FINN

"I saw him," Rey beamed.

Finn and Rose exchanged a worried glance. They'd been on planet no more than a minute and Rey was already talking about Kylo Ren, delirious with heat and hallucinations.

"The cryogenic chamber," Rose said, not for the first time. "You said we need to look at it. Where is it?"

Rey nodded then and seemed to get her wits about her. She took off toward the abandoned ship and Rose followed after her. Finn turned to walk back to the freight ship they'd arrived in. After a long flight, the heat of a desert was the last thing he felt like being in.

He was tired now, trying the entire flight to act as normal as possible around Rose, and pretending not to notice that she still liked him. Sometimes he resented the clarity that Force sensitivity gave him. It was what had made him first realize he was different, the way he could sense things from others, almost as though he could read their minds.

He stopped at the bay doors and shuddered. He never wanted to read minds, no matter what. If he suddenly discovered he had that ability, he'd do some kind of mantra or meditation to shut it off. There had to be a way to control things like that, hearing people's thoughts. That would be awful. He didn't want to know what people were thinking. He already felt what they were feeling, and that was overwhelming enough.

He continued into the freight ship to fetch the small transport vehicle the ship carried for loading heavy items. It could lift the cryogenic chamber and get it onboard so they could take it safely to their Base Headquarters, and figure out why in the world the Final Order had kidnapped a boy and frozen him. That's why they'd come here, to rescue this boy, but they'd had found Rey irrational with talk of seeing Kylo Ren, or Ben, as she called him now. It was a bit sad, that she still clung to his memory so strongly. 

Finn stretched. What was it about her that made him want to protect her at all costs, even though she was so powerful? He could never help her any more than she could help herself.  And yet, maybe that's what it was. Maybe he felt he had to protect her, from herself.

The midday Jakku heat was making Finn sweat, even under the shade of the ship's open bay. The little D-0 robot, from Ochi's ship, who'd survived its crash, came rolling towards him out of nowhere. "Hello," it said.

"Hey." Finn was not in the mood for small talk at the moment, especially with a robot. He went to the cockpit to get the keys for the transport lift vehicle, where D-0 couldn't follow him with his limited abilities on the one wheel he had. The ship was heating up fast under the sun, now that the air circulation was turned off. Finn was sweating and he just wanted to get out of there.

When he returned to the bay area, D-0 was there waiting for him.

"What do you want?" Finn said grumpily.

The robot followed him around, at his heels. He resisted the urge to shove the tiny droid aside with his boot.

"D-0 is scared," it said.

"Oh yeah?" Finn hopped up into the driver's seat of the crude transport vehicle and tried the ignition. It didn't start and he took a long breath to calm his overheated nerves.

"D-0 is scared of men."

Finn ignored D-0 and focussed on the vehicle. They'd made sure it had fuel, but Babu Frik had said it was a bit hard to start. Finn closed his eyes and set his hand on the panel in front of him, reaching through it to the engine. He knew enough about simple engines like this to go through a basic check of its starting mechanisms. He found the issue. It was the starter. It just needed a spark.

Suddenly, the vehicle roared to life, startling D-0 who scurried away.

Finn cheered. "That's one for the Force, zero for the transport vehicle." He was using his powers for some use now. Sure he'd be better off telling someone, like maybe Rey, and getting some proper training. Now that General Organa was gone, there was no one else to teach the ways of the Force, only Rey. She was ready. She'd been training for a while under Leia and she was the most powerful Jedi in the universe. She'd defeated Palpatine himself. But he wasn't all powerful. Why he'd been given Force abilities was beyond him. He was a coward. He couldn't even tell Rey.

"D-0 scared of men."

D-0 was back, undeterred now by the lift's engine sounds.

"Scared of men?" Finn asked. He'd thought he'd heard 'Ben' but that didn't make sense.

"Scared of Ben," the robot repeated.

Before Finn could ask any more questions, Rose came running over to the vehicle.

"We can't move the chamber," she said, out of breath.

"What? Why not?"

"We need to get the boy out right away, his vital signs are not good."

HUX

"No Force powers, no Sith deceptions!"

The crowd was getting rowdy. What had started as a peaceful gathering, had grown into an almost riot.

Hux looked out across the crowd crammed into the back alley area between two buildings. They were all slaves and labour workers down on their luck, even children; all who had lost their money, their homes, jobs and dignity to gambling on Cantonica. They were the nobodies of the galaxy and they had nothing to lose; a passionate people, ready to give everything they had to a cause. A righteous cause, for the freedom of the underdogs. Hux's news cause.

