Chapter Three
"This is not good," Finn mutters under his breath as they leave the Chandrilan Academy of Sciences. Memories of the Battle of Exegol return fresh to his mind, not something he wanted to remember on such a day. "Really not good."
He can sense that Rey is unsettled as well. For her, the reminder of Exegol must be even harder. She had died there, after all, only to come back to them through those mystical Force powers Finn doesn't think he'll ever understand. When he turns to look at her, he sees both fear and determination in her eyes.
"We have to stop them," she says.
"Of course we do," Finn tells her. "And we will. We have to find them first."
"I can't believe they got away with it," Rey murmurs. They are walking quickly to where they left their transport. The area around them is still crowded with onlookers, clearly curious about what's happened. They've probably heard about the other two attacks by now, and Finn is surprised there are still beings out on the streets. But there haven't been any reports of more attacks, so perhaps the hope is that it's over.
Only Finn knows it's not.
They are quiet on the way back to their New Republic headquarters, where they find an increased security force and a number of medical personnel continuing to treat injuries. Finn frowns, hoping they haven't lost anyone. Rose is in the lobby, still in her ruined dress, sitting with Beaumont Kin as they work furiously on several datapads.
"Why aren't you in the hospital?" Finn demands. Kin is stretched out on a blanket, his leg wrapped in a pressure bandage.
"He wouldn't leave," Rose answers before the older man can speak for himself. "He insisted on looking through all our intel on the Ranc gang."
"I heard about a First Order agent," Kin says. "I tracked Bulut to the Ranc gang, where he's been slobbering for years. I'm guessing your man is their leader, Terex. Last seen with the First Order."
"That's him. You can look into it after getting your leg fixed," Finn points out. Kin waves him off.
"I'm fine," he says. "This is more important."
Finn glances at Rey, who nods and kneels next to Kin. He looks surprised; not many people are aware of Rey's ability, and few have seen her use it. It's not like she can heal entire armies of their injuries, and the more people who know, the more that might be demanded of her. With her ability somewhat lessened due to the breaking of her connection with Ben Solo, it takes more out of her to share her own essence through the Force. She's tired, and it weakens her other abilities—to fight, to sense things, to move things. Still, Kin's injury is serious enough and they need him working. After removing the bandage, she holds her hand over the ugly wound in his calf, and like magic, it soon closes. Kin breathes a sigh of relief, reaches down to rub his leg.
"That is so weird," he says. "But thank you. Are you all right?"
She smiles at him. "I'll be fine. It's not like you were about to lose your leg or anything." The more serious the injury, the more it affects her to heal it. It is not a power Finn envies.
Kin nods at her in gratitude; Rose is watching with awe. Finn clears his throat.
"So, did you find anything on this guy?"
"Still looking," says Kin. "But there's nothing to indicate he was killed in action. He could very well still be alive."
"What did you find out about the academy attack?" asks Rose.
Finn and Rey exchange a look. "Oh no," Rose says. "What is it?"
"It's bad," Finn tells her. "Is Poe back yet?"
"He's upstairs with his father and the others." Finn nods, holds out his hand to her.
"You should hear this, too. Kin, can you make it upstairs?"
They take the lift to the sixth floor, where they find a makeshift Resistance meeting in Poe's rooms. It almost reminds Finn of the days before Exegol, except that they never met anywhere half as nice, and they never had guards stationed outside the doors. Poe is pacing the room, his father watching worriedly. Poe stops when Finn enters and hurries over, embracing him close, touching Rey's arm.
"Find anything?" he asks. "Because ours was nothing but a bank heist. Made off with millions of credits in the middle of the day." He shakes his head. "What the hell kind of security is that?"
Finn whistles low. "Bad security, but an impressive haul. Do we know who it was?"
"Not yet, but I'm sure it's connected to Bulut and the Ranc gang," Poe answers. "It has to be. What about the academy hit?"
Finn glances around. "You should all probably sit down."
Pava swears under her breath but doesn't leave her place at the window. Poe doesn't sit either.
"Tell us," he orders, crossing his arms over his chest, the hole in the upper arm of his dress uniform a vivid reminder of the firefight earlier. "What happened?"
Finn takes a deep breath to launch into the story, his stomach clenching as the implications hit him once more.
"They broke into a lab," he starts. "Top secret, underground. Small stealth team, high tech—they went in and killed everyone, took what they wanted, and escaped too easily."
Poe is frowning. "All right. Okay. A lab. Was it guarded?"
"Minimal," Finn replies. "Like I said—top secret, and apparently, they didn't want to draw attention to it with more security."
"That's their first mistake," Kes murmurs from where he is sitting, elbows on his knees and listening closely.
"But not the worst," Finn replies.
"Isn't this place a school?" asks Connix. "Why would they have a secret lab with something worth stealing and killing for?"
"My guess is the academy is a nice cover for their big underground project," says Finn.
Poe nods, as if he knows what's coming. "So what's the secret underground project? What did they get?"
Finn takes another deep breath. "An axial superlaser from one of the Star Destroyers on Exegol."
There is complete, devastating silence. Rey is staring at the floor, everyone else is staring at Finn.
"No, no," says Poe, shaking his head. Chewbacca lets out a low moan. "That's not possible. That planet was wiped clean, every one of those ships went down! We've had people watching ever since. There's almost no way anyone could get their hands on something like that."
