Just before the chapter begins, I just found out of some great news. AT&T is finally putting Roosterteeth in the garbage where they belong

Now. Onto the story

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Outer rim-  imperial shuttle

In the depths of the outer rim, an imperial shuttle is floating through the darkness that is space. On this ship is Poe dammren, a resistance pilot working towards the first orders fall. Finn, a former stormtrooper. And rey, a orphan junker that helped secure BB-8. a droid carrying a map to the fabled Jedi hero Luke Skywalker.

After a few minutes of flight since Poe mentioned Finn killing stormtroopers. They talked a bit, but it was apparent that Poe needed to address the awkward tension caused by their discussion. Not only that, but he couldn't have Finn freezing up on every First order encounter

Poe: So, Finn. I know you don't want to talk about it, but I think it needs to be addressed

Finn hesitantly looked over to Poe

Finn: Yeah? What do you want to address?

Poe: Well, I understand that you don't want to hurt Storm troopers, but they are the enemies. Even if they are people, they hurt other people, and we can't pull punches for them just to be nice

Finn: I know, but it's not like they chose this

Poe was stunned to have heard that. There was a moment of silence as he tried to take in what he'd just heard before Finn continued

Finn: It's not like I refused to shoot Storm troopers because I was scared of the site of death or anything

Poe: Wait. One problem at a time. What do you mean by not being scared of death? I thought that seeing people die was just traumatic for you. I mean, many people have a hard time dealing with it.

Finn: Not exactly. When I was in the first order they trained that out of me. I don't have a negative reaction to watching people die or by inflicting pain. Are you aware of that sort of training?

Poe nodded, recalling the training he got in the military, just as it had originally become the resistance

Poe: Yeah. Every competent military provides specialized training to deal with extreme trauma

Finn: Yeah. That's the training I got in the first order. I didn't want to hurt them because I knew they didn't deserve it. They never asked to join the First order

Poe: Which leads to my second question. What do you mean they didn't ask to join the First order?

Finn: The first order was the only family I knew. For as long as I could remember, I learned everything from the first order. We were all taken in as kids and taught to fight against the Republic for the greater good of the people

There was a few seconds of silence while they thought about what Finn just said

Poe: That is a lot to take in

It was hard to think about that. Poe had assumed that some of the First order thought they were doing the right thing, but to imagine this was such a surprise. He hoped he could at least ignore it a little longer

Poe: Well. For future reference. You might want to keep in mind that the First order still considers you an enemy and won't remember you fondly

Finn slowly nodded

Finn: I'll try to keep that in mind

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Rey was sitting at the gunner seat, half asleep. The events of the whole day really set in with her now that she had the chance to settle down on it, she was having trouble deciding what she even wanted

While she looked out over the vast emptiness of space, she thought about how large the universe is and the amount of time she wasted on Jakku

As she thought about it, she began wondering what she has to look forward to. She never had a family on Jakku, at least, not one that would ever come for her. She didn't know her parents, and could never connect to any of the locals, except for Unkar Plutt, who she hated

Maybe staying with Poe and Finn would be a decent choice. Certainly better than returning to Jakku in the hopes that her parents might return. But then again, why even do that? She wasn't interested in working with other people and she was used to being alone. So why not just ditch Poe and Finn as soon as the opportunity presents itself?

Before she had too much time to dwell on her thoughts, she saw ominous red lights coming from space

Focusing on the problem at hand, Rey looked out towards the lights and saw a giant ship. One that would definitely destroy their cheap imperial ship that was barely holding together

Rey: Oh no

Realizing that the ship was clearly after them, she quickly pushed a button on her control panel to signal the pilot seat

Rey: Guys. We have a problem

Poe (intercom): What is it?

He was mostly calm in asking

Rey: We're about to get boarded

Poe (intercom): Don't shoot that ship!

Rey: Yeah. Obviously. It's too big and we can't actually fight it!

She rolled her eyes as she heard Poe breathe a sigh of relief. She was amazed that he actually expected her to be that stupid

Rey: So, what do we do

Poe: You get away from the gun and hide BB-8 as well as yourself. Finn. You and me will talk to them

Finn (intercom): OK

Rey quickly locked the controls and got out of the gunner seat. She found BB-8 just outside the door, which saved her time finding him and gave her more time to hide

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While Rey hid, Poe and Finn made their way to the entrance of the ship

Finn: So, what's the plan?

