REY

"What's wrong with R2?" Finn runs into the room, glancing at me like I have the answers. Rose follows in after him and I slip the golden dice into my pocket, so I won't lose it. I'll have to ask Rose if she has a leather string I could use.

"He just started repeating this," I say. We stop and listen.

"What's he saying?" Rose asks.

"Did R2 have a software upgrade?" Finn kneels down and looks him over.

"Yes." 

General Leia steps into the room. "What's all the commotion about?"

"R2 is transmitting some sort of Ruling Order signal," Finn says.

"What about BB-8?" I say, suddenly thinking of Poe.

We all look to the General.

"You're right, he could also be experiencing these technical issues," she says to me. "We have to contact Poe."

"He's out of comm range." Finn unlocks a tiny door on R2D2 and switches him off. His transmission beeps fade away. The sound makes my stomach tighten. Do you know why my best friend is a robot? Poe had said. Because robots don't die.

"What if he doesn't return with Maz?" I say, my heart beating faster in my chest. If Maz doesn't come to deactivate the bomb on the Millennium Falcon...

"I don't think we should count on Poe's return as our only hope," General Leia says. "We need to be prepared for anything."

There is a moment of silence as everyone seems to be thinking.

"Should we return to Canto Bight?" Finn asks.

"No!" I glare at him. "We should at least wait until Poe is within comm range. He could be heading back here. We can't just abandon him."

"He's safe," Finn says. "We're the ones with a bomb attached to us. And we're running out of time."

"He'll come," I say.

"What about the Code Breaker?" Rose says. "You know, the Plom Bloom guy? Would he still be in Canto Bight?"

"We'd be putting the entire planet at risk, by returning there," Leia says.

"Then we'll have to land on a nearby planet here somewhere and try and diffuse this thing ourselves."

"Rose is right," General Leia says. "Go find the nearest planet with an uninhabited area to land on and prepare us to go there, in case we need to."

Rose and Finn both leave. I'm at a loss as to what I can do to help.

The General walks over and holds out her hand. "Take a seat, Rey," she says.

I sit on a bench and she joins me. She sets her hand onto mine.

"Did Luke show you how to reach out, with the Force?" she asks, her eyes searching mine.

I nod.

"Good." She pats my hand. "I think this would be one of those times when we need to reach out beyond ourselves for a solution. Let's try together." She closes her eyes and I do the same.

As soon as my eyes are closed I'm immediately aware of the ship around us. Leia's own Force sensitivity strengthens mine. I'd forgotten that she also has this Force ability. She saved herself after being blasted out into space when the Resistance cruiser was destroyed. Yet she never uses her Force powers, not that I've seen. I want to ask her more questions, but we're already moving past the ship and reaching out into space, farther and farther.

The distance we've travelled already, away from our bodies, is frightening. I'm not sure what we're reaching for or where we're going.

We move faster and for a moment there is nothing. Then light. Bright shades of orange from a sunset. I recognize this island. We're on Ahch-To, moving towards the summit where the meditation rock sits high above on a cliff's edge. I have no shape, no form, no way to set myself down, but I sense Luke's presence here, like a much longed for peace which I can never find when I'm awake in my own body.

Then I see Luke. It's a faint image, but definitely him. He looks younger and his eyes are full of life. He says something to me, but I don't hear it. I hear only the sound of the waves crashing below. Leia's form comes into view and she steps beside Luke, as faint as he is, and no longer in a General's uniform but in a beautiful long robe. She doesn't need her cane to lean on here.

Luke leads her inside the cave, behind the meditation rock, where the shallow fountain is with the flat stones. I sat in that very same place with Luke, speaking with him when I came here. I want to join them but can't. I want to speak to Luke too, but my shape won't take any form. All I can do is watch them talk quietly at the fountain.

Please...

I begin to lose sight of them as their image fades. I'm pulled back, away from the cave. Why can't I join them? I'm cut off, always cut off from the others.

Luke...

I try to will myself back into the cave but I only float farther away. The island grows small below me and I see the endless water all around it. I float higher, farther.

Leia... help.

I've lost all my bearings now, all control of where I'm floating off to. Fear grips me. I'm not familiar with reaching out this far. I have no sense of where I am.

Han... Ben... help.

Suddenly I'm jolted awake, looking up at the Millennium Falcon ceiling. Kylo's presence is very strong and I can't move for a moment. Is he here?

Don't ever do that again.

I hear his thoughts, but don't see him. Then his presence is gone and sound returns to my ears; the hum of the ship, voices around me.

"What happened?"

