The Broken Ones | REYLO [Complete]

3. Coruscant

--FINN--

The slanted walls of the crumbling Jedi temple tower over us as Poe lands his two-seater X-Wing on a hidden platform. The canopy opens with a hiss, exposing us to the stale air of Coruscant's artificial climate.

"I had no idea this place was so huge," Poe mutters, gazing up at the imposing structure. "How'd Vader take down the whole thing by himself? I mean, I get he was tough and all, but even for him that seems almost impossible." He presses a button on the control panel and BB-8 is lowered to the ground.

"He had help, remember? The Imperial stormtroopers were the Republic's clone army before they turned on the Jedi during the execution of Order 66." I grab my blaster from its perch beside me, hop over the side of the cockpit, and slide down the ladder. My feet hit the ground with a thud and send up a cloud of dust.

Poe looks down at me, head tilted. "How do you know so much about all that? I learned all about it during training but I barely remember anything now."

I grin up at him and shrug. "Ex-Stormtrooper, remember? Now come on, let's get inside. I feel like we're being watched." Poe drops down beside me and motions for BB-8 to follow us. We all take a moment to glance around, acting like we don't know they're already there, watching our every move. I think BB-8 is more nervous than me and Poe combined.

Okay, maybe I lied. Rambling is always the tell-tale sign of how anxious I am. "Did you know the Emperor took over the Jedi temple after all the Jedi were killed? He redecorated and everything, then had all his Imperial guards moved in and set up base. It's like the entire Clone War - especially Order 66 - was just so he could get a new place to live. Do you think--"

"Finn, no offense buddy, but I need you to shut up for, like, five minutes." Poe holds my gaze until I nod. So much for filling the awkward silence.

Ten minutes later, we finally find the main entrance and make it up the many, many stairs. My back is aching from helping BB-8 up - apparently whoever designed the spherical BB units didn't think about the droids encountering stairs.

"How are we supposed to get in?" Poe asks, gesturing to the fallen statues blocking our path. I walk around, searching for a place we might be able to break through, but can't find anything.

"I guess we have to climb over." I pull my ascension gun off my belt and fire the grappling hook over the statue. It hooks on the stone and pulls tight. "I got BB-8 up here, you can carry him over," I call out as I grapple over the shattered image of the Emperor. Poe groans behind me, but pulls out his hook anyway.

Cold, dead air blows against my back, sending shivers up my spine despite the heavy jacket I'm wearing. I turn into the shadows and my jaw drops. "What the...?"

"Finn, catch!" I barely have time to turn before a squealing blur of orange and white is dropping on top of me. My back hits the ground as the droid lands on my chest, shoving all the air out of my lungs in one huge huff.

"What the hell, Poe?!" I wheeze. I shove BB-8 off of me and he trills in protest. "You could've killed me! He's heavier than he looks."

Poe drops to the ground and grins at me. "You think I don't know that? I just carried him over the statue. Now quit whining and get up. We have work to do."

I grumble as I get to my feet and brush the dust off my clothes. "Do you even know what we're supposed to be looking for? General Organa wasn't very specific when she gave us our orders."

Poe shrugs. "She just said to look out for anything left by the Emperor and his people. Basically, anything they could use to spy on us or hurt us. Apparently this is where Luke wants to train the next Jedi, if Leia can convince him to start recruiting again."