Poe: We're in an empire ship. If we just tell them that we're with the government and why we have this ship then we should be OK

Finn nodded at that idea, while also making a mental note of what Poe said about government

As Poe and Finn reached the doors, they saw them being forced open by some sort of horizontal forklift

Once it was opened fully, Poe and Finn saw a group of men in red armor, which made It easy to identify them as the Guavian Death Gang

Bala-Tik: Hello. I would like to introduce myself. I am Bala-Tik. My crew just finished dealing with The First Order and have taken out as many First order ships as possible

They quickly got nervous about where the discussion was going. Though, Finn trusted Poe to be able to talk them out of it and explain the truth

Poe: Actually, we're not affiliated with the empire. We just needed whatever ship was available

Before Poe was able to talk further, he was cut off by Bala-Tik, who explained what he wanted

Bala-Tik: Yes. I saw how The First Order was attacking you and so I sent some of my men to attack the First order to give you a chance to escape

Poe: Wow. Thanks for the help

He was relieved that they seemed to be safe, Unfortunately, both of them realized that there was probably something else going on

Bala-Tik: Yes. I'm glad we could help, but there is something else I would like to discus

Finn thought 'Yeah. There it is' to himself at the reveal that there was an ulterior motive behind their help. And Poe was not far behind at that

Bala-Tik: It would appear that The First Order was specifically chasing you for your piece of the map to Luke Skywalker. I would like for us to be able to take the piece of it

Poe: I don't think that would do that. We sort of need the map, and the droid

Bala-Tik: We did keep the First order off of you guys. I think you owe us the droid as a show of gratitude

Poe: I don't think we can do that. Besides, you don't get to applaud yourself for helping us when you only did it so you could get something from us

Bala-Tik: Very well then

He held up his hand to make a signal to the group. Two of them quickly went to the left and right sides of the hallway find BB-8

Bala-Tik: We'll take the map without your help

Before Poe or Finn could stop the two people, the rest of the group moved to surround them to prevent them from moving

The man traveling left kept rummaging around the ship. He managed to find BB-8 behind a pipe. Once he moved to take BB-8, Rey quickly emerged and hit with her staff. Once he was down, everyone turned to see her and got ready to take BB-8.

Bala-Tik: Well, it looks like we've found the droid

He looked at the man Rey knocked down, who was starting to get up

Bala-Tik: Get up and get the droid. Now, let's take it and go

Once he was almost back on his feet, two other members of the group ran up to take the droid

Rey: Get back!

She yelled and put herself between BB-8 and the Guavian Death Gang, holding her staff out

Rey: You won't take him

Bala-Tik: You don't get to decide that

The Death Gang quickly came up on Rey while BB-8 moved back

Rey realized that she was in trouble in the narrow space she was in, making it hard to use her staff

Despite the trouble, Rey pushed on and managed to swing at one of the members, knocking him down. She prepared to fight the three remaining members, plus Bala-Tik, that were approaching her

Unfortunately, her luck ran out. The three of them pointed their guns at Rey, making her freeze. She knew she couldn't swing her staff or move effectively in the narrow space. She was about to die

Poe quickly tried to run forward, but was stopped by two of the members of the Death gang, which further reminded Rey how helpless she was

Bala-Tik: We'll be taking the droid now

Finn Took a small blaster out from the man beside him. While it wasn't practice in long range, it was quite deadly in shorter ranges. He quickly drew the weapon, shooting the guard who had his blaster aimed at Rey. He took aim at the other two, hitting one directly in the head and the other in the shoulder.

Poe took this opportunity, head butting the guard directly in front of him. The two who were separating Finn and Poe turned brandishing their combat knives, preparing to finish off the defenseless pilot, but Finn intervened. He jumped onto one of the death gang members, grabbing their knife and plunging it into their chest. He then takes the same knife and quickly throws it at the side of the final death gang member, leaving only Bala-Tik

Bala-Tik initially tried to gun Rey down, only for Rey to use their close quarters to her advantage, swinging at him using her staff. Unfortunately Bala-Tik easily overpowered Rey, who had her staff knocked out of her hands as he threw punch after punch at her. He then aimed his rifle at her, only for Finn, who quickly disarmed him. Finn quickly shot his leg, knocking him down

Baja-Tik looked terrified, he was going to die

Bala-tik: we can ta-

He was cut off by Finn shooting his other leg

Finn: You mean like how you wanted to talk about this?

He got ready to shoot Bala-Tik in the head, only for Poe to step in. Meanwhile Rey quickly collapsed to her knees. The weight of what happened and her brush with death had hit her very hard

Poe: Hold on. Let's not kill him. We can move forward better with him alive

He turned to Bala-Tik on the ground and held out his hand

Poe: I need your communicator. Any hesitation and you're dead

He nodded and gave up the device to Poe

Finn: We've already been boarded. How do we leave?

Poe grabbed a pistol off of one of their men while navigating the communicator

Poe: I got that covered. Just keep your gun pointed at him

He helped Bala-Tik get through the door and he and Poe removed the device on the door.

