"They didn't come," Finn said, softly.
It had been weeks, now, and he wasn't quite correct – the Resistance had rebuilt itself from a single tiny band of survivors, fleeing on the Falcon. He knew it wasn't quite right.
There were more than a dozen fighters in the Resistance now. Even a couple of cruisers.
But it still burned.
"I don't get it," he admitted, staring at his hands. "Why didn't… is everyone so afraid?"
"You want the truth?" Poe said, sitting down next to him. "I think they are afraid… but not for themselves."
Finn looked up. "Huh?"
"Look, uh… I was thinking about the same thing you were," Poe said, glancing over at the camouflaged airfield. "Or, uh, I heard some of what you were saying, and I kind of guessed the rest."
Finn snorted. "I guess that works… not like anyone's thinking about anything else."
Poe smirked, then sobered. "It's… look, Finn. I don't know how much of this is because of your, uh… upbringing? And how much of it is just stuff where I think I've spotted something and I think you haven't. And it could be me that's wrong here or maybe not. But… what the First Order did to Hosnian, it was terrifying. And everyone saw it."
Finn nodded along. "Right, I get that – but we blew up Starkiller Base!"
"We say we did," Poe corrected. "That's the difference. The First Order hasn't said anything about it, and they occasionally hint about dire consequences for anyone who joins the Resistance… look, maybe it's just a chance to talk about this with you, but for years we were the Resistance because nobody really cared about the First Order. Except us. To everyone else they were no threat to the New Republic, they weren't even worth sending ships to deal with.."
"Right, I remember that bit, at least," Finn said. "All the, uh, education I got stressed how the Resistance was breaking the law?"
"That's… kind of iffy," Poe admitted. "There isn't a law against joining the Resistance, but a hell of a lot of the stuff we use to fight with is modern military equipment that's illegal to sell outside the military. And we're not military."
He rubbed his temples. "And the First Order went straight from who-the-kriff-are-these-guys to blowing up Hosnian Prime, and I don't think everyone's recovered yet. Maybe eventually, eventually people are going to start thinking straight again, or start pushing the boundaries a bit, but right now people are scared that they'll blow another planet up if anyone helps the Resistance too much. Or even puts up too much resistance when a First Order Star Destroyer shows up in orbit and starts doing what they want."
Finn winced. "Okay, now I think I get it."
Poe nodded.
"It's rough," he agreed. "So right now, what we need to do is… well, show that not everyone's just rolling over for them. Show the First Order that they don't get to pick how this war's going."
The ex-Trooper turned that thought over in his mind. "So… we're trying to convince everyone that it's still a fight at all, and that it's worth trying to win," he tried.
"Right," Poe grinned. "See, you catch on fast!"
He clapped Finn on the shoulder. "Now, I could use your help on a hit-and-fade operation I'm thinking of. I still have to run it past the General, but if you're willing to help out then that means I can say someone's on board."
Finn looked over at the airfield, dubious. "Unless I missed some kind of drastic change, your new X-Wing still only seats two, and one of them's BB-8," he said. "What do you need me for?"
"I need someone who knows how Imps talk," Poe explained. "Not the codes, we've got a few of those, but the whole… how they talk. We got hold of an Imp shuttle that'll fit my X-Wing… with a bit of work… and I want to fly it right into a logistics base acting like a legitimate delivery and then smoke everything in sight before jumping out."
His friend rolled his eyes. "Wow, so, in this plan you're the one in the fighter and I'm the one in the slow defenceless shuttle?"
"Hey, if you want to swap, be my guest…"
AN:
A bit of thought about why the galaxy didn't rise up at the end of TLJ.