Confronting Fear

Sacrifice

Be strong and hold my hand
Time becomes for us, you'll understand
We'll say goodbye today
And I'm sorry how it ends this way
If you promise not to cry
Then I'll tell you just what I would say

If I could be with you tonight
I would sing you to sleep
Never let them take the light behind your eyes
I'll fail and lose this fight
Never fade in the dark
Just remember you will always burn as bright

Light Behind Your Eyes - My Chemical Romance

Rey breathed a deep sigh of relief as they came upon the ship. It was sleek and beautiful and she could see why Leia wanted it. Poe stepped beside her as she activated the security panel to lower the ship's entrance. It still lit up, which was a good sign.

It did however, require a passcode she didn't have. Luckily, she had just the thing for this, rifling around in her many cargo pockets until she found what she was looking for: a small cylinder with an aux cable at the end. An invention of her own design, it worked like a miniaturized astromech to quickly reprogram the code. She heard Poe release a held breath as the door opened.

From half a mile away, Kuruk watched the pair through the long scope of his rifle, lowering it with an audible curse. They had not expected her to be able to enter the ship so quickly, throwing off their plan for Vicrul and Ap-lek to catch them off their guard. He quickly transmitted the new development to his Master, who was not pleased.

Vicrul diffused the situation, reminding them the ship wasn't fully operational and they were trapped in there. An opportunity would present itself.

Kylo seethed. Not so much that the plan had gone wrong, Vicrul was right, there were still plenty of opportunities. It was that, once again she had bypassed his carefully laid locks like they were nothing. He was beginning to suspect that her affinity for electronics may not just be a skill learned from her days scavenging, but a manifestation of the Force itself. Luke had told tales of Jedi that were able to channel the Force into machines and electronics  Even when the Jedi had numbered in the thousands they had been rare, making them prized as engineers, programmers, and hackers. He was willing to bet half the galaxy that she was one such Jedi.

He was sorely tempted to try and breach her mind, but he knew that would only alert her. He hated being held back from the action, but Rey would sense him immediately once he entered the atmosphere, and she'd disappear yet again.

The inside of the ship was so dusty and in such serious disrepair it made even the Falcon look well maintained, with crates and crates, presumably of supplies, stacked everywhere. Perhaps that's why they wanted rid of it, Rey thought to herself. While unfamiliar to her, the ship's layout was similar to most A-wing models, making a straight line to the cockpit.

Poe and Rey took the pilot and copilot's seats respectively. Poe began what he hoped was the start-up sequence, while Rey ran a diagnostic scan. She froze as the results moved across her screen. "Poe, we have a problem."

We have a problem were the last words Poe wanted to hear right now. Everything had been going smooth up until that point, so he should have expected there to be some sort of trouble. He moved to stand next to her, watching the screen. "What's wrong?"

"The life support systems are offline. The ship will fly but we're not going to survive in it unless we can fix it." Rey replied. Stress was present in every syllable despite her attempts to mask it. Her strength clearly running out. It wouldn't be too much longer before they'd have to abandon the mission. They never should have undertaken it with Rey still injured.

"Offline how?" he replied, hoping he sounded strong. It was time for him to step-up, to be more than just Rey's helper. He was a capable mechanic though not nearly as proficient as Rey and Rose, but then again, few were.