Kyber Heart - Poe Dameron

Chapter 11

Han and Rey entered, the former going straight to check on Chewie, who was still confined to the bunk off to the side.

Rey went for her companions, quietly checking in with Finn and Nova before taking the seat beside the engineering station.

"Don't say that, you did great," Han assured the Wookiee, patting him on the shoulder, before turning to address Finn. "Great job, kid. Thanks."

"You're welcome," Finn responded earnestly, leaning forward on the table. Doing so brought it to life, displaying a long untouched game of holo-chess, the pieces still mid-move. He frowned, searching for the switch to turn it off, with little success.

"So, fugitives, huh?" Han asked. He almost sounded amused, looking between the highly unlikely trio and droid. Not exactly what one would expect to see causing the First Order trouble. Then again, he had been part of a similarly unlikely group all those years ago.

"The First Order wants the map," Rey supplied, nodding to her friends. "Nova and Finn are with the Resistance. I'm just a scavenger."

Han examined them sceptically – Finn more so than Nova. There was no doubt in his mind that she was the real deal Resistance fighter. He saw her without seeing her.

Finn however was where he was unsure. He could handle himself well in a battle, but all that showed was that he was a survivor, not a fighter. His skillset certainly was a little peculiar, but further evaluation could wait.

Chewie on the other hand, had seen Nova. He was watching her curiously, trying to determine if she could in fact be the same girl he had helped to raise. The girl with a knack for trouble and a bright light in her eyes. A light that had since been buried deep, covered by layers of shadow.

Nova would glance at him every now and then, but overall did her best to ignore it and act casual – remaining quiet and to herself.

"Let's see whatcha got," Han said, gesturing to BB-8.

The droid looked back to Nova, waiting for permission.

She nodded. "Go ahead."

He rolled to the centre of the room, projecting the map the fill the room. It started in a rigid shape – a section of a larger whole – before expanding to show whole star systems, all brilliantly depicted in the holographic shades of blue.

"This map's not complete," Han noted. "It's just a piece."

"It's a start," Nova said. "We've been after it for months."

"Ever since Luke disappeared, people have been looking for him." He became quiet, distant. There was more that he wanted to say, but it would pain him to do so.

Luke had not been the only person he had lost.

Nova nodded.

The mission to find Luke had been made her top priority as she acted as second in command for all operations concerned – Poe had insisted upon it when he hand-picked each pilot for the team known as Black Squadron.

"Why'd he leave?" Rey asked, eyes fixed on the map in awe.

"He was training a new generation of Jedi. One boy, an apprentice turned against him, destroyed it all." He pursed his lips, remembering. "Luke felt responsible... he just walked away from everything."

"Do you know what happened to him?" Finn inquired, also thoroughly enthralled by the story.

"There're a lot of rumours," Nova said.

"Stories," Han agreed. "The people who knew him best think he went looking for the first Jedi temple."

"The Jedi were real?" Rey gasped.