Thank you all for reading!
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There was no shower on the shuttle, but there was a large quantity of fresh water, which was more than the scavengers who had found him wandering the desert had. While he had managed to wipe off most of the dried blood before rescue had arrived, it wasn't until they had settled into hyperspace that Rey was able to take out the medpack and clean up his face. His whole body ached and his head felt as if it was about to explode, most likely due to the combination of dehydration and whatever Ren had done to him. He shuddered as he remembered the insidious feeling of something foreign crawling through his brain.
Rey noticed his unconscious tremor. "Are you okay?"
Her voice was soft and concerned. He opened his eyes and tried to smile. "I need some sleep," he told her. "I don't know how long I was unconscious, but it wasn't restful." He winked.
She scoffed and shook her head. "I don't imagine it was."
"What day is it?" he asked her, suddenly realizing he had no clue how long he had been a prisoner, either.
Rey told him the standard date. Not as long as he had feared, but still too long, he thought. "I don't suppose you know if they've heard anything about BB-8?"
Rey shook her head. "They haven't messaged us, but Leia's got everyone on the lookout."
"I'm sure the First Order does as well," he mumbled, grimacing. "I… I did my best to not let them know what I did with the map, but…" He closed his eyes again, the pain in his head intensifying once more.
"It looks like they did a number on you," Rey said softly. "Leia said… it's bad. What they do."
He swallowed and looked at her. "Yeah, but that wasn't the worst. I handled that. It was Ren that finished me."
Rey tilted her head at him. "What do you mean? What did he do?"
He focused on her. "He got in my head," he whispered. "Using the Force."
Rey drew back, horror on her face. "How?"
"I don't know." He blinked rapidly. "He focused on the map, and knew right away what I had done with it. But then he…" He took a deep breath. "He knows about you. He knows you're training with Leia to become a Jedi." Poe remembered seeing shock on the man's face as he drew back, the intense pain easing. He had almost collapsed with relief, but he was still aware of Ren's muttered, "I'll have to arrange a meeting with this Jedi."
"Once he gets that map, he'll come after you."
Rey looked unsettled for a moment, but then she reached forward, carefully brushing his hair away from the sore on his temple. "Well, I wish him luck," she said softly. "We've still got more than two hours. Why don't you sleep?"
And he did.
Rey woke him as they were entering D'Qar's atmosphere, and Poe was up quickly, shaking off the pain and fatigue that had been alleviated only slightly by his nap. Rey watched him with concerned eyes, but didn't say anything as she sat back in the pilot's seat and took over the landing procedure from Riva.
Leia was waiting for them on the tarmac, and Poe could tell from the expression on her face that she had news, but when he stepped off the ramp, instead of saying anything, she walked over to him and grabbed his shoulders lightly. She looked up at him, her eyes huge and full of relief. He closed his eyes and lowered his head, resting his forehead against hers, and she squeezed his shoulders gently, her own eyes closed. Finally, she took a deep breath, rubbed her hands along his arms briskly and pulled back.
"You look like hell, Dameron," she said wryly, blinking rapidly. "Get to the infirmary and have them look you over."
He nodded, but then asked, "Any word on BB-8?"
"You get looked at first, and if they give you the go-ahead, get back to Command."
"General…"
She interrupted. "And they will let me know if they've given you the go-ahead," she warned. "Go."
"Yes, Ma'am."
She turned to Rey as Poe made his way toward the infirmary. His whole being told him to rest, to recover, to sleep. But he couldn't. Not yet. Kalonia better give him the go-ahead.
Thirty-minutes later, with both a pain injection and a stimulant injection on board, as well as a strict verbal warning from the doc, Poe had the go-ahead, and he hurried as quickly as his tired legs would let him. When he made his way down the stairs to Command, he noticed Snap, Brance, and Ematt already there, as was Rey. They watched him as he entered the room, but though he gave Rey a glance, his focus was on Leia.
She frowned at him, but he simply raised his chin in response. She sighed heavily, then looked around the room at her officers. "One of Threepio's spy droids spotted a droid fitting BB-8's description on Takodana."
