Colonel Poe Dameron stood to attention at the holo table at the command centre at the Resistance's base on Ealor. He was waiting for the other leaders to join the meeting; he needed to speak to Princess Leia, General Organa, head of the New Republic, and General Calrissian, Leia's second in command, with regard to the New Republic's leaders. Colonel Dameron was also waiting on the heads of the Resistance:- Admiral Nunb and General Ematt. All the Resistances' previous leaders, most notably the renowned Admiral Ackbar, were dead after the First Order attack after fleeing D'Qar. Those who were left had to step in and step up, including Poe. Colonel Poe Dameron did have a nice ring to it, but as a result of his promotion, he'd been sitting or standing at this table more and more. What he had to tell the other leaders was mostly bad news. Some information was interesting information, but nothing that would necessarily lead anywhere but to more bad news.
R2-D2 had returned to base without Rey; this hadn't been wholly a surprise if she'd been able to capture Kylo Ren with the ground fighters on Fondor that had been the plan. However, from the open comms device Rey had been wearing, R2-D2 was able to ascertain that the ground troops were mostly dead on arrival. R2-D2 had overheard her encounter with Kylo Ren, and R2 had gone on to beep animatedly that Kylo Ren had turned on his Knights and that Rey and the Supreme Leader had fled- together! Poe had asked R2 many questions, but the droid had said the comms device had cut out. R2 assumed due to the transport in which Rey had fled, leaving planetside and had, as ordered, returned to base. Although all this news had alarmed Poe, the information that followed had given Poe every reason to fear and request this meeting with the other leaders.
After Crait, Finn had come to Leia with a suggestion- infiltrate the First Order. He had given a good argument. Most stormtroopers like Finn had no choice in their membership. They were programmed from childhood, if not from birth, to be soldiers and obey. They were nameless and, with the helmets on, faceless soldiers. In the troops' barracks, however, when given time to rest and eat, troopers interacted with each other. They were a close-knit team, even friends. Given the option to be something else, anything else, or have a genuine home, how many stormtroopers might also deflect? Finn's plan was for a few Resistance members to infiltrate each ship and recruit, potentially bringing the First Order down from the inside or providing useful intelligence. Finn had trained a small group- enough for one to two on each ship, eventually increasing that number over time. He'd taught them fighting styles, how to stand, and how to respond to the higher officers. When a conflict of low significance they knew about was taking place, they'd capture a lone stormtrooper or two- swap the clothes and a Resistance fighter had taken their place aboard the returning shuttle. The captured stormtroopers were then given a choice- freedom or join the Resistance. Poe had been surprised that all had chosen the Resistance. Finn reminded him, however, that it wasn't necessarily because they believed in the cause; it was more likely because they had nowhere else to go. Every stormtrooper was an orphan, and the First Order was their home.
Poe had received his recent worrying and dreadful news from three separate resistance fighters within the First Order. Both Jakub and Kira had made contact from onboard the Supremacy, and then equivalent information from Altor on one of the Dreadnaughts had confirmed the situation. Poe was pulled out of these deliberations when the holo table in front of him finally came to life- Leia, Nunb and Ematt greeted him.
"Good morning. Princess, we've had intel that I feel you all should be aware of. I've called you here to discuss our next steps".
Even through the hologram, Poe could see Leia cringe when he called her Princess. The members of the New Republic had insisted she no longer be referred to as General. As the leader of the Resistance, she'd been General Organa. As the voice of the New Republic, her former title was necessary- they had said. Necessary; how could you call yourself a Princess when the world you were a Princess on was long gone, had been Leia's argument? Her annoyance had simply amused Poe; the memory of what Lor San Tekka had said stirred 'To me, she's royalty', and she was. Leia had told Poe once about her mother, not her adopted mother who was, in fact, Queen of Alderaan, but her birth mother- Padme Amidala, once Queen of Naboo. Apparently, on Naboo, Queen was a political title, someone voted into power to serve the Senate. Poe had smiled at her and told her to consider the title Princess to be the same thing. The Resistance and Republic had voted, and she was their leader, their voice. That had brought an end to her arguments, but she still grimaced whenever someone said it.
