Fandom Just one breath - A star wars RP [Closed]

[Drop of Ember]

Aisling was trying her best to try and find the bright side to the situation she was in, but it was hard when one was shivering and soaked to the bone. Oh why did her contact have to be located on Eadu. It always rained here. She hadn't been the fondest of this mission when the resistance had assigned it to her, but hey were few and stretched thin and this was a job that suited her perfectly. It just couldn't have had a better location to it. Somehow Aisling had managed to convince herself that it wouldn't be too bad, she was on time after all so she wouldn't have to wait to long in this alley that had no sort of cover of any kind, from the heavy rain that was. In terms of cover from any patrols that came by it was rather good, it had enough shadowy areas that she could hide with ease. Something that Ash knew from the multiple patrols that had come past in the hours since she had arrived.

Her contact was late, really late. A sinking feeling had started to sink into her gut after the first hour that they did not show. But with every minute that passed she told herself to wait just one more, that they would show up with the information that they needed, information that would help the resistance in their failing struggle against the first order to the point of turning the tide of things. Yet with every long minute that passed her dread just grew more. Alot could happen in just a minute. It had now been three hours since she had arrived.

Aisling thought hard back to the meeting she had had for this mission, to gain whatever she could about this person she was meant to meet. He had a brother who was a stormtrooper, a leader of one of their units it seemed who had had of the first order, or their new supreme leader or just both. From what they had been told he had been abled to copy a whole bunch of their data, their plans, patrols, ship schematics, as much as he could fit onto the storage unit he had available and then transfer it to their contact. Yet this contact wasn't seeming to show up. Maybe the mole hadn't been able to give them the information and the contact just didn't feel like it was safe enough to show up. But the chances of that was slim compared to all of the other causes there could be and it was the best outcome for her.

Shifting on her feet Aisling had a debate. Staying here any longer she had the risk of getting caught, not mentioning the cold she was going to catch at this rate. But she couldn't just leave, not yet. Not without some answers or something to bring back to the resistance. This mission would not be for nothing. She had to find something she could use or bring back. Just something. With that in mind she brought her black cloack further around her and peered out of the shadows and into the streets beyond. As silently as she could she exited the ally way. It was time for her to stop waiting and to find some answers.

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Everything had been silent at Ajan Kloss for quite some time now and it was driving Finn insane. It was good he guessed in some ways, it meant that they could have a breather of some sort. They did deserve it after everything that they had all been through. All they had lost in there last confrontation with the first order. He was just glad that they had managed to get out with what they did. He had seen first hand what the first order could do. And so he stood their in the trees pacing, trying to find out what was the next plan, the next move. He already knew that there was nothing they could do until the smuggler, Ash, returned with the information but he just couldn't shake the feeling that the first order was planning something, that something big was coming.

Since they had arrived on Ajan Kloss they had managed to set up a camp, a new home of sorts. they were sending people out on supply runs, trying to find if they had anymore allies out their, but with the last battle they had Finn doubted that was the case. Occasionally they sent out people to interfere with the supply runs of the first order, but they were just being an announce more then anything else, like bugs, making no real affect to change the tide of the war.

And so Finn paced, making a good worn line in the undergrowth not far from the camp. He was restless. Yes, they were doing something but it was not enough, no where near enough to what they should be doing. He knew the horrors that would be caused every day that went by in witch the first order was not stopped, but there was just so few of them left it was hard to do anything about it. To truly make a dent. Not that he would ever stop trying. Even if he was the only one left he would not stop. He would go on and do the impossible to make the universe a better place, so people could live in peace and not fear, to forge a new time.

Finn thought back to when his journey in this had all started to try and calm himself, to look at all that they had accomplished so far, how far they had come, how far he had come. To start he had wanted to flee, but now he was fighting and he had made a difference so far, they all had. They just had to keep on working at it, bit by bit and they would get there. The resistance may have lost much, but so had the First Order. He may restless but Finn knew that the fight would not stop, it would keep on going and one day the first order would be no more. Yet until then, they had to find out what they were doing, to find some sort of weakness that they could use and they had to gather there strength, yet to Finn it seemed they had been doing too much of the latter and not enough of the others.​

 

[Lucyfer]

Vornskr’s information had been good of late; Kylo Ren understood the agent had worked her way into the Resistance base proper, on Ajan Koss. Despite knowing where the Resistance was, Kylo Ren did not make a move for it.

For one, he had come to understand that the Resistance was truly growing and branching out. He needed to learn all the places that it spread to, before he went to uproot the structure. He needed to make sure he would truly snuff it out for good.

One of those threads led back into the First Order itself, and hours ago, the Stormtrooper Commander found himself impaled on Kylo Ren’s lightsaber, before the Supreme Leader took the vessel intended for the planet Eadu. Kylo was familiar with the planet. It had been a good cover for the creation of the Death Star.

There wasn’t much to Eadu outside of that facility, just small villages of literal nerf herders.

He tried not to think much of that term; it should mean nothing to him, and yet he heard it in his mother’s voice, both insult and term of endearment, for a man he saw too often in the mirror. ‘I’ll fix it when I return.’ Kylo had been telling himself he would fix his helmet for weeks now. He had yet to do so. Snoke’s insults still stuck to his mind, just as well.

Nonetheless, he eventually arrived at Eadu, and he found the craft he was meant to look for, as described by Vornskr. He smirked, and brought his command shuttle down near it, looking ahead to the small village it was on the outskirts of. He moved quickly, throwing up his hood and addressing the Stormtroopers he brought with him, “Don’t let that ship leave.” He commanded.

A chorus of agreements meant his command – they had all been witness to the death of the spy.

Kylo Ren did not stop to see them off the ship or close up his own. He strode off the ramp, his hood helping to shield him a bit from the rain, as he stalked towards the quiet village.

He didn’t have to look long for his target – she was exiting the alley he intended to head towards, and fit the description – short, brown hair, short individual, unusually broad shoulders. She was facing away from him, so he could not determine much else, but he was certain that one word would: “Roadrunner.”

~***~

Carys Ison was not kept afloat of what happened within the Order itself. She reported to her Keeper, and that was it. The information always went one way, at least, for now. Supposedly, she’d be informed when the Order was going to make an attack on Ajan Kloss. For the time being, they didn’t seem so inclined to do so, and so, Carys continued to feed them what they needed.

She had learned through sharing drinks with the Snowbirds and Black Squadron that there was a spy in the Order. Some more digging, and she had figured out who it was, and relayed that information back. ‘Hopefully, in time.’ Only the hope felt uncertain. She didn’t know Aisling Bennell, nor did she know the Trooper, so she felt little for their fates, but the reaction at the base was likely to be hurtful.

Not to mention she knew Matya Pryst had a not-so-secret crush on Aisling and admired her smuggling capabilities from afar. It was Matya that Carys walked along with from the mess hall, “She’ll be back soon, don’t worry about it, Matya,” Carys said, “maybe then you’ll finally work up the guts to tell her, yeah?”

Matya let out a trill of a laugh, but shook her head, black hair shimmering even in the shade from whatever light it could catch. “No, no, I really don’t think she swings my way,” Matya denied.

“Well, there’s always Pava,” Carys teased, enjoying the way Matya’s face flushed a deeper red.

“Hey!” The shout came from Commander Dameorn, and both of them immediately froze as Poe walked from the command center, “Where’s Ros?” The third of the snowbirds.

