Chapter 24

One Last Shot

The more time it took him to note down everything he could to give the Resistance the tactical advantage in their attack against the First Order, the faster his heart was beating. Yes, he was giving up vital information. Information he had vowed to keep safe once a year since he had turned six. Every year when the Order remembered the Old Empire and its devotion of renewing the Empire's promise to the galaxy.

But that was not the cause of his nervousness.

The reason was that with every passing moment, Finn's departure was drawing closer and when he was halfway done and one of the technicians jumped up from his chair and rushed over to Organa standing next to Poe to inform her about Starkiller Base powering up, he felt his stomach twist into a painful knot. He looked up from the datapad and met Finn's gaze straightaway.

"I think we have enough information," Organa addressed Skywalker.

She nodded. "Alright then. The droids should be done loading the Falcon by now."

The anxiousness was only apparent on Finn's face for the blink of an eye, but seeing it there even for this short span of time made Poe want to beg Organa to let him come along. He pressed his lips together instead and got back to work before he could do or say anything stupid. Only when he felt Finn's arm wrap around him did he put the datapad away. Finn's face was close to his and despite everyone gathering inside the command centre at this very moment, doubtless summoned there by some silent alarm, Finn's lips found his for a brief moment of blissful forgetfulness and an eerie sense of dread.

"Come back in one piece, okay?" he said hoarsely, ignoring the stares he got from passers-by who had no idea who he or Finn were.

Finn nodded, his hand sliding up Poe's back and his eyes as serious as they had been the day they had run off together. It took him a visible effort to pull himself away from Poe, but he did it without further comment and followed Skywalker out of the command centre and all the while Poe had his eyes fixed on him, even if Finn didn't look back.

"Rey is good at what she does," he heard Organa say and Poe nodded absentmindedly and turning back to the datapad. Beebee-Ate at his feet made a sound which almost sounded like a sad little moan. What a strange machine indeed. It was as if the astromech didn't like to see Finn go, either.

"Finn isn't half bad," Poe said vaguely marking two more turrets and the course defending TIE-fighters would most likely take to avoid getting hit by friendly fire.

"You know that I can't vouch for any of this, right?" he asked, when he put down the datapad for a moment. More people had gathered around the centre console by now, but Organa's eyes were fixed on him with a determination which almost made Poe want to shrink away from her. She may not call herself "Princess" anymore nowadays, but as he stood there facing her, with all those people around her, her royalty was almost palpable.

"I know that you're going to do all you can to get your partner out of there," she answered.

Poe nodded, his throat dry and his tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth.

Only now, that the murmuring around them started to subside, did he realize it had been there, but the General was drawing everyone's attention with a single look. Poe did his best to avoid Snap's gaze and found himself staring at Morap standing a bit further away, arms crossed over his chest and eyes fixed on the holo of Starkiller Base with an intensity that would have managed to turn Poe's blood to ice had Poe been able to feel anything but despair for Finn's safety.

"As you know," Organa began, her deep carrying voice far more authoritative in its calm than Hux's had ever been, "the First Order is about to launch their attack on us and we are faced with one only one path of action." She pointed at the hologram and the oscillator clearly marked in red. "The thermal oscillator needs to be destroyed as quickly as possible. A small strike team is on its way right now to lower the shields."

"The base is bound to be well protected, though," a human male, Organa had introduced to him as Admiral Statura, two people down from Organa said, "not just by that shield. The Order is cleverer than that."

"That's why it's good that we have help," Organa answered and Poe felt a shiver starting to run down his spine. So this was it. She was going to expose him and before he knew it, he'd be in a stinking cell, waiting for his execution. Organa had kept his identity more or less secret and that was probably why he'd been able to get this far, but things were bound to get ugly from here on. "This is Poe Dameron, he and his partner have gathered intel from inside the First Order and brought the information to us."

Everyone turned to stare at him and Poe did his best to stand upright and not avoid anyone's gaze. They were supposed to be allies now and he needed them to trust him if he wanted Finn to get out of there in one piece.

"How'd you get your intel?" One of the pilots, a woman with bright hair around his own age asked.

Organa looked up at him and Poe could see that she had hoped to keep this information close to her chest for a little while longer.

"We deserted from the Order," Poe said, his voice carrying through the sudden silence in the command centre. "About half a year ago." He looked at Snap, because right now this man's support was all he could hope for. Either he'd hate him for who he was, or overcome the hostility he was bound to feel towards him because of their mothers. Poe wasn't sure what it would be, before he saw Snap shrug and nod.

