042. MOVING ON

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The moment that Kylo Ren had left the world between worlds, he had taken what he had presumed was his right. The guards had only stood in a stupor for a moment, but a five second force choke was enough to snap them out of their daze. He had insisted that they lead him back to their ship and they had obliged the moment they were told of Supreme Leader Seth's fate. There was only one thing that he felt had been left unresolved, and by luck or the force, he stumbled right upon that very issue.

The General and the Admiral, arm in arm. He frowned, but satisfaction was evident in his eyes as he noticed that their posture stiffened. The Admiral looked beyond him at the pair of stormtroopers at his sides. "Where's Seth?"

"Dead."

Hux flinched, as he should. He seemed to recognize the poor situation that he had put himself in. Kylo Ren gestured for the two of them to join him. "I'm willing to overlook your insolence for the time being, General."

"Thank you, Supreme—"

"But," Kylo Ren faced him and threatened, "if you ever try something like this again, your fate will be far worse than the last two Supreme Leaders."

The Admiral glared but remained silent.

Kylo Ren then faced her and explained his intentions. "You will of course be demoted, considering the circumstances of your promotion to be anything other than standard regulation."

She nodded her head in silence, but led the way back toward the ship. Kylo Ren took a breath of the fresh air around him. It felt good to be back. Now, he just needed to ignore the strings tugging at his heart.

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Rey raised an eyebrow as Finn and Poe quickly walked past her down the corridor of the ship. "Where are the two of you off to in such a hurry?"

Poe grinned; his excitement poorly hidden. "The General tasked us with finding a new base for us to lie low for a while."

"How exciting," she chuckled, but it was obvious she was being sarcastic.

Finn pointed a finger toward her. "You know what? After everything we've been through these past few days, I'm ready for a peaceful mission."

Rey couldn't contain her laughter. "With the two of you, it will be anything but peaceful."

BB-8 seemed to chime in agreement as he rolled up alongside Poe.

"I wish you luck though," Rey grinned, "Force knows you'll need it."

She waved a farewell as they walked toward the hangar. She then returned to her original mission. She hadn't been able to get Luke's voice out of her head. She paused outside the General's quarters and knocked on the door. There was no immediate answer. But after a minute, the doors slid open and General Kallus exited. Rey raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything as she slowly entered the room after he was gone.

"What was that about?" Rey asked looking over her shoulder before facing Leia.

"A personal favor," Leia replied vaguely before beckoning her closer, "Was there something that you needed?"

Rey hesitated for a second, but ultimately decided to make her request. She held out her lightsaber and seemed to offer it to Leia.

"What's this?"

"Luke told me about how you trained together," Rey explained, "He also suggested that I find someone to train me... And I was hoping—"

"That it would be me?" Leia finished her statement. Rey slowly nodded her head. Leia was quiet as she contemplated the request. A small smile formed on her face as she looked Rey in the eyes. "It won't be easy."

"I'd be disappointed if it were."

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"Alright," Finn turned his attention toward Poe once they had boarded the ship, "Where to first?"

"Well, the General gave me a list of some old rebel bases that might work since they're pretty much off the grid," Poe said as he flipped a few switches, "We ready, BB-8."

There was a confirmation chirp, and the next thing Finn knew, he was staring at the sea of stars once more. "What's at the top of the list?"

"There's supposedly a small rebel outpost on Ajan Koss," Poe explained as he input the final coordinates, "Though that might be a good place to start."

Finn nodded his head. As the stars bled together during the hyperspace jump, Finn was left in silence with his thoughts. A lot had happened over the past few days, and to be frank, he didn't understand most of it. However, once the fleet settled down, he'd have time to try and figure it out. For the next few hours, he wanted to focus on absolutely nothing. He'd take a lesson or two from Poe and learn to go with the flow for a bit. He turned and smiled as he and Poe made eye contact. Just two dudes drifting through space with the fate of the fleet on their shoulders... no pressure though.

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Koria dusted off her hands and looked up at the TIE fighter with satisfaction. She climbed into the fighter and looked behind her shoulder at the two troopers already seated. "Ready?"

2552 nodded his head vigorously. "Heck yeah!"

3852 leaned away as 2552 practically shouted in his ear.

Koria chuckled quietly but held a finger up to her lips. "Love the enthusiasm but dial it down a bit. If we get caught—"

"Dangir?"

Koria froze at the sound of his voice. She held up a finger as if to ask for a minute and the troopers nodded their head in agreement. She climbed out of the pod and approached Hux who stood below.

It seemed that he had taken no time at all to discard his ruined uniform and replace it with one freshly pressed. He looked her up and down in confusion. "You're not in uniform..." He looked back up at the TIE fighter and then back at the pilot. It clicked in his mind and was shown on his face.

"I'm leaving, Hux." She crossed her arms, but her expression was soft.

He checked his shoulder as if debating the thought of turning them in. She certainly expected to receive a lecture about desertion. Instead, he sighed and looked up as if regretting his decision. "Go."

"What?"

"I said go." He pointed toward the vessel.

She turned, but stopped and faced him again. She bit her lip before quickly making her request. "Come with us."

"Dangir."