Hux raised his hand, looking at them through his new helmet that was sleek and red, and matched his red robes.

The crowd quieted down when they saw his hand raised. The back alley was bathed in the dim blue light of a new day. The sun hadn't come up yet and Hux had to leave here before it did. He'd come to the Old City to find Neepers Panpick, Cantonica's best private investigator. But somehow he'd ended up giving a small speech from the top of a garbage receptacle in a back alley, at the enthusiasm of some locals who'd never seen a 'warrior' dressed like him before, as they put it.

"Today we rise up and stop the power play, once and for all!" Hux proclaimed. His voice sounded deeper and louder through his new mask.

Heads nodded in agreement. A baby cried somewhere at the back of the crowd. There was a shout from the right. Then, the sound of sirens in the distance, echoing off the building walls. The Canto Bight Police. Suddenly the crowd began to panic. Unauthorized gatherings were illegal in Canto Bight.

"Tell the others!" Hux said in his last words to the people. Then he jumped down from the trash receptacle and winced when he landed, pain shooting up his leg. Thankfully, the helmet prevented anyone else from seeing the pain on his face. He straightened when he saw Neepers Panpick making his way through the crowd to meet him. The others quickly dispersed as the sirens got louder, disappearing into the fire entrances and kitchen back doorways, like bugs scurrying for shelter when the lights are turned on.

"The boy is gone," Neepers said. He was so short that Hux had to tilt his mask all the way down to look at him. His high pitched voice pierced Hux's ears in the helmet and he adjusted the settings.

They entered the back entrance of the "Deep Fried Nuna-ry Restaurant" together. Neepers closed the door, blocking out the light of dawn. He flipped a switch and a pale yellow light from above illuminated all the pots and pans hung on the walls of the dirty kitchen. A few bugs ran across the floor and Hux shuddered. He'd have to get the hem of his robes cleaned once he was back on his ship.

"What do you mean the boy is gone?" Hux snapped. His patience was wearing thin. When he saw Neepers' alarmed expression he quickly regained his composure, reminding himself that he was trying to be the 'good guy,' one of the 'people.' "What have you found, Investigator Panpick?"

"Call me Neepers." The alien fidgeted with his hands and looked around nervously, as though for spies. "The boy was a slave here on Cantonica, an urchin. Stable hand to Bargwill Tomder, overseeing the Fathiers-"

"Where is he now?" Hux interrupted, getting impatient.

"The leader of the Final Order, a General Pryde, purchased the boy months ago and sent a Humanoid alien to take him."

Hux clenched his gloved fist and said nothing more. So Pryde had the boy. How was he always one step ahead?

The sirens outside became louder and Neepers latched the restaurant's kitchen door. The walls were yellow with years of grease in the air. Hux was glad he didn't have to smell the place, now that he had his air purifying helmet. He hated deep fried nuna legs, a favourite of tourists across the galaxy.

"I'll be leaving Cantonica right away," Hux said.

"But Sire, you just got here."

Sire. Interesting. 

He still didn't know what he was to these people, or any people. All he knew is his following grew by the hour, with no effort from him. They called him many things, because he hadn't named himself yet, but 'Sire' was new.

"It's pertinent the boy be found," Hux said. The alien watched him with big eyes. It was fascinating how much emotion others showed on their face, when they couldn't see yours, as though they somehow thought the mask not only stopped them from seeing you, but also stopped you from seeing them and their expressions.

"But you're here to lead the uprising," Neepers said. "What better place than Canto Bight? All eyes are on this city, all the time. It is a meeting point of many aliens. Whatever happens in Canto Bight, the rest of the Galaxy hears about."

Of course, the investigator was right, but Hux didn't have the time for news media coverage across the Galaxy.

"You don't need me to lead you," he said to the alien. "I am spreading the good news of this uprising, not leading it, like a dictator. The days of dictatorships are gone. This is a fight of the people, for the people. I am merely a messenger."

Neepers' eyes went even wider than they naturally were and Hux could tell that the alien was buying every word. Fascinating. He'd never imagined how much easier it was to lead masses by encouragement rather than sheer force and slavery, and fear, the way the First Order had always done it. This new way required no beatings or threats. It required hardly no effort at all. The people conceded to the cause, whatever they believed it was, willingly and wholeheartedly. They made it their own.

"Thank you, investigator Panpick."

"Neepers."

"Neepers."

"I'm more than happy to oblige, my Lord. Now, as to the issue of payment..." He said it like a question and Hux had to resist the urge to backhand the short alien across the face.

"I'll pay you well," he said, instead. "But first, you must help me get information on where General Pryde took the boy."