Chapter Twenty Six: Authority

Disclaimer: I own nothing here, but aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?

The sounds of blaster fire faded to an echo as it was replaced by the thundering water in the sewer rushing out of the canal and into the artificial sea outside. Rey peered over the edge, a sheer twenty foot drop to the bay below greeted her. The height was nothing outstanding, she had descended a far greater distance on Jakku on practically a daily basis. What made it daunting was having an immobile, Ben and a skittish Fathier along.

She looked to the three children and they all seemed eager to make the dive, as if they had done so many times. They probably had, but Rey felt the need to ask anyway. "Can you three swim?" She was suddenly immensely grateful that Ben had forced her into practicing the skill some days prier, otherwise she would have felt much more anxious about the situation.

The kids all nodded in response but Temiri's mind seemed to be on the same pattern as Rey's. "But what about-?"

"I've got them," Rey cut him off, her voice projecting urgency. "Just go. Swim for the pad with the huge black ship. We'll be right behind you."

Temiri nodded again and shared a determined look with his friends before leaping off the edge and into the dark, agitated water below. Rey dearly hoped there weren't any terrible sea monsters down there, but she guessed the children would have mentioned such things to her, assuming they had done this before.

Now with a jittery Tom under her care as well as Ben who kept slipping in and out of consciousness, Rey took a deep, calming breath. Concentrating, she willed the Force to lift both furred creature and large man into the air. She tried to send the Fathier an invisible soothing touch but whether it did any good was unlikely as he began writhing around in the air in a new state of panic.

Rey managed to lower them down into the water without incident and promptly jumped in after them, gasping at the harsh chill of the water. After orienting herself, she found her way to the young Fathier, relieved to see that he was a strong swimmer. Ben was awake now, if not entirely aware as he coughed and sputtered and struggled to keep his head above water. "Hang on a little longer Ben," she nearly pleaded to him, touching his pale face briefly before she was forced to focus on swimming as Tom instinctively struck out to follow the children.

It was a long stretch to the landing pad and from all her exertion, Rey thought she should have begun feeling exhausted. Fortunately, her adrenaline and worry for Ben's condition kept her going full tilt until they finally reached the platform nearest the Hawk-bat's pad. She had to steady Ben's limp, cold body as Tom pulled the three of them out of the lapping water and onto the platform.

Raw fear swelled inside Rey's lungs as she moved to check Ben's pulse. It was there, but his breathing was so shallow and his skin had taken on a blue tone; that chilled swim hadn't done him any good at all. She idly wondered at how much blood he had lost as she rushed to lead Tom up the platform's ramp to the shuttle. She paid little mind to the children as they followed her; she needed to get Ben an emergency stim, !

Nearing the Hawk-bat's gangplank, she was suddenly met by BB-8 as he let out an urgent string of beeps. Rey had been so distracted by all the chaotic events that she hadn't even noticed when BB-8 sneaked away undetected. It wasn't entirely surprising though, since barely anyone noticed a droid... Nonetheless she was extremely grateful to see him, once again seeming to save the day.

"Good to see you Bee! Now let's get out of here!" Rey exclaimed as she pulled an unwilling Tom up the loading ramp whilst keeping Ben's unmoving body from sliding off the beast's back. The kids and the droid followed behind her hurriedly and the ramp began retracting after she shouted towards the cockpit. "Pilot, take us back to the Supremacy, B-" she caught herself, but just barely. "Ren is wounded!"

The ship's engines surged and the pilot's curt reply came from the intercom overhead. "Right away ma'am, on the double!"

Rey immediately moved to hoist Ben off the Fathier and maneuvered his great weight down to the floor. The man groaned and shifted painfully as she settled him against a bulkhead. Hastily she retrieved a medpac from a nearby supply shelf and began administering a number of stims into his arms and legs, desperately hoping the drugs would stabilize his critical state until she got him to a proper medbay.

He didn't pull out of his delirious state but after a moment or so he seemed less agitated. Rey breathed out a sigh of relief, only to breathe in sharply at Temiri's sudden accusation-coupled-query.

"You called him Ren," the boy spoke steadily, his gaze keen and pointed. "As in Ren? Jedi killer of the First Order?"

Rey faced him and frowned. Was that what they had heard about him? Was that the sort of rumor or truth that could spread through a commercial world such as this? Back on Jakku, she had only ever heard of the First Order and the Resistance, her mind never really taking hold of any individual names like Snoke or Kylo until she had been sucked into the madness herself.

Temiri was still waiting for an answer, his small arms crossed over his chest to portray a miffed mood; he clearly felt betrayed by the revelation. A quick glance at the other two kids repaid her with looks of suspicion and anxiety. Rey sighed wearily, suddenly feeling deflated, as if she were a starfigher running on fumes. "It's more complicated than that," she finally answered, hoping he wouldn't pursue the matter further but somehow knowing he would.

"You tricked us," Temiri nearly spat, his derision palpable and throbbing through the Force like an open wound. "We're prisoners of the First Order now, aren't we?"

"No, you're not!" Rey realized too late that she responded too quickly, with too much intensity. She shook her head, frustrated with her own contradictory thoughts and instead tried to tug at the positive side of the situation. "You'll learn how to pilot and-"

"And fight for a corrupt empire," Temiri finished for her, sneering contemptuously before shaking his head dismally. "Somehow, I knew the freedom you offered us was too good to be true."

Rey studied him and his friends carefully for a moment and gave her overly exerted mind time to form a suitable reply. Nothing came. She closed her eyes, wondering if the Force could even help in such a trivial matter as wording, though it had seemed to help in almost every other aspect of her life... She felt her heart pound with surprise at the almost instantaneous response as a familiar, deep voice rumbled inside her head. good

Rey blinked her eyes open again and allowed herself a small smile.

Taking his wisdom to heart, Rey regarded the boy once more. She felt an odd clarity filter into her mind and a new reply on her tongue, as if her starfighter-like mind had just been given a charged dose of coaxium into its hyperdrive. "I used to think like you," she said to Temiri softly, her gaze shifting briefly to Ben. "But I've come to realize that the absolutes we cling to so desperately, can be deceptive."