"I've known my fair share of deserters. Fine with me."

Poe felt a heavy weight being lifted off his shoulders and for a moment he thought that maybe, after all this was over, he should bring himself to talk with Snap Wexley after all.

Several hours later, Poe was still standing close to the centre console. His hands were holding on tight to the narrow edge, while his eyes were trained intently on the hologram projected in front of them. Organa had left for a short while to get some rest and had returned shortly before their ships had dropped out of lightspeed. Statura had listened to Poe's explanations intently and made a couple of adjustments to the attack plan before the X-Wing pilots had taken off. They had only sent the fastest more manoeuvrable X-Wings with lots of firepower, while the three bigger Calamari cruisers and a batch of highly manoeuvrable starfighters had remained in orbit. They'd not be able to do much damage on the planet and the X-Wings had a better chance of getting out of this situation. The strike-team the Resistance's leaders had decided to send was rather small, but also very agile. Or so Poe had been told. The only thought he could cling to at this moment was that this was going to work! It had to work! They'd have to get out of this. Finn had to come back to him.

He was listening as intently as anyone to the silence washing back to them through the open comm channels. There would be no contact between the strike-team and the Resistance's headquarters in case the messages were intercepted. They didn't even know if Finn and Skywalker had managed to shut down the shield or had been caught in the process.

Poe's insides were churning and it was as if every bone in his body was charged with electricity, preparing him to jump into action the moment he needed to. But of course, there was nothing to be done from here. Nothing but wait. Nothing but prepare for a piece of news which would destroy the small world he and Finn had built for themselves over the past few months.

Organa put her hand lightly on his arm, before moving over to one of the other consoles. She was tense too, her face a mask no one would be able to read, but someone who had been trained to appear just as distant to the turmoil unfolding around them. He was used to this and it was easy to fall back to this role of spectator. Of someone waiting for things to happen. For the plan to be set into motion and for the events to unfold. On the outside, nothing but the tight grip on the console betrayed the mayhem inside. He had been trained from childhood not to let things get to him, or at least suppress any sort of outward betrayal of his thoughts and feelings.

For a brief moment, Poe's gaze shifted from the projected oscillator over to Morap, sitting on a chair nearby, sipping from a mug and looking as if he had no doubt about this whole operation going their way… how often had Poe worried about him? About him getting hurt or killed in action? And Morap never seemed to have cared about losing his life in the course of duty. But maybe things had been different back then. Maybe Poe had misinterpreted Morap's seeming calm. What if Morap simply hadn't cared about his life, because it had less value than the thrill of impending death?

Poe swallowed hard and turned back to the hologram. He could see the building where his own living quarters had been. It wasn't a particularly sharp image, but he could make out the basic structure of the base and where he had spent several months of his life… where his mother had died…

Would Meelan die there as well? After all that had happened between them, Poe couldn't face the idea of being responsible for Meelan's death. He, who had been Meelan's friend, wanted to scream at the very thought of the threat hanging over Meelan's head. It almost made him want to beg Organa to call off the operation. Meelan's wife, Nataleeh, must have given birth by now. Meelan was a father now and a child needed both his parents.

But no.

The Order was about to wipe them out if they didn't act.

But Meelan hadn't sold them out to the Order when he'd had the chance, had he?

No… he couldn't start thinking like this. Not now, when he could have already lost Finn.

And what about Pallaeon? And the members of his team? Poe felt an icy wave run down his spine, making him shudder and close his eyes.

What had he done?

Weren't all those men and women just as much victims of the Order as he and Finn were?

Breathing was hard.

Staying upright nearly impossible.

A sudden crackling noise made him jump and Beebee-Ate gave a soft whistle. His head snapped around to the communications stations.

Another few seconds passed during which Poe didn't even dare breathe. He could sense someone approaching him, taking up position by his side and he knew, he just knew that it was Morap.

"We got it!" An unfamiliar voice shouted, the wide grin clearly audible.

Poe closed his eyes and let out a breath, unsure of what he was feeling. He opened his eyes again, staring at Organa who asked the question he wasn't allowed to ask.

"What about Rey? And Dameron?"

"The Falcon took off just now. We didn't contact you before we were sure they got out okay."