"And yet they did," Finn replies. "They had a planet-killing cannon right here on Chandrila, and now it's been stolen."
"Kriffing hell!" Poe shouts, turning and kicking out at a chair, startling them all. He whirls back. "What the hell were they thinking? Why would they bring something like that here? Are they insane?"
Rey speaks up for the first time. "They were studying it," she says, glancing up from where she is sitting on the side. "That's what they said, that they were studying it. They want to find a way to stop it, a shield of some sort, or a way to counteract the laser."
If possible, Poe's voice goes even higher. "What?" he asks again. "They thought by taking apart one of those things they could find a way to stop it? It blows up planets! You can't stop that kind of fire power with a damn shield!"
Even Rose looks stunned at the audacity of such a thing, shaking her head in denial. Rey sighs. "They were scared," she says quietly. "They want to protect their people."
Poe looks ready to yell some more, and Finn can sense his partner's frustration with Rey's sympathy, so he holds up a hand to stop any conflict between them. "Look, I'm pretty sure they know they've fragged it up, big time. It's probably the only reason the director of the project actually told us given how classified it is. So, the question isn't why anymore, or even how the hell they got away with it, but what are we going to do about it?"
Poe blows out another explosive breath and starts pacing again. BB-8 beeps sadly as he watches. Finn is silent, not sure what to say. It is Rose who speaks up.
"We have to find whoever did this, and stop them from selling it, or even studying it."
Poe whirls on her, his eyes wide. "We have to stop them from using it!" he exclaims. "Why else would they steal such a thing if they don't plan to blow some planet out of existence?"
"We don't know—" she starts, but Poe cuts her off.
"We assume," he says. "We assume the worst here, because we know what those things can do. We've seen it. We were there." Finn can feel the fury pouring off him. "They weren't, these scientists and engineers who think they can –" He cuts himself off, takes a deep breath, changes direction completely.
"What's the connection?" he asks, his voice more steady, and Finn blinks, trying to follow. "What's the connection between us, the bank, and this superweapon?"
No one answers until Jess speaks up quietly from where she's still standing by the window. "Bulut said he was here for you," she points out. "And you were at Exegol. And somehow a bit of Exegol ended up here."
"And the money?" asks Poe.
"Bankroll the operation?" she suggests, and Finn nods. It makes sense, but the connection is thin, the motivation unclear.
"We need to talk to this Bulut guy," he says, and he and Poe exchange a long glance. Given their earlier confrontation with the gangster, it is not something either of them looks forward to, but Poe nods once, and this time Finn takes charge.
"All right, Poe and I are going to see the nerf-herder who ruined our wedding." Poe nods in silent agreement. "Rose and Kin, keep on tracking down this Terex guy that Bulut used to work for. If he's the one behind all this, we need to know. Get C3-PO to help."
"We'll find him," says Rose, and C3-PO agrees. She doesn't usually work intel, but she's got a good eye for details and knows her way around computers and datapads. Between her, Kin, and the droid, they will find any mention of Terex that's out there.
"Connix, can you keep coordinating clean up here? I'm sure the Chandrilans will want to help," he adds. Poe scoffs while Connix acknowledges it with a smile.
"And the reception?" she asks. Finn looks to Poe this time.
"We'll reschedule," he says. "Right now, priority is our people. Get them treated, cleaned up, and then let them eat. Take the food to anyone in the hospital, their stuff is usually terrible. And share it with anyone else who was at the bank or the academy as well," he adds.
Finn turns to Rey. "I know you don't want to stay," he starts, and she shakes her head.
"No, I should come with you."
"But we need you here," he finishes, and she makes a face, because of course she knew he was going to say that. If he and Poe are leaving together, they need her to stay in case of any more emergencies. She can help with the cleanup, and especially with security. He shakes his head when she starts to protest. "We don't need—" and he makes a funny wave with his hand—"but I'd feel a lot better if I knew you were here. Bad enough we'll be together—"
"Hey!" says Poe.
"—but put all three of us in one place, we can't be sure that they won't try again if they see the chance."
"That man said he was here for your wedding, not for me," she points out.
"Taking out a Jedi is always going to earn the bad guys bonus points," Finn tells her. "Please stay. You and Chewie can eat all the cake you want from downstairs."
Chewbacca agrees and tells her to stop complaining. She throws him a look over her shoulder. "Fine, but we're saving some food for you both. It was supposed to be your wedding reception, after all."
"We'll plan another," Poe says. Finn is somewhat surprised at his easygoing attitude and half wonders if Poe is relieved, given how nervous he'd been earlier. As if he can hear Finn's thoughts, Poe rolls his eyes at Finn. "I promise. Told you I already had an idea about that, didn't I?"
"Knowing you and your ideas," Finn murmurs, and there are grins all around.
"Hey, I have good ideas," Poe says. "Like let's go see this kriffwit and find out what he knows." He walks over to his dad and lays a hand on his shoulder. Finn squeezes Rey's arm and hurries after him, leaving the others behind. They head back down to the lobby, where they find Captain Gira and explain their mission. She does not stop them this time, but drives them personally to the security forces headquarters to meet with Soro Bulut.
Finn just hopes they get better answers than the ones they've already found.
Author's Note
I got nothing. Let a girl know if you're reading, though? Poe questioning Soro Bulut is next (this weekend) and it was a fun one to write! Thank you for reading!