“Still sleeping,” Carys offered, “Why?”

“Go wake him up, we have a mission,” Poe said. Carys and Matya exchanged a look, and Matya offered, “I’ll go.”

Carys nodded, brushing a few strands of red hair back as she turned her attention back to Commander Dameron, “Is everything all right?”

“No, no, nothing’s ever all right,” Poe’s anxious energy had been becoming heightened as time went on, his nerves and his temper always nearer to the edge with every loss the Resistance faced. “I’ll tell you more soon.”

Carys smiled, a nervous thing meant to imitate his own anxiety, his own nerves, to match his energy, even if there was a part of her that was almost terribly amused with how easy this was…and another part, that was deeply upset it was this easy.

 

[Drop of Ember]

Aisling thought about where the stromtropper commander might be, this was just one place out of many on this planet and there was many hidden spots all over. To try to find him would be nothing less then a fools errand.

Her first task would be to find out if he had ever arrived on this forsaken planet in the first place. Aisling was not sure how she would do that but the first step would be to go to the shipyard. There she may be able to get some more infomation and if not she would at least be close enough to escape if needed.

Just as Ash was about to move back into the ally way she heard a voice, calling out her code name, causeing her to freeze midstep. This was going to be either really good or really bad. The voice didn't seem to come from a trooper so that was at least something. So was it her contact or something much worse now awaiting her.

To try and find out where this voice was coming from Ash slowly turned around. Dreading who she may find standing not that far behind her if her contact did not show.

Aisling found herself frozen in place for a moment as she looked at the owner of the voice. He had a broad build and wore all black. She could not make out much of his features other then a large nose in this lighting, not with that hood he had up. Despite this she was sure that he was the sumpre leader. Whatever infomation she wa meant to get had to have been rather valuable if he was showing up.

Despite knowing it was rather futile Aisling ducked back into the ally, hoping she was faster then he was.
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Among all his paceing and inner thoughts Finn managed to overhere an upset sounding Poe and something about a mission. To this he instantly stopped paceing, mid stride. He turned his head toward the camp and the voices, trying to hear more about what was going on.

Yet he could not hear anything else being said about this mission, but with how Poe sounded it must be something rather important. Finn was sure that they would be able to use another gun out there. Espessially when things didn't seem to go their way.

He could only home that Poe would agree and he would be able to tag along as with nothing to do he was starting to go insane. Going out on a mission would really help to clear his mind, giving him something a bit more manageable to focus on rather than just stopping the First Order.

With Finns own mission in mind he moved to leave the forest and back to camp. Stumbling a bit due to the change in length of the undergrowth. Yet with the gelp of a tree he managed to stsy up right. Looking over his shoulder he saw just how worn diwn the undergrowth was where he had been paceing and made a silent promise to himself to try not to pace like that again.

Making it out of the woods safely Finn saw a very worried Poe and one of the snowbirds, Alita. She had stunning red hair, gray eyes, fair skin and a face that always made Finn feel like he had seen her from somewhere before. Yet no matter how much he had pondered about it he just couldn't seem to remember where from. Finn had seen alot of people within his time as a stirmtropper and it was a time he tried to forget.

"What seems to be the problem?" He asked, coming to stand next them. Hopefully there would be some way he would be able to help them out, to be of a use rather then spending all day freeting.

 

[Lucyfer]

The reaction of the woman was almost comical. She glanced back at Kylo Ren, and then tried to duck back into the alley. Were Kylo Ren in a better mood, he may have actually laughed at it, but the mere fact he’d had to execute a Stormtrooper that day had certainly soured it. Saying nothing about the rain.

So, as she ducked back towards the alley, he didn’t offer pursuit in a chase.

The Supreme Leader simply lifted his hand, and reached out with the Force to take hold of the woman’s attire. His intention was to pull her out, and not gently. If he was successful, he intended to make sure she fell into the muddy ground so that she’d have to go through the trouble of picking herself up as he approached.

Which, in either case, he would begin to do. He couldn’t let the spy run free, after all. This needed to stop, and it needed to stop now. The Resistance was branching out and impacting too many other societies, making it nearly impossible to restore order to a galaxy that desperately needed it.

~***~

Carys shifted her weight as she took note of FN-2187’s approach. ‘Finn. Finn. Finn.’ She repeated his chosen name several times in her mind. One slip of his Stormtrooper name, and the game would be up. She’d been careful to avoid him as much as possible; while they didn’t have much experience together, she recalled a couple of times getting Phasma’s permission to work out her melee combat skills with members of the FN corps.

Phasma had such high hopes for them. Alas….

Poe gave Finn a look and a bright smile, “Buddy! Hey, don’t worry about it, the Snowbirds here are gonna get things handled,” he didn’t figure Finn was dying of boredom, and he wasn’t sure exactly how well throwing an unknown into the situation would be with a group that he knew functioned well.

He also didn’t want Finn to get worried. Not like he was, or plenty of others. Even if he probably could have started off in a better mood when addressing Carys; he hadn’t realized how close Finn was. “Everything good with you, yeah?” Poe tried to readjust, to make sure Finn hadn’t intended to deliver more news. Good or bad. “Rey okay?”

Carys wouldn’t interject. Better to stay unknown while Matya got their companion up from sleep.

 

[Drop of Ember]

Aisling knew she should have gone and done something else rather than run, but it was always her first instinct to flee and it had kept her alive this long. Yet sometimes running was not the best option, such as now. Ash mentailly cursed herself for staying as long as she did in hope that the stormtropper would show up, but he had infomation that the resistance needed badily and she had always been the optimistic one. What good it did her now.

Despite having a good idea who this man cloacked in black was she was suprised wgen she found an invisable hold on her that rather violently pushed her away from the ally, her escape, and down into the mud instead. Dread knotted in her stomach.

She could not stop a small yelping noise from escaping her lips as she collided with the ground. Great, now she was both muddy and soaked. Could this day really get much worse.

Aisling had always known that the risk of running into a force user when working for the resistance was much greater, but she had never really thought about it and its implications before. There was always Rey but she was always out training and Ash made sure to keep a safe distance away from her. Just in case.

But this time there really didn't seem to be anywhere to go, not that Ash was about to give up. If she was going to get captured or worse she would go down fighting, while she was on her feet, not cowering in the mud. With this in mind she slowly scrambled up, trying not to wince at the pain in the arm she had landed on. She wouldn't let it stop her from giving him any hell she could. Aisling was sue to let him know that as she sent a glare in his direction.

---
Finn could not keep a dissapointed look from crossing his face. He didn't want to push his way into a place he didn't belong, but just hanging atound hee doing the same things every day was really starting to drive him insane. Not that he wanted to put extra stress on Poe as he saw he was already rather worn down. There loses had taken its toll on everyone. That being said Poe was his friend and he wanted to help, needed to help for his own sanity.

"Everything is as good as it can be considering the situation." Finn didn't want to give Poe a hard time by admitting his growing restlessness.

"As for Rey shes doing okay, off training again now." Ever since they had gotten to this new base it seemed to be all Rey could do, study and train. Finn could see something was bothering her, but that was how it was for most of the people here. He thought it was best to just give her space to sort things out. One had to do what they felt was right. He just hoped it wouldn't be to long before she joined them in the field. Finn knew just how much Poe wanted her back out in the fight.

Finn debated asking Poe how he was doing but it was easy for him to see it was not the best, even if the piolet tried to hide it. Knowing Poe no words would really help him feel better and what would help him best would be a change in this war, an accomplishment of some kind.

