HUX (Orbit of Cantonica)

General Armitage Hux took a sip of the Corellian brandy in his glass. He looked down at the planet below, Cantonica, and smirked. He had no desire to be down there with all those worthless tourists. Anyone could recognize him as the General of the First Order and try to do away with him. It was safer up here in the ship. Ren could take care of the weapons inspections.

"Sir," Marshal Von Asch The Third said to him. "One of our shuttles has just docked."

For a second Hux became alarmed. But it was probably just Ren, returning to go brood in his quarters. Who would steal a First Order shuttle and fly it up here anyway? He thought of FN2187, that infuriating ex-storm trooper who had, once again, gotten away from them. The Resistance likely now thought Hux was dead, from when his ship was blown up. But other than the burns on one side of his face, he was fine.

All the more reason to stay up here, where it was safe. Let everyone think he died. Then he'd surprise them all when he stepped into his rightful role as Supreme Leader. 

All in good time.

A beeping drew him from his thoughts and he turned to see the black BB-unit, which Phasma had put in charge of the ship's maintenance, roll up to him. Hux frowned. The BB-unit was a useless droid that just tripped him up whenever he was walking.

"Sir," the Vice Marshal said to Hux. "The droid says she's got important information for you." 

Hux looked down at the man from his position on the bridge's command platform. 

"What is it?" he said, turning to the droid. 

It started beeping and Hux's shoulders stiffened. He hated the droid. It reminded him of that irritating white BB-unit which rolled around with the Resistance; the one that had helped FN2187 escape, again. But its evil counterpart, BB-9E, which now worked for the First Order, could potentially help them decode and interrogate the Resistance's white BB-unit, if they ever captured it.

BB-9E continued its serious of random beeps and Hux held back a sigh. Why was he the only one on board who didn't seem to understand this basic robot language?

"What did the droid say?" he growled to a commander nearby.

"Kylo Ren wants you to oversee the weapons acquisition," the commander responded. "And there is a rumor of a rebel group forming in Canto Bight."

How anyone could get that information from a sequence of beeps, Hux would never understand.

"A Rebel group?" he asked. "What sort of Rebel group?"

"I'm not sure, Sir."

The robot let out another array of beeps and Hux looked to the commander for the translation.

"She says, the Rebel group is believed to be in alliance with the Resistance."

"There is no Resistance," Hux spat. "Only a handful of weak failures who will be found and terminated soon enough."

"Yes, Sir."

"Prepare a shuttle. I'll head down to the surface myself."

TEMIRI (CANTO BIGHT)

Temiri ran through the narrow alleyways of the rundown part of the city, where the servants came to shop and keep their night dwellings. Even these back alleys, of the roughest parts of Canto Bight, were decorated and festive. Strings of lights hung between the apartments above the shops and reflected in the windows. It was harder to see the lights in the day, but at night they looked magical.

The sun had not yet made its way into the shade between the buildings. The passage was still drafty and cold. But Temiri was glad it wasn't mid-day, when the sun beat down overhead and would have made him overheat from all this running. He didn't slow his pace. He loved running as much as Star Jumper had, who was also nicknamed Star Runner by some of the stable hands. The Fathier had won a lot of races.

Temiri skidded to a stop in front of the old, run-down Quarren seafood restaurant. It was an evening-meal type of place and wouldn't be open for business until late mid-day, but Temiri knew this was where he needed to go to find the Rebel leader. He climbed onto a garbage bin, set between two buildings that didn't touch on their sides, the way all the other buildings did. The old Quarren seafood restaurant leaned far to the right and connected at the top to the other building beside it, teetered from its old age.

Temiri slipped into the hidden passage leading down to a cellar. At the bottom of the stairs it was too dark to see anything, yet Temiri wasn't afraid when he heard the deep voice of the Gamorrean who sat in the shadows.

"They're in a meeting," Bauz said.

Temiri tried to slow his racing heart to get his next words out. "It's important. A First Order ship is here. They want to buy more weapons."

Bauz didn't reply and Temiri heard the click of the bolt being unlatched. The heavy door swung forward and a dim light filled the small space at the bottom of the stairs. Bauz's green face and tusks came into view. Temiri smiled at the large Gamorrean. They had never really talked much, but that was because Gamorrean's weren't much for conversation. Yet Bauz always acknowledged Temiri, unlike the other adults, who just ignored him or sent him away when he came to this district with Oniho and Arashell.