Letting out a long breath he hadn't even known he had been holding, Poe leaned forward, burying his face in his hands. Beebee-Ate by his side chirped happily, bumping into his leg.

"Why isn't she-" Organa asked but before she could finish the question another voice made itself heard over the comm.

"We're here, Leia." Skywalker… it was her! Poe would never have thought that he'd actually be happy to hear her voice, but the tone in it made his body tense up again. Something was wrong.

"Finn is unconscious. He's going to need medical attention once we get there."

"What happened?" Poe strode over to Organa, while everyone else seemed to be cheering. To be celebrating the demise of Starkiller Base and with it the biggest weapon the First Order had to throw at the galaxy. "Skywalker?" Poe reached the comm station and Organa took a step back, not entirely looking like she appreciated him speaking up like this.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

"I need to get back to him. Engaging hyper-"

"WHAT HAPPENED!?" Finn was hurt… Finn was unconscious. Finn was in need of medical attention!

Finn…

This one word kept racing through his brain, numbing his entire being, as the comm cracked again and connection to the ship was cut off. She hadn't even bothered to fill him in.

"He's going to be okay," he heard Organa say, as if from a distance. Her deep voice barely reached him and her hand on his arm made him flinch back.

How was she to know? How could she possibly say, what was wrong with Finn? And if he'd live? How was she to know how he was feeling? He, who was not only responsible for Starkiller's defence, which had probably been responsible for Finn's condition, but also for the death of thousands of people on the base itself…

He tried swallowing, but his throat was parched. He rubbed is hand over his eyes trying to sort out his thoughts. Organa had let go of him at least. That was something.

"General? Admiral Ackbar?"

Poe didn't turn, when one of the operators spoke up her voice high, almost shrill as she was shouting over the hubbub surrounding them.

"Two ships just dropped out of hyperspace."

At this Poe's head snapped around.

"Resurgent class Star Destroyers."

His heart dropped. This couldn't be happening!

"When will they be here?"

Poe watched the Mon Calamari approach the console, whose name he only remembered now from history lessons at the Academy. The Mon Calamari were a peaceful species as far as Poe remembered, but they could fight like few others.

"About twenty minutes."

Taking a deep calming breath, Poe turned to Organa, who was watching him closely, eyes narrowed and he took a step back. "I- it-", he stammered, unable to articulate a clear sentence. His mind was numb. Finn was hurt. There was nowhere for him to go now.

"I know it wasn't you…" she muttered, then walked past him towards the console, where around a dozen people were now gathered.

"Get all remaining fighters in the air," Ackbar said.

"We don't stand a chance against two of these…" Organa muttered and then added what Poe himself was thinking. "Who knows how many others might be on their way. We need to evacuate."

She didn't even pay any attention to Poe as everyone jumped straight into action. They didn't even have twenty minutes and they all must know it. Poe pressed his lips together, unsure of what to do now.

He caught Morap's eye. Shrugging, the other made to move towards him, past the people who were bustling about and making sure that all essential data was stored and erased. The look on Morap's face was something Poe was unable to deal with at the moment. If he didn't start doing something, and soon, he'd lose his mind worrying about Finn. He couldn't afford that and it wouldn't get him anywhere. Pushing past two technicians busying themselves with one of the consoles, Poe approached Organa and Ackbar.

"Let me help," he said, just as three other senior officers stepped up towards them. The tactical display hovering over the centre console was now showing their solar system and the two Star Destroyers with their escorts approaching them quickly. "I was raised to do this."

He caught Statura's eye and felt his heart drop. He knew exactly how he had sounded just now. "I know you know how to deal with this, but I studied the way they attack most of my life and-"

"Alright then, Dameron. We can use all the help we can get."

Poe swallowed, his throat still dry, but this was something he could do. This was something he could deal with. As a wave of ancient A and Y-Wings took to the air, escorting the first transports away from the approaching Star Destroyers and TIEs, Poe kept his eyes on the ships approaching them, his stomach twisting and churning. He couldn't start thinking about who might be on those ships and what they'd do to him once they reached this base or what Finn would do if he made it and found that the Order had won after all. Those thoughts had to be pushed deep down, where they wouldn't be able to fight their way back to the surface until he could allow them to.

