Kyber Heart - Poe Dameron

Chapter 39

Two sets of hands quickly emerged, shaking as they frantically signalled for surrender and a ceasefire. Two voices accompanied them – panicked but familiar.

"Hold your fire!" Poe ordered over the din of blaster bolts, holding up his hand to signal to those further back. The command was quickly obeyed, though everyone kept a firm hold of their weapons.

Nova felt a weight lift off her chest as Finn and Rose emerged from the ship, both dressed in First Order uniforms and looking, understandably, rather shaken.

The Resistance seemed to collectively relax with its leadership as they lowered their weapons, looking on in a mix of surprise and relief and the sight of their comrades.

"Finn, Rose! You're not dead!" Poe called. "Where's my droid?"

The ship's ramp dropped, revealing the orange and white droid. He rolled towards his master, beeping and whistling enthusiastically, running off events in binary faster than anyone could hope to keep up with.

Poe met him halfway, dropping to his knees to embrace and show his droid some affection, pressing his forehead to the droid's dome of a head. He could barely manage to catch fragments of what her was recounting, but in the moment he did not much care.

BB-6 rolled from behind Nova's ankles to join the reunion with their fellow droid. They too were whirring off events faster than most people could process, giving Poe and Nova a few side glances in reference to them at various points.

The recount concluded, BB-8 turned his attention back to Poe, pausing before firmly pushing himself into his shins. It was enough to sting and knock the pilot back a step so as to keep his balance, but it got the point across. The droid was less than impressed by his master's behaviour.

The BB units circled back to rest beside Nova's ankles, looking up at her like two proud yet mischievous children. The Commander crouched down to their level, placing her hand on BB-8's head as her own greeting to him, while turning a chiding expression to her own droid.

"Bee, I would have expected better from you," she gently scolded, no real venom behind her words.

They whistled back a defence.

"It's okay," Poe said, offering Nova a sheepish half-smile. "I deserved it."

Nova returned the smile, holding his gaze for a second or two. It was a return to the familiar – or at least the first steps in that direction. Neither of them wanted to remain hostile to each other, it simply was not worth it. But finding where to go next was a minefield that would take care to navigate.

Rose glanced around the Resistance, her face dropping and voice becoming grave as she noticed their depleted numbers – what had been four hundred whittled down to barely fifty.

"Is this all that's left?"

Poe sighed. "You know which end of a hydrospanner is which, that makes you our engineering department. Follow me, we need you."

---

Gaining access to the base's control room allowed the Resistance to begin establishing themselves. Monitors and systems were unpacked and setup. Old controls dusted off, spliced, and given new batteries for a fresh burst of life.

"Alright," Poe said. "Shields are up so they can't hit us from orbit. Use whatever power we have to broadcast a distress signal to the Outer Rim."

"Use my personal code," Leia said. "If there are any allies to the Resistance, it's now or never."

Rose entered, exhaustion creeping into her expression and the way she carried herself. The mission and return to so many losses had taken a toll on her, both physically and emotionally.

Nova entered after her, wiping her hands on her already dirtied green trousers.

"What have we got?" Poe asked, though her could guess from the women's expressions that the answer would be disappointing.

"Rotted munitions, rusted artillery, and some half-gutted ski speeders," the mechanic listed off somewhat bitterly.

"Well," the pilot shook his head. "Let's just pray that big-ass door holds long enough for us to get help."

As if in response, a loud boom shook the room, shaking loose a layer of red dust from the ceiling. The vulptices squeaked to one another at the new and at that moment unknown threat to their hideout and home. Another boom followed soon after – undoubtably the First Order was responsible. It had only been a matter of time.

And it would only be a matter of time until they broke through to the Resistance within. The base was hardly a fortress. And the enemy would crack the very planet in two to get to them.