Still wanting to try and join a mission or find someway to be useful Finn looked between Poe and Alita. "Rey might be preoccupied with her training but if you guys need another gun out there please let me know, one can go insane just sticking around here when there is so much to be done."

 

[Lucyfer]

The Force successfully pulled the smuggler back and into the mud, dirtying her already soaked appearance. She scrambled as Kylo grew closer, and as she got to her feet, he thrust his hand out in front of himself, clenching his gloved fingers into a fist.

He intended to freeze the smuggler to the spot, as he had done with Rey back on Takodana, before he realized her potential. Before he had a glimpse of who she was, and who she could be. ‘But she denied me.’ He had woken alone on the Supremacy, with General Hux bearing over him.

And an escaped Resistance.

But not any longer, “Welcome to Eadu, Roadrunner,” he addressed coldly, “I hope you have enjoyed it. This will be the last you see of any civilized planet,” he wouldn’t bother to ask for information. He had already learned there was no point in asking when it came to the rebels. “You’re coming with me.”

~***~

Poe could sense the anxiety of Alita, as clearly as he could see the impatience in Finn. Not that Finn was ever good at hiding that. For someone who had once considered leaving the Resistance behind, it had certainly grown on him.

Before he, or Alita, could answer, Matya did so, “Another gun? I don’t see that it could hurt,” her voice was bright, cheerful, “depending on the mission.”

“Oh, he’s good with guns of starships and on the ground,” Poe said, “and you might need both.”

“He can come along then. The more, the merrier!” Though the Snowbirds didn’t have a leader, they tended to accept what Matya said.

Carys let out a huff at that, “What? Think he’s going to out-perform you?” Ros teased.

“Hardly,” Carys wouldn’t complain further, though. That was suspicious enough.

“Well, with the crew here, let’s talk about this back inside,” Poe gestured towards one of their makeshift structures.

 

[Drop of Ember]

Maybe Aisling would have had a choice, would gave been able to put up a fight, wouldn't be frozen in place. If only she was not going against a force user. If only she still had her own connection, some training maybe then she might have been able to stand a chance.

Not that she was ever going to try and reach such a connection, there were to many dangers and she saw just how much of a lonely path it could be. All she had to look at was Rey and how she had secluded herself to her constant training. Ash doubted this guy had much of a social life either.

Ash could not help but scoff a bit at his words. She had been in many sticky situations, while this one may be the worse so far she had no doubt that she would be able to escape. One way or another she would manage, find a crack in their defences. As of the current moment though Aisling was out matched. But that would never stop her sass from coming through.

"I have quite enjoyed my stay on this planet, thank you very much. I must say that this is the finest weather I have ever accounted." So, maybe sarcasm wasn't the best route to go, seeing the current situation but it would help her be able to gauge more of what type of person she was sealing with and their limits. That and it was the best way for Aisling to keep up her spirits.

In all reality this was probably the third worst environment she had come across, the first being her home, Zeffo, and the second anything to do with sand. Aisling trully hated sand with a passion, it always got where it did not belong and when mixed with water she got horrible rashes. Hence despite her shell collection a beach was one of her least favrioute places.

----
Finn could not help but let out a breath of relief, it looked like he was going to be joining them. All he could do was hope that he was going to be of some help and wont be a burden within this well oilled team. One could hope.

Though he could not help but worry about Alita's reaction. He hoped that there would not be any problems with him joining there mission, she seemed to have some sort of reservation about him tagging along and he did not want to be a bother. But Finn would prove to her that he was a trusted and skilled partner who would be able to help them out alot. He has always admired her skills and hoped to use this opportunity not to only help the resistance and to make a difference but to also show her what to do. Hopefully in the process he would also be able to figure out why he constantly had a feeling that he knew her from somewhere.

"Don't worry, you'll see im a good enough aim to be helpful and i'll try not to out-gun you," he said to Ailta, offering a lopsided grin. Even if she didn't seem to like him now he was sure that he would be able to at least earn her respect. Just look at him and Poe who where now good friends despite starting out on opposite sides of this war. That was saying something as Poe wasn't always the easiest person to be around.

Finn just hoped that this mission would go smoothly and that something too bad hadn't occurred to make this mission happen. Yet by the look of Poe and the sound of his voice Finn was doubting that was the case.

 

[Lucyfer]

Sarcasm. Kylo Ren was used to it from the Resistance, hardly forgetting Poe Dameron’s incessant chatter, or Rey’s attempt to describe BB-8. Not that Rey’s attempt was, strictly speaking, sarcasm…but he was getting all too used to it, so he let her rattle off her view of the weather.

He’d asked for it by making his own stupid comment, to his detriment.

“Well, I’m glad you have gotten to enjoy it.”

He had closed the space between them. She wasn’t moving anywhere, but he reached out to catch her arm in his grasp. He could drop her into sleep, and he considered it, but decided to at least give her the opportunity to behave, whatever good it would do.

So, the Force released its hold on her, and he would pull her with him. ‘Binders. That’s what I forgot.’ He should have grabbed binders before he stepped out from his ship.

~***~

Carys fixed Finn with a not-so-amused look as he declared that he would be a good member of the team. She wasn’t as concerned about that, really. She had heard all Finn was capable of in the Resistance, and she hardly sabotaged her own missions. She hadn’t had reason to; she was only told to feed information to the Order.

If that meant she occasionally had to help the Resistance to stay relevant, so be it.

Poe led them into a building, and moved right on ahead to the table and the holo-projector, bringing up a map, which he quickly zoomed in on, “This is Hoth.”

Ros was the one to groan, “Hey, hey, you guys chose to call yourself Snowbirds, you can go to the snowy planets.”

“C’mon, Ros, it’ll be like being back on Ando Prime,” Matya nudged him, and the blonde just sighed in an overly dramatic fashion.

“What do you want us to do with Hoth?” Carys set things back on track. Poe offered an appreciative nod.

“Long story short, Hoth used to be a Rebel Alliance base. It was torn apart by the Empire, but Leia has noticed a trend in the First Order codes and frequencies right now. A lot of them are using old Imperial frequencies. We know most of them, but not all, and we’ve noticed a few coming out of this base. Leia’s pretty sure the Hoth base still has the keys to decrypt these messages stored in its systems, if they’re not all wrecked. She wants a team to go out and get those, so we can put them into our systems and start cracking more messages that the Order’s been sending out.”

Carys…did not like this idea. And she made a mental note that, if the codes were there, she’d have to sabotage them. Somehow. Or start working on a new frequency immediately and alert the Order to the new decrypting skills of the Resistance.

“Sounds boring.” Ros complained.

“Yeah, well, it’s necessary,” Poe huffed, “and with the likelihood of the Order finding out you’re poking around, we need good fliers to get out of there. You three are it.” Finn wasn’t, but, he could share a ship.

 

[Drop of Ember]

Aisling could not help but snicker a bit at his comment about her enjoying the weather. So far he didn't seem to be as bad as she had thought he would be from what she had heard about him. But then again it may just be a tatic he was useing to appeal to her or something like that.

Ash looked up at him, studying his face, trying to find out anything he was thinking. He had a scar across his face, given to him by Rey. His dark brown eyes gave nothing away to her though. Not that she had really expected anything else from him.