Poe: Remember that I'm being really nice by stopping you from getting shot. You're not in the clear. As soon as our ship dismounts, if you try to shoot us down I will come back to finish the job

Once the device was off and Poe's warning was made, he closed the door

Poe: Let's get back to the pilot seat

He quickly sent a message to the pilot, imitating Bala-Tik. "The droid doesn't have the map piece. Release the ship and let them go"

The airlock closed inside, separating the hanger from the rest of the Death gang's ship and separating the imperial ship from Bala-Tik

After a second, the airlock was opened, releasing the imperial ship the trio was in

Finn: But, they'll just shoot us again very soon. I doubt your warning will matter to him

Poe: Then we'll just have to move quickly before they figure it out. Then we send this out into space

He held up the communicator

Poe: By the time they make it, it'll be too late. And remember, they won't destroy the ship. We still have the piece of the map

Finn: And if there's no tracker in it?

Poe: Then we'll need to be fast

Finn: So, what happens after we get away?

Poe: We need to find a planet where we can get a new ship

Having calmed down from her near death experience, Rey decided to speak up from the co pilot seat

Rey: That is a good idea. It would be especially helpful to get a hyperdrive

Poe: Yeah. Don't worry. The hyperdrive parts are pretty easy to get

Poe: I'll put the coordinates in and leave to take care of the gunner position

He got up and left while Finn got in the pilot seat beside Rey

A minute after Poe left, there was mostly silence before Rey finally decided to speak up

Rey: Finn

He looked at Rey for a second. She was silent, trying to find the words, but Finn didn't push. After a second, she found the words

Rey: Thanks for helping me back there

Finn smiled, relieved that Rey was doing better

Finn: It's no problem. I'm just glad you're OK

Rey nodded and leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. The adrenaline had worn off and she got tired. Finn looked closely and saw a faint mark of tears, indicating she had been crying. He focused back on space and kept flying

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Aboard the First order ship--the cloak and dagger

Hux began looking at some data and looked over the crew in the star destroyer. He was distracted when he heard the footsteps of Captain Phasma approaching. He turned to see her as she stopped in front of him

Phasma: I've managed to deal with the Guavian Death Gang. They're out of our way. So, we can resume acquiring the droid

Hux sighed in disappointment

Hux: Unfortunately our resources have taken too much damage as a result of the Death Gang's attack. Our Star Destroyer's inertial dampeners have been too severely damaged. We can't safely enter or exit hyperspace. Not only that, but our Star destroyer has had multiple weapons damaged, and we do not have the resources to actually fight them once they get out of this system and have resources to fight us with

Phasma: Can we send any of our other ships at hyperspace to intercept them?

Hux: I thought about it, but no. That won't work. Any other ships that could get there will not be able to hold them off long enough for us to allocate the necessary resources. And since we don't have any methods of tracking, we would just have to guess where they are. And that's assuming we don't get intercepted by Guavian Death Gang or another faction again

Phasma: How could the other ships not be able to catch them? They're using an old empire ship that was crudely bolted together. How could none of our spare ships be able to shoot them down?

Hux: They managed to avoid us on Jakku before the Death Gang intervened. They'd be able to handle the relatively smaller forces we could send. Also, remember that we're not close to Jakku anymore. Any fight will cause other people to get involved and we can't deal with the enormous amount of military trouble that would show up and even if we could avoid all that, we have to be careful not to damage the map

Phasma: How do you plan to get the map? We need to get it from them

Hux: I'm working on it!

He returned back to the control panel to try to make plans with the available resources

Hux: I'll have another Star destroyer ready as soon as possible while we have this one sent back for repairs. We will figure something out. While we wait, have you recovered anyone from the Guavian Death Gang?

Phasma: Yes. We recovered two prisoners. Both in the interrogation room

Hux quickly turned to face Phasma with clear satisfaction

Hux: Good. See if there's anything you can get out of them

Phasma: With pleasure

She nodded and turned to deal with the victims, clearly intending to let out aggression on them

Phasma: Since they got in the way of us acquiring the map, I've been needing to blow off some steam

The door closed behind her as she left

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The outer rim- Stolen imperial shuttle

While they were flying through space and Rey had gotten her rest. Poe had also returned back up to them

Finn: So, what happened to the communicator?

Poe: I managed to send it out a while ago

Finn: Great. Now, another problem. Our life support systems are barely holding up

Poe: Yeah. The door being mechanically forced open did a number on it and of course I already had to struggle to get it up at all when we were back on Jakku

Rey: So, what do we do now? And what happens once the life support systems fail?

Poe: If they fail before we get into the atmosphere then we lose air and die. It wouldn't be as bad if this was in new shape, but we need to rely on these failing life support systems

Rey's eyes widened as she quickly got nervous about their risks, but Poe made an attempt to clear things up

Poe: It's OK. There's a nearby planet we can stop at. We can find a new ship there and get ready to go to the actual republic. And we'll get there before our life support systems fail

That managed to get Rey to calm down a little, but she was still nervous about another problem

Rey: But, you're going to approach them in an empire ship. You know that we'll be shot down, right?

