Author's note:
Thank you so much for your feedback!
I want to thank my wonderful beta-readers who helped me so much in this fic:
- hellostarlight (AO3)
- Megara09 (AO3)
- Everren (AO3) or Everren327 (Twitter)
- asongstress1422 (AO3)
I thank you all so much, you wonderful human beings, I couldn't have done it without you!
Have fun with this chapter!
"She's g-gone?" Poe stammers, staring at Commander D'Acy with pleading eyes, begging her to retract her words, to tell him that he'd misheard. "How?"
Chewbacca wails and sinks to his knees, pounding the soil with his fist in grief and anger. He has lost his last friend. Han, Luke, and now Leia — they're all gone now, and he is alone with his memories. Feeling lost, he rises, stumbling back to the Falcon. The group watches on helplessly as the Wookie emits a low moan, struggling to keep their composure for as long as possible, until the ramp rises with a hiss and seals off the entrance behind him.
Finn tears his gaze away from the ship and swallows hard then looks back to the Commander. "How did it happen?" he asks quietly.
D'Acy's face is stricken, and she lowers her head. "After she gave one last motivational speech, she left for her quarters… She seemed exhausted, but I never suspected—" Her voice breaks and she stops, unable to repeat the words. Hearing them again would only make it more real than they could bear at the moment.
"Leia was trying to reach her son through the Force."
Everyone turns toward the voice to look at Maz, who approaches them with small steps. She looks back at them through her goggles, her gaze sympathetic and calm as always.
Finn steps forward. "She tried to reach Kylo Ren? Did that monster kill her, too?"
Maz eyes him for a moment but before she can say anything, Poe squeezes his shoulder and shakes his head. "This isn't the time, buddy."
Finn presses his lips together and clenches his fists, but when he sees his face, he sighs and nods. There are dark circles under Poe's eyes. He has never seen him like that. Not even after the battle of Crait, where most of the Resistance was obliterated. The corners of his mouth are turned downwards, and his skin looks gray. His usual optimism, the strength he always radiated, is gone.
"You're right," he mumbles, dragging his eyes back to Maz, who has been watching them intently.
"I understand your feelings about Ben Solo, Finn," she sighs, righting her goggles, "but he did not kill her. Leia was the one who reached out to him, knowing it would take everything she had left."
Finn wants to say how much that bastard doesn't deserve any forgiveness or love, that all hope for him is in vain. Does he know what sacrifice the General made for him? Does he know how lucky he is to have loving parents, or any parents at all?
When he realizes that Maz is still watching him with her all-knowing eyes, he looks away and turns to Poe instead. He places a hand on his back and motions for them to move. "Come on, let's—"
"No," Poe says, eyes downcast. "I need to think, and be alone, for a while."
"That's okay," he says hastily, ignoring the pang in his chest at being unable to help his friend. "Talk later, then?"
Poe nods and brushes past him, heading in the direction of his quarters. Finn follows him with his eyes until he disappears in the crowd. Maz gives them all one last look before she and D'Acy excuse themselves and leave, too. Finn heaves a long sigh and lowers his head. If Poe has lost all hope, how are they supposed to face the First Order?
"Hey…" Jannah says, hand on his shoulder. "He's going to be alright, I'm sure of that."
"Thanks." He's grateful to have found another friend in her. He rubs his face and glances at what is left of the Resistance members who are still doing their jobs or taking a break. The sky is darkening and the jungle around them comes alive with different sounds of whistles, cries, and roars like it always does at this hour. As if nothing had changed, as if Leia were still alive. They don't know of the death of their general yet. "How will the Resistance continue without her?"
"When you refused to kill those villagers, you didn't need any general to inspire you, did you?" she says after a while and fixes him with her eyes. "When you told me that you were a stormtrooper once, too, I didn't need anyone else to get me to join you and want to make an actual difference in this war." She grabs him by the shoulders. "We can do this, Finn, and we will. With our stories, we could even inspire others like us to do the same."
Finn's face lights up at the idea. "Do you think it could work? Some kind of stormtrooper rebellion?"
Night has fallen when they find Poe. He's sitting in Leia's quarters, next to her cot, his head in his hands. They stop in the entrance to the room and stare at the body hidden under white sheets. It's surreal to know that she's lying there instead of standing in front of screens, making plans or giving orders. Finn doesn't know if he will ever get used to this new reality.
His gaze falls back to Poe, who is looking at them through puffy eyes. He gets the overwhelming urge to go to him and hug him, to comfort him somehow. But what could he say? He can't even begin to imagine how it must be for him. To lose her after all these years of working with her. To now have this heavy burden of leadership on his shoulders.
But he won't be alone in this. They will keep on fighting for what's right. If only to honor Leia's legacy. So he straightens and fixes Poe with a look.
"Poe, we have an idea."
Poe was named acting general as Leia's successor and, with that, now faces an immense responsibility and a mountain of work. On top of that, the fate of the galaxy is on the line. So hearing Finn and Jannah's idea about recruiting former stormtroopers, taking advantage of the First Order's weaknesses to turn the tides, had lifted his mood visibly. His whole posture had changed, and he'd looked closer to the general he is supposed to be.
Finn is relieved to see him back to his old self, the side of him that always wants to act.
After calling Rose to join them, they sit down in front of a screen in an unoccupied room.
"Before we begin, I have some bad news," Rose says, looking at everyone.
Poe rubs his forehead and expels a long breath. "We're used to bad news by now, aren't we?" He sighs again and gives her a wry smile. "Please, Commander Tico."
She nods and takes a deep breath, then speaks with a solemn but firm voice, "Kijimi was destroyed by a blast from a Star Destroyer."
The silence that follows is heavy. Everyone holds their breaths, blinking, their mouths open.