"Get on with it, Poe," Leia retorted, without using his new title, a slight glint of a smile in her eyes as if to say two could play that game. Poe nodded.
"As you know, Rey went on a lone mission to Fondor to attempt to help the native Resistance fighters in their conflict and potentially capture Supreme Leader Kylo Ren. She has not returned. R2-D2 informs me she left Fondor with Supreme Leader Kylo Ren. I've since had intel from Jakub and Kira onboard the Supremacy that General Hux sent his guard Chromia to follow Supreme Leader Kylo Ren and that Hux has now also left the Supremacy. Altor has informed us General Hux is now aboard his Dreadnought, as are Supreme Leader Kylo Ren and Rey. Altor informed us that they are both prisoners." Poe paused, viewing the furrowed brows and concerned expressions on the three holograms in front of him; this next bit was going to make those expressions even worse. "Altor has also said that Kylo Ren is being tortured and that Hux is planning to go back to the Supremacy with the prisoners who will stand trial for their crimes." Poe attempted to keep his face stoic; he knew, however, that what he'd just said would have been hard for Leia to hear.
Even on the hologram, he could see her distress; her face had fallen. Her hand had come into view as she held her face. Best to continue, Poe thought, get it over with.
"If our intelligence is to be believed, and I have no reason to doubt it, then General Hux intends to establish himself as Kylo Ren's successor, take over the First Order's leadership and become Supreme Leader. With Rey as his prisoner, I'm advising as a precaution that we all evacuate our current positions."
Since the issues on D'Qar transports had always been fully fueled and computer systems backed up, that still wouldn't mean an evacuation would be quick. It would just be slightly faster.
"Agreed," General Ematt responded first. "We'll start moving the troops immediately.
"The ships will be at your destinations and ready for the departure to Maridun," Nunb followed. Maridun was the next planet they'd planned to use once Ealor became compromised. A mostly uninhabited grassland, but there would be some basic buildings left behind after the Clone Wars that they could utilise.
Leia spoke, "What about Rey?"
"As long as you agree with the course of action, Princess, I thought we might discuss that matter privately?" Poe offered.
She nodded, "General Ematt, Admiral Nunb, you have your orders. I'll inform our New Republic members to evacuate."
The two other holograms disappeared, and Poe and Leia were alone.
He sat, looking at the table.
"I'm so sorry, Leia."
He had no love for Kylo Ren, none whatsoever. He was a monster, but Leia he cared for deeply, and he knew how much she'd lost and how much this would hurt her.
"What do you propose to do, Colonel?"
Poe raised his head.
"A small rescue mission, if you agree. We'll use our spies already on the Supremacy and Finn. More numbers will cause more notice. Keep it quiet; we need to be stealthy. The First Order doesn't know we've infiltrated their ranks. I'd ask Chewie, but both he and his ship are too recognisable, although we will need a diversion. I'll have to think about that one." Poe paused again, not wanting to cause Leia any more pain. "We need to do this quickly. Altor says the torture has been going on for at least a day; by the time we can do anything, it'll be longer. Rey has crucial information. We can't be sure she hasn't been tortured herself or what General Hux already knows".
"I trust you to do what is needed, bring them home. I'll meet you at the next base on Maridun."
"Yes, Princess, I'll keep you updated. Stay safe, and may the Force be with you."
Despite the concern, Leia lowered the hand from her face and gave a meek yet brave smile. Through the hologram, Leia's soft gaze was intense and captivating, her words full of deep feeling and meaning.
"May the Force be with us all".
Leia's hologram disconnected, and Poe was left alone. Bring them home, not Rey home, that's what she'd said. It didn't matter. Right now, he needed a plan. He stood; he needed to talk to Chewie, Finn and Rose. Poe exited the command centre and headed outside. Outside the main building, Poe found Finn and Rose helping Commander Connix to organise groups by siphoning any fuel still on base, loading the last of the munitions and resources and, most importantly, purging the computers.