As the invisible grip let her go she shifted a bit on her feet, ready to flee, but from what had happened she doubted that she would get far and her whip would proberbly be under too much guard for her to slip into it as well as deal with him. There wasn't all that much choice but to go with him, yet a childish part of her nagged for her to cause as much trouble as she could. Not that it would be a productive way to go about it.

Aisling raised her eyebrow at him at the mention of the lack of binders. If he made slip ups like this often enough she may have a chance to escape at some point. She would just have to bide her time. Not that she was the most paticent of people.

"I don't have any binders to give you if that's what you want."

She couldn't help but smirk a bit as she shifted some more, seeing if she could distract him with words and shot him with the gun that hang from her hip that she slowly moved to grab as carefully and casually as she could. That childish side of her tended to always win against her logic.

----
From the unamused look Finn revived he knew she would be a bit of a hard nut to crack, not that he would give up on trying. The resistance had become a tight knit family and sooner or latter everyone warmed up to one another. Finn acturlly found it surprising how well everyone managed to work together and how they had onky a few arguments here and there, but nothing major. It was a far cry from the workings of the First Order.

As they where briefed about the mission Finn found himself both dissapointed and relived, disappointed that he proberbly wouldn't be much help but relived that nothing had gone seriously wrong with another mission.

So maybe this wasn't the best mission for Finn to tag along and he wouldn't be much help on such one. But who knows when one may need an extra gun on hand. Especially since the First Order seemed to be everywhere they went. At least he would be able to get off the base for something other than a supply run. It was better for nothing and could prove to be useful in their fight. Not that they seemed to be happy about this mission they have been assigned to.

"At least it better then sitting around waiting for the First Order to make a move, and we'll have a shot at finding out what they are up to." Finn tried to lift their spirits and his own about this mission. Boring it may be but if they could do it right it would increase their chances of winning the war, of making a difference.

 

[Lucyfer]

Had he said that aloud? Kylo nearly cursed himself for his thoughtless words, but that would just add to his troubles as he led the woman by the arm back the direction he’d come from. He would have binders at his ship. The Stormtroopers would have binders at his ship, and that would be the end of that.

He decided not to dignify her comment with anything further than that, just a tighter squeeze of her arm as he kept walking and pulling her along. He noticed her shuffling, but considered it was just her petty attempt at digging her heels in.

As if she had the strength to stop him.

Even without the Force, he could have overpowered her.

As such, he hardly took note of what her shifting about as they walked was leading her towards, and what actions may follow from that.

~***~

“Exactly,” Poe echoed Finn’s sentiments, and though Carys rolled her eyes, Ros and Matya smiled.

“We know, we know,” Matya raised her hands in a mock-defensive gesture, “You can’t blame us for not wanting to go back to a frigid world, to find something that may or may not exist, but we’ll go. We know how important it is.”

“Good. I’ll see to it that your Starfighters are prepped immediately, though…uh, Finn, you still don’t know how to fly, do you?” Poe asked. He still recalled that Finn needed him as a pilot, once upon a time.

The Snowbirds had single-fighter ships, but he supposed given the circumstances, he would find a way to loan out a ship that could carry a bit more. They usually had access to the Falcon when Rey wasn’t using it, but he’d make sure to ask. That might mean Chewbacca had to go along with them.

He wracked his brain for other possible ships.

 

[Drop of Ember]

Aisling did her best to stop a small laugh from escaping. Despite the risk of the situation she was in it was rather an amusing one. It would be quite the story to tell when she managed to escape. If she escaped.

With her arm getting squeezed more Aisling knew that he hadn't liked that comment and that he had a rather strong grip. It wasn't her fault he had forgotten binders and she was just being honest.

Once she had manage to get a hold of her gun Ash held onto it for a bit, just to make sure that he didn't know she had it. Coward. But she already had the gun in her hand and there was no going back. Aisling would have to suffer the consequence of her actions, weither that be escape or an upset jailer. Whatever it would be Ash was sure it would be worth it. With that in mind Aisling aimed the gun at his leg, not able to aim anywhere else without her captor noticing.

As Ash fires her weapon she prepared to pull away, hard. Hoping that the suprise of a sudden shot and the pain would help her to pull out of his grip. To get far enough away to shot him again, somewhere more fatal, as she made her escape.

----
Finn felt his stomach drop at that question. He was glad that he had darker skin as he felt it flush in embarasnent. Learing how to fly a ship was something that he should proberbly invest in doing sometime. Finn just hoped that this shortcoming wouldn't complicate the mission too much as he still didn't want to be a burden.

"Haven't had much time to learn with everything thats been going on." So maybe that wasn't the complete truth but it was the best answer Finn had for his friend.

Assuming he could find some time and a free ship some leassons would do him some good. He would proberbly never be as good a flyer as others, but who knew when such a skill could come in handy. Just as it now.

"Sorry about that guys, I'm more of a good shot than a good flyer, its something I should inves in at some point. Assuming I can find a teacher," he added apologetically with a slight shrug. Fin thought it was best to add that last bit in there. Seeing that he was surrounded by piolets and may forget latter.

 

[Lucyfer]

The Force moved darkly around someone planning violence.

Kylo Ren was familiar with this feeling, and he had sensed it from Roadrunner. Yet he felt it intensify, and in the moment before the shot, he understood. He saw the flash of the shot and it stopped in the air, trembling with energy, before it connected with him.

“Stupid move.”

His free hand had clawed in the effort of holding back the shot, and catching it in time. He considered sending it back at her, as he gripped her tighter as she attempted to pull away. He used the Force to push the blaster bolt back at her own blaster, not caring much if it ended up striking off her hand along with it.

Hands could be replaced.

Not that she would live long enough for that, once he had taken what he needed from her mind.

~***~

Finn’s expression was revealing enough. “Not it.”

“Not it.”

Matye and Ros echoed, leaving Carys momentarily bewildered before she realized, “That’s not fair! If he can’t even—”

“We’ll get you in a good ship,” Poe interjected before Carys could comment further on the situation. “It’ll be as fast as any X-Wing, I promise, I don’t want any of you hindered on this mission – and Finn is a good gunner.” Poe insisted. “We’ll get you caught up as a pilot one day,” Poe promised.

“Fine,” Carys said, “Go get what you need, Finn. We’ll meet in the shipyard. I expect a good ship, Poe.”

“You’ll have one. You’re all dismissed, meet at the shipyard in thirty minutes, prepared.”

 

[Drop of Ember]

Aisling now realised shotting him had been a bad idea. A very bad idea. He was alot stronger in the force then she had anticipated. He had to be if he would be able to stop a bullet at such a close range. She guessed it made sense given his place in the First Order, she really shoukd have expected as much. But she never really thought that anyone could be that good. Yet with that said the only other force users she had meet was Rey, Liea and herself. Not that Ash really thought she counted all things being considered.

Wrong move indeed. Aisling cursed here if as she let out a rather loud yelp, the bolt coming back up her gun caused it to heat up, burning her hand. She managed to drop her gun before it blowed, but she still got a few cuts and metal stuck in her hand.

"That was my favorite gun you just ruined!" She yelled at him in frustration. Turning her pain into anger. Not just the physical pain from her hand but the emotional one as that gun had belonged to Polloth, the elderly smuggler who had become a close friend. Aisling had no doubt that she had also lost her ship. Hopefully it was in one piece still and would stay that way.