Poe: Don't worry. I'll just send a message to indicate that I'm with the government and am not affiliated with them

Finn and Rey nodded as Poe left the room to take care of that

Once Finn moved the ship closer to the planet Rey started to question Finn's piloting

Rey: Are you alright piloting this ship?

Finn: It's alright. I can fly this ship into the atmosphere pretty easily

She nodded as they kept flying

After a short time the doors opened and Poe returned

Poe: Problem solved. Not that there was a likely chance we'd be shot at anyway since there was little military here, but I've called in

Rey and Finn nodded

Once they made it into the atmosphere, Rey was quickly amazed by the what she saw of the new planet

Rey: I didn't know there was this much green in the whole galaxy

Poe looked at her in sadness. That impressive thing she's seen is trees. Thinking about that made him think about how bad she had it

After a second or two of silence, Poe decided to speak up

Poe: We should get ready to go

He got up and left the room, which Finn saw and quickly tried to follow him. As soon as Rey was out of earshot he started talking

Finn: Uh, Poe? I need to ask. Are there any First Order sympathizers or anything like that in the town? Or the planet for that matter?

Poe: I wouldn't worry about that. The First Order has no authority here and any First Order sympathizer wouldn't be able to get into contact with the actual First Order to get them here fast enough for them to actually interfere with us

There was an awkward silence while Finn felt tempted to argue and question Poe further, but decided to drop it and trust him

Finn: Alright. I'm trusting you on this

They nodded, seemingly in agreement before they heard a door open behind them. They turned to see that Rey was with them

Rey: Let's go

They nodded and the three of them made their way to the exit

Once they made it outside the ship, Poe decided to give Rey some support

Poe: Rey. I picked something up after our encounter with Guavian Death Gang

He gave her a pistol

Poe: Here. You're eventually gonna need this

She held it up and looked back at Poe

Rey: I think I can take care of myself

Poe: I know. That's why I'm giving it to you

Rey looked at him for a second before nodding. They began walking through the forest where they could get the new ship

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The trio had finally managed to find the new ship and to save money they decided to work on building the ship themselves. Mostly Poe and Rey since Finn was relatively less experienced with building ships

Rey: Remind me again why we have to do this?

She was on top of the ship, managing the engine. Meanwhile Poe was at the back of the ship, managing the thrusters and Finn was underneath it, managing the cooling system

Poe: Because we couldn't afford to buy this ship outright and while I can pull on money from the Resistance I didn't want to lean on them too much. So, we can cut costs by assembling some of the ship parts ourselves

Finn: Isn't it easier to buy the ship already built? Like any other ship? This is probably more expensive

Poe: Normally yes, but on this planet they can't really mass produce ships like this and so you would need to pay an assembly fee, which you wouldn't need to on other planets

They nodded in understanding. Finn came up from under the ship and looked over to see what looked like a holographic device, only bigger

Finn: What is that?

Rey: It's the star map we need

Finn: We need an actual drive for a simple map? Is that really necessary?

Poe: Yeah. It actually is. Even though a star map can only cover certain systems, that still requires so much information. It also needs to have it's own video card in order to successfully render all of that using the holographic technology needed.

Finn: But wouldn't it still be easier to store all of that in the ship's computer?

Rey: Not really. If you were in a library, then it would be easier. In this case however, no. A ship like this needs to be as optimized as possible. And managing all of the stuff related to a star map would take too much of it's resources.

Finn nodded in understanding

Rey: It's actually much easier to connect a second computer and try to get it to follow the first one. And yeah. A star map like this basically needs to be an entire computer

Finn: But, cross threading is difficult. I find it hard to believe that somehow, cross threading is actually easier than just getting a single processor to account for all the extra uses. Same for video processors and other parts

Rey: I don't really know all the details. This is just what I've heard

Rey opened up the port on the ship where she could plug in the star map

Poe: I just contacted the republic. As soon as the ship is done, we need to stop by another planet to get something important

Rey: Alright. That doesn't seem like an issue, but what do we need?

Poe: I don't know. They said that it was a need to know thing. But regardless, we need to get it

Rey nodded before looking down at the star map and extending her hand towards it

After a second with no results, Rey sighed, before reaching down to pick it up

Once she put it in and closed the port over the map, Rey got down off the ship

Rey: How are we doing?

