We were all up early the next morning, working into the sunrise to prepare our ships for battle. Finn and I were going through the plan one last time with me throwing variables of "what ifs" in his direction, hoping to prepare him for the worst.
He placed his hand on my shoulder affectionately. "We got this, Si. Our ground team will make quick work of the tower as long as you fighters are there to protect us."
"I'll be following your every step," I said with a smile, pulling him into a deep hug. Jannah, a woman that they had brought back from Kef Bir, waved from behind him. I returned it, glad to have her people in this fight with us.
"Hands off my lady, General!" Finn and I both groaned and pulled apart as Poe met us. He tugged on my braid with a laugh. "That was a pretty long hug there."
"Yeah, well," I said smiling to Finn. "He's a pretty close friend." Finn returned the smile before looking at Poe. They pulled each other into one of those back-slapping embraces that men tend to do.
Poe pulled back. "We're ready."
"We're ready," Finn agreed with a curt nod. With a final smile in my direction, Finn ran off towards the ground crew and their carriers.
Poe turned to face me with a serious face. He reached up and spread his fingers across the side of my face, tracing his thumb across my cheek. "This is it, doc."
"It is," I said as I turned my head, kissing his palm.
"Sienna, if something were to go wrong, if it all falls apart and you have a chance to lead some people out of there-"
"Don't you dare tell me to leave you out there, Dameron. That isn't going to happen."
He took his hand away, running it through his tousled curls. "As your General, I'm telling you that if there is a chance to escape, you take it. Regardless of if I'm with you or not."
I narrowed my eyes at him, biting the inside of my cheek. "Seems like insubordinate Commanders are just going to be a tradition around here, because I refuse to follow that order." Poe looked like he was going to continue to fight me, but instead grabbed the back of my head and guided my lips to his. I clutched the front of his flight suit, sending a plea into the galaxy that we knew what we were getting ourselves into.
We pulled away breathless, resting our foreheads together. Neither of us were bothered about the prongs of people bustling around us seeing our display. "I love you," I whispered.
"And I love you," he replied. Just as he gave me a peck on the lips, Tash walked up with Ezra by her side.
"Alright, alright, there will be plenty of time for that when you return, big papa." I internally cringed at her new nickname for Poe, ready to get back here and give him the news before she gave it away. Poe laughed as he pulled her into a hug.
I faced Ezra, picking lint off of the front of his crisp coat. "Medics all ready?"
"Sure are. We got the trauma center set up last night when we heard the news. We are ready to treat anything that may return." Ezra was standing as straight as a board, and I recognized it as his "strictly business" way of coping when he was nervous. I smiled up at him before wrapping my arms around his waist. His arms enveloped my shoulders as he sighed. "Be safe out there, Si."
"Of course," I said as I pulled back.
"Okay quit hogging her." Tash's watery eyes met mine as she squeezed between me and Ezra. My laugh was cut short when she wrapped me in a tight hug. She nestled her lips right by my ear, speaking so softly I had to strain to hear her over the voices in the hangar. "Wedding, baby, friend dates, Poe's hot body, Corellian wine, your dumb ships, BB-8-"
"Tash, what-"
"I'm naming off all of the things you have to look forward to when you come home. Now, go out there and free us of this First Order nonsense, Commander Dreis."
I smiled so big that my cheeks felt strained. Tash always knew exactly what to say, even if her delivery was a little eccentric. "We will, love. See you soon."
Tash nodded, grabbing Ezra from Poe's side. I chuckled as I watched them go back towards the base before looking back towards my pilot. I went to speak, but was interrupted by a whirring sound. BB-8 bumped into Poe's leg, beeping a goodbye to his owner.
Poe knelt down. "You keep them safe down there, okay buddy?" The droid answered that he would before turning to me and extending his flaming thumbs-up. I happily returned it, bending down to kiss his cold, domed head before he rolled off again.
I looked around, noticing that almost everyone was prepared to take off. A soft smile came to my face, the feelings of nervousness and confidence tangled in my gut. I shook out my hands and faced Poe, who had a smirk as he closed the distance between us and grabbed my jaw. With a final press of his lips against mine, he met my eyes. "Try not to slow us down out there, alright Dreis?"
I threw my head back with a laugh before pushing him towards his ship. He walked backwards, giving me a two finger salute before spinning and jogging to the ladder. Shaking my head, I climbed my own ladder, closing the hatch and settling into my ship. My radio crackled to life as I ran my fingers over the familiar controls, starting the X-wing up. I placed my hand over my abdomen, letting out a deep breath before rising into the air.
It was quite a sight- every available ship in our fleet was hovering above the treetops, ready to take off into the biggest fight of our lives. They would all go down in the history of the galaxy as heroes, regardless of the outcome.
"Okay guys, stay close. This isn't going to be an easy flight once we find our way to the Unknown Regions," Poe's voice said over the radio. I fell beside the black X-wing at the front of our pack, and we fell into hyperspeed shortly after. It was a relatively easy trip until we entered the Unknown Regions. My ship rattled against the harsh atmospheric pressure.