Pulling a face Aisling tried her best to push her emotions away. To lock it up in a bottle and throw it away. To do otherwise would be asking for trouble espessislly when that cursed force leaked through when she started to loose control. She had to get through this. Just one step at a time then she may make it. With the medical care, or lack of she was sure to receive Ash would proberbly have a few scars to remember her gun by.

----
None of them really seemed all that happy to take Finn along, not that he was really suprised by that. But the one that seemed least happy about it was Ailta whom just happened to be the one who got stuck with him. Finn hoped that it wouldn't be an issue. Due to her lack of fully protesting he doubted it would be. Not that she really had the chance to do so with Poes crude attempt to let the issue slide.

Finn offered a thankful smile and nod at Poe, sometimes he didn't know what he would do without his good friend, even if he was a pain in the rear end more then Finn would like. But he always meaned well.

That one day that Poe spoke of may be long off wuth everything that was going on but in all honesty Finn did not mind all that much. He was fi e with his role and he was good at it. Best to leave the flying to those who knew how to do it well, least he make a mistake. At this time the resistance could not afford mistakes. No matter how small.

Finn gave another nod, but this one was to Ailta. This was her mission he was tagging along to, due to such she was in charge. When he saw fit Finn would always offer up his own opinions but saying that he could be done in much less then thirty minutes wouldn't really be of much use.

"I'll see you there."

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo could hardly say he felt any sympathy as the rebel shouted. At least she didn’t bother with crocodile tears, as well. He might have forced her into sleep if she tried something like that. Yelling he could handle, but he wasn’t dragging back a blubbering mess. “You should have thought of that before you tried to shoot me,” Kylo snapped back at her, remorseless.

Step, by step, they made it back to Kylo’s own ship with his Stormtroopers waiting. He unceremoniously pushed the rebel towards the squadron. “Search her, remove any weapons, and put her in binders.”

“Yes, sir,” the soldier now wearing the commander’s orange pauldron answered, reaching to take hold of the rebel while another unsnapped binders from his utility belt to put them across the wrists of the rebel they only knew as Roadrunner.

All of this, under the supervision of Kylo Ren.

~***~

The Snowbirds left to their barracks, to their rooms, to grab old winter gear from when they were on Ando Prime. In those moments, Carys thought of reporting back, but decided she’d wait until Hoth. Someone might notice the encrypted transmission leaving from this planet, and realize one of the Snowbirds, or Finn (however unlikely) was the spy. It narrowed it down to too few, and Carys needed to avoid that.

Once they were all bundled in sweaters and slacks, Ros and Matye wearing their coats since there wasn’t space to change in an X-Wing, while Carys had hers slung over a shoulder, the trio walked towards the shipyard.

Poe was waiting there already. “Hey! X-wings are fueled, and Alita, I got you permission to use the Countess.” He gestured to a Consular-class space cruiser, and as Carys scowled at it, he held his hands up, “I know, it’s not fast, but its sensors are among the best we have. You can all connect to it when you’re off the ship, and it’ll ping you if anything gets near the atmosphere. Since you’re going to be in a base, you won’t be seeing the skies much. Plus, if there’s things to grab, there’s room in the ship, and Finn can handle the guns if it gets into a fight.”

Carys wouldn’t protest. She wanted to, but she knew it would get her nowhere, so she just nodded. “Fine. I'll make use of it."

 

[Drop of Ember]

Aisling glared at her captor as blood ran down her stinging hand. At least she shouldnt loose so much blood that she wouldn't make it without medical attaion. She scoffed a bit at his words, as if anyone else wouldn't have shot them given the chance too. Yet that didn't really matter now. All ash knew was that she was starting to make a list of everything to hold against this Man. Assuming she would live long enough to get back at him for it. With her current hand and a strong likely hood of getting sick escape was looking more and more futile. She was sure that in time the resistance would send people yo come and rescue her, but Ash wanted to get out of this mess before then. She wasn't all that fond of the idea of people risking their necks to save her own. Espessially when there were so few of them left now.

Aisling assed the storm troopers when they came to unbind her, not that there was very much to asses with there suits and masks. For a moment she wondered if one of them may be the commander she had been meant to meet. Yet she doubted it. With all that had happened he was probably dead at this point. At least it hadn't been her to meet that fate. Yet. Ash wasn't all that sure what had happened, had the commander slipped up and somehow been found out or had someone in the resistance alerted the First Order to there mission. Aisling doubted that it would be the latter with how close and tight knitted she had seen the resistance be. Yet with that being said there were the more distance ones such as herself. She convinced herself it had to be the first one, that the commander had made a mistake somewhere, he was a storm trooper after all.

There wasn't much else for Ash to do other then stand their as the troopers removed her weapons. Another blaster, a few mini grenades and a knife. They seemed to be content with all they had taken. "You do realise that their is still another knife in my boot." Aisling wasn't completely sure why she admitted to that. Probably to try and through them off balance, to try and make them feel unsure about what they were doing. At least it wasn't the only weapon she had on her still, though Ash wasn't really sure the mini knife just longer then her index finger really counted as a weapon. But it was something that could prove to be useful latter on. With her knife hand being covered in metal and burnt she would only injure herself with the knife she had reviled.

The stormtroopers shared a look, probably debating Aislings sanity as one of them headed over to remove the knife from her boot, the others behind him holding their weapons at the ready, just incase she would try something stupid. Ash had already been there and wasn't about to do it again. "You resistance scum really have lost your minds," the storm trooper mumbled as he got the weapon and went to place it with the others.

Ash shrugged at him. "At least I can do my job better then you."

----
Finn headed off to get some warmer cloths, Hoth wasn't a place known to be all that hospitable with its weather. At least the resistance had enough supplies to be able to do missions like this in a large range of climates, even f it did still prove to be rather uncomfortable. Not that any of them ever complained, they were all here with a reason wither or not they had been personally effected by the First Order everyone one of them would do whatever they could to put a stop to them and restore peace to every corner of the galaxy. At least he was not going back to one of those sandy planets such as Tatooine and many others. He was still finding sand amongst all his things.

With a blaster attached to his belt as well as a few grenades, just incase, Finn put on his last jacket. It was mostly white, white to blend in with the snow and mostly as they did not really have the best place to wash their things. Despite that it was better than nothing.

Being all suited up and ready to go Finn headed out of his so called room and started off towards the shipyard. One couldn't really call just having a roof a room, but there was a part of Finn that quite enjoyed it; as long as it did not rain. Even though he had time to spare it would be better to be early than late. Spotting some of the other's there Finn saw that he was not the only one who thought in such a way.

"At least if we are found by the First Order you know you'll have a good gunner to help hold them off," Finn offered as he came to stand next to Ailta. She didn't seem to happy about this situation, not that he blamed her for that. He just hoped that it didn't seem like he didn't think that she would be able to handle herself. Finn had heard enough about the infamous snowbirds to know otherwise. The words he offered was as much for himself as they were for her.

"I am sure with those flying skills of yours I have heard so much about that you can make a ship like this one fly like any of the best," he tried again.

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo Ren was definitely not happy that the Stormtroopers had done such a lackluster job as to miss a knife in a boot. It was one of the most obvious places to have one, after all. He almost considered ordering them to search her, again, but decided against it. If something came up again, he’d remember the names of these Troopers, and see them all executed for it.

They had been in the same squadron as the traitor commander, after all.

When the search had completed, the Trooper indicated as much, and Kylo gestured them to follow him back into the ship, “Contain her in a room. Have her guarded. We’ll return to the Steadfast and lock her up immediately for questioning.” Kylo stated, figuring the Troopers couldn’t mess this up too bad with precise instructions.