Poe looked over everything. He saw that it was all in place

Poe: We're good to go

They were happy, while Poe turned on the engines and saw the ship finally getting started for the first time

Rey and Finn quickly got into the ship and got ready to leave

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Once the new ship reached the planet the planet of interest, Rey looked on in excitement again at the thought of seeing the new planet

As the ship entered the atmosphere and reached the landing point, Rey was amazed by the incredible city. It was even better than the forest planet. She quietly whispered something to herself

Rey: This definitely puts Jakku to shame

As soon as they got out of the ship, Rey looked on in amazement at the various floating islands

Once they got out of the ship a man in a business suit

Man: Hello. I was assigned by the republic to meet you here. Follow me and I will escort you to where you need to be

Poe: So, what do you need us to get?

Man: It's a holo tape. We don't know what's on it because it's ID locked, but I imagine it will be important. So, you'll need to return it to the resistance before it falls into the hands of the Firts Order

They nodded and began walking. As they began moving Rey turned to Poe, looking at the man slightly warily

Rey: Are you sure we can trust this guy?

Poe nodded

Rey: how can you be so sure?

Poe: He's with the new republic. He was specifically selected by my superiors

Rey raised An eyebrow

Rey: how can you be so sure?

Poe chuckled

Poe: Just trust trust me. It'll be alright

Before Rey could comment any further, the man decided to cut in.

Man: With all due respect, how can you be trusted? I've worked for the republic for a long time. I've never seen you before

Rey got angry and prepared for a confrontation, but before she could say anything, Poe cut in

Poe: Hey. Let's not start an argument. But Rey, he is right. So, I think we should just trust him

As tempted as she was to continue, Rey nodded so that they could keep the peace. As they kept walking, something struck Finn as odd

Finn: If you don't mind me asking. Why did we have to leave the ship here and start walking when we could have just gone to the destination and skipped all of this?

Poe: It wouldn't be that simple. Not only is there too much air traffic, but there aren't any spots at the building where we could have landed. So, this is the best we can hope for. Believe me. I tried to be able to land closer, but no luck

Man: I'm terribly sorry for the inconvenience

The man and the group kept walking until they reached a train station.

Man: You can use this train to get to the building and get the holo tape

The trio nodded before the train doors closed, separating them. As the train began moving, Rey began thinking about something that made little sense to her

Rey: By the way, why is a train even needed when flying ships are available?

Poe: They can be more cost efficient depending on the situation. It can also be better for traffic or safer

She nodded in partial understanding before turning to look out the window, admiring the scenery She also noticed how there appeared to be sidewalks and roads at the same heights as the buildings. It seemed like a way to connect the various floating islands. As soon as she realized that the train car was relatively empty, she decided to ask about the map they needed to find. She quickly turned to face Poe and spoke up

Rey: So, how does the map to Luke Skywalker work? It obviously isn't going to find a person. Maps track stationary objects and landmarks and stuff.

Poe: Supposedly, the map is meant to track the location that he has stayed at once the map was constructed. Either he'll be at that location or we'll find the clues to track him

Finn: But wait. Couldn't someone just find whichever piece actually has Luke and cross reference with any other map?

Poe: Not exactly. I believe that this place is so remote that maps in that area aren't great. Not only that, but this map is so thoroughly encrypted that you pretty much need all of the pieces to even get the map to display. Even if you could somehow unscramble it without completing it, which is highly unlikely there would still be pieces deliberately left out in order to throw you off

Rey: I also have to ask. Why did Luke decide to leave? And why make a map if he wanted to disappear?

Poe: Well, no one really knows. Most people that knew him are either gone or hard to contact

That made Rey surprised at what had happened to the heroes that saved the galaxy from the Empire. Her sadness became visible to Poe and Finn. Poe decided to speak up

Poe: Are you Alright?

Rey: Yeah. It's just, sad to see the people that saved the galaxy end up like this

That didn't go unnoticed by Finn, who was at a loss at realizing that after Luke was so hated by the First Order he considered family to have suddenly become idolized by this stranger who has now become one of his only friends. Despite his troubles, he felt the need to ask how she'd handle the truth if she didn't like it

Finn: In that case, are you sure you even want to complete the map to find him if you're not prepared to see him?

Rey: Yeah. I'm prepared. Even if the worst comes to pass

Eventually the train stopped at the new station. The doors opened and the three of them got off the train

Once they left the train, Rey began slowing down, letting Poe and Finn get ahead so that she could get a look at the city

As she looked around, admiring the city, she unfortunately didn't notice the person coming up to her

Rey bumped into the man, causing what looked like a Jedi holocron that was on his suit to fall to the ground

Rey: Sorry

Rude guy: Sorry? That's all you have to say? That was expensive and now look what you did

Rey: What more do you want from me? If it's so important, pick it up

Rude guy: Of course trash like you wouldn't understand real value. That cost more than a thousand republic credits

Rey stared at him for a second at what he had said

Rude guy: You probably don't know, but that's a lot of money. More than you'll probably ever see in your life.