"What?" Finn breathes.
"Kijimi? A Star Destroyer?" Poe's voice is strained and his eyes reveal disbelief and pain. He must be thinking about Zorii. "How is that even possible?"
"It was one of the new Sith fleet. Palpatine apparently sent the ship from Exegol—"
"Does that mean…"
"Yes." Her expression darkens. "It means that every single ship of his fleet has planet-killing weapons."
The room falls silent again. Disbelief and horror are written all over their faces. Rose presses her lips together and rubs her arm. Then she turns to Poe. "Leia has made you acting general. What now?"
He closes his eyes and pinches his nose. "After this meeting," he mumbles, "I'm going to break the news of Leia's death to the rest of the Resistance."
"And we will be with you," Finn promises and touches his arm. "You won't be alone, General."
Poe smiles and nods at him, then continues. "Finn and Jannah came up with an idea that is both crazy and genius."
Rose sits up and lifts her eyebrows, a tiny smirk forming on her lips as she leans forward. "Well, we'll take everything we can get at this point. So what's the plan?" She throws Finn a look. "It's not escaping, is it?"
Finn rolls his eyes. "You won't ever let go of that, will you?"
Rose snickers. "No."
He glares at her good-naturedly before he sobers and reveals their plan. With Rose's help, he, Jannah, and her company will infiltrate one of the Star Destroyers and try to convert as many stormtroopers as possible and, if they are even more lucky, some of the higher ranking people of the First Order.
After all, they know that, despite strict surveillance and the conditioning of the troops, rumors still circulate. The stormtroopers know about Finn and the others and that there's internal fighting between the commanders, officers and generals of the First Order. If everything goes smoothly, it will end in a rebellion and the takeover of the entire ship.
Rose presses a button and the screen comes to life. Her face is bathed in blue light as she navigates through some options. She zooms into a star map and points at a red-glowing triangle. "The Star Destroyer that blasted Kijimi is still in the Bryx sector." She leans back and smiles at Finn and Jannah. "I like your idea. It's insane but brilliant. If we succeed, it could turn the tides. We would have a superweapon of our own."
"...against an entire fleet. With the same super weapons," Poe interjects, but Rose shrugs.
"Well, otherwise we'll have nothing. If we don't try it, we've already lost."
"Poe, you were so excited by our idea!" Finn complains.
Poe sighs. "I know...but with so much pressure, I can't help the doubts coming up." He runs a hand through his hair, pulling lightly to release the headache building, and stares at the ceiling. "I wonder how Leia managed to stay strong all these years despite everything."
"I get that, Poe. We all do. But we are not the only ones with doubts." He grins, adding, "The First Order is more unstable than ever."
"You're right. If even General Hux could change his mind about the First Order, no matter what his motives were, I think that our chances of converting others are quite high." Poe leans back in his chair and folds his hands. "We also know that the Supreme Leader is not very popular, nor really respected within the higher ranks of the First Order. They've only tolerated him so far because they fear him."
Finn nods and leans forward. "We know from Hux that General Pryde plans a coup and to take over as the new Supreme Leader. We don't have any influence in destabilizing the top of the First Order, but we can sure as hell attack their foundation. And with that," he dusts his hands together, emitting rumbling explosion sounds, "it all comes down."
"Our work won't stop being important after the war," Jannah adds, straightening her back. "Even if we win, we have to prevent any new kind of organization arising from the First Order's ashes. We can't let history repeat itself. So, we need to educate and reintegrate the people of the First Order into society."
"That's right," Finn choruses, nodding along with her, "they are all people . They were once like us, and they deserve a second chance."
Poe rubs his face, blinking tiredly. "If we win the war, we'll have plenty of time to hammer out the details." He sits up and places his hands on his knees, glancing at the screen. The red triangle hasn't moved from its location. "Our priority right now is to infiltrate that Star Destroyer and find a way to Exegol. Though without Rey sending us the coordinates, it will be nearly impossible."
"About that," Rose chimes in, "where is she? I haven't seen her around."
"We don't know… On Kef Bir, she suddenly decided to face Kylo Ren on her own." Finn's face falls and he shrugs. "She didn't want anyone to intervene… I guess she wanted to protect us."
Jannah turns to Rose. "We saw her jump world on Kylo Ren's ship. We don't know what happened to him, and we don't know where Rey went."
Rose processes all this with a thoughtful expression on her face. Then she frowns and narrows her eyes. "Do you think she let him live?"
Finn scoffs. "I'm sure she would have killed him, if she'd had half a chance. She hates him more than I do."
Rose eyes him critically and purses her lips. "Mmmhmm...she could have killed him…"
Finn and Jannah shake their heads in unison. "We're sure he's still alive," she says, covering him, for which he's grateful. He isn't in the mood of explaining it to anyone yet.
Rose nods slowly and hums. "Then I'm sure that she let him live on purpose."
"What? No!" Finn exclaims, jumping to his feet, clearly offended. "Why should she show any mercy to that son of a—"
"Hey," Poe interrupts and shoots him a warning look. "Think about Leia."
Finn's face turns red and he bites his tongue, swallowing down a retort and other colorful insults.
Poe watches him for a moment, then rises also. "Tomorrow, we'll talk about your plans with the rest of the Resistance. Now, it's time to speak to the crew." His voice has lowered at the last sentence.
Everyone nods solemnly and rises. They walk to the exit and pause. There's a heavy silence. In a few minutes, the life of every Resistance member will change forever. Poe finally steps through the door and motions for them to follow.
"Let's do this, guys."
They all walk out to face them together.
Author's note:
Rose is very perceptive...Or maybe Rey isn't as sneaky with her feelings as she thinks :D
I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Don't hesitate to leave a review if you liked it! :)