Holdo's Plan
Disclaimer: I don't own.
As Vice Admiral Holdo turned to walk away, Poe couldn't help but call, "Do you even have a plan, ma'am? How are you going to save the Resistance? Our fate is in your hands, and we're not exactly in the best of situations, in case you hadn't noticed"
She whirled around, her eyes sparking at him. "That's none of your concern, Captain Dameron."
"Isn't it? I'm on this ship, aren't I? My life is in the hands of whatever plan you concoct! My own and the lives of all my friends! Do you have a plan, Admiral? Are we going to just sit here, or will we try to fight them?"
"Yes, I have a plan, Captain. We're going to board the transports and evacuate the ship."
"What? Why on earth would we do that? They're not shielded or armed! We'll be easy targets! They'll shoot us out of sky with no effort at all as we try to run and hide!" Poe cried, his jaw dropping at the recklessness of this admiral. Is she that careless with the lives of her subordinates?
"Well, then it's a good thing that isn't the end game!" Holdo exclaimed.
"What? What is it then?"
"There's an old, abandoned rebel base on the planet Crait, right beneath us. If we're cloaked in these transports, we can slip away from the First Order without them noticing. Hopefully, anyway."
Poe began nodding, processing that. "What do we do when we get there?"
"There's not much equipment there, but there should be enough for us to send a distress signal to our allies in the Outer Rim. Until they show up, we'll just have to hold out. Now," she smiled, "is that enough for you, Captain Dameron?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Good, Commander."
"Wait, what?"
"I'm giving you your command back. After all, you'll need it if you're going to be in charge on Crait."
His eyebrows furrowed. "Why would I need to be in charge? Why wouldn't you?"
"Someone has to continue to fly this ship and defend the transports, if necessary."
"You would-" He stopped, knowing exactly what she was willing to do to ensure the survival of the dwindling group. "But…why me?"
"You're daring, brave, and willing to take risks for the cause. That's what a leader of the Resistance needs. Believe me, those are the qualities Leia exhibited when she stepped into her role as a leader of the Rebellion, whether she'd admit it or not." She winked.
Poe nodded, feeling the mantle of responsibility falling onto his shoulders. "I'll do my best, ma'am."
He saluted and departed, going to his quarters and preparing for the evacuation. A pounding on his door broke off his work momentarily. He opened it, seeing Finn and an unknown girl on the other side. "Finn?"
"We can disable the tracker."
Poe blinked. "What?"
"The tracker the First Order is using. We can disable it so that we can get away, if we can only get on their lead ship," the girl explained. She held out her hand. "I'm Rose."
"Poe. You look like one of the pilots I fly-flew with."
"Paige was my sister."
"I'm sorry for your loss," he said, not sure what else he could add.
"It's not your fault. Even if you led the attack, it's still not your fault."
"Thank you. That's kind. But disabling the tracker will be unnecessary."
"Why?"
"Admiral Holdo is evacuating the ship in the transports. We're going to the planet below. There's an old Rebel base below that we're going to hole up in."
"Oh. Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"She convinced me."
Finn nodded slowly. "And Rey?"
"She'll be able to find us there, I'm sure." He glanced at them both. "I need to finish packing, and you two need to start packing, I imagine."
"Yes, I guess so."
Poe stood there for another moment, considering the losses that the Resistance had suffered lately. He took out his frustration at the First Order on the shirt he was holding, violently stuffing it into the pack. He hurried through the packing, making sure he had everything before closing the door of his quarters for the last time. A beeping at the door drew his attention. "Hey, little buddy. You ready to go?"
BB-8 responded in the affirmative. He chuckled. "Good. Let's go."
The two of them rushed to the hangar, helping everyone load themselves and all the equipment. Once everyone but Holdo and Poe was loaded onto the transports, she turned to him. "May the Force be with you, Commander Dameron."
"And with you, Admiral Holdo."
"Be careful, Poe. And..." She hesitated. "Tell Leia I had to do it."
He gave her a small, sad smile. "I'll tell her." With that, he saluted her and entered his transport. The transports launched, leaving Holdo alone on the ship. Poe watched it grow smaller behind him, Finn and Rose at his side. Everyone knew that no one would ever see her again.
*H*P*
After they had unloaded everything in the base on Crait, Poe began organizing defensive forces and lines. Suddenly, the ground shook, and an explosion sounded. He stumbled and fell, Finn and Rose rushing to his side. "What was that?" she asked.
"Felt like planetary bombardment," Poe answered as the three of them (plus BB-8) hurried outside. Sure enough, bombs were dropping from the Supremacy toward them. "Get everyone below ground!" Poe called, trying to direct traffic as best he could.
"What's the Admiral doing?" Finn asked, pointing toward the Raddus. It was turning in the direction of the First Order's ship.
"Who knows?" Poe asked, staring at the sky. Suddenly, the Raddus seemed to jump into hyperspace, with the Supremacy falling to pieces in the impact.
"She sacrificed herself…" Finn trailed off.
"To save all of us," Rose finished.
Poe sighed heavily. "We have to continue to fight, in her honor."
"Right you are, Poe." All three whirled around to see General Leia standing behind them. "We will never give up."
"Looks like we have a chance to prove it!" Finn said, pointing to the sky where groups of shuttles were leaving the hangar of the crumbling ship.
Poe nodded. "Let's do this! What is it she said? We are the spark that will burn the First Order down."
A/N: I might update this with more movie-accurate dialogue after the movie comes out on DVD.