Stardust ━━ Star Wars

━ 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘅𝗹

"Right now, she's stable," Indira replies, fiddling with the crystal around her neck. "But she nearly didn't make it."

Stefan rubs a hand over his face. "It's amazing," he says, eyes wide. "Their family and the things they can do. I never believed that stories about the Force and the Jedi were true until I saw it with my own eyes."

"Yeah," Indira echoes. "Yeah, me too."

"Do you think Skywalker will come back?" Stefan asks in a hushed voice. "I heard people talk when we were still on the base; everyone said that a girl from Jakku was sent to find him. But that was months ago, wasn't it?"

She shrugs, feeling her heart rate elevate slightly. "I don't know if Rey will come back," Indira admits, rubbing her forehead to ward off an encroaching headache. "With the way things are going right now, I don't know if we'll even be around to see it if she does."

"I'm sure that someone has a plan," Stefan replies optimistically. "We'll make it out of this. If there's one thing I learned during my time with the First Order, it's to never underestimate the Resistance; especially when you think you have them cornered." His lips twitch into a bitter smile. "That's a lesson Hux was never quite able to grasp."

Hux. The mention of the First Order general reminds Indira of Raena Nhagy, who she had last seen disappearing into the blazing inferno of the destroyed hangar. She knows Raena can't die, but she has to wonder just how invincible the assassin is. Had she made it out of the hangar alive? Or did she succumb to the flames of the explosion?

"Well, then let's hope that General Hux is still an arrogant tool," Indira replies with a wan smile as the doors to the elevator open. "I'll see you later, Stefan."

The secondary bridge is filled to the brim with Resistance troopers. Pilots, technicians, and soldiers alike crowd the room, putting it at full capacity. As crowded as it may seem, Indira knows that the number of people on the ship is not nearly enough to win a war against the First Order; not when they have hundreds of thousands of disposable troops at their hands to serve in their army. The Resistance ranks couldn't be more than five hundred people at this point and that was being generous.

Indira sees Poe standing near the front of the room between Finn and an Abednedo male named C'ai Threnalli. BB-8 is propped against Poe's leg, but when the astromech droid spots her it rolls out of the way, leaving room for Indira to slip into the space between Finn and Poe.

"Hey," Indira says, tweaking BB-8's antenna fondly. "Did I miss anything?"

Poe shakes his head. "Haven't started yet," he informs her. "How's Leia?"

"Stable," she sighs. "But still unconscious."

Poe frowns and crosses his arms over his chest, but says nothing else. At the front of the room, Commander D'Acy — one of the few officers left — steps up to the center, clearing her throat to gain everyone's attention. The hubbub of the room dies down instantly as everyone gives her their complete and undivided attention.

"General Organa — Leia — is unconscious, but recovering," the older woman announces, swallowing harshly. "That's the only good news I have. Admiral Ackbar, all our leadership — they're gone. Leia was the sole survivor on the bridge."

Even though she had already known this, the words still hurt to hear and Indira flinches. A wave of chatter goes around the room as people begin to whisper uneasily. "Oh dear, oh dear," C-3PO mutters nearby and Indira wishes that, for once, the droid would shut up for the sake of her peace of mind.

"If Leia were here," D'Acy continues, silencing the room, "she'd say: save your sorrow for after the fight. To that end, the chain of command is clear as to who should take her place: Vice Admiral Holdo of the cruiser Ninka."