On the screens in front of him he watched familiar patterns form as the TIEs swarmed in on the Resistance's ships, around twenty or so breaking free of the formation to breach atmosphere and strike at the base. Poe's heart was drumming wildly in his chest, as he watched while the Destroyers got ever closer. "They won't attack the cruisers just yet," he muttered, as the first freighters jumped to lightspeed and the accompanying Resistance starfighters started firing at the TIEs.

"Why?" The commander eyed him suspiciously and Poe pointed at the Destroyers. "There's bigger game down here. They'll know most senior personnel will be staying on the base till the very last moment."

"So we need to take out the big ships?"

Poe shook his head. "The TIEs first. There are bound to be Special Forces TIEs heading our way. They have proper shielding and will be harder to kill." The last word echoed through his brain, making him shiver. He had helped making those shields more effective. He had wanted to protect those fighters once…

"They'll be aiming to distract us while the big ships get here. You need to get away from here as soon as possible."

Organa bit her lip. "The self-destruct," she said. "We can't let what we have here fall into their hands."

Poe turned to look at her. Engaging the self-destruct sequence had never been the strategy of the Rebellion during the war. Things had changed obviously. "They won't be expecting that."

She nodded, then Ackbar hit one of the buttons on the console in front of them, opening the base-wide comm-channel. "Attention all personnel," his voice echoed through the room.

Poe took a step back, letting his mind wander over the few remaining technicians, pulling hard drives from underneath consoles and he found himself hoping they could manage to salvage as much as possible.

"Prepare for immediate evacuation. We are engaging the self-destruct sequence now."

"The TIEs will be trying to keep us on the ground," Poe said quietly, watching as an A-Wings managed to break away from the fight outside the atmosphere and head towards the base. "Tell them to get away!" He shook his head. "They'll be caught between the next wave and the TIEs swarming down on us."

The ground beneath their feet shook, almost making Poe's knees give way. He had to hold on to one of the consoles, as he watched the first five TIEs rush up into the air again, while the next ten started firing before the base's shields could even be activated.

"There's a secondary hangar a couple of kilometres away from here," Organa said, sounding calm, while her eyes were scanning the tactical display in front of them.

Poe's throat was tight. "Can we tell the Falcon and the X-Wings that we're under attack?"

"First thing we did," Admiral Statura said. "Let's get going."

"We're gonna need to distract them. They'll be expecting us to try and make a run for it."

Organa scowled at him. The base shook again as another wave of bombardment hit the bunker above them. Poe reached for the console and switched to the surveillance cameras aimed at the landing pads in front of the main hangar.

Poe took a deep breath. "The Beginner is still unharmed. So are a couple of other ships. Skeleton crews on each of them should do the trick and make the Order believe we're taking off that way."

He looked at Ackbar first, counting on the Mon Calamari's strategic gut feeling. As he had expected, the Admiral nodded.

"Admiral…" Organa shook her head violently, then turned to look at the other Admiral. "Statura?"

The man shrugged. The alarms went off, echoing shrilly through the entire base. The shields had failed. "Whatever we do. We need to do it fast."

Not half a minute later, Statura and Ackbar had typed in the command for the self-destruct and sent a few select pilots to the remaining ships, still remaining in front of the hangar.

Poe watched as Organa, Statura and Ackbar hurried off towards a door Poe hadn't seen until now. Probably a transport which would take them and the remaining technicians to the far-away secondary hangar. They had ten minutes before the base was blown sky high.

He pressed his lips tightly together, then turned towards Morap. They were the last to people remaining in the command centre. Maybe an obvious sign of trust from Organa? Poe could feel every single beating of his heart pulsing through his neck, making his head all fuzzy. "Your ship left with the first wave, right?" he asked and Morap nodded, eyes flashing towards the screen showing the tarmac and landing pads in front of the hangar.

"Would you mind giving me a lift?"

"Not at all." Poe couldn't help but smile. He found himself remembering the few missions they had been on together. The moment when they had encountered trouble and there was only one way to go: ahead. When trying to get away was the only option left. He only remembered too well what had happened after those few incidents and as soon as the mental images hit him, the smile vanished from his lips and his heart plummeted again.

"Let's go." They hurried off, following the few pilots heading in the same direction as them. As their feet hit the concrete in unison, Poe couldn't help but throw a look over his shoulder at Morap, who hadn't said a single thing during the whole ordeal. Not one word. Not even, when his ship had taken off. Not even, when the TIEs had started bombarding the base.

