — and when the other woman became agitated and demanded to get some concrete answers, Finn was of course, inclined to answer.

"Poe Dameron," Finn explained as he looked between the woman and Bb-8. "He was your owner, right?" When BB-8 beeped, Finn took that as a sign of confirmation and continued. "He was captured by the First Order. I helped— We helped him escape," he gestured to Kay as well, hoping it would at least make things better for her. "But the ship crashed. I... I don't know if Poe made it."

When Finn took the jacket, it could have been from his body. Or it could not have. Whatever was left of the ship had sunk though, and then exploded, so if that was him, he definitely wasn't alive anymore. Finn just didn't know.

BB-8 beeped once more, though it sounded slightly more dejected. Finn didn't understand droid but he could pick up on what the droid was feeling. "I tried to help," he explained. "I'm sorry."

BB-8 didn't seem to want to listen to anything more because he rolled off a little further away from them and stopped at a corner. Finn could understand that feeling too. BB-8 was sad.

Finn glanced to the woman and then at Kay as if to ask, what do we do now?

 

[Lucyfer]

“You can still stay here until tomorrow – the desert is no place to be wandering,” the woman indicated, ushering the kids away in spite of the ‘laser sword’. The pouting looks were obvious, but off they went, out of sight. “There’s enough out there during the day. Night it just gets worse.” Even if the temperatures were better. “I’ll let you get sorted, either way.”

She would, at least, leave them to go speak to her children about what to say and what not to say, and to stay out of trouble themselves.

Kylo could hear her trailing thoughts. She wasn’t unkind – just afraid. She’d likely been taken advantage of in life before, or seen others, but she still felt some need to try and be good.

He did shift his attention back to Skye, and he lowered his voice, “If you just tell me where the map is, I can leave off the hunt for you and Poe Dameron,” he indicated. “I can leave you here. That’s all I need.” The map. Then they could part ways.

He was a bit surprised with himself that he was even offering that form of mercy, and in truth, he didn’t expect it to work. She hadn’t been too concerned about Poe before, and certainly not about her own life. “You know you’re not going to be able to escape.”

~***~

Kay listened to the story as Finn spun it out. He’d found the jacket, but no Poe. Kay didn’t have high hopes for Poe’s survival. Or the other woman. But she hadn’t seen either of them, and didn’t add her two cents as BB-8 rolled away.

The woman in front of them was looking at them, hard. “So you’re both First Order?”

“Formerly,” Kay couldn’t lie.

“But you tried to help his owner?” Rey continued, her posture seeming to soften a bit. Whatever opinion she had of the Order, it apparently wasn’t that great.

‘Well, I didn’t have a choice.’ Kay wouldn’t add that, just shrugged. She didn’t need to get hit with the staff.

“Then you two have to help the droid.” Rey deduced, “He needs to get back to the Resistance.”

 

[witchingly]

Skye watched the woman go and she leaned back against the wall behind her, tired. She knew the topic of the map was likely to come up sooner or later, so she wasn't surprised when Kylo brought it up as soon as they were alone again.

Poe Dameron. Skye had no idea where he even was. She knew he was alive. That much she was sure of because she would have felt it if he died. His whereabouts were a question she had no answer to, though. She could only hope that he got a hold of BB-8 somehow, and was on his way back to the Resistance.

Letting out a small sigh, Skye let her head tilt back so it touched the wall, but she turned it to the side a bit so she also faced Kylo. "You know I'm not going to tell you where the map is." But she knew he wouldn't stop trying to find out. No matter what it took, maybe.

Skye remained silent when he pointed out that she wouldn't escape, mainly because he was right. As time passed by, she was growing more and more convinced that she wasn't going to get away from here, even if she was still trying to find ways to do so. But it didn't matter if she had some way of knowing that the map was safe and far away.

"Instead of making promises," Skye said, continuing to look at Kylo. "Why don't you tell me why you need the map?" It was a valid question. "Luke's been gone for a long time. He poses no threat to you and he hasn't... since that night. So why is it so important that you get to him? Because if he hasn't come back for so long, there's a good chance he'll never come back."

Maybe Kylo didn't want the map. Maybe it was just a matter of making sure the Resistance didn't have the map. Or to end the Jedi order properly, and finish what he'd started.

If that was the case, he may as well strike her down then and there since she was one of them and he knew it.

~***~

Finn wasn't sure what to say when the woman asked if they were First Order but Kay answered on behalf of both of them. Truthful. It was important to be truthful.

When the woman said, however, that they now needed to help the droid, Finn had a surprised look on his face. "I'm sorry, what?" Finn had never wanted to land on Jakku in the first place. He wanted to get far away from any stormtrooper and have a chance at a war-free life.