"I know it's a rough ride," Poe said, "but stay locked on Rey's course."
"You got it, General," I replied, trying to hold my ship steady. However, once we broke into Exegol's atmo, the ride here didn't seem near as bad. "Shit..." I whispered as my eyes swept across the huge fleet of Destroyers in front of us.
Poe's stunned commentary filtered through. "Look at that fleet. Damn it! Welcome to Exegol."
The ships immediately started to fire upon us. I barrel-rolled to the right, continuing to curse into my headset as I navigated through the lasers. All we had to do was hold out until Lando arrived. Seemed simple enough.
"Watch your starboard, Wexley!"
"Whoa!" Snap yelled over the radio, narrowly missing a shot.
"Get to their altitude. They can't fire on us without hitting each other. Don't give up. Help is coming."
Finn came over, "There it is. Poe, I see it. I've got a visual on the tower."
I turned towards the ground carrier, doing my best not to get decimated in the process. "I'm off your flank, Finn!"
"Incoming TIEs!"
"I see 'em! I got you, Finn," Poe said as he closed in beside me.
I pulled to the left side of the carrier. "Poe, I've got this side covered! I'll get any that filter through." Just as I spoke, I heard the sharp sound of a TIE fly above me. I quickly pulled up, falling behind the ship and hitting its wing with a single shot.
"Good timing, doc!"
The number of Order ships was overwhelming, but we did our best to pick them off one by one. The ground carrier was close to landing when,
"The navigation tower has been deactivated."
Finn snapped, "What?"
"Those ships need that signal. It's gotta be coming from somewhere," Wexley said.
I heard Poe's frustrated growl. "They figured out what we're doing. Call off the ground invasion."
"It's too late for that, Poe. We just need to figure out where the signal is originating."
"Wait," Finn said. "The nav signal's coming from that command ship. That's our drop zone."
This man is really trying to land on a fucking Star Destroyer...
"You wanna launch a ground invasion on a Star Destroyer?!"
Glad I wasn't the only one concerned.
"I don't want to, but we can't take out that ship's nav system from the air. Give us cover. We gotta keep that fleet there till help arrives."
"You heard the General," Poe said. "All Wings, cover that lander."
"Roger that!" I said as I popped over the top of the carrier, spinning on my side to hit two incoming TIE fighters. The ships were fast, but their pilots were still predictable. We continued to fight them off as the carrier landed and as our ground fighters spread across the floor of the main Destroyer.
"Those thrusters are hot. How're we doin'?"
"Behind you, Poe!" I yelled as two TIE's fell in behind the X-wing right as I passed. I pulled to the side, drifting through the air until I was locked behind them.
"I can't lose 'em, doc-"
Right as he spoke, I launched my tracker laser and it swept across the two, slicing them in half. "No need, Dameron," I laughed into the headset. Looking over, I saw the nav tower shut down after a bright explosion.
"There it goes," Finn said.
"Nice one, Finn! Nav signal's down, but not for long. Wanna keep up the target practice, Commander Dreis?" I could hear the smile through Poe's words.
"Music to my ears."
We carried on with our assault, clearly on the defense as the TIE fighters kept on coming. It was like for every two we shot down, three more would show up for the chase. Our earlier target practice had turned into survival flying within minutes.
Snap's concerned voice came through, "Still no Falcon or backup."
"They should have been here by now..."
I heard R2 over the comlink before Poe. "I don't know, R2. Maybe nobody else is coming."
"What do we do, General?"
"We gotta hit them ourselves."
"What can we do against these things?" One of the pilots asked.
"Just stay alive!" Poe responded.
"Easier said than done, General," I mumbled beneath my breath
"I heard that, Dreis!"
My arms were becoming exhausted, not to mention how mentally exhausting trying to out-maneuver these ships was.
Poe was frantic when he came over the headset. "Snap, they're on your tail! Sienna-" I whipped my head over, seeing the squad on Snap's trail. I'd be able to make it to him before Poe.
"Yeah, I see 'em!" Snap replied.
"No, no, no, Snap, Snap!"
"Just keep flying, Wexley! I'm coming! Hold on!" I pushed my ship to the brink, rushing right at the fighters and shooting one down, but not before the front-runner landed a shot on Snap's flank. His screams blended with mine over the radio as his ship plummeted into the side of a Destroyer.
"No!" yelled Poe. I punched my fist down on my controls with a frustrated growl, holding off the tears as I pressed down on the trigger and spun, taking out the last two ships that had been behind Snap. Not that it did any good. Floods of distressed calls and yells came over the comlink, overwhelming my sense of confidence from earlier.
"Alpha 3 is down. They're on my tail! I can't get... Ah!"
"They're everywhere!"
"Delta Leader's hit!"
"Losing altitude!"
"General, what's our next move?"
"Poe, what now?"
My heart dropped at Poe's voice when he finally answered. "My friends.... I'm sorry, I thought we had a shot. But there's just too many of them."
A smooth, familiar voice broke through our sorrow. "... But there are more of us, Poe. There are more of us."