The roof over their heads was raining dust, while the alarms were ringing in their ears and Poe felt his gut twist painfully. But he didn't stop running. Not for a single moment. He bent low, as they reached the door leading outside, laser beams flashing past them, hitting the tarmac in green bursts of destruction, making small rocks fly up into the sky, spraying their ankles with tiny, hot, burning debris. Poe ran flat out towards his ship sitting almost at the edge of the forest. He heard nothing but the rushing of the wind and the loud, shrill screaming of approaching TIEs. Right and left ships were taking off, a few small freighters shooting out of the hangar, one of them crashing in a ball of fire as soon as it had left it, blocking the way for all further ships.

Beebee-Ate whistled loudly right at his heels. The droid really was loyal. "Open it up, Beebee-Ate!" Poe screamed over the noise of explosions, trying to ignore the burning heat in his neck. Next second the loading ramp was lowered and they were in, momentarily sheltered from the attacking TIEs by the cover the trees provided them with.

"Need a pilot?"

Poe swallowed hard as he ran for the ladder leading up to the deck above. "I can handle it," he said though he wasn't too confident. The only thing he did know at this precise moment was, that he didn't want Morap anywhere near him.

"You sure?"

"Yeah! I can do this!" As long as Beebee-Ate helped him that was.

"Poe!"

How much time did they have left? Poe didn't know, but he stopped dead in his tracks. Would the explosion reach them out here? Probably not. It was very likely the self-destruct would only destroy the most important equipment which might still contain info on the base they were heading to next.

Morap's eyes were wide, fringe sticking to his forehead, the curly more prominent now than ever as he was standing at the bottom of the ramp, feet still placed solidly on the earth. "Poe…"

His legs felt like lead, as Poe slowly moved towards him, taking in every single detail of Morap's appearance. The eyes he had stared into so often. The lips he had kissed almost every day for ten years of his life. The hands he had thought he trusted once.

"What?" Poe asked, breath catching in his chest.

"I have the codes that could get us out of here safely."

"I know." Poe's eyes were burning, his arms trembling.

"We can leave all of this behind, you know?"

All of this.

The Resistance.

Running.

The fear of being caught.

Finn.

Poe bit his lip and looked at the ground, while behind Morap the hangar of the Resistance base was collapsing, trapping everyone inside from that end. And all because of Morap… "It was you, wasn't it?" he asked, his voice hoarse.

Morap didn't nod, or say anything as Poe moved forward, until they were face to face, the heat of the flames behind Morap always making Poe want to pull away. But he didn't. Not even for a single heartbeat. "I…"

"You contacted them."

Beebee-Ate beeped loudly, sounding alarmed, the single sound enough for Poe to realize that the droid wasn't in on it.

Morap's mouth twitched. "Come with me."

Those three words again.

Those words he had rejected once.

Words which made his guts twist into a hot, painful knot.

"Morap…" he whispered, unable to say anything else. His hands were shaking as he took one step closer towards Morap. Their noses were almost touching and as the next wave of TIEs rushed by overhead, followed directly by three Y-Wings, Morap put his hands on his hips, pulling him close with a jerk, pressing his lips to Poe's.

Poe's sound of protest was silenced by Morap's suffocating kiss. Eyes burning, Poe placed his hands on Morap's sides, his thumb brushing over the fabric as he returned the kiss, while the world was falling apart around them.

His heart was racing, every fibre in his body seeming to burn with a heat he couldn't place.

Morap sighed, deepening the kiss, despite the starfighters firing at each other above them. He wrapped Poe into his arms, one of his hands burying into Poe's hair, pulling softly at it as Poe's hands moved down to Morap's hips.

Next moment, he had pushed Morap away from him, aimed Morap's blaster at its owner and fired a single shot at his right leg.

Groaning, Morap curled in on himself, pulling the leg towards his torso, wincing and tears streaming down his face, as he looked up at Poe. His lips were forming Poe's name, but Poe just returned his look, as the base collapsed in on itself.

"Say hi to your brother for me," he said over the alarmed shrieks of Beebee-Ate behind him. Putting the small blaster into his pocket, Poe turned his back on Morap, shutting the loading ramp without looking back. His neck was tingling. His hands shaking, while the rest of his body seemed to be numb.

"Want to help me get out of here?" he whispered to Beebee-Ate, who moaned softly, but turned towards the hatch and rolled there without a single sound of complaint.