Poe looked around and saw more than a few confused expressions. "Takodana? Isn't that where Maz Kanata has her place?" He had met Maz a couple of times. Though the old pirate had refused to give her full allegiance to the Resistance, she had been the source of more than a few helpful bits of information for them in the past. "How did he get there?"
"Good question. Let's go get him so we can ask him." Leia nodded. "Let's go in prepared for a fight. If we know he's there, I'm sure the First Order does, too." With one last nod, Leia sent them out. "Poe, a word."
Both Rey and Snap slowed down, looking back as they left, worried expressions on their faces.
Poe stood still and waited until he and Leia were alone, then he looked her in the eye. "I'm fine, General. I'm alert and my thinking is clear and I want my droid back." His voice was soft but firm.
"I know, Commander," Leia answered. "And I'm not going to stop you. I just want to be sure you know that finding BB-8 and that map isn't going to be the end. That this is far from over, and you're going to drop at some point if you don't make yourself rest."
He nodded. "I promise, I will-"
One of the technicians suddenly rushed in, a panicked expression on his face. "General! We just got word!"
"What is it, Tilo?"
The man took a deep breath. "The Hosnian System has been destroyed."
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Rey watched as Poe entered the pilot's locker room. He glanced at her briefly, then headed for the sonic shower. She was already in her flight suit, so she called to him, "I'll get a droid to prep Black One."
He stopped, "I don't need…"
"Yes, you do," she cut him off. "Go shower, I'll make sure your ship is ready." She left the room and headed for the droid pool, not waiting for a response. "Sandy," she called as she entered the room. R3-B3 disengaged from the charging port and rolled forward immediately, chirping happily. "Go get the ship ready," she told him. "I'll be there in a bit." As her droid rolled out, she glanced around at the other droids. Most of the pilots had already come to retrieve their preferred astromech, so she knew she could choose from those that remained.
Her eye focused on the red and black droid towards the back of the room. "R0-H2, right?" she asked, and the droid beeped an affirmative. "You match the ship, so why don't you go with Commander Dameron on this trip?"
Instantly, the droid started squealing in protest.
"What?" Rey exclaimed, surprised at the droid's defiance. "What do you mean you're not flying that ship?" Several of the other droids began chirping, all of them saying similar things. Rey closed her eyes and shook her head. "All right! All right! Settle down!"
She squatted down and motioned R0 over to her. "Roz," she said, remembering the nickname one of the other pilots had given this droid. "We just got word that something very bad has happened. We need to find BB-8 and get the map that he is carrying, and Poe needs to be able to use his fighter. He can't fly her alone." She took a deep breath. "Now, I know you all seem to think Black One is…" she paused. "Insane. But you'll be with Poe and he'll keep you safe. For BB-8?"
Roz seemed to consider her words, then with a slight tremor, he rolled past her and headed for Black One.
With a sigh of her own, she turned away from the rest of the droids and headed for her own ship. Within minutes, she was in the cockpit and running through the pre-flight sequence. Sandy had run a diagnostic and the ship was ready to go. Suddenly, Poe's voice came over her headset.
"Okay, everyone. You all got the news. We need to be on our toes out there. Coordinates for Takodana should be in your nav systems." He paused and Rey called up the coordinates. "Our priority is BB-8 and the map, but someone helped him get to Takodana, and we've got to assume they're friendlies and that's why they took him to Maz, so we need to do our best to protect them, too."
Several voices responded to his orders with affirmations, and then it was time for lift off. Once in the air and heading toward the stars, Rey keyed in Poe's private comm. "So, when was the last time you wiped the memory of the computer on Black One?"
There was a pause. "It's been a while," Poe finally responded.
"The droids in the droid pool are terrified of her," Rey said. "She's not a droid that develops a personality if you don't wipe her memory, Poe. She just becomes a pain in the ass to work with."
Immediately, Poe became defensive. "You've seen how she flies!"
"I see how you fly her," Rey corrected. "You can fly any ship like that. What you don't need is your astromech spending half of its time fixing overburdened systems because you can't be bothered to give your ship the appropriate maintenance."
