The Last Jedi: The Spark of Rebellion

Mayday

KYLO

Kylo paced the room of the Command Center. An entire fleet of TIE fighters, gone. It didn't seem like something the Resistance would do, destroying a space station. They blew up the dreadnaught and all the commanders and crew on board. But that was a battle and both sides were fighting. This was a space station with ships from all over the galaxy, not just First Order. Something didn't seem right about it.

Kylo glanced at Hux, who stood stiffly with his hands behind his back. His chin was turned up in a defiant way, yet each time Kylo made a sudden movement, he flinched. Kylo didn't need to read his mind to know Hux was scared. Somehow, that made it harder to stay mad at him. In fact, he couldn't stay mad at all. All he could think about was that dream with Rey. She'd felt so small and fragile in his hands.

A beeping from the doorway brought Kylo from his thoughts. Hux flinched again at the sudden noise and BB-9 rolled in.

"You're needed on the bridge," he beeped. "There's a situation on Cantonica."

Kylo headed out of the room and Hux just stood there.

"What did the robot say?" he called after Kylo.

Kylo didn't reply but continued out the door. Hux followed after him.

The atmosphere on the bridge was tense. Kylo sensed it the moment he stepped into the room. It reminded him of receiving transmissions from Snoke, which only came when there was trouble, and the entire crew would be on edge. But Snoke was gone now and Kylo was free, thanks to Rey.

"Sir, there are reports of a disturbance in Canto Bight and all over Cantonica," the Commanding Officer said. He was part of the night crew, which was still on duty. Kylo wasn't familiar with him, but he seem diligent enough.

"What kind of disturbance?" Hux asked, coming up to stand at Kylo's his side. Kylo's jaw tensed but he didn't say anything.

"The machines and robots are... turning against them," the Commanding Officer said.

"Turning against them?" Hux asked, sounding disgusted at the thought.

"Sir," the Tactical Officer said. "Ship upgrades have just completed downloading-"

Suddenly the lights dimmed and all the screens turned dark. A silence filled the room as the ship's engines and air circulation all stopped at once. The emergency lighting kicked in, covering everything in an eerie, red glow.

"What happened?" Hux demanded.

"Life support systems are off line," the Tactical Officer replied. "We have approximately five hours before we run out of air."

"Get the system back on line!" Hux yelled.

"I'm trying to, Sir. But we've lost all access to the ship's systems... including the launch bay and escape pods-"

"Someone is docking onto the ship," the Commanding Officer interrupted.

"On screen," Kylo said.

A large Lucrehulk-Class Droid Control Ship came into view on the front viewport, which fortunately was still on line via the emergency systems.

"Hail them!" Hux said.

They waited, but there was no response to the hail.

"The ship shows no life forms on board," the Tactical Officer said.

Kylo didn't bother to mention the obvious, that it was a droid control ship. But why had the ship docked with theirs? He had no sense of the ship with the Force, since it had no life forms on it. A faceless enemy with no emotion.

An incoming transmission pierced the darkness on the bridge.

"We're under attack!" came the cry through the speakers. "Deck C and D."

The communication cut out and Kylo pulled out his light saber.

ROSE

Rose nibbled on her biscuit and watched the others seated around the table in the common area of the Millennium Falcon. A companionable silence had fallen over the room. Even Finn wasn't talking. He sat close to her, so close that their legs touched. But Rose didn't mind. His interest in her was refreshing, so new and unexpected. She didn't want to get her hopes up too much, but she was pretty sure he liked her, as more than a friend.

Rose watched Rey carefully place another red fruit in her mouth. She'd been quite solemn and quiet on this trip and Rose had been worried about her. But she was finally eating now and seemed more open and relaxed at this meal. Maybe because they were about to hit comm range at any moment, or maybe because Poe had stepped up to be there for her. Not that Rose and Finn hadn't tried to offer their help too, but she'd been resistant to it.

Poe caught another piece of fruit that Rey dropped, again. She seemed to be having trouble grasping things and was using her hands carefully, as though she was in pain. The interesting thing was that Poe seemed quite aware of this and did everything he could to help her, but in an offhand way which wasn't obvious to the others. But Rose noticed. Poe opened packages for Rey without her having to ask, and he removed the cap from the drinking bottle before handing it to her.

Rose set down her biscuit. The air in the room was thin and harder to breathe, like there wasn't enough oxygen to satisfy a full breath. No one else had said anything about it and she didn't want to ask, in case it would worry anyone, but she was pretty sure they were running out of air.

An alarm sound startled their silence and everyone jumped. Poe sprang to his feet and ran to the hallway that lead to the cockpit.

General Leia got up slowly and Finn offered her a hand. Rose smiled at his thoughtfulness. Rey set her hand on the table to push herself up, then flinched in pain. Before Rose could offer her help, Poe came rushing back into the common area.

"It's a distress signal," he said, out of breath.

"From whom?" General Leia asked.

"There's more than one."