“You smile too much, Rey.”

“Nothing,” declared the first stormtrooper, standing at attention. Poe winked up at the trooper who had used his hands. “Good job.”

“The Ileenium system?”

“Despite the importance of his mission, Poe found himself conflicted. Not only did he respect Lor San Tekka, he liked him. How could he leave him here? “Sir, if you don’t mind, I—” The older man cut him off. “But I do mind, Poe Dameron. You spoke of your mission.” Both his gaze and his tone hardened. “Now fulfill it. Compared to what is stirring in the galaxy, you and I are little more than motes of dust.” Still, Poe demurred. “With all due respect, some motes are of more importance than others…sir.”

“Entering the room, Kylo Ren moved to join them. “Finding the flaw in your training methods won’t help recover the droid.” Although his mask concealed his facial expression, the rage simmering below his calm demeanor was almost palpable. “And yet, there are larger concerns,” Hux insisted. It was evident from both Hux’s tone and body language that he held no love for the newcomer. The feeling was mutual; neither took pains to hide his contempt.”

“she gathered her belongings and headed for the makeshift entrance that led into the belly of the half-destroyed AT-AT walker. It might be an ancient, rotting, rusting example of now useless military might, but to Rey, it was home.”

“There was no reply. That in itself was encouraging. They trudged on, Luke stealing admiring glances at her when she wasn’t looking.”

“She looked up. “Never underestimate a droid, Lieutenant.”

“He worked to pay attention, realizing that the tottering upright stinking blob was speaking. No, he corrected himself resolutely: It was a graceful, fluid biped who was addressing him.”

“Show me, Grandfather, and I will finish what you started.”

“Awkwardly pressed up against him, the Princess seemed to take no notice of their proximity. In the dampness, though, her body heat was near palpable to Luke and he had to force himself to keep his attention on what he was doing.”

“Niima: center of the galaxy, repository of manifold cultures, offering to its myriad inhabitants a never-ending succession of entertainment, education, and enjoyable distractions.”

“Why did you let the alien survive inside Kane?’ The science officer scowled. ‘I’m not sure you’re getting through to me. Nobody “let” anything survive inside anybody. It just happened.”

“You know what I’m talking about. Mother was monitoring his body. You were monitoring Mother.”

“I’m not a hero. I’m not Resistance. I’m a stormtrooper.”

“Standard issue helmets are designed to filter out smoke, not toxins.”

“On the other hand, Andrea had decided last month, on the occasion of her twelfth birthday and for no discernible reason (at least, none that an adult could discern), that from then on her given name would be Fitzwinkle. And then”

“Just stay calm and collected and baffle them with space dust.”

“But ... this will begin to make things right.”

“Han Solo,” came the clipped voice of the gang leader, “you are a dead man.”

“Legend says this map is unobtainable,” Poe noted. “How’d you do it?”

“must be done; whatever the cost, whatever the danger. Without the Jedi, there can be no balance in the Force, and all will be given over to the dark side.” Though”

“It is pathetic, though. Is it not? You and I, both in pursuit of a ghost”

“One could get mad at one’s neighbor, competitor, or spouse as easily here as on any other settled world. It was just harder to stay quite as mad, with the sun beaming down beneficently, the beach so close, and pleasant woods and lakes beckoning at every turn as soon as one left the city behind.”

“No one offered to help her with the heavy load. In Niima, youth and gender were no barrier to neighborhood indifference.”

“Compared to what is stirring in the galaxy, you and I are little more than motes of dust.” Still,”

“You shot first.”

“Usually a senile old fool knows when to retire. But sometimes he simply needs to be retired.”

“I know how to run without you holding my hand!”

“The very unfeasibility of it worked in their favor. He could not be a prisoner trying to escape, because prisoners simply did not escape.”

“Biological traces are acceptable,” Hux murmured, “but a couple of skulls would be better.”

“Rey scarcely glanced in the other vessel’s direction. “That one’s garbage! We need something that’ll move, not just get off the ground—if we’re lucky!”

“For an ordinary trooper like him, ignorance was not simply an abstract value. It was in the manual. —”

“One of three things would occur when she thumbed it, she knew: They would lift off, the ship would blow up, or nothing at all would happen.”

“To Max, a quantum state was one where gambling was licensed, and Schrödinger’s cat lived somewhere on Laurel Avenue.”

“Consisting of a rounded head floating above a much larger sphere, it was dull white with striking orange markings. Designated BB-8, the droid was, at the moment, very, very concerned.”

“She would have stayed there, blasting away wildly, had not Finn half dragged, half carried her away.”

“Finn stared at her, one thought in his mind, one word on his lips. “Rathtars.”

“SHE NEEDED HIM. AND HE WAS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND. (P:7)”

“From the box she removed a lightsaber. Finn eyed it uncertainly, but even in the poor light, Han recognized it immediately. Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber. “Where’d you get that?” Han demanded. “Long story. A good one—for later.”

“His eyes were hazel, his gray hair tousled, and he wore the look of a man who had seen too much, too soon, and been forced to deal with idiots all too often.”

“Without the Jedi, there can be no balance in the Force, and all will be given over to the dark side.” Though”

“One could teach knowledge. One could teach skills. One could even, she knew, teach something of the Force. But patience had to be learned alone.”

“Reactions still sharp from years of experience, Han fired, sending the trooper to the ground.”

“that slimy sycophant Hux”

“True relaxation was a state of being that had been virtually unknown to him since childhood. The best that could be said of it was that when he felt relatively safe, he entered a condition of lenient wariness.”

“My mommy always said there were no such things as monsters. No real ones. But there are.”

“A series of moans came from the Wookiee. Then he turned—and sat down. In the copilot’s seat. Rey felt herself tearing up. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“The Millennium Falcon rose.”

“Stunned by his own action, Kylo Ren fell to his knees. Following through on the act ought to have made him stronger, a part of him believed. Instead, he found himself weakened.”