"Lando!" I yelled with joy, circling around next to Poe's ship to take in the sight in front of us. The sky was filled with hundreds, no, thousands of ships from all across the galaxy. Many had the mark of the Resistance on the side, leaving no doubt whose side they were fighting for.
"Look at this. Look at this."
Lando's laugh brought a huge smile to my face. "You had us worried there! Glad to see you brought some friends."
"Hey L.T.! Nice to see you again!"
I laughed as a group of the Devaronion ships flew past me. "That's Commander to you, Daak! Let's go at them."
"Ooo a promotion! No need to tell us twice!" he replied as they took off towards the large fleet, taking out TIE fighters as they went.
Poe came in with a new direction, "Hit those underbelly cannons. Every one we knock out is a world saved."
I pulled up and under one of the larger ships, bearing down on it with all of the fighter power I had. An unfamiliar ship joined me and helped take down the cannon. It went up in flames, and I flew through them with a victorious yell.
A female voice met mine. "So long, sky trash!"
"Who's that flyer?" Poe asked incredulously.
"Take a guess, spice runner!"
A small voice came through the comlink before Poe began laughing. "Ha! Zorii! You made it!"
I smiled, happy that she had escaped Kijimi's demise. "Thanks for the help, Zorii!"
"You must be Sienna. Nice to finally meet you, pilot! Seems your skills match up to what Poe mentioned."
I laughed as we continued to run together, taking out cannons and TIE fighters along with the rest of our ginormous fleet until blue lightning filled the sky and my ship went dark.
"No, no, come on!" I yelled as I tried to reboot. "Can anyone hear me? Poe?" Silence met my calls as my ship was suspended in air. Looking around, it seemed like all of us were frozen, unable to fly out. But just as quick as it came, it was gone, and I was able to reboot and zip back towards the command ship. Green blasters caught my eye, and I looked down to see the command ships firing upon itself, tiny explosions shooting up all over the surface.
"Poe, look!"
"Their fleet is stuck here! They're toast! Come on!" he cheered. "Finn, you seeing this?"
Rose's concerned voice answered. "Finn didn't board the lander."
"They're still on that command ship?"
I hovered above the disintegrating ship, darting my eyes back and forth along the surface. Right before a wall of fire flew up, I saw Finn and Jannah holding onto the ship as it tilted. I tried to find a way to them, but the explosions beneath me were forcing me to pull up. "They are here, but I can't get to them through this fire!"
"I see them. I'm going to get them!"
"General, you won't make it."
"Trust me, I'm fast-"
"Not as fast as this ship. Hold on, Chewie!" The Falcon blew past Poe's X-wing as Chewie's grunt filled my helmet. I laughed and pulled up, shooting at the TIE fighters that were struggling after the large assault. I pulled up by Poe as the nose of the command ship hit the ground, being engulfed in fire. The moment was surreal.
The last First Order ship- destroyed.
"We won... I almost can't believe it," I half laughed, half cried into the comlink.
"Yeah, babe, we sure did!" he replied, all sense of professionalism going out of the window.
We all began to line up, and I started to take count of our ships. I was just beginning to worry about Rey making it out when Finn's voice came over the radio.
"There, look! Red 5 is in the air. Rey's alive."
"I see her!"
"People are rising up all over the galaxy..." he continued as we took in the moment. How amazing that all of the times we had felt alone were for nothing. These people were always waiting for us to give them the chance to show up, and they did even with the high stakes.
"Sienna, Poe. We did it."
"We did it."
I wiped the tear falling from my eye, but I was smiling ear to ear. "We did it." I looked over to Poe, barely able to make out his figure behind the glass of his ship, but I could tell he was looking over at me. "Now let's go home."
The ride back was filled with lively chatter and overall joy through the comlink. I sat in my ship smiling while listening to my friends, but stayed quiet as my mind ran through and planned for the future that was now ours.
How things were going to change, and I was beyond excited for it all.
As we approached Ajan Kloss, I stayed hovering above while the other ships landed, making sure everyone was accounted for before lowering my X-wing to the ground. I popped the hatch open and jumped from the pit, too impatient to use the ladder. I stripped out of my suffocating flight suit, looking around as everyone embraced one another, laughing and crying. The pure joy that filled the air was almost tangible, and all I wanted to do was grab it and wrap it around me like a throw.
I started to walk over to Poe's landing site, continuously being stopped along the way for hugs, or just a quick slap on the back. D'Acy kissed my cheek as I walked by, smiling through her own tears as she turned to her loved one. I waved at Kaydel from across the sea of people, and she quickly returned it before being scooped up in a huge hug by Beaumont.
"Sienna!" I heard over the noise, and I turned to see my pilot standing at the base of his ship, looking at me with the brightest smile. A laugh escaped me as I ran towards him and he began to quickly walk my way, his helmet long forgotten on the ground. I jumped when I met him, wrapping my legs and arms around him as he held me in an impossibly tight embrace. He yelled in celebration as he spun us around, burying his face in my neck.
I tilted my head back, laughing in elation before he lifted his head. I ran my fingers through his thick curls, gazing into his