"So, are you in?"
Rey blinked twice. "Is that a serious question? Of course I'm in."
Poe Dameron nodded carefully and glanced sideways at Finn seated next to him.
Finn nodded in turn. "Alright, see you guys in one standard hour." Poe and Finn turned to slide off the mess hall bench.
"I just have one question..." Rey started.
They froze, and stiffly turned in unison to face her.
"Why has General Organa not called this to a meeting as a formal assignment?"
Finn shuffled from side-to-side, and Poe took a look around the people sitting near them before he shot her a warning look.
It was the evening meal in the small base underground on Takodana. The mess hall was dark, but busy and loud.
"Just meet us in the bay, and we'll explain it all" he answered quietly as he turned away quickly and strode off with Finn.
Rey tipped her head toward them, then leaned her elbows against the table next to her food with her head in her hands.
The nearby tables were clanging with dishes, cups smacking the hardtop, and filled with chatting men and women. These were most of the sixty rebels they had accrued in the last three months via stealth missions on various planets.
After the battle on Crait, the remainder of them had nowhere to go but a place the First Order had already been.
Takodana.
Normally neutral, all bets were off once the First Order had attacked Maz's palace in order to acquire Rey. Maz got in contact with the Rebellion shortly after the union dispute had ended, and agreed to hide Princess Leia and her colleagues in an underground cavern, with a deal that included a no-fly zone for rebel ships; only one of Maz's vessels would be permitted to leave the atmosphere, with advance permission only.
One man or woman at a time, they were rebuilding a Rebellion that would be strong again.
The new cook was getting better, judging by the smell wafting from her plate. It was a dark stew or goulash of some kind, served with a large, golden bread roll. Her stomach growled as she snatched the roll off the edge of the bowl, breaking it in half. She drudged it eagerly into the brown juices, and bit a large chunk clean off.
Rey closed her eyes as she savoured it; a bit salty, but divine compared to eating the same meal every day on Jakku. She didn't care one iota who was watching her completely enveloped in this single, small pleasure of her existence.
When the bread was gone three bites later, she was regretful not having asked for a second roll. The stew would suffice..for now.
*
Rey ran into Rose on the way to the bay and stopped for a quick catch up before carrying on. Rose mentioned she needed to inspect some equipment that was repeatedly breaking down.
As Rey walked through the underground facility, she kept thinking about Rose. She almost mentioned that she was meeting Finn and Poe, but chose to avoid the topic all together. The way Poe had looked around when they finished their conversation in the mess hall spiked a feeling in her gut that whatever this was about, he didn't want anyone to overhear.
Did Finn and Rose not talk about everything? Was everything just grand when they spoke? Rose didn't seem like there was anything to be concerned about in her day, so she could only guess that she wasn't aware.
She was almost to the bay, when she stopped in her tracks in the corridor, and peered ahead. The bay appeared completely black, but there was usually lights left on in the corners.
Strange, she thought.
A rough hand suddenly clamped quickly and tightly over her mouth and hauled her off her feet backward, right through a door on the right wall. She flailed momentarily before gathering her wits, and sending an elbow right into her attacker's abdomen.
A familiar oomph was let out, and then a strangled whisper.
"Rey...it's me!"
"Finn!" she exclaimed in surprise as she leapt out of his grasp and turned to face him. He was doubled over, Poe's hand on his shoulder as he gave him a shrug.
"Told you that wouldn't end well for you, bud.".
Finn nodded with a half-smile and slowly straightened up. He quietly closed the door to the corridor shut completely, and slid the lock.
Rey relaxed, and looked around as her eyes adjusted to the dim light. They had pulled her into some kind of storage room with a small and pitiful inventory of spare parts for cruisers and weapons.
"So," Rey said as she crossed her arms and squared herself in front of them. "I take it we are not going to Ahch-To as you have baited me with."
Poe threw his hands into the air. "Whoa, hey, let us explain before you decide to jump down our throats, alright?".
"No, we aren't going to Ahch-To, Rey", Finn confirmed. "It's just another recruiting mission, for the three of us this go-around."
Rey frowned.
"Then what's all the secrecy about?"
Poe and Finn turned slightly to look at each other before Poe answered.
"We think there's a spy."
Her eyebrows shot up and her eyes went back and forth between the two of them.
"How do you know?"
Finn gestured. "Well, you know how the last three recruiting runs we almost got caught?"
Rey nodded. "The Mandalorian."
"Yes, that one almost ended us. Poe and I have discussed that event over and over. Things don't really add up to how we were tracked on the other missions in a pretty small time frame, albeit that last run...one of us could have died."
As Finn spoke, there was that crackling sound in the air rushing towards her.
Oh no...not twice in one day!
Kylo Ren faded into her reality right behind Finn's shoulder, towering over him with his arms crossed, his gaze staring past her. He looked exhausted, but focused, as if he was in a meeting.
She blinked repeatedly trying not to let on what she was seeing.
"Rey, you ok?" Finn asked.
"Yeah," she shook her head, "just dust in my eye."
The moment she answered, Ren made eye contact with her for the briefest moment, and blinked in the same confused way, before turning his attention back to whatever he was intently listening to.
"Anyways," Poe took over, "we figure that it must have been someone we picked up about four or five runs ago, as it was only the last three that problems have been coming up. Too many close calls lately."
Ren's voice spoke to the air, startling her. "Send out the probes to Ahch-To and have a unit follow closely to detain anyone we find. Skywalker is dead, but search the island thoroughly."
Rey shot a defiant look in his direction.
"Finn, I think you're correct about the spy," she started, "brilliant plan with the Ahch-To diversion."
Ren's gaze swept over her again with annoyance. "Cancel that last order," he spoke as he raised his hand. "Wait for more intel from your associate before we waste resources for nothing, Hux."
"We haven't told General Leia either," Poe added, "because we have no idea if it is someone on her staff. We can only be as covert as possible."
"Are you finished?" Kylo raised his voice sharply now, as if her very presence was setting him off. "We'll find them, Hux. Even if I have to do it myself."
Rey couldn't continue having this conversation with her attention split, or one of them would figure it out.
She pressed two fingers to her temple. "Alright, so then who does know where we are going?" A headache was starting to grind in her skull as she drew on the Force to close the connection. She hoped it would.
Thankfully, at that moment, the stern statue of Kylo Ren vanished out of the room.
"We have to get our destination point from the one who is sending us." Finn answered.
The headache ebbed away into nothing as the tension of Ren's words left her.
"Who's sending us if not General Leia?"
Poe leaned in, and lowered his tone.
"Maz."