Chapter Five

"The beginning of the end to end the beginning?" Jess asks as they once again meet in Poe's rooms. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It's what Terex told Bulut, probably just to annoy us," Poe grumbles, and Finn can see how frustrated he is. "Kriffing riddles."

"We can figure it out," says Kes Dameron, looking thoughtfully around the room before settling on his son. "You said this man, Terex, was with the First Order before he joined the Ranc gang?"

Poe nods. "He took over the gang after the fall of the Empire, joined the First Order, and then went back to Kaddak. And then the First Order got him."

"After the fall of the Empire," murmurs Kes. He chews his bottom lip much like Poe does, only Kes is clearly thinking and not flirting. "Do we know what he did before that? Before the fall of the Empire?"

Finn exchanges a look with Poe, who frowns before his face suddenly lights up. "He was a Stormtrooper," he says, as if that explains everything. Kes glances up with a look in his eyes that matches his son. They've figured it out.

"There's your answer, then," says Kes, and Poe grins. Finn glances at Rey, who looks equally as confused, but Jess beats them both to the grumbling.

"Care to share your big insight with the rest of us mere mortals?" she asks, her voice dry. "So we can stop this guy?"

"He's referring to the beginning of the end of the Empire," says Kes. "Which means—"

"Jakku," finishes Poe, sounding so proud that Finn almost laughs when Kes shakes his head.

"No, son, the beginning of the end. Jakku was the last major battle, but before that—"

"Endor," says Poe. "The battle you and mom fought in."

"I think you need to go back even earlier," Kes murmurs.

"The beginning of the end," Poe repeats, clearly puzzled once more. Finn thinks hard, and comes to the realization before Poe does.

"The Battle of Yavin," he says. "The destruction of the first Death Star."

"The beginning of the end," says Poe, but he holds up a hand. "What about Scariff? Without those plans, there would have been no Yavin. And the war continued for another four years!"

"Taking out the Death Star was the first major victory for the Rebellion," Kes tells them. "I know, I was there, remember? And Poe…if this man hates you so much, he'll know your connection to Yavin."

"He wants to end the beginning, though," Poe points out. "The beginning of what?"

"This," Kes says, waving his hand around the room. "Rebuilding the New Republic. Your role in it. But perhaps even more…the beginning of your new life with Finn."

BB-8 lets out a little wail, and Poe jumps out of his chair. "Shit! He's heading to Yavin!"

"Wait, wait," says Finn. "Why's he going to Yavin, then? He could have got us right here on Chandrila."

"Not if it's personal," Jess murmurs. "Not if it's about Poe."

Finn shakes his head. "He can't use this thing without a Star Destroyer anyway! And as far as we know, he hasn't got a Star Destroyer."

"Maybe he's meeting someone there," suggests Rose. "To sell it."

"No, Bulut said Terex was going to do something everyone would remember," Finn says. "Something big. That sounds like he's going to use it."

"But how?" asks Beaumont Kin, speaking up for the first time. "We've heard nothing on rogue Star Destroyers, and nothing out of Yavin 4." C3-PO echoes his agreement.

"We had nothing on a kriffing axial superlaser making it off Exegol either," Finn points out. Kin frowns, and Finn feels bad, as if he is criticizing Kin's intelligence network. Which he's not, not really. It does bother him, but he also knows that there are always ways to hide. It's the Chandrilans who have made the bigger error, in bringing home to study only to have it stolen.

"Exegol is different," Poe says. "We've got people watching now, but the first month was a mess. Anything could have happened. This is Yavin. It's small, it's close—we'd know if something was going down on Yavin. Right, dad?"

"People will always have secrets and ways to hide them," Kes replies. "But I think you're right about Yavin. I haven't heard anything, and I certainly don't think Yavin is hiding a secret Star Destroyer. We don't see a lot of interstellar traffic."

"Which makes it a perfect place to hide," Finn argues.

Poe is biting his thumb as he thinks. "Do we have any idea how he got this thing away?" he asks. "They're pretty big for hiding." Rey answers.

"They didn't take the entire thing, it's much too large," she says. "They took the core of it, using the same underground tunnels the lab was using."

Poe nods and turns to Rose. "So he doesn't have it all, but maybe he can use what he has some other way. Even if he did have a Star Destroyer, it would take days, if not weeks, to figure out a way to use it properly, right?" When she nods, he continues. "What else could he do with it?"

Finn sees where Poe is going, and a flash of insight hits him with alarm. "Could he build a bomb? Set the core to detonate somehow and let it take out a planet that way?"

"Probably," she says, sounding hesitant. "I've never seen one, so I don't know how they work, but almost anything can be rigged to explode. And if it was done right, yes, it might destroy a planet, I suppose."

"But then he'd be out a superlaser," Poe argues. "What the hell's the point of stealing it only to destroy it taking out one planet?"

Chewbacca answers, and Finn's heart stutters in his chest. He can't imagine how Poe must feel.

"He's right," Kes says quietly. "To get back at you."

"It makes sense," Finn tells Poe, who is starting to look worried. "If he hated you before, then he must really hate you now that you've taken out Starkiller and the First Order fleet."

"Or he's glad to see the First Order ruined," Poe protests. "Bulut said he wants to bring back the Empire. How can he do that by cashing in his only bargaining chip?"

"We don't know what other cards he's holding," Kes offers.

"Or if Bulut was telling the truth," Finn adds. "He was set up on Chandrila, he could have been set up to tell you anything."

