A New Order

Disclaimer: I don't own anything and I'll admit to playing a little fast and loose with some details. Also, titles will inevitably come from Firefly… which I also do not own.

Chapter 1: She'll Fly True

From her isolated perch, legs tucked beneath her in the quasi-meditative stance Luke had shown her, Rey took in the surrounding chaos. The common area of the Falcon was teeming with more people than she could name on the entire planet of Jakku. Finn and his new friend Rose were on the benches opposite her, their faces close as Rose drifted in and out of consciousness. A neglected Dejarik set stood next to them. Its patterned top looked dusty and was being used as a makeshift table for bandages and bactapads. The ship's incessant rattling knocked one of the bandages off every rotation.

Nearby, a communications officer was sitting listlessly, tightly wound blonde hair looking like small knobs on the top of her bowed head. Leia was talking quietly with several people. The General's eyes were glassy and her grave voice muted, as though she were speaking from an ocean away.

She might as well have been to Rey. They were all adrift and their lifeboat was crumbling.

She had been so relieved to find the resistance still standing and to get them off Crait, but Luke was gone. She had hedged her hopes on the last Jedi and the spark of uncertainty she'd felt from Kylo Ren. Luke's sacrifice felt so hollow now as she looked around at their meager numbers... and her own stupidity all the more pronounced. She'd actually thought she could sway the Supreme Leader's favorite son. Han Solo's son…

She'd been foolish and naive, and it made sense. She was a nobody from a nowhere planet. The only knowledge she'd ever received had been the cold, propagandized encyclopedia flips from the old Holonet device she'd scavenged on Jakku. Nothing she'd ever read had told her how to deal with any of this and over and over, 'why me?' was her constant mantra, her driving force.

If the Force itself chose randomly, then fine, she would make the most of this opportunity. It was destiny. And her parents selling her off like bantha for credits on a junk heap of a planet was all part of the story... but it also meant she was the hope now. The spark. What if this destiny wasn't even her own?

Why her?

It haunted her. She reached out a steadying hand to the cool metal of the Falcon, letting the energy of the ship wash over and around her. The ship was happy. She was full of rebels and her Princess, droids, and children. She saw the stars through the ship's eyes and opened her own, blinking at their absence.

Rey hopped off the ledge and threaded her way to the head of the ship. Finn shot her a questioning look as she passed but she reassured, "No, you stay. I'm fine." And she was. She just didn't know if they'd all be after Kylo Ren found them.

The command deck of the Falcon was as homely as always, but possibly less so with the pilot currently occupying the helm.

"Oh, hey there," Poe Dameron looked up with a small smile when he registered her presence.

She gave a friendly nod back. "Is Chewbacca sleeping?"

Bee beep bee!

The excited little droid confirmed before Poe could open his mouth. They both grinned at BB-8 before Rey gingerly settled herself into the co-pilot's seat beside him. "So what do you think of the Falcon?" She asked, not really sure what else to say to this man who knew so much of her. Making small talk at all felt strange on her tongue, like slogging through sand on the way to Niima. She was more at home with his droid.

He didn't seem to notice however, if his gleeful enthusiasm was any clue. "She's a bit rough around the edges but the real deal in every way that counts. I can't believe I'm getting to actually fly her!" He nearly whooped the last part like a child.

"It must have been hard for Chewbacca to hand over the controls to anyone. How'd you manage?"

He chuckled. "Yea, he didn't seem pleased but he was so tired he was almost falling over and Leia vouched for me."

Leia did seem rather fond of Poe, which was strange considering what she'd overheard him getting up to recently. Then again, she glanced at his chiseled jaw and he flashed her an easy smile before she quickly looked back out towards the stars ahead of them, he's quite the charmer. It made her slightly uncomfortable; her lack of expertise in this regard making her more self-conscious than she had any reason to be.

"So where are we headed?" Her abruptness caused a baby porg to wake up. Its nest was beneath the control panel and when it noticed its mother and siblings gone to forage- the Force only knew for what- its large liquid eyes swelled with tears. Rey picked it up and soothed its flailing limbs by slowly rocking it back and forth and letting its large vision take in the sight of the stars rushing towards them like a waterfall.

"Home," he finally replied. At her silence, he continued, "The moon of Yavin 4 was a rebel base long ago. General Organa believes it's been abandoned long enough that we might find a brief reprieve before Snooki and his stooges find us."

"Snoke is dead."

A beat and then, "Huh..."

"No, it wasn't me."

His eyebrows shot up past his hairline. "Were you just doing that Jedi mind thing?!"

Almost foreign sounding, a giggle erupted from somewhere inside her. "I don't have very good control over that stuff yet but I wouldn't have needed it. The question was all over your face."

"Oh," he grinned, rubbing the back of his reddening neck. "Well, that certainly changes things. I assume Leia already knows?" She nodded. "So who's in charge of the First Order now?"

"Kylo Ren," she said softly, unconsciously running her fingers through the chick's soft down. She ruffled its head feathers when the baby porg cooed adorably and relaxed into her touch.

Poe laughed, surprising her. "That twippy brat? We might not need to lift a finger. He'll run the First Order into the ground all on his own!"

"I don't know about that," she said, remembering Ben Solo's sad eyes and his calculating mutiny to save her. The way they'd fought together so perfectly. Everything tinged in shades of red.

Poe was staring quizzically at her when she finally looked up.

"What?" she asked, her arms crossing.

He gave an annoying little grin before shaking his head. "You like him."

She knew her mouth probably resembled a fish, but the only noise that could escape her throat was a strangled, "Quwaaa?!"

"I didn't ask... but you're like fifteen, right?"

She glared at him. "I know what you're implying and no, I don't like him as you say. But the Force has connected us. I know how things look from his perspective. He feels trapped and alone."

"Seems like a good reason to murder whoever he wants."

With no knowledge of the Force, it would be hard to explain to the pilot exactly how tightly wound her fate was with the General's son. So instead, she carefully began, "He wanted to build a new world. No more Jedi or Sith, Resistance or First Order. I believe he was genuine but I also know he's not the only threat." I'm not just some backplanet trash. "General Hux is there, hoping he'll stumble and there are many other commanders eager to take over if either of them fall. If we're to win, we need to look beyond killing their leader and instead, kill their support, their wealth, and their fight."

Poe looked impressed. "I agree kid." He winked at her and she knew he was teasing but she couldn't help roll her eyes.

"I'm twenty-two and can force blast you into space." She put the porg in his lap and reached over to toggle the stabilizer next to his hand. The ship's rattling ceased and a cheer rose from the common area behind them. "Maybe don't call me a kid, old man."