The sound of raised voices drifted up from the bottom of the stairs below. Temiri had never attended a Rebel meeting, but he did know they usually took place in the late hours, when workers were off duty. Most of the members were maintenance crew and cleaning staff from the city. But the Rebel group was secret and it was illegal for workers to gather in groups of more than three.

"Aye!" the many voices rose up in unison. Temiri was surprised at how large of a gathering it sounded like down there. Why were they meeting so early? Had they found out about the First Order coming here, or heard that the Resistance was in trouble?

The stone door creaked behind him and then banged to a close. Temiri heard the click of the lock again and made his way down the stairs quietly. He didn't want to barge in on the meeting, but he had to tell them what he'd heard.

Stuffy air from the heat of all the bodies in the basement filled the stairway. When Temiri stepped into the room he could see why it was so stuffy. The spacious basement was packed tight, with standing room only. The three leaders of the Rebel group stood on a small platform near the door, addressing the room.

"How did you get in here?" a man at the door asked Temiri. He blocked the entrance and frowned down at the boy. 

"Bauz let me in. I have something important to tell the Rebels."

"Shut your mouth child," the man said. "You start using that word up there," he pointed to the ceiling, "and we'll all be killed. Now go on back before your task master discovers you're missing and has you whipped."

"I need to speak with Oniho's Uncle."

"I don't know any Oniho."

"She's my friend, from the stables."

"Listen kid, we've got important things to discuss here."

Temiri hesitated for a moment. He knew how to convince people to do things that he wanted them to do. He used his words in a certain way, and sent part of himself out, the way he did when he meditated or traveled with his mind. But he didn't have to reach out completely, just far enough to enter their thoughts and make them believe they'd decided to do the thing Temiri was asking, as though it was their idea in the first place. Or he would convince them of a false memory, like he'd been at the stables all day sweeping, instead of out playing. Some minds were easy to enter, others almost impossible. Either way it took great effort, like a full day of work, and Temiri didn't have enough energy for it at the moment. Plus it gave him a disturbing feeling, like he was doing something wrong; the same feeling he got when he thought of stealing something. 

The man at the door seemed set on keeping people away from the meeting, especially a child, so Temiri gave in.

"Can you please tell him that the Resistance needs help? A lot of them were killed. And now the First Order is here on Canto Bight to buy more weapons."

"How do you know all of that? Who told you?"

"No one. I saw the evil leader and his General with the orange hair."

The man stared at Temiri, looking perplexed. Temiri strained to remember the General's name. 

"Hux," he said. "General Hux."

"What did you say your name was?" the man asked, his initial resistance now fading and replaced with interest.

"Temiri."

"Temiri who?"

Temiri furrowed his brow. He didn't have a last name. He didn't have parents.

"What's your family name, boy?" the guard asked.

Temiri thought about this. The only family he'd ever known was Star Jumper. "Temiri Star Jumper," he said.

The man's gaze intensified. "Wait here."

He walked up to the three men on the stage, interrupting the one who was talking. Temiri didn't remember the man's name but he was the Rebel group's highest leader.

"Temiri Sky Jumper?" the bearded, high leader said, looking over at Temiri. 

"Star Jumper," Temiri corrected but no one seemed to hear him. There was chatter around the room, one name coming up on everyone's lips, "Luke Skywalker."

"Come here, boy," the leader said. He was strong and tall, full of muscle like the workers who did hard labor. But he didn't work in Canto Bight anymore. He'd suffered injury and illness and had been thrown aside and left to die. But he'd recovered and started the Rebel group.

Temiri stepped up onto the small stage, tripping and knocking into a narrow table set behind the leaders with glasses of water on it. The glasses teetered then fell, rolling off the table towards the ground.

"No!" Temiri reached out and caught all three glasses with his gift, the gift of the Force which allowed him to lift things sometimes. A hush fell over the room and Temiri stiffened, realizing that everyone was watching. His concentration broke and he let the glasses clatter to the wooden stage. They were only inches from the ground and didn't break. The soft drumming of the glasses rolling around was the only sound in the room. No one moved.

The Rebel leader fell to his knees, startling Temiri. For a moment he thought the leader meant to pick up the glasses, but then the other two leaders kneeled as well. The room filled with the sound of movement and Temiri turned to see that all the members where now kneeling, even the guard at the door. Temiri was the only one left standing.

"Master Skyjumper," the leader said, looking at Temiri. "We've been waiting so long."