Star Wars IX- Balance Of The Force

Chapter 19 - Welcome to the Resistance

Colonel Poe Dameron sat in his quarters on his bunk; it made a nice change from sitting at the holo table at the command centre. It was late on Maridun; the light outside was a dusky glow through the slot window in his quarters. Outside would be a sea of grass and not much else, the site of a great war during the years of the Senate. The Resistance had chosen Maridun for that exact reason: it was empty of life, but due to being used during the war, it had outcrops of buildings which they'd quickly converted into a temporary base. Poe was preparing to get some sleep, though he doubted he'd get any. He hadn't slept for more than an hour or so since they'd had news of the prisoners and the evacuation of Ealor. As Poe removed his jacket, he could hear a commotion from outside; had Princess Leia finally arrived? Several other members of the New Republic had arrived, including her deputy and loyal friend General Lando Calrissian, but she had not. Admiral Nunb had sent a ship to collect her, but communication with them had so far failed. Leia was in the outer rim, but she should have been here by now or at least communicated. Poe's fretting was disturbed by BB8 rolling in, beeping and tooting animatedly; the little droid's head spinning back and forth on its spherical body as it tried to get Poe to gain a sense of urgency and join it.

"Slow down, buddy, give me the short version."

BB8 beeped again, more slowly, if a droid could be sarcastic or condescending. BB8's beeps were achieving that sense as its head tilted back and then to the side as though rolling its eyes or sighing.

"They're back!" Poe jumped to his feet and ran out of his quarters towards the base's exit where the ships were docked, BB8 struggling to keep up at his side. The Millennium Falcon was there, and despite the late hour, a crowd had gathered. The ramp was down, and the Resistance members on board were departing: Rose, Finn, Jakub, Chewie and Maz. There were cheers, and friends ran over, embracing or patting them on the back. Jakub, in particular, was enjoying being around friends. Poe could see he'd been away from them all for so long. His wide grin was huge, and his white teeth were showing as he embraced his comrades. Then everything changed. Literally, everyone, including Poe, froze, and a deafening silence suddenly fell over the crowd as Rey came down the ramp with her arm around Kylo Ren! Poe's mouth dropped in shock. He knew it had been a possibility that Kylo Ren would be with them, but not like this, not with his arm around Rey. What was she doing? Poe felt resentment rising in him; he closed his mouth, held his lips tight, and stalked towards the pair.

-X-

Rey was helping Ben down the boarding ramp; she could hear the excited cheers of her friends and smiled at the greetings. Jakub had such a crowd around him. She was glad; he and Kira had been gone in the First Order initiative for so long. She could feel the moisture of Ben's blood on her arm, and she tried to pick up their pace. However, Ben's body went rigid under her touch, and she looked up at him and then looked in the direction of his gaze. It had become eerily quiet, silent even. All the excited friends and comrades were staring in her direction, no correction, in Ben's direction. She could see a mixture of emotions on the faces around her: anger, disbelief, shock, confusion, hurt and fear. People were shaking their heads; she had known it wasn't going to be easy bringing Ben to the Resistance. She knew the hurt he'd caused those closest to her, but the impact he'd had on the whole Resistance was something she hadn't considered. She'd convinced him this was the right thing to do, that it would be hard but that he'd be accepted. Oh, stars, was she wrong? Was bringing him here a bad idea? Next to her, Ben removed his arm from around her shoulder and attempted to stand unaided. She heard him hiss through his teeth as he held his ribs. She remained at his side, watching the faces of her friends survey her in a way she was unaccustomed to, not with a welcoming kindness but uncertainty. Poe was stalking towards them, and he looked furious, his lips tight, and his eyes had an unfamiliar dark tone. Poe stopped in front of them, staring directly up at Ben, not even glancing at her. He was breathing rapidly, and she could tell he was trying to make a decision. Ben looked back without emotion or malice, patiently waiting for whatever Poe was trying to decide. Poe took one deep breath the decision made and punched Ben in the face hard, a decently weighted right hook. Ben's head veered towards her, but other than that, his posture somehow remained unchanged. His hair had fallen across his face, and he pursed his lips containing his anger. He then purposefully and slowly turned his head back towards Poe, saying nothing but holding Poe's gaze, inviting another punch if that was what Poe wanted. Poe gave a dissatisfied smirk and stepped slightly to the side to allow Ben to walk past him if he chose to.