Rey clenched her fists at him hitting a sore spot

Rude guy: Just look at you. Wearing those rags and carrying around that stick like it's some kind of prized treasure

She got even angrier at the insult being directed at her quarterstaff, which meant a lot to her, but the man just kept going

Rude guy: You should respect your betters. Now pick that up and then make it up to me. Doing that would be a better opportunity for you than anything you could accomplish in your own life anyway. And me being more merciful than what you deserve. So, be grateful I'm choosing to be nice to you

Rey had been completely done with this man

Rey: Is that so?

Quickly, she pulled out her blaster and shot his foot

Once he collapsed to his hands and knees, Rey looked down at him with contempt

Rey: Look where being nice got you.

Before he could react, Rey kicked his face, knocking him over

She quickly turned around walked away from him, ignoring the few witnesses that had begun arriving

She quickly began making her way to the building by the resistance clients

She eventually made it to the building and got on the elevator

Once the elevator doors opened Rey was shocked at the disaster in front of her. There was a big hole blown into the building and fires around the room. She quickly rushed over to Poe

Rey: What happened?

Poe: First order. They took what we were after and blew up the wall with a thermal detonator

Rey: Where's Finn?

Poe: He's chasing after them. I have to help the people here and can't go after them

He pointed in a certain direction to indicate the direction of the chase

Rey: I'll go after them

She quickly ran in the direction Poe pointed at. As soon as she jumped out the window over to the next building over.

She quickly jumped across the rooftop to another higher level sidewalk. She quickly noticed the crowd running past her, clearly indicating the source of the conflict

Realizing that going through the crowd would lead to Finn, Rey quickly ran further through it toward the First order

She saw Finn at a higher point atop another taller building, fighting several people that strangely didn't have stormtrooper armor

Rey looked around and saw that there was no easy way to get up and the grappling hook wires they probably used to get up there in the first place were too damaged for her to use. Surveying the area, she decided that she'd need to jump to the building and climb up

She took a deep breath and told herself some encouraging words

Rey: Don't look down

She ran and jumped across the gap toward the other building. Once she grabbed the windows she began climbing up to the top of the building. She struggled holding onto the railings and balconies, but she kept her grip

Once she made it to the top, she saw Finn up against the group, which he was taking care of pretty easily. Taking the opportunity, Rey kept low at the edge of the building and used her blaster to try to shoot down members of the group from a distance. She remembered the incident with the Guavian Death Gang, and she wouldn't allow herself to be helpless this time

Rey took his blaster out, taking aim and firing at the closet Gang member. It hit him square in the back, taking his life instantly. She aims and fires at a second, missing him completely, but she did get her attention, letting Finn push him off the edge of the building. Finn then quickly dealt with the remaining Gang members, making quick work of them thanks to his stormtrooper training. He grabbed another member and forced him into another member's line of fire, killing him. He then grabbed the next member's hands and forced the gun up to his head and made him shoot himself. Meanwhile, Rey tried to shoot down other members and missed every shot. Finn quickly grabbed the gun from the corpse and shot down two more members with Rey finally landing a successful hit on another one's chest. Now, leaving the leader too far from any support

Rey managed to climb over the top of the building. Meanwhile, Finn managed to grab the holo tape from the leader's hands and leg sweep him to force him to let go

Once Finn stood back and Rey came up to him, they both realized they realized they were surrounded by more members of the group that had arrived. The group pointed their blasters at the two. It became apparent to Finn that he couldn't find a way out of it

Finn: Any ideas?

Rey looked over to see the train come by in the distance

Rey: I have one. Follow my lead

She tried to discreetly take the tape and then ran into the leader and knocked him off the edge of the building, falling over with him

Having fallen over the building and being in freefall for a second the two of them landed on the train with the criminal crashing into the crate and taking the damage, also protecting Rey from the impact of the crash

Unfortunately, her taking the holo tape wasn't as discreet as she had hoped. As soon as she recovered, she saw the rest of the group chasing after her using grappling hook ziplines. Thankfully very few people made it to the train thanks to Finn, who dealt with them at the top of the building

As soon as they landed on the train, Rey quickly hid behind a crate to avoid the oncoming blaster fire

She looked at the door to the next train car ahead and saw that it was locked. So instead of running she tried to aim her blaster around the crate to shoot the group with little success

Rey ducked behind the crate once again to avoid gunfire, as the crate was pounded by blaster fire. Soon the fire stopped and Rey heard the footsteps getting slowly closer to her, she grabbed her staff from off her back and waited for the footsteps to grow even closer. She jumps out from behind the crate and knocks two of her attackers right off the train. They landed on the track with a crack, signifying Rey had ended their lives early. Rey knocked down her last attacker, knocking his gun away from him. When he tried to go for it, she pulled her own blaster on him

Rey: Don't.