With them said, he went to the cockpit of his ship to get them lifting off of Eadu, and on back towards the Steadfast. It would be a few hours even in lightspeed, but he wasn’t expecting much trouble.

~***~

Finn joined them, and Carys resisted the urge to roll her eyes, even as a smile tried to twitch on her lips at how Finn tried to ingratiate himself into their group. “Awww,” Matye was the one to coo the comment, “Flattery will get you far, Finn!”

Carys did roll her eyes, “Come on,” she moved to the ramp of her temporary ship, snatching the keys that Poe offered, as Matye and Ros laughed.

“Go easy on him, Alita!” Ros chimed.

“See you two on Hoth,” Matye added, before moving towards her own x-wing.

Carys would head to the cockpit of her ship, and wait until she knew Finn was on to start it up and get them on their way. She wasn’t sure if Finn would keep his distance or join her in the cockpit, so she didn’t dare bring out her datapad yet.

 

[Drop of Ember]

There was not much for Aisling to do as she waited in her cell. At first she had almost started to pase before she forced herself to sit. Yes, paceing would have helped her to get rid if some nervous energy but it wouldn't do her any good. It was best if her captors did not know of her internal state and she shouldn't waste her energy on such a thing. Not when she may need it for escaping.

Looking down at her hand she could not help but sigh. She had been stupid to take that shot. Aisling tried to reach her hand to be mouth to pull out some if the metal that had started to dig deeper into her hand with her movements. Yet the bindings got to much in the way for such a thing to occur. It was proberbly for the best as raking the metal out would proberbly increase the bleeding.

Keeping her hand as still as possible Ash leaned her head back against the wall, closeing her eyes as she debated what to do and the likely hood of escape, assuming she even surived what lay ahead. For a moment Aisling debated to tease the guards a bit, but she decided against it. She had already gotten into enough trouble and that wouldn't do anything other then stop her increaseing boredom. Thus Aisling just sat there, shivering slightly in the cold as she waited for them to arrive at her prison.
----
Finn was sure to make a mental note that Ailta enjoyed flattery. After spending so much time alone in the First Order he did all that he coukd yo build some sort of connection with other people, no matter how small they may be. It was his connections that had made him see the truth that the First Order had to be stoped, that running away wouldn't solve anything; connections had since became very important to him.

When he blared the ship Finn first went to scout out the gunning station, just to make sure that nothing would be a suprise if he had to use it. It was standard, a bit old and rugged but it seemed like everything would work fine if the time to use it came.

Finn sat there for a few moments as they took off and started to head to there destination, but he couldn't stand the silence so he decided to head off to the cockpit. He just hoped that Ailta wouldn't mind his presence.

"So how long have you been flying?" He plopped down in the seat next to her. It proberbly wasn't the best conversation starter he had come up with but it was the best he got and it would help him to get to know this mysterious Ailta some more. No one apart from the other two snowbirds seemed to know anything about her. It was something Finn wished to change, at least a little.

 

[Lucyfer]

A couple of hours later, the command shuttle would arrive at the Steadfast. There had been no incident. Kylo Ren knew he should be relieved, but in truth, he was bothered by this. Given the fight in the woman earlier, he had anticipated at least one incident. To have none? It was unusual. He knew that a close watch would need to be kept on her, for as long as she seemed useful to keep alive.

He spoke through the comms and landed the shuttle in hangar 7, before he would call back to the Troopers, “Get her up,” he wouldn’t bother going back to assist; he marched out and let his eyes fall on the first officer who stepped close enough. “Do we have any further reports?” He demanded.

“No, Supreme Leader, nothing further has come in from Vornskr,” the lieutenant answered, “A cell is open on the east wing, E-11,” the lieutenant reported, “We can begin to interrogate Roadrunner—”

“That won’t be necessary,” Kylo interrupted. Their methods were inefficient, as proven when Poe Dameron did not break under them. Not until Kylo intervened was Dameron broken, and he could still recall that only too well. He still wondered if Poe had known who he was. He didn’t seek that information in his old friend’s mind. He didn’t know what Leia had told them, or what she’d lied about.

He didn’t need to know.

The Troopers would bring the spy out and into the bright lights of the well-lit hangar, large, and full of TIE fighters along every side, as well as Troopers and Officers moving about. “I will see to it we get further information from her myself.”

“Of course, Supreme Leader.” The lieutenant bowed out, and Kylo gestured to the Troopers to follow him to where E-11 was located, bringing the spy along, of course. She’d get a good look at how the Order operated. At how large it was. He wondered if she’d had any idea before now. If she yet understood the monolith she was dealing with, and how futile it was.

~***~

It didn’t take long for Finn to come and join her in the cockpit. Carys was glad she hadn’t dug out her datapad in that time; she’d barely gotten the coordinates plugged in before Finn came to join, after all. The stars stretched out before her, white lines in the viewport, and Carys leaned back in her seat and looked over to Finn.

How did she even answer him? ‘Most of my life, on and off with flight simulators in the Order, until they trusted me enough not to wreck a TIE.’

That was the right answer, but she gave a small shrug and offered instead, “Actually flying? Since around 16 or so. I don’t think podracers count, but since around…10?” She actually hadn’t touched a pod itself until she was pretending to be a podracer, but she’d done enough simulations that she fared well enough.

Podracing had always looked fun. She had enjoyed those simulators almost as much as speeder bikes – but speeder bikes were more fun than all. TIEs were, well, intimidating. She could fly one, and fly it well, but she was always on edge.

“Why’d you leave the Order, Finn?” She wouldn’t let him ask a follow-up. She would get right to the heart of her own curiosity. She didn’t think it’d be unusual. She’d been putting off the vibe that she didn’t care much for him. Mistrust of him would be understandable from that point of view.

 

[Drop of Ember]

Aisling was sure to keep her back straight as she was being lead out of the ship and into the base of the first order. She would do what she could to keep as much dignity as she could, to try and act like she wanted to be there. It may keep her alive a bit longer, may make them more uneasy about her presence. It was not much but it was something.

Looking around Ash could see that this place was a far cry from the base of the resistance, they were much more, just more of everything. To much of metal for Ash's own liking, but she had to admit that they did have a good place here, not that she would ever say that out loud.

"What a fine place you have here." Aisling was sure that they wanted her to see it for a reason, maybe it was to try and scare her, she would show them it did not. Even if was so much bigger then their own it wasn't going to stop them. They had connections that this place did not have, all she felt here was a cold emptiness. It would the downfall of the First Order. Hate and fear would only take them so far. In the end Aisling would make sure that it would not be far enough.

Yet with all that they seemed to have at there disposal it seemed that the so called supreme leader would be the one to integrate her. Aisling was not sure what she thought of such a thing. It took down her chances of survival by a great deal. That wasn't what didn't sit right with her, it was the why behind it. What information did they think she had? Where the storm troopers really that useless? It was nothing that she could answer now, Aisling would just have to wait and see.

----
Finn cocked his head to the side as he studied Ailta. Not a lot of people he knew started to drive ships or anything like that at such a young age, but with that being said Finn didn't really know a lot of people. He had been about to open his mouth to ask her some more about it when her question came in. He blinked for a moment. He wondered if that was why she didn't seem to like him that much, because he used to be from the First Order. If that was the case she was not the only one.

