Stardust ━━ Star Wars

━ 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘅𝘅

     "General Organa," the pilot calls out as Indira and Finn hurry to keep up with him. "This is Finn. He needs to talk to you."

     The general looks at Finn with curious eyes, pulling away from the rest of her entourage. "And I need to talk to him," she comments, greeting Finn with a warm smile as she takes his hand. "That was incredibly brave, what you did. Renouncing the First Order, saving this man's life —"

      "Thank you, ma'am," Finn cuts her off in a way that isn't quite disrespectful, but still bold for someone who is speaking to the General Leia Organa. "But a friend of mine was taken prisoner on Takodana —"

     Leia's eyes grow sad. "Han told me about the girl," she says. "I'm sorry."

     Finn falls silent at that, looking absolutely startled. Noticing his friend's reticence, Poe quickly jumps in to speak. "Finn is familiar with the weapon that destroyed the Hosnian system," he interjects. "He worked on the base."

     Immediately, Leia's eyes brighten. "We're desperate for anything you can tell us."

     "That's where my friend was taken," Finn replies quickly. "I've got to get there — fast."

     "And I will do everything I can to help her," Leia tells him; patient yet firm. "But first I need you to tell us everything you know."

     Seeming to realize that the Resistance has bigger priorities than one missing girl in the aftermath of the destruction of an entire planetary system, Finn nods slowly. If getting to Rey required him to give away all the secrets the First Order shared with him, he would gladly surrender every last one.

      "I will," he agrees and Leia squeezes his hand gratefully before letting go.

      "Thank you. Admiral Ackbar will debrief you," she tells him, motioning the Mon Calamari male forward.

     "Come with me, young man," the admiral says, voice deep and rumbling as he takes in the sight of the former stormtrooper. "I wish to hear everything and anything you have to say. I have a great many questions to ask you."

     The admiral leads Finn to a secluded area of the room while Indira and Poe watch from a distance. In the brief moment of calm amongst all the chaos, Indira allows herself to lean up against one of the nearby tables and close her eyes, rubbing at her temples with two fingers. From beside her, Poe watches with concern.

     "Hey," he says gently, bumping her shoulder with his. "You okay?"

     Indira forces herself to smile and nod, blinking quickly. "Just a headache," she tells him. "I'll be fine."

      He frowns slightly, drawing her in close by tugging gently on her hand. His lips brush against her forehead and she closes her eyes briefly, allowing herself to lean against him for a moment of stability in the midst of all the chaos. It's intimate and very public, but Indira can't find it in herself to protest. She inhales deeply, breathing in his comforting scent, before squeezing his hand gratefully and stepping back just as C-3PO begins an announcement.

     "General, I regret to inform you, but this map recovered from BB-8 is only partially recovered," the droid reports as it uploads the file into one of the computers. "And even worse, it matches no charted system on record. We simply do not have enough information to locate Master Luke."

     Instantly, Indira sees the general's shoulders sag with defeat. Her mouth curves down into a frown as she stares at the map's projection forlornly. "I can't believe I was so foolish to think that I could just find Luke and bring him home," she mutters.