"Finn, Rose, I need you. Sorry, Connix."
He looked at Connix apologetically but knew she was more than capable of balancing all the leftover tasks. Looking up from her checklist, she just nodded at him and continued her job. She was efficiency personified, and thank the Force for that. Rose and Finn filed in alongside Poe as he wandered away from the base while concurrently filling them in on the situation and the task of coming up with a rescue plan. Hopefully, they would not be on ships for long after the evacuation, but Poe wanted to take in the fresh air while they could- he couldn't face the table inside the base anymore today.
"Ok, so we need to get on board the Supremacy, cause a distraction, get Rey out of the prison cells and then get to Maridun. Is that about it?" Finn broke the task down, making it sound ludicrous.
"Yeah," Poe knew it sounded crazy, but given what Finn and Rose had achieved and nearly realised trying to stop a tracking system, he felt pretty confident they could come up with something.
"Jakub and Kira are on the Supremacy; we can get word to them to support you from the inside. The issue is the distraction, so you can get Rey out. The other issue is getting you in."
"Me?" Finn and Rose simultaneously pointed at themselves and spoke in unison. Rose, however, had a little more distress in her face than Finn.
Poe looked to Rose, "You're a little short to be a stormtrooper, and honestly, I think you're talents would be better served in creating the distraction. Could you, you know, hack something? Slice something?"
Relief washed over Rose's face, followed by amusement, "I'm not a slicer, you know that, but if we get on board, I could hack the system with a device I have... what system would I hack to cause a distraction though? Alarms would be good?" Rose was thinking out loud; this was precisely what Poe had hoped for and let her brilliant mind work.
"The maintenance systems!" Finn piped in.
Poe smiled as the two animatedly started to virtually read each other's thoughts and finish each other's sentences. Their relationship was adorable, and they were just perfect for each other, raising each other up and challenging each other. Poe's mind flitted to Rey sadly for a moment, for what had never been, as quickly as the image occurred to him, he shook it away. Now was not the time.
"Evacuation and fire procedures would cause havoc!" Rose was exclaiming, almost jumping in her excitement.
"That's brilliant!" Poe chimed in. "How do we get a device onboard, though? Jakub and Kira are already on board, and we haven't got time to find a small conflict involving stormtroopers to get one of you up there." He jumped to the next problem.
"We'll need a ship, uniforms, and we'll need a code breaker to get us onboard undetected," Finn countered.
"We've got spare stormtrooper uniforms, right, from your initiative? I think I can help on the pilot and code breaker front," Poe turned and started walking quickly back towards the base, heading for where the ships and shuttles were situated, Rose and Finn trotting after him.
Poe found Chewie standing yowling at Maz Kanata while she argued back, wrench in hand on the hull of the Millennium Falcon. Porgs were chirping all around the ship, big soft mountain, Poe thought on observing the scene.
"Chewie, we need your help, you too Maz."
Maz hollered at Chewie to get her down, and he obliged.
"We need you to sneak aboard the Supremacy so we can rescue Rey. Finn and Rose will sort out everything else."
Chewie looked at Maz, and she attached her spectacles, eyeing Poe, Finn and Rose up curiously.
"That's it, rescue Rey?"
"That's it," Poe confirmed. Leia had said them, but that really wasn't important and didn't drastically change their current need. "You can do it, right?"
"Of course we can do it!" Maz refuted an air of irritation in her voice at the suggestion that she even needed to be asked. Chewie barked in agreement.
"Then get going; we don't have much time."
All four nodded at Poe, and Finn and Rose ran off to get what they needed. Chewie yowled at Maz, and Maz chucked the wrench to the side of the Falcon. "It'll be fine," she yelled back.
Poe didn't feel particularly confident about their odds, but he certainly felt better now there was a plan. Now, to get out of here, he thought to himself, and he dashed back in the direction of the main building to go through the checklists with Connix.