Rey ran through the train to escape the last man standing. She jumped to the train car ahead and started climbing across the left side, but not before getting shot in the leg. She

got pretty scared precariously climbing across the outside of a moving train car with an injured leg

Once she managed to get to the other side she saw that the group leader had walked through the train car door despite that it should have been locked. Recovering from her shock, Rey aimed her blaster and tried to shoot him

Unfortunately between her inexperience and the turbulence of the train, she missed poorly. She fired three shots, her third one hit the train coupling. She then quickly jumped off the side of the car onto the train floor

She hit him with her staff over the head and then followed up with another swing to his legs, knocking him over. He quickly got back up and kicked Rey into the other train car, which she fell back into through the open door and making her drop the holo tape to the back of the car

As he moved closer to Rey, she shot him with her blaster. This time it hit his arm, causing him to drop a bomb. Seeing the opportunity and realizing it was not a thermal detonator, Rey moved back a bit and shot the bomb with her blaster, causing it to explode. A large part of the train crashed, injuring the man further

She quickly got up and rushed to the holo tape, which was blocked by the debris. She tried to reach her arm though the debris to grab the tape, but it was just too far

She continued to try to extend her fingers as much as possible to grab the tape, but it was still just a little bit out of reach. After failing to get her fingers in reach, she closed her eyes for a second

The tape moved a little bit toward her hand and she just barely managed to grab it. As soon as she managed to get it she turned around to rush out of the car to the front of the train, near the coupling she'd previously shot. Unfortunately the leader she shot in the arm had gotten up and chased her again

They kept fighting again, but unfortunately with the continued exertion and injury to his arm, Rey was able to beat him. She managed to swing her staff hard enough to break his leg

As soon as he fell over, Rey noticed a large obstacle ahead that looked like it had been put up to stop the train. Rey quickly noticed the damaged coupling she had previously shot with her blaster. She used her staff and forced it into the coupling and applied enough pressure to finally break it

The results were quick. The front cars accelerated while the back cars slowed down. Rey looked ahead to see the front train cars crash into the blockade, destroying it and killing several of the people there along with the group leader she injured

After a few seconds the train finally came to a complete stop, with Rey sitting down on the floor. After a second or two, she laughed a little about what had happened now that the adrenaline had stopped. Watching her perceived enemies die was cathartic to her

After a minute of her laughing at her victory, Rey noticed that Finn finally managed to arrive by jumping across a rooftop over to the train

Finn: Rey. What happened? What were you thinking?

Rey: I needed to get the holo tape, which I did. I knocked out the group

Finn: What are you talking about? It was only by luck that the fall onto the train didn't kill you. And you separate yourself from me. The one person that could have defended you from the group

Rey: Well, you thinned down the numbers. Besides, my plan was that I'd take the tape and run. Then they would chase the wrong person because they didn't know I had the tape

Finn: Well, you obviously weren't as discreet as you wanted. And for you to survive any of this was just luck.

Rey got up, deciding to change the topic

Rey: Let's not think about it too much. Right now, there's something else bothering me

Finn looked suspicious, but decided to drop the previous subject to address the new subject. He nodded slowly to signal her to keep talking

Rey: When I was trying to escape I had to climb around the train car because the doors were locked, but the leader of the group just walked through the doors

Finn: You mean that he somehow had security clearance to get through?

Rey: Yeah. I'm not sure if they just took some kind of key card off someone else or if the First Order somehow already has the ability to get through

Finn: That wasn't the First order

Rey: Huh? How do you know

He quickly became nervous that his secret might get out and tried to dismiss the question and get back on topic

Finn: Uhh. Experience... But I just know. They claimed to be the First Order, but they aren't. They don't have the armor. They fight worse than actual Stormtroopers and even the Guavian Death Gang. There's other issues. But I know those people aren't the First Order

Rey: Let's just get back to the resistance and report it to them

Finn nodded and Rey got up, trying to prop herself up with her staff

Finn: Are you OK? What happened to your leg

Rey: I'm alright. Let's just get going. Even if you have to wait on me a little

They began walking, or limping in Rey's case, towards Poe

------------------

First order ship-the cloak and dagger

While Hux was trying to make plans about his future plans about gathering more resources, Captain Phasma decided to ask about possible options available to them

Phasma: Should we try to use clones to develop more man power?

Hux: I don't think it would work. Do you remember why the First order even resorted to using the education program in the first place?

Phasma: Not exactly. You've refused to tell even me, who came up with it or why

Hux: Who was responsible does not concern you. But I will explain why this method was developed

Phasma nodded, despite being angry at the refusal to be told, but at least being interested in finding the details

Hux: Ever since the fall of the Empire, that Togruta brat has been eliminating every trace of cloning technology. We can't use clones. So this program was developed as an alternative. Not only that, but clones tend to be weaker than the source they were cloned from

Phasma: So, what do we do about our options?

