"Wait a minute," the man next to her mutters under his breath, eyes widening in disbelief before he takes off running in the same direction as BB-8. "Poe?" He shouts as he runs. "Poe Dameron, you're alive?"
"Buddy!" Poe exclaims, standing from the ground and running towards the man to meet him in an embrace. "So are you!"
Indira watches in confusion as the two men burst into an enthusiastic conversation filled with lots of excited hand gestures after breaking apart from their hug. Hanging back at a distance, she glances over at BB-8 before nudging him gently with her foot.
"Who is he?" She whispers, nodding towards the stranger. BB-8 gives a few short beeps in response and Indira's eyes widen. "Wait a minute. That's Finn? The Finn?"
The astromech droid nods, beeping in confirmation and Indira shakes her head in disbelief as it all begins to make sense. I sort of named him Finn, Poe had told her about the stormtrooper that helped him escape from the First Order. I managed to eject his seat before we crashed, but I don't know if he survived. Evidently, he had and somehow managed to find his way back to Poe with BB-8 in tow.
"Indira!" Poe shouts, waving her over enthusiastically once he catches sight of her. "You have to meet Finn. He's the one I told you about — the one who helped me escape from the First Order."
Indira approaches with wide eyes, reaching out her hand to shake Finn's. "It's so good to meet you," she tells him. "Poe told me all about you."
"Oh," Finn says, almost startled before he shakes her hand. "I mean. Uh, it's good to meet you, too."
"BB-8 said that you saved him," Poe tells Finn, eyes shining with admiration.
"No, no, no," Finn protests quickly, shaking his head back and forth. "It wasn't just me."
Poe, seemingly distracted, continues to talk over him. "You completed my mission, Finn. I —" he cuts himself off before looking down at Finn's clothing. "That's my jacket."
"Oh," Finn says again, quickly moving to shrug it off.
"No, no, no," Poe stops him before he can remove it fully. "Keep it; it suits you." He bites his lip before punching Finn on the shoulder. "You're a good man, Finn."
Finn's face turns somber and he completely ignores the compliment. "Poe," he says gravely. "I need your help."
The pilot's brow furrows as he senses the change in the other man's mood. "Sure, pal. Anything."
The ex-stormtrooper takes a deep breath. "I need to speak to General Organa," he tells him. "Can you manage that?"
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POE LEADS THE WAY to the base command center without hesitation. The general is already deep in conversation with several of her advisors — including Snap, Connix, and Admiral Ackbar — but Poe doesn't bat an eyelash before interrupting them. He walks towards the general with purpose, crossing the room in a few strides before he reaches her.