"We actually believe this guy shows up on Chandrila to crash my wedding, grab some credits, and steal a superweapon—all so he can blow up my home planet in some sort of twisted revenge for something that happened years ago? No way." Poe shakes his head and starts pacing. "That's insane."

"I think he's right," Rey says quietly.

"The Force telling you that?" Poe snaps, then holds up his hands, runs them over his face. "Sorry, I'm sorry, but this…this is can't be happening. Not to Yavin. Not because of me." He turns to his father. "What do we do?"

"We stop him, son," says Kes, standing and reaching out for his shoulder. Poe leans into the touch, then looks to Finn for support.

"How?"

Finn thinks. "We could try to find him on Chandrila, but if he's that smart—and we know he is because he already pulled it off—he would have had a plan for getting it off world quick. He's probably on his way to Yavin 4 already."

"And even if he's not, we can meet him there," says Rey. "Be ready for him." Chewbacca volunteers the Falcon; BB-8 volunteers himself.

"What if that's not where he's going?" Poe asks. "What if we're wrong, and he takes this thing somewhere else?"

"It makes sense," Finn argues. "If he wanted you dead, he would have blown Chandrila into pieces. He wants you to suffer. That's why he sent Bulut after us, to send a message." He pauses. "One we'd be sure to get when he failed."

"I can get word to Vi Moradi and the network," offers Kin. "Tell them what to listen for, watch for, in case he's not heading to Yavin."

"We should let the Senate know," Connix says. "They can alert the New Republic forces."

"No," says Poe, shaking his head. "That could cause a mass panic, and then they'll start pointing fingers, probably at us, and fighting over what went wrong. We should keep this quiet for now, until we know for sure and can stop it."

"Poe, there's a potential planet-killer out there somewhere," Finn says. "We can't keep it from them."

"Then maybe the Chandrilans should tell them," Poe suggests. "They're the idiots who had it in the first place. Maybe they should be the ones to tell the New Republic what they were doing with it, and how they lost it."

"Then it's less our fault and more theirs?"

"Exactly."

"What do we do, then?" asks Rose. Finn thinks about it, watches Poe thinking about it as well. When Poe doesn't take the lead, Finn answers.

"We need to go after him, get to Yavin as soon as possible."

"Two squadrons, a cruiser, and a full company of infantry," says Poe. "Unless you think we need more."

"The Falcon and maybe another cruiser," says Finn. "And do we have anyone familiar with this superlaser?"

"Not here," says Rose. "Unless we kidnap one of their scientists."

"No one survived," says Finn. She cringes.

"Then I'll do my best."

"That's the plan," says Poe. "Connix, let Chandrila know we're leaving, and let Yavin know we're coming. Everyone else, get your gear and meet at the landing port in thirty minutes."

Everyone files out of the room except for Finn, Poe, Kes, and BB-8. The droid rolls up to Poe and lets out a series of beeps and whistles. Poe squats down to rub his dome.

"Yeah, buddy, we'll stop him." BB-8 trills, sounding as worried as a droid speaking binary can sound. "I know you like it there. I promise, we're not going to let anything happen to Yavin." The little droid turns to Finn and whistles a question. Finn can't help but smile down at him.

"I was only there once, and it was beautiful," he tells BB-8, who once again wonders if they can save it. "Hey, if Poe says we're not going to let anything happen to Yavin, then nothing's going to happen to Yavin. Haven't you been hanging out with him long enough to know that?"

BB-8's head dips, as if it's been chastised. Poe rubs him again. "We can do this. We stopped a thousand of these things on Exegol. We can stop one crazy gangster who doesn't even have a ship to go with it, right?"

The droid perks up, whistles another question, and Poe stands with a laugh. "Go ahead, I'll meet you downstairs. Maybe R2 can help you."

BB-8 rolls away, then returns and takes two silver rings from his inner compartment. He holds them out to Poe with another questioning beep. Poe laughs. "No, you keep them, pal. You're the best one to keep them safe."

The trill sounds suspiciously like a laugh.

"Hey, I can keep them safe, I just thought you'd like the honor!"

Kes laughs quietly from where he's standing by the door. "Come on, BB-8. Let's get ready and let them have a few minutes. I need to grab a few things myself."

"Dad," starts Poe, though Finn is not sure why he bothers.

Kes holds up a hand. "I'm coming, and you can't stop me, General or not. This is my home, Poe. I need to be there."

Poe opens his mouth again, his father raises an eyebrow, and Poe simply nods. Finn half wishes every argument with Poe was that easy to win.

"Thirty minutes, dad," says Poe, sounding both resigned and proud. "On the Falcon with Finn and Rey."

"Yes, sir," says Kes with a small smirk. "Thirty minutes. Don't be late."

He leaves with a wink, and Finn watches the door close with a frown. "He doesn't expect us to, you know…"

Poe laughs and pulls him close. "I don't think so, no. Why, are you interested?" He punctuates the question with a kiss to Finn's jaw, then his neck.

"Usually," Finn answers. "But seeing as we've got a superlaser to track down, might not be the best time."

Poe grins, kisses his lips, and steps back. "I've heard that before, but you're right. Grab your gear, General. It's time to save the galaxy again."

Finn rolls his eyes. "Hell of a way to spend our wedding day."

"Never a dull moment, and all that," Poe laughs. Finn smiles, reaches for his hand to give it a squeeze, and together they get ready to stop a madman from destroying Poe's home.

Author's Note:
So online education/distance learning is rough, and I'm getting sick of my computer. But I hope to have time to update this weekend with a nice cliffhanger! Just remember I am not a weapons expert whatsoever. Thank you for reading!