Hux: We'll need to find the next piece of the map. You'll also need to get more involved. And I plan to contact the supreme leader to find another solution

-------------------

The outer rim

Back in the city, Rey, Finn, and Poe had regrouped back at the ship they used to get to the city. Rey had stayed in the ship to deal with her leg while Poe and Finn were talking just outside

Finn: Poe. I need to warn you about something

Poe: What is it? Is it about the group we encountered?

Finn: No. We already talked about it. There's a secret you need to know about. The First order is trying to accomplish the creation of some kind of weapon

Poe: What kind of weapon?

Finn: I'm not sure. They were very secretive and I wasn't high enough up the chain to be told. I only overheard rumors. In fact, it's possible that they don't even have a weapon and these really are just rumors, but I doubt it. Apparently they've been working on it for several years

Poe: That sounds terrible. We'll definitely need to look into that. Do you at least know what kind of weapon they were building?

Finn: No. But since it's been getting built like this for years then it's probably another Death star

Poe: I doubt it. The First Order would have to be stupid to build a weapon like that

Finn: It's possible. They might even have some sort of really big Death star that destroys multiple planets with a single shot, or that uses stars as the fuel source. I mean, if the Empire already did it, then why not try it again if it was so effective the first time?

Poe: No, Finn. That would be extremely stupid. First off, bigger doesn't mean better. Second, the Empire had a reason to create their Death star. Creating the Death star while dissolving the senate for several decades gave them power. The law was as the emperor commanded, so you either obey or die, with no chance of revolt with something like that pointing at you or your planet. That was also why they hurried to create a second one so quickly, to get that strangle hold back. It was a symbol of fear to silence the galaxy

Finn nodded in understanding, but still not sure where the discussion was supposed to be going

Poe: The First Order, however, can't use a Death star to force people to obey their government because they don't have a government. The First Order doesn't have political power and could never get away with actually firing a Death star cannon, because if they did fire that, they would mobilize the entire galaxy against them and get themselves annihilated. And there's no way they could use a Death star to prevent that

Finn: Wait what? The First order isn't in power?

He was shocked and Poe was taken by surprise by his cluelessness

Poe: No. They're not in power. How did you come to think that they are?

Finn: I grew up as a Stormtrooper. Remember?

Poe slowly nodded. He looked around briefly to make sure of there being no prying eyes

Poe: Right. Sorry. Well, yeah. The First Order don't decide the rules and they're very much considered terrorists by the galaxy, especially the republic that actually dictates the law

Finn: OK. Thanks for clearing that up

Poe: Listen. Since it's very clear that you don't understand this stuff, if you do find yourself lacking in information about the world at large, just ask me and I'll help

Finn: Thanks

Poe: Anyway, back on track. It's highly unlikely for the First Order to make a planet destroying weapon. And to make one that destroys multiple planets on a single blast is even dumber. It would actually be more resource efficient to just use all that money and manpower for a fleet of ships and just use them that way. You could make thousands of ships without it even coming close to the cost of a solar system destroying planet gun. For as stupid as another Death star would be, it would still be smarter and more resource efficient to use a single Death star and shoot it five times, or just make five Death stars at once. And even that would be stupid. Not only that, but using stars as the power source is such a terrible idea. So, there's no way the First order would make a really big Death star

Finn nodded in understanding. Very clearly letting Poe's words sink in and realizing how idiotic it would be for the First Order to make a bigger Death star that destroys solar systems and eats stars. But, that made him question what actually was going on

Finn: OK. But then that means that we need to figure out if they are building a weapon and what it might be.

Poe: Is there any way you can hack their information networks or something?

Finn: I could try. But that's very unlikely

Poe: Alright. Let's just report back to the resistance along with everything else

Finn nodded and they got into the ship and got ready to leave the planet

While Poe and Finn were dealing with that, Rey was sitting in her seat, dealing with her injured leg. It became apparent to her that it wouldn't improve without some kind of treatment, but it would do OK

As she thought about it, she also thought of her companions. Previously she didn't even know if she wanted to stay with them or if she should ditch them. But after the help they showed her, she came to have at least a little respect and gratitude to them. After Finn saved her from the Death Gang, that meant a lot. She thought again about how close she was to death. And yet she took the holo tape from Finn and ran. It failed due to her being spotted, but she thought about how her plan would have hurt Finn if it had succeeded

She never meant to sacrifice him and she didn't even think about the possibility of Finn being hurt until after the dust had settled. Only now did she even think about that. On second thought, it also became apparent that Finn was able to fight them off. He was strong

After a few seconds, she smiled and began to think about them. She eventually spoke quietly to herself

Rey: Maybe these guys aren't so bad

The end

The images used in this chapter were from Zelda and Ratchet and Clank