"Ouch!" Poe responded with a smile in his voice. "All right. As soon as we get a chance, I'll have them do a wipe. But if she slows down or doesn't maneuver like she should afterwards, I'm blaming you." There was a click as he connected his comm to an open channel. "Okay, everyone, jump on my mark. See you on the flip side!"
They came out of hyperspace with some distance between them and the planet, wary of the First Order, and their caution was warranted.
"Star Destroyer," Rey mumbled as they swooped toward the planet, making sure it was between them and the First Order ships already in orbit.
"Okay," Poe said as they neared atmo. "Maz' castle is on the water. I'm plotting us a route that will bring us in from the north. If we stay low over the lake, we should be able to stay off their sensors long enough for us to get an advantage. Expect TIEs as well as ground troops."
"Do you think they have whatever weapon they used to destroy the Hosnian System with them?" Snap asked.
"Kriff, I hope not," Poe muttered.
Soon the green forest they had been flying over changed to the smooth open expanse of a large lake. Rey's sensors picked up several enemy fighters up ahead, and they could see flames coming from what they had already destroyed. "They must really want that map," Rey said.
It was a rhetorical statement, but she heard Poe react with a soft, "Yeah." Then his voice got louder. "But we want it, too."
They were close enough to see what was left of Maz' castle now, and the dozen or so TIEs that were still swooping around it.
"Go straight ahead and don't let these dogs scare you!"
"Copy that!" Jess responded.
"We're with you, Poe!" Snap added, and then there was no more talking as they engaged the TIEs.
Rey could see several stormtroopers on the ground, as well as several civilians who looked to be prisoners. She instinctively headed for them, and Poe shadowed her. Between the two of them, the stormtroopers standing guard were dispatched, and the civilians rushed for the fallen weapons. She concentrated on the TIEs, but got slightly distracted when Iolo shouted over the comm.
"Is that the Millennium Falcon?"
The Millennium Falcon? She'd heard of that ship.
"Well, that explains why BB-8 is here," Poe said, a laugh in his voice. "The General is gonna be pissed."
"Or maybe not," Karè interjected. "It's always been one way or the other with those two."
Rey had no clue what they were all talking about. If memory served, the Millennium Falcon had achieved fame thanks to the smuggler turned rebel Han Solo. Which meant the General probably knew him. Or more?
Suddenly, a rather ominous looking Upsilon class shuttle rose from the surface behind the castle, flanked by several TIEs.
"Ren!" Poe said, venom in his voice.
"Should we go after him?" Snap asked.
"Negative!" Poe responded. "I just got a transmission from BB-8. He's in the forest hiding, and the surviving civilians are safe. We've done our job. For now." Rey could tell from the sound of his voice he would love nothing better than to blast that ship out of the sky, but it wouldn't be an easy thing to do, and it wasn't worth the effort right now.
"Transport Nakino preparing to land," a new voice sounded over their coms. The General's transport. "Commander, the General requests that your squad continue to patrol the area while she collects your droid and any survivors that want to come with us." Violent attacks like this often brought about new members to the Resistance. If the destruction of Hosnia Prime didn't scare them off.
"Copy that," Poe answered. His voice sounded strange, but Rey didn't get a sense that it was in reaction to his orders.
She switched to the private channel again. "Poe, what's wrong?"
She heard him take a deep breath. "I thought I saw the trooper that rescued me down there on the surface. It surprised me, but it makes sense. He knew why I was going back for BB-8 before we crashed. He must be the reason BB-8 is safe."
"That's amazing," Rey said. "Sounds like he'll be a perfect fit for the Resistance." She paused. "What's the thing about the Falcon?" she asked.
A soft, humorless chuckle sounded in her ear. "Han Solo is the General's husband, Rey. They've been separated for almost five years, now. It wasn't a kind parting, but Force knows they could never be apart forever."
"So, he's Ren's father?" Rey asked softly.
"Yeah," Poe affirmed. "Ben and what he became is the reason they split." There was definite sadness in Poe's voice now, and Rey felt an almost overwhelming grief of her own at his words.
It looked like things were going to get very interesting in the days ahead.
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