It's Rose. She's at my side, looking down at me. I sit up slowly.

"I shouldn't have made her do that," General Leia says. "But I needed your Force strength, Rey, to reach Luke."

"You reached him," I say.

"Yes."

"I couldn't hear him." I look at Leia. "What did he say?"

"He said, 'if you can't remove it, then just cut around it and toss it away.'"

"That," Rose says. "Is a brilliant idea."

POE (Ruling Order Repair Space Station)

Poe jumped out of his X-Wing before the plane even came to a proper landing. A large metal clamp almost crushed him as it secured the X-Wing to the dock. He moved around it to get to BB-8 and reached down to shut him off. The small robot was quite heavy. Poe grunted as he lifted BB-8 out of his special seat in the back. He held his little friend in his arms, taking a moment to catch his breath. The repair station was noisy and smelled of soldering metal. There was no way they were going to get the X-Wing out of here now. BB-8 had already given the A.I. Order the plane's passcodes and Poe couldn't get access to the comm unit to contact the Falcon.

He looked up at all the docking ports. The repair station was impressive. He saw hundreds of TIE fighters docked in front of him. Finn had said this Ruling Order wasn't working with the First Order, but Poe wasn't so sure about that. Then again, his own plane was docked here too, and he wasn't working with the Ruling Order, so maybe it was a separate entity.

"Please enter the Passcode." The automated voice came from somewhere above. Poe saw a pilot walking across the metal railing overhead to a control panel.

"Stop!" Poe yelled. The man stopped and looked down through the grating.

"Don't give them your passcode," Poe said.

"You're from the Resistance," the pilot answered him, an unimpressed look on his face. He was dressed all in black and Poe recognized the uniform as that of a First Order pilot.

"The A.I. here are trying to take over all the planes and robots and devices. Everything."

The pilot didn't answer but walked over to the control panel.

"What are the upgrades for?" Poe heard him ask.

"All ships must be upgraded and assimilated to the Ruling Order."

"Do you believe me now?" Poe yelled up.

REY

We all push up on the heavy piece of hull plating with the bomb attached to it. Sweat drips off my forehead. Nobody talks as we move it ever so carefully, standing on our toes on tables and countertops inside the Falcon. The atmosphere on this planet is hot and dry.

"Nice and easy," Rose says as we slide the large piece of hull plating onto the roof of the Falcon. "Push! Almost there."

Finally, it's safely set off to the side and we all sigh in relief. Finn's forehead is covered in sweat too.

"It didn't go off," he says, swallowing hard.

"Well, we didn't technically remove it from the ship's hull plating."

He nods, taking in deep breaths and leaning forward, his hands on his knees. "I think the gravity has a stronger pull here," he says.

"It's actually less," Rose replies, wiping her hands with a rag. "Because it's a small planet."

"We need to get that bomb off of this planet!" General Leia says with urgency. We all start moving at once. I try not to think about the fact that Poe hasn't returned on time, and should have been within comm range by now, but we can't contact him. Time is running out and we need to get this bomb secured onto an escape pod and...

"Who's going to pilot the escape pod?" I say.

Everyone stops.

"Can it be controlled remotely?" Rose asks.

"I'm afraid this little pod is not that advanced," General Leia says.

"I'll go!" Me, Rose and Finn say at the same time.

"It will be me," the General says. We all start to argue with her and she raises her hand to silence us."I'm the one who makes the decisions around here."

"You can't be the one to go," Finn says. "You're the General of the Resistance."

"Exactly," she replies.

"Please reconsider," I say.

"I'm a better pilot," Finn offers.

General Leia glares at him.

"Sorry," he says.

"It is because you're a better pilot that I need you to stay here."

"I'm dispensable." Rose raises her hand.

We all turn to look at her.

"I don't have Force powers that can rival Kylo Ren," she looks at me. "Or insider knowledge on the First Order." She glances at Finn. "And I'm not a leader or a General. I should be the one to go."

"You're the one who is going to fix this large hole," General Leia points up with her cane. "My decision has been made."

With that she turns and leaves the common area.

Author's Note: Guys I really wanted to get to some Kylo/Rey interaction, but it turns out that there will need to be one more chapter after this, before they interact. I won't be posting tomorrow but I'll be back on Monday, and I have a Kylo/Rey chapter planned for Tuesday night!!! for those who are eagerly awaiting their drama ^_^ Some things just can't be rushed (and I have to go to a party tonight so this chapter had to be cut short lol :P ) Wattpad keeps deleting my chapters along with the comments and likes that go with them. It makes me sad but I'll keep reposting them. Don't know what else to do