"Come with us," she repeated herself and increased the pace of her speech, "It might be a bit crammed, but we could make it work. There's a whole galaxy out there and—"

"Dangir." Hux grounded her by gently grabbing her shoulders. "I'm staying."

"You know you're expendable here... right?"

He nodded his head with a bitter chuckle. "Yes, but I've got some unfinished business."

"He'll kill you."

"And since when did you care?" Although the question would've normally been asked with hostility, it was genuine.

"I—I don't," she stammered and protested, but her eyes said she was lying. "I just feel as if you shouldn't waste your life, especially after I saved it once."

"Is that all you feel?" He raised an eyebrow and took a step closer.

She took a step back. She shook her head and pushed his arms off of her. She turned and didn't look back. She could feel his eyes on her though as she climbed into the fighter. She flipped the remaining switches and input the final coordinates. As the ship floated off the ground, her eyes drifted down to where he stood. He mockingly saluted her, and she could see him mouth the word 'admiral'. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before pulling out of the hangar.

No one spoke until they were out in open space after the tracker in the fighter had been disabled.

"So..." 2552 broke the silence, "Where do we go now, 3852?"

"Do I look like a pilot?" 3852 questioned with a false annoyance.

"I don't know about you," Koria looked over her shoulder at the pair, "But I'm tired of all the numbers."

She handed a datapad over her shoulder. 3852 raised an eyebrow skeptically. "What's this?"

"Snatched it on my way out," Koria explained, "My unlimited access hadn't been revoked yet, so I took the liberty of exploring a few files."

"Hey," 2552 grinned as he looked at the displayed information and corresponding photo. "That's me."

Koria nodded her head. "I hope you don't mind that I took the liberty of learning your names."

3852 looked down at the files and seemed to genuinely smile for the first time.

"What's my name? What's my name?" 2552 badgered 3852 to hand over the datapad.

3852 shoved him back into his seat and rolled his eyes. "It's Owen. Owen Khel."

2552, now Owen, smiled bigger than Koria thought humanly possible. "Wow. I've got a name... wow."

"And you?" Koria asked over her shoulder, now focusing on inputting the next set of coordinates.

3852 was hesitant, but he finally introduced himself, "Wyrren Sloane."

"It's a pleasure to meet you both." Koria smiled. "Now buckle up, this could be a bumpy ride."

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Evangeline leaned against the ramp of the ship as Kallus approached. "So?"

"She gave the okay." Kallus nodded his head. Chopper rolled up the ramp and bumped past Evangeline as he entered the ship.

Evangeline glared at the droid. "I swear that he's going to end up as a heap of scrap metal if he doesn't watch his attitude."

"You'll get used to him," Kallus insisted with a wave of his hand as he walked up the ramp into the ship.

"I doubt it," Evangeline scoffed and followed after him.

"Are we ready for take-off?" Ric turned around from the pilot seat with his hands folded across his lap.

"Please," Jia begged from her seat and lifted her head from her hands, "He hasn't shut up since we boarded the ship."

"Are you guys sure you're alright coming?" Evangeline asked hesitantly. "I understand if you want to stay behind."

"So that's an option now?" Elvi asked as tried to add the seatbelt of the adjoining chair to his own. It was evident that the medic was nervous about something.

"And miss out on the adventure of a lifetime?" Ric ignored Elvi and asked rhetorically. "Never."

"Do you need that many restraints?" Evangeline raised an eyebrow and pointed to the seatbelt that Elvi was currently jamming into the locking mechanism.

The medic eventually gave up and resorted to tying it together with the one already secured. "Have you ever seen Oryll fly?"

Ric mocked offense. "There's no one that can even attempt to fly like me."

"And no one should," Elvi muttered under his breath.

"So, who exactly are we looking for?" Jia interrupted the tension of their argument.

"A Jedi," Evangeline replied.

Jia looked at her expectantly as if she should provide more information.

Evangeline rubbed the back of her neck. "I really don't know much more than that. Kallus is the one who suggested going after a lost Jedi when I mentioned that I was looking around for a prospective mentor."

"Do we at least have some coordinates?" Ric asked, already growing bored.

"Lothal." Kallus nodded his head. "We'll start on Lothal and see what we can find."

"Last chance to get off," Evangeline presented the offer again.

"Looks like you're stuck with us, Eva." Ric grinned.

It was odd to hear the nickname tossed out so casually. But unlike earlier in the week, she didn't mind. It was as if her mind had decided that it wasn't reserved for just him anymore. He'd lost that privilege. She'd held on to a memory from the past, but he wasn't Ben anymore. The kid that she'd spent long nights watching the stars with, confiding in, he was gone. Luke had said to hold on to hope that he was still inside that metal shell somewhere; however, she wasn't sure she had the strength to hold on to that attachment. Attachments weren't the way of the Jedi anyway...

She had other priorities to focus on, like solving the mystery of her mother. There must have been at least a thousand Arimiya's out in the galaxy, but she belonged to only one. The question was, how would she find the right one? She hadn't mentioned her personal side quest to anyone aside from Kallus. She assumed that if anyone deserved to know, it was him, solely for the reason that he'd helped her without ulterior motives.

The stars quickly bled together as Ric made the jump into hyperspace. Whether she liked it or not, she'd been dragged back into the world of the Jedi. Let the adventure begin.