He had hoped that he'd have a chance to lay low even now, once him and Kay found a ship and got far away from this planet, but now he was expected to take care of an important droid and land himself in more hot water?

"He says he's on a secret mission," the woman explained, nodding to BB-8. "He needs to get back to the base. You helped his owner, now you have to help him."

Finn sighed. "The map," he muttered under his breath. He remembered what Poe said about it having the whereabouts to Luke Skywalker's location.

"Map?" The woman echoed, clearly confused.

Before Finn could clarify, BB-8 started to beep like crazy and he looked in the droid's direction, only to notice two stormtroopers in the distance. They were talking to two large— those were the guys who were terrorising this woman earlier! And right now... they were pointing in their direction.

"Crap," Finn murmured and turned to Kay. He tugged her wrist, urging her to move. "We've gotta get out of here."

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo wouldn’t adopt any pose that signified laziness, or exhaustion. Even if he felt tired from just the walk in that heat, he held himself upright, and kept his empty cup in one hand, his mask under the arm of the other. His offer didn’t move Skye at all, except to more questions. ‘To kill him.’ Wasn’t that obvious?

“Simply because Skywalker has not been seen does not mean he is doing nothing. It seems traditional for Jedi to go off into hiding to prepare, or did you forget his stories of Obi-Wan and Yoda?” Kylo certainly hadn’t. They both hid away, and both trained apprentices. Obi-wan had been planning to from the start.

Yoda was a bit more questionable.

Nonetheless, “Is that not the reason the Resistance is looking for him? In hopes of bringing him back into the fight, of inspiring others against the First Order, and starting a new generation of Jedi. I know Leia. I know it isn’t sentiment that’s driving her.”

The Resistance thought that Luke could help them, and Kylo knew how capable Luke was with the Force. Luke could be a great asset to the Resistance, and Kylo did not want that to happen. Not at all.

~***~

‘Map.’ That cleared up a significant amount. The droid had the map, that Poe and the woman were trying to keep safe. ‘If you take the droid and go back to the Order, you could—’ before the thought could finish, and materialize into action, the droid came rolling back, beeping its heart out – and her attention was drawn to Stormtroopers.

The opportunity was there.

It occurred even in her thoughts to resist Finn’s pull and help the Order – except that it didn’t move into action. Why did this strange woman hate the Order so much, already? And why was the Resistance doing just that – resisting?

There were questions she wouldn’t get answered if she tried to go back – if the Order would even let her back. She had already felt that the methods were wrong, even if the ends were right. Perhaps…there was something worth finding out here.

It was enough doubt to turn with Finn, rather than pull away, and run, just before TIEs came screaming from overhead and blaster fire started to follow them. “Well someone recognized us!”

And Rey was caught up in it now, by association, and by the droid, and she fled with them. “Wait, come this way!” Rey shouted to them. “There’s ships – you’re going to need a ship!”

BB-8 screeched its agreement.

 

[witchingly]

Skye hadn't forgotten those stories, no. But what she didn't want to say in front of Kylo was that she didn't believe Luke was out there to gain his strength and come back stronger to help the Resistance. She didn't believe he was going to return and create a new Jedi Order. Skye had a feeling he just wanted to remain in hiding, remain uninvolved, or he would have at least reached out to Leia with some sort of sign.

He just... disappeared.

Skye looked up at the ceiling as Kylo spoke, but she glanced in his direction when he brought up Leia. There was bitterness in his tone. Skye couldn't begin to understand how they got here, considering who his parents were.

"I don't think you know the full story," Skye murmured as she looked at him. Of course, she didn't know either, but she knew that couldn't be all of it. In any case, it didn't seem like Kylo wanted to change his mind, which meant nothing she said would help in that regard.

"Let's say you want to stop the rise of any new generation of Jedi," Skye said, sitting up straighter now since there was a question she wanted answered. "What do you intend to do with me then, when all is said and done?"

If he was going to ultimately kill her, and she'd be able to tell if he was lying, then why would he have any reason to believe keeping her as a prisoner would work? She wasn't going to give out any information, and especially not if she knew she was just going to be killed right after.

~***~

It seemed Finn was just constantly adding people to the battle, putting more lives in danger. First Kay, and now this stranger. Though, in his defense, she associated herself with BB-8 far before he came along so he was't completely to blame.

Finn ran alongside Kay as the woman led them down a different path, toward some ships. Finally they were getting off of this planet. and it seemed the woman was coming with them because like it or not, she'd been dragged into this mess.

"What about that one?" Finn called out to the woman as they ran. He saw a big enough looking ship off to the right though it looked like it had been there for ages.