"On my last mission we were ordered to shot at a bunch of unarmed civilians. Women, children and the elderly. They had done nothing wrong but been at the wrong place at the wrong time." Finn shuddered a bit as he remembered that day. "I couldn't shot them. It was just a feeling a got."

Finn wasn't all that sure how to explain that feeling he had got. At this point in time he assumed that it had been the force telling him not to shot and to leave as soon as he found the chance. Despite how one may assume that he was asked this a lot he really wasn't, thus he didn't really know how to put it into words.

"I saw fellow storm troopers fall, others in my unit that I never got to knew. I saw innocent people die, just because those with the power feared them. Feared what may happen if women, children and the elderly were allowed to live because they were at a crime scene. I saw what fear could do to people, the things it could make them do. I wasn't about to stay out of fear for what they do to deserters." He hasn't ever really realised that was part of the reason he had left the First Order until now when those words where coming out.

 

[Lucyfer]

Roadrunner offered her grating comment on the location. ‘No, rebels never do shut up.’ The reprieve on the ship had been short lived. Although, perhaps reprieve wasn’t the correct word. The talking was more comfortable. More familiar. Roadrunner was more familiar as rebel scum with her sarcastic commentary than in her silence, so it was easier to focus on that and not wonder what was going on in her head.

He wouldn’t retort, though.

He led on to the cell, the room empty save for a couple of single shelves in the corners, and the chair. Inventions taken from the time of the Empire, used by the Imperial Inquisitors against Jedi, and now so often used against the enemies of the First Order. Kylo was still awed by the fact such a thing broke so many Jedi when used along with IT-O and other implements, and yet couldn’t break Poe Dameron.

Perhaps Poe really was a special case, or perhaps the chair needed some upgrades.

In either case, he would gesture to have the woman strapped in, his dark gaze observing all the while, and wishing once more for his helmet.

Once she was strapped in, he spoke a simple dismissal to the Stormtroopers, before inquiring, “And how do you like the chair?” Expecting more sarcasm. Still, before he’d get that, he also asked, “What is your name, Roadrunner? Vornskr didn’t offer us that.” Just her codename.

Either Vornskr didn’t have her real name, or Vornskr withheld it.

~***~

Fear.

Carys had been told plenty of times that fear was a good thing. Fear kept people in line. Fear motivated people to do the right thing. Otherwise, they would be lawless and anarchic. Greedy. Terrible. Did not the elites of the Core prove that?

Yet, Finn seemed to think now that Fear was a terrible thing. Fear was not how things should be run, and Carys knew she had to agree with that. She hummed her acknowledgment, as if understanding, but in truth, she had too many questions to fully understand. And she couldn’t speak them from the First Order perspective. “Yeah. I can see how it’d be difficult to live in fear.”

It was the only way she knew how to live – and it was difficult. But it was right. Wasn’t it?

Firing on innocents still seemed wrong to her.

The Hosnian Cataclysm still seemed wrong. Those were the people – most of them – they were meant to protect. “I’m sorry you had to go through that, Finn.” She hadn’t heard much on the mission to Jakku, where she knew Finn defected. Certainly nothing about orders to exterminate an entire village. “Least you shouldn’t see any orders like that with the Resistance.”

Which was true. Too true. Leia didn’t wield fear like the Order…for better or worse.

 

[Drop of Ember]

Aisling had heard enough about the First Order prisoner system to not be suprised when she was strapped to a chair and the international immediately started. What did suprise Ash was that her captor had given away infomation, not that he was planning for her to be alive for long. Yet the infomation he gave could prove to be useful at a later date. Vornskr. Someone who had told him about her, about her mission and the stormtropper commander too. Ash trued not to friend at the thought of a mole in the resistance. Now more then before she had to make it out to warn them. Aisling may not be as tight knit into that family as others but she was still loyal beyond a doubt.

"Vornskr, now that is quite an interesting name if i have ever heard one." Aisling offered a cheeky grin. Letting him know that he let some infomation slip wouldn't be a move that many would take, but it may make him uneasy, give her time to escape or make him so frustrated he let more things slip.

Aisling decided not to comment on the set, making a sarcastic comment may make him think that the seat frightened her. As she assumed was part of his plan. The chair did frighten her and rightfully so. Many terrible things would have happened in the chair she now found herself in.

"I assume you are the supreme leader? I must say that is quite a mouthful." She would admit that she did find that title quite a bit amusing.

Aisling wasn't about to tell him her name. She may not have any reason to hide her name as she had no real connections to anything or anyone form it. That however wouldn't stop her from making him fight for every bit of information.

----
Finn gave Ailta a curiouse look as it seemed that there was alot going on in her head. Not that he would pry, everyone deserved there own space to do and think whatever they needed to. Espessially with the war going on.

"Thankfully not, we may not have the numbers but we have each other and the trust that goes with it. That is what counts." The trust they had we what kept them going, what binded them all together and made them strong. It was why Finn was always trying to forge connections wuth others in the resistance, to help the trust grow. Even though the trust they all had for one another could be there downfall it was what made them all strong.

"What about you? Why did you come and join the resistance?" Normally Finn wouldn't ask such a personal question but he felt that her own question had been an invitation.

He knew everyone had there own storys for why they joined this seemingly impossible fight. Many of those storys where sad and some of them where good. They had all lost people and parts of themselves but in the end they had all found each other.

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo had intended to drop the name ‘Vornskr’. For one, it told Roadrunner nothing. Two, even if Roadrunner escaped, it was likely to bother the Resistance more than anything, to know there was a spy in their midst. To hit their morale. So, he allowed a slight tug of his lips in a smirk, “Yes. A creature infamous for hunting.” He told her.

Specifically, Force-sensitives.

Vornskr had been assigned to find Rey, and she had, along with Leia. She’d gotten right to the heart of their Resistance, but that information wasn’t needed.

Roadrunner offered no name for herself, merely commented on who she suspected he was. He knew better than to think anyone of the rebel scum would talk, but at least no one could say he hadn’t given them a chance. “Yes. I am.” He wouldn’t offer the name ‘Kylo Ren’ as less of a mouthful. Supreme Leader was only one additional syllable.

“You will find out why.”

He extended his hand forward, and pulled with the Force against her mind, intending to snatch her name from her, before he’d dig in deeper to learn what secrets she had taken from the Order, and what other communications she might have in the ranks of the Order, besides that Stormtrooper Commander that he had seen slain.

~***~

If only Finn knew how that trust was also the ruin of the Resistance. Their desire, their hope, that they could trust everyone who joined them, that they could believe their stories, was adding enemies to their ranks. Vornskr may be the only one to have infiltrated to the base with Leia, but she knew that she was not the only one in their ranks.

They didn’t have the best vetting system.

She likely could have walked in as a First Order defector and been accepted. It would have involved less hiding. Less lying.

She had, at least, answered Finn’s question before. “Anyone who thinks it’s acceptable to use a planet destroyer in a war, needs to be stopped,” she said, as if it was that simple. “I’m not sure that I feel that strongly about what the Resistance is fighting for in general, or even what the First Order is fighting for, but I know that I can’t abide war that tears literal worlds to pieces. That’s…that’s just too much.”

And it was.

She did believe that.

And yet…what choice did the Order have? How else were they going to save the billions and trillions of lives in the galaxy if they weren’t willing to make such moves?

