Bonded

Chapter 26: Confession

CHAPTER SUMMARY: Rey attends a meeting of Resistance leaders and is confronted with an uncomfortable subject

"Eighty-seven."

Admiral Madani taps the table for emphasis. She leans in, making eye contact with every Resistance leader, tendrils of gray hair falling over her face.

"Eighty-seven systems in barely over a year." The admiral locks eyes with Rey. "What were once independent or government-owned mining operations are now the property of the First Order, by negotiation or by force. This isn't about building dreadnoughts or finishing Starkiller II. Oh no." She sits back. "What we're seeing now is nothing less than a systematic attempt to control all the most valuable resources in the galaxy."

A Mon Calamari next to the General scoffs, or at least Rey thinks it's a scoff. It sounds more like a gurgle...

"Nonsense." He smacks his fish-like lips. "Even the Empire never attempted such a thing, and they were ten times the size of the First Order."

"You do realize The First Order is catching up, don't you?" Admiral Patel leans in, a middle-aged man with gray flecks in his dark hair. "They've tripled in size in the past year alone. Their recruitment's exploded, and according to our intel, most of those numbers are being funneled into mining teams." He glances at Madani, and she nods.

"Recruitment numbers aside, it's still not feasible." A young colonel shakes her head, blonde hair pulled in a tight bun. "There are too many systems in the galaxy. There's no way the First Order can control the resources on all of them. It's just not possible."

"Ok, first of all..." Poe sits up. "They don't have to control all the resources, just the most valuable ones. That'll be enough to have the galaxy by the balls. But more importantly, think about this." He fixes on the young colonel across from him. "Right now, the First Order's playing nice. They're negotiating, paying for the resources and then some. Even when they take mines by force, they spin it as law enforcement, rescuing the galaxy from the Outer Rim gangs, but what do you think's gonna happen once they finish Starkiller II, huh?" He raises an eyebrow. "How do you think their negotiations will go then?" He looks around, beckoning an answer.

Several leaders look down. Rey joins them, staring at her hands in her lap.

"Trust me." Poe sits back. "Their progress right now will look slow by comparison. They won't need to negotiate anymore. All they'll have to do is show up and give systems a choice— hand over their resources or get blasted into space."

"Exactly." Madani turns to the General. "If you think about Starkiller, how they can use it to bully systems into giving them what they want, it's really not that far-fetched. What we're seeing now could just be the beginning of a large-scale effort to control the galaxy's economy."

The General listens carefully, eyes sharp. She's been quiet for most of the meeting, but this isn't unusual. Rey's noticed this about the General since becoming a team leader. She spends more time listening than talking.

"Admiral Patel." The General nods to the middle-aged man across from her. "Do you have anything new to report on Starkiller II's progress?"

"Nothing that makes much difference." He rests his forearms on the table. "From what we can tell, construction is complete, yet..." He tsks. "The weapon isn't active yet. We would know if it were. They must be missing something."

"Kyber." Rey speaks without thinking, then looks around self-consciously.

She's met by a row of knitted eyebrows.