"That one's garbage," she replied, before pointing to a four-engine ship ahead. "We'll take that quad-jumper."

But as they neared it, TIE's from above began firing, and their ticket out of there went up in flames, bringing all of them to a screeching halt.

"Looks like we'll have to go with the garbage," the woman said finally, and they shifted their direction. They fortunately got inside with ease and Finn looked back to ensure that Kay and BB-8 were both inside and unharmed. Then he realised they may have another issue.

Finn knew he could handle the ships blasters to fire at the enemy, but he was faced with an issue he had before. "Does anyone know how to fly this thing?"

 

[Lucyfer]

‘I don’t need to know the full story.’ It wasn’t as if the woman standing before him knew any better, either. That she wanted to defend Luke was still maddening to Kylo Ren, but he supposed that reason became obvious. She considered herself a Jedi.

Still.

Even after being abandoned by Luke, and hearing what he’d chosen to do, she wanted to claim that. Was it because of her father? He couldn’t have been a very good one if he had children. Certainly he would have taught her a different way, right? “If you intend to hold to the ways of the Jedi, if you intend to instruct others in that way…I’ll have to kill you.”

It was simple, terribly simple, but that didn’t mean Kylo found that he liked saying it. He had meant to kill her, once. All of them, once, in his fury and his fear, but being confronted with it when those emotions had years to cool did not make it a desirable option. If anything, it felt like it would be a hollow victory if he could never show people that the Jedi were wrong.

“There are other ways – better ways,” Kylo said, “The Jedi isn’t the only path, nor the Sith. There’s no need for the bickering of that kind of dogma when you can just have and use the Force for what’s right.” Snoke talked of balance. The Knights of Ren spoke of the dark as a shadow – but they, too, acknowledged where a shadow was cast from.

Kylo didn’t need politics in his use of the Force. He just needed the Force.

~***~

Kay found herself in the so-called garbage, half in awe rather than exasperated with it. She knew this ship. It had been among those she studied, like the Carrion Spike and other corvettes. This, however, was an exception. This was the one freighter faster than the Carrion Spike. She might have said as much when it was called garbage. The Order had taught her to recognize this ship, of course.

This was Han Solo’s ship. A general of the Rebel Alliance, an ally of Leia Organa, and a friend of Luke Skywalker.

And Finn apparently forgot she could pilot. Again. That old pettiness boiled up into the answer of, “Nope, no idea how to pilot,” rather than offering.

BB-8 responded to that, questioning the Order’s capabilities if an Admiral couldn’t pilot. She just shrugged as Rey let out a frustrated sound, “I can pilot! One of you take the guns!” And Rey was off to the cockpit.

Rather than stay behind, Kay opted to follow. She could pilot, and she could at least help Rey. She was trying to get out of there alive, after all.

 

[witchingly]

Skye expected that answer. She wasn't sure why she bothered asking. Maybe she just wanted to hear it from him. In a way, hearing it allowed her to pick up on his tone, and since he had his helmet off, it was much easier to read.

"You almost sound like you don't want to kill me," she pointed out. Her voice held a mildly teasing tone, but it lacked any humour. She knew what it would come down to, but she wasn't going to just give up and stop fighting.

Other ways. Better ways.

Like the path that he was currently following?

"So that's what you're doing?" Skye asked as she looked at him. "Using the force for what's right?" Shaking her head, Skye leaned back against the wall once more. "I'm having a hard time believing that."

She didn't have any reason to believe that so far, at least. She understood where the vengeful feelings came from but there had to be some part of him that saw how so many things he was a part of was wrong.

~***~

Finn felt like he picked up something in Kay's tone when she mentioned she didn't know how to pilot — that's when he realised that she did know hot to pilot. He knew she did, and he'd forgotten. But at the moment, it wasn't something they had the time to address.

Luckily for them, the other woman knew how to fly, so while she and Kay went into the cockpit, Finn found the gunner's position and settled in. The seat swivelled and he took a moment to get used to the movement.

It was a little hard considering they had a rocky start when the ship rose in the sky. He wasn't sure what they knocked into but whatever it was didn't slow them down by much because soon they were zooming off. Their destination was unknown. The only priority was to shake off the TIE fighters on their tail.

The sounds of firing continued in the background, but they were so far doing okay to avoid it.

"What are you doing back there?" The woman called out. "Are you ever going to fire back?"

Looking at all the flashing lights, Finn yelled back with, "I'm working on it!" Eventually though, he got control of the guns and it was all he needed to star firing back.

Unfortunately, none of his shots were hitting their targets. "Damn it," he muttered. Maybe it was beginner's luck when he'd been with Poe but it seemed a lot harder now.