Will of the Many~ Poe Dameron

Shots not taken saves lives, or so they say

Please don't expect me to always be good and kind and loving. There are times when I will be cold and thoughtless and hard to understand...

-Sylvia Plath

Serena stood at the back of the room with crossed arms and a lazy gaze as she waited for General Leia to stop drawing on. For a leader who was known for her hope-filled speeches, they were insufferable. Serena didn't need hope. She needed action. 

"Serena?"

The General sufficiently pulled Serena from her daydream. 

She stood up straight and dropped her arms as she looked towards the front of the room. Every officer, commander, and anyone else who was forced to come to the meetings had their eyes set to her. She felt huge under their scrutinizing eyes while simultaneously as if she made a mistake without having done anything. 

"An ally gave us a tip about a specific First Order fleet." Leia clued Serena in as she noticed the dull look in her eyes. "According to our source, the fleet is set to scavenge the next system over. This is obviously too close for comfort, so I want to send you, as well as our best squadron to observe-" Leia gave Poe a stern look. Serena's eyes floated over to the pilot who raised his hands in defeat. "And assess the situation. If action is needed, radio back to me and I will give the final word."

Action.

Serena itched to do something. It had been weeks since she left the base, and while she knew she pleaded for a life free of Kylo Ren, she didn't think it would be so boring. 

But... what Leia was insinuating meant she was being sent to kill the very same Storm Troopers she helped program and train. She was being sent to be used. 

"What type of action?" Serena stepped up to the last row of seats as she asked Leia. The officers sitting in the seats in front of her bent off to the side to avoid standing in her way. "Are you proposing genocide, General?" Serena quirked a barely visible brow as murmurs spread through the room. 

"You always have a way of twisting my words." Leia did not let Serena's taunt phase her. She moved around her podium and lifted her hands towards Serena. "But I do want what's best for my Resistance. If that fleet were to become a viable threat to us... I would rather protect my own then-"

"The brain washed Storm Troopers?" Serena cut her off. She felt the room's heavy gasp before it came. It altered the energy flowing around her, but she was too amused by her game to notice. "My intel helps prepare you for possible weapon threats and leads on recruitment vessels, but I think you all forget I know all about the First Order." She let her gaze sweep over the room. "Those very same Storm Troopers you are so keen on killing..." She over enunciated the word so they would feel its heavy weight. "Were just children ripped from their homes and their families and were forced to serve the First Order. It was either kill or be killed for them." She paused on Poe's face. His eyes poured misunderstanding as he looked her way. "I think most of you here would understand that."

Serena looked back to Leia to see the conflict swimming in her dark eyes. "I understand what you want from me, General. But understand me... you're playing a very dangerous game here. You're stating that the lives of your people are more important than the lives of others."

"We are!" One officer yelled at Serena. 

Instead of showing her surprise at the courageously stupid outburst, she tried to find the man in the crowd. By the way his shoulders suddenly sunk in towards his chest and his head bowed, she assumed she found her man. "What measures a person's worth?" She asked him specifically. She tilted her head excessively to show the imbecile she meant it rhetorically. "Obviously there are the normal measurements: intelligence, strength, perseverance-" She listed them off on her fingers. She stopped at the third one and looked him over. "None of which you seem to possess and yet there you sit, telling me and the entire Resistance before you that you deserve to live while someone you have never met deserves to be slaughtered."