On the Resistance ship, many hours have passed since Rey left. Citho makes the announcements:

“As you all know, the savior of the Resistance, Rey, has left us. She was pushed into doing so after an argument with one of our own- Finn.”

The rebels’ eyes all dart onto Finn, who is trying to keep a stern face. Citho continues, “Since many soldiers saw that Rey was impulsively pushed to an emotional, irrational state by Finn, the council has decided that Finn shall be barred from participating in any upcoming missions, and will be put under strict surveillance. We also do not know the full story of their argument. He may be lying. Additionally, we have evidence that puts Finn in a suspicious light. Therefore, we have declared him to be a suspect in having a hand in her disappearance.”

The rebels chatter, and Finn’s mouth is agape. He looks at Gnovian, who is sitting next to Citho but has not said a word. Gnovian does not look at him. Rose and Poe are in disbelief.

Finn retaliates, “So this is what the Resistance has come to, huh? Some bozo making up the rules as he goes because he’s angry he can’t keep everything in control? What’s this so-called evidence you have? Is this what General Leia would have wanted?”

Citho, seeting with fury, peers down at Finn. “You would dare sully her name for your own selfish purposes? Unlike us, not long ago, you were still part of the First Order. You know nothing about her!” One rebel shouts at Finn, “Yeah! She would have no problem scrubbing off scum like you!” Another rebel shouts, “They probably found evidence that he’s STILL with the First Order!”

Gnovian finally speaks up: “Let me interject.” The room calms down and listens. He continues, “The council is allowed to declare anyone suspicious as suspects, using evidence we are not allowed to share with anyone outside of the council. From our experience, it is too risky to let this evidence out. This is why this rule, proposed by General Citho, has been implemented. It has proven effective in not only capturing many double agents, but in preventing important information from being leaked out to the spies. Even though none of you know the evidence we use, we promise the Resistance that we have good reasons to do so. Finn will not be imprisoned, but I advise you all to not speak to him. Until he tells us all the details of what went on, and until we decide we have enough evidence to declare him to be safe, we cannot trust him.”

Poe speaks up, “Generals, apologies in advance for doing this, but Finn is a trustworthy guy. He may not be always say things in the right way, but he wouldn’t lie. What he told you is all he knows.”

Citho glares at Poe, “So you’re helping the First Order defector? Not surprising for one who helped him disobey orders and endanger the entire fleet. Something about this just reminds me of when I captured those double agents during the Raid of Buruma.” Upon hearing Buruma, the soldiers begin to visibly side with Citho. “So the three of you,” Citho waves his hand before Rose, Poe and Finn, “Are you plotting something together again?”

Murmurs travel through the rebel crowd. Poe stops speaking. Citho continues, “Anyone else who sides with the First Order defector, and is against the Resistance, speak up.” He glares at Rose, who says nothing. Finn looks at her, feeling betrayed, and she stares at him with remorse. Finn notices that she is cradling her pendant, one of the last memories Rose has of her sister, who gave her life for the Resistance cause.

After the meeting, Rose is called away to other duties. A guard is assigned to Finn. Poe starts walking besides them, and whispers to her, “Hey, can you escort him to room 21X-V and give us a moment?” The guard nods and tells Poe, “Just between just you and me, I trust you guys.” They head to an isolated room, and then exits, leaving them alone. Poe goes up to Finn. “Hey buddy, you know I’m here to defend you and all, but there’s a line, and you’ve just crossed it.”

“What’s gotten into YOU? Weren’t you the first one to go against Holdo’s orders?”

“I did that- and I paid a terrible price for it. I’ve changed for the wiser. We can’t just rush head on into things and let our emotions take the better of us. How can you make these judgments if you don’t know the bigger picture?”

“We can’t voice our opinions just because we don’t know everything?”

Poe replied, “I put my FULL trust in these leaders. The Resistance has never failed me. I’ve believed in them until the very end. Now I don’t know what kind of evidence they have, but I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding, and once they investigate further and find it doesn’t lead anywhere, they’re gonna let you off the hook. Because when the New Republic failed to stop the First Order, I trusted the Resistance, and I’ve learned that they definitely know what they’re doing, much more than I do. Maybe you should start trusting them too.”

Finn responded, “Really- you trust these new guys? The New Republic- or the Neo Republic, whatever name it’s calling itself now- has gotten back together and is allied with the Resistance. How did that even happen so fast? It was wiped out by Starkiller Base! Now the Neo Republic, these guys who have appeared out of nowhere and have made themselves the new leaders, is not only silencing anyone who questions its decisions, but is accusing them of being First Order spies! Doesn’t something seem wrong to you?”

Poe gets in Finn’s face, “Listen. So you say something is fishy. That’s not our job to question. We’re here to do our duties as soldiers. Not to make things worse.”

