Shared Vision

Chapter 13 "The Pact"

BEN:

Ben paced the length of his room. Rey was planet side? On a mission? What the hell?? He looked to the side of his room where usually he would see Rey's bunk, but tonight was only the harsh gray of the Finalizer. His hands shook and he felt a murky fissure opening within him, a formless anger struggling to surface. No. He forced himself to sit down and recapture control over that savage part of himself that longed to rip and destroy senselessly. He considered going to the auxiliary ship, reaching out to whatever system Rey was on and... No. She didn't want him to know yet. She would consider it a violation of trust. However indefinable their strange relationship was, there were still boundaries. He would just have to wait. There was a small comfort in knowing that his restraint was for the benefit of their connection, and that assurance let him rest, although alone for the first time in months.

TAL:

Curse those slovenly bounty hunters! Nearly botching up years of work, I could have been killed! Tal had been in the last security team to be abducted and had therefore been unconscious throughout the entirety of the ordeal, but that hadn't stopped him from privately fuming over it. His only consolation was that he had managed to slip away, completely unnoticed, while the body of the team searched for clues on the whereabouts of their missing comrades. He had no choice but to use very old, very slow transmission methods, but the com would be virtually untraceable, so he wouldn't have to worry about suspicion falling back on him. Tal shivered, his resentment giving way to excitement. He had just delivered a bombshell to the First Order, and when all his labor came to fruition, he would likely find himself at the right hand of the Supreme Leader of the galaxy! All he had to do was wait. It would take a week or more for that message to reach the Finalizer, but then things would happen quickly, and his reward would make all this rotting away with rebel scum worth it.

REY:

With the bounty hunters subdued, Rey made a fast climb up the ridge and boarded the Millennium Falcon. It was the first time she had seen Chewie since they had been quartered on the Oblivion, so Rey found herself wrapped in a tight hug she was in no hurry to extricate herself from. Getting back to the cockpit, they received a message from Poe. He had finally gotten through to Finn, who was now "piloting" the transport with the crew aboard. He needed an escort to get him back to the Oblivion safely. Rey got the ship signature and called Finn directly to guide him through flight operations. They left the camp to Poe and the X-Wing aviators and gingerly made their way back, all the while Chewie filling her in on the reason for their late and conspicuously airborne arrival. The bounty hunters knew that they wouldn't be able to draw out the entire crew, so they made an attempt on the Oblivion itself. They set off an alert while trying to disable one of the engines and the crew went on the offensive. There had been heavy fighting, but the Resistance had managed to overpower the bounty hunters. The crew received multiple injuries, but no casualties. It was believed that the bounty was contingent on them being alive, though no one was sure why or what that meant. Once the skirmish was over, the ship was immediately put into orbit and the flight squad was sent to Rey and Finn's coordinates.

Leading Finn out of atmosphere was challenging, but their connection helped overcome his inexperience. Once they were out, Rey commed the Oblivion and had the larger ship pull the transport in with the tractor beam and send a flock of med droids to the bay. Finn dropped from the cockpit and swayed, barely keeping his balance. He looked terrible, his cheek and jaw were badly bruised, and the vessels in his right eye had ruptured, turning the white to a cloudy red. Blood dripped from his nose and Rey could feel a numbing exhaustion engulfing him. She ran to him, gently putting his arm around her shoulder and supporting him as he walked. She wanted to take him directly to the med bay. But she could feel his focus drawing them elsewhere. Leaning heavily on her, they rounded the back of the ship and Finn hit the controls to open the cargo bay. He released Rey and offered shakey hands to the broken crew. Slowly they began making their way out and being attended by the med droids. Presently, more of the onboard crew arrived and assisted with carrying out the unconscious. Once everyone had been cleared out, Finn succumbed to the strain and passed out. Rey caught him just before he hit the floor and called for a gurney.