 

[Drop of Ember]

The lack of concern that the supreme leader seemed to have over knowing aboit the spy in the resistance concerned Aisling. It was as if he wanted her to know about it. If she were to escape Ash would be sure to be careful with that bit of information. At least Aisling now knew for certain that he was the supreme leader, if he was a lackey he surely would have said something. Even if it was just out if fear if what the real supreme leader would have done to him. Another bit of information that was quite useless in this situation.

As her captor raised his hand towards her Aisling knew what would come next. She thought hard about what she could do to stop this, once he got the information he needed from her there was little doubt that she would be killed. Not that there was much of anything she could do against him, not without her own connection to the force and it would be a long time before any help arrived. Aisling could try to withhold the information, but that would not be very affective and it would be something that he would expect her to do. If Ash could throw him off balance with the unexpected then maybe she would live a bit longer. It wasn't much but it was worth a shot.

It was only a few moments after she had come to her decision that she felt her name and knew that was what he was after as it flashed before her eyes. Aisling did nothing to try and stop him, even going a step further. "My name is Aisling, Aisling Bennell." Out of all the information he could get from her this one was the most useless, she had no family to speak of as her brother had died trying to get her off that cursed planet, Zeffo. Nor was there true history on her, nothing to tie her to any place or person. A few years ago maybe but not so much now. Aisling could just hope that it would be enough to help through him off guard in a way that she could use. One could hope.

----
Finn nodded and offered her a smile. The fact that she didn't really feel strongly for the resistance did unsettle him a bit, but he had been the same at a time. What mattered was that she was here and fighting along side them. Finn felt like he was finally stating to get to know the mysterious Ailta.

"It seems like you're still trying to find your place in this war," Finn said giving her a friendly nudge. "But don't worry, we were all there once. I'm sure that when it comes down to it you will find your place on the right side." Finn wasn't sure if his words would help to offer her any stability when she seemed to lack some in her place here, but it was better then nothing and to know you weren't alone was always a great help. He knew that one first hand.

"Well, you're with us now and that is what matters, by the looks of things you are one of our best flyers." Finn thought, trying to change the subject to something a bit more merry so she wouldn't bottle up.

"I know with the circumstances that this is probably a reckless idea but have you ever thought about having a race with Poe? That way we can see who the best flyer really is and the two of you also need some loosening up," he suggested. It wasn't really his best idea and with everything that was going on it probably wasn't going to happen, but it wouldn't stop Finn from debating the outcome.

 

[Lucyfer]

Aisling Bennett.

More accompanied her name with the pull. A brother, Haven. A home, Zeffo. These thoughts were tied to her identity, even if she wanted to insist on being no one. Parents were shrouded from him, and as she spoke aloud, he pulled back, his extended fingers closing into a fist.

His lips were cocked in a crooked smirk.

“Do you see the error of resisting yet?”

Likely not. Likely, she’d resort to sarcasm and bitterness after her reprieve, as the headache from the violation beat into her thoughts. Nonetheless, the offer – the suggestion – was there. If she was agreeable, the pain of extraction wouldn’t be necessary. Well…maybe. He still had little reason to trust her, no matter that she’d given up a knife in a boot.

“Perhaps now you’ll consider answering my questions, Aisling?” He would lower his hand and wait and see what sort of response this evoked now.

~***~

Carys did feel herself tensing up as Finn suggested she’d find herself on the ‘right side’ of things. She wanted to question if he thought the Resistance wasn’t right – given she was, as far as he knew, fighting for their side. Limited faith or no. She bit back on that. That was terribly defensive, and she knew it before it threatened to pass her lips.

Finn spared her the need to root around in her head for a better response, or a better question, to his commentary about the Resistance and sides in war.

He spoke instead of her flying capabilities, and she rolled her eyes, but that smile returned, tugging at her lips even as she fought against it. “This is hardly flying,” which was true, they were just waiting in a shuttle for a ship to reach the lightspeed coordinates, “But I wouldn’t mind racing him, pod, TIE, x-wing, speeder – I’m sure I’d beat him in something.”

She’d certainly have to, if she were ever caught, though then she might be lucky to beat him in a foot race. She didn’t want to consider that for too long.

She chastised herself for letting him ask too many questions. “Maybe in better times. When we’ll be able to teach you how to fly, too,” as if those days would ever come. She had to keep it light, though. “How come you’re so certain of the Resistance? I mean, obviously I’m here to help, but…in general, it all just sounds so…well, empty.” She opened her hands on her lap, “Maybe you wouldn’t be used to it…but it sounds a lot like politician’s promises.” She knew the Order didn’t have many politicians. Finn probably didn’t know what that was like, except from, well, the Order’s view of it. The Order’s propaganda of the lies of the New Republic. “No disrespect to General Organa, but Mygeeto’s still got slavery going on, and plenty of other places. Kind of hard to care much about things either way when all systems seem like shit.”


But stopping death was something her pod-racing persona could get behind – on the scale of Starkiller, anyways.

 

[Drop of Ember]

Aisling studied his face, trying to find out what way to go about things. If she cooperated he may at least stop going into her mind to get infomation and it increased her chances of survival. Hopefully anyway. If she was careful and treated lightly Ash may be abke to convince him that she wasn't really on the side of the resistance, she would just have to mix lies with the truth and if there really was a spy amongst there ranks any infomation that she gave him was already at risk. Assuming he didn't know it already.

"Well my dear supreme leader if you ask nicely you may find that I can be quite forthcoming. I'm a smuggler going wherever the pay and adventure takes me, I will admit I am quite fond of my pride but i have no intention to die here."

Aisling knew what she was doing was a long shot, but it was all she could do and Ash wasn't one to ever give up. No matter the odds that stood in her way. Now all she could do was hope that it was enough and that he would indeed mistake the loyalty for her now deceased father like figure to be pride for her work. If it didn't work then it would be the hard way for her. A way she would most likely not survive.

Aisling offered her captor a lopsided smile, gritting her teeth underneath the to the pounding in her head. At least she had a good amount of pain tolerance built up from the conditions she suffered while growing up. At least this new pain was a distraction from the metal still in her hand.

----
Finn was glad that he knew a way to make Ailta smile, he would have to find other ways eventually but for now it would do. It at least helped yo break up the heavy atmosphere that had fallen from there eariler conversation. At some point on time Finn would mention the race to Poe, not just for the two of them but all the piolets. It may be a bit risky but sone friendily compotion wouldn't hurt, it would be good for training, lesrning of each other and would do wonders to help them all keep higher spirits. Finn just hoped that both Lia and Poe thought so too.

Finn was just about to open his mouth when Ailta started to talk again. He offered her a smile, he used to think the same way as she did when he had just been trying to run away from this war.

"I understand were you are coming from. Before I joined the resistance I was just trying to get away from all of this suffering and how people keeper on useing others," Finn admitted. It wasn't something that he was proud of or something that he talked about alot but it was a nasty habit of his, but so far everytime he had talked to someone about it he had been helped in some way.

"The next thing I knew I found myself in the middle of the war. It was then I saw why the resistance is called the resistance, why we are. The first order can keep on throwing things at us but no matter what we will resiest. Not becouse of some promise, no one can buy so much loyalty and commentment and while it may not be something you can touch promises are just another currency. We resist becouse of our beliefs and we do it together becouse the risks is worth the reward, peace."

Finn looked at Ailta. "I know it won't be perfect, no one can keep everyone happy. But we have seen the way that the First Order does things and we know what we don't want to be. For now that is enough."