Finn, not budging an inch, says, “You trusted the Resistance when Leia founded it. But things have changed.”

Poe backs off. After a few seconds, he speaks up, less angry now. “Okay, so maybe you do have a point.” He pauses. “There’s something you should know. You’re not the only one who’s been wondering how the Neo Republic got around. When I heard that happened, it ticked off a few boxes in my head. Because just a few months before it happened, General Leia said something strange to me about that exact thing.”

Finn replied, “What? About the Neo Republic?”

“Yeah. She was saying how some leaders in the Resistance were questioning her. It was just like when she was dealing with the New Republic senate. She told me that if something fishy about the new Resistance leaders ever sprung up again... that I was to listen to a message stashed in one of the HQ-7 droids.”

“So why didn’t you? Why didn’t you speak up sooner?”

“You know what happened the last time we tried questioning the leaders. Leia said to only look inside the droid if I was VERY, very sure that something was wrong. Otherwise, without knowing all the gritty details, I might get the wrong idea. I didn’t want to look because I didn’t want to go down that path again. I wanted to trust the Resistance.”

Finn bit his lip, and whispered to Poe, “But now you’ve seen how all these Resistance leaders are acting. So you’ve changed your mind.”

“No. No, not that. It’s when Citho talked about the Raid of Buruma. All the soldiers remembered it was a horrifying raid, and so obviously they’d become defensive to prevent something like that from happening again. Citho said there were double agents there. But just then, I remembered Leia- Leia had mentioned that when Citho was insistent that there were double agents, she disagreed because there was absolutely no evidence. She called him paranoid. If I remember correctly, this matter never got settled. But now we learned Citho proposed this crazy rule and was so sure there were double agents? Based on what evidence? I’m not saying Gnovian is lying. Maybe there were double agents. I didn’t want to think it, but deep down, it feels like this matter was just brushed under a mat without any of us knowing. Until now.”

Finn put his hand on Poe’s shoulder, “Poe, we need more information. If something really is wrong, we have to find it. Look inside you- you know it.”

Poe stared at Finn. Then putting his own hand on Finn’s shoulder, Poe responds, “I still trust in the Resistance. I just want to shake this uneasy feeling I have, and getting down to the truth will do that. Maybe this is all gonna lead us to something. Maybe not. ”

The scene cuts to Poe and Finn walking in a hallway, whispering to each other. Finn looks deep in thought. Poe asks, “Hey, you look like there’s something else you want to get off your chest.”

Finn is startled, “What? Ha, it’s nothing... just something Rey said. About Citho.”

“What? Hey wait a minute- so you DO know something more about why she took off, that you’re not telling anyone?”

Finn sighs, “Look. I kept a promise to her to not tell the commanders about it. It has something to do with the Force mumbo jumbo that’s way over both our heads. She can do what she wants, but I don’t want to jump to any conclusions just because of some weird vision.”

Poe replies, “That just makes me even more worried. But fair enough. It looks like it’s something that only Rey knows about. She seems like she’d be able to handle it, and with BB-8 she’d have no troubles.”

“I know she’s safe. It’s just that sometimes, I have no idea what’s going through her head. I don’t know whether she’s saying something important, or if she’s looking way too deep into this Force stuff and is overanalyzing it. Like what some people do with their dreams, you know?”

They stop talking for a while, and start to get serious. Poe, using his knowledge of the base, evades the cameras and the guards and leads Finn down to a hidden compartment of the ship. They reach a droid that looks like it’s been inactivate for ages. Poe kicks it and it beeps up again. He tells it, “Rampoodles”, and lasers pop out of it. Using an eye scan, Poe unlocks the files. A distorted hologram and voice, implying Leia had to hide her identity, speaks to him.

“Poe, if you are hearing this, then something shady must have happened. If not, turn back now, because what you are about to hear will change how you see your commander, General Citho. He’s been claiming there are traitors within our ranks, but I have a feeling this may be an elaborate distraction. I have received reports that suggest that he may be secretely communicating with the First Order, and has plans to betray our cause.”

Finn looks at Poe, who is shocked. The hologram continues, “But if I am wrong, then this false accusation will have terrible consequences. I have spoken with a few others who are not undyingly loyal to Citho, and we have dispatched a covert team to investigate this matter further. My health is failing, so I do not know if I’ll be around to relay their findings to the Resistance. If I am gone, seek out the covert team: Jinstin. Kithto. Merilia. Find whoever is still alive. You’re-”

The message abruptly cuts off. Finn tells Poe, “Once we do this, there’s no turning back. Merilia is the only one who’s still here, but no one is allowed to talk to her. We’re about to piss off a lot of people.”

Poe, with a fierce but doubting look in his eyes, replies, “I feel the fire of indignation stirring in me again. If Citho is a traitor, then this isn’t Leia’s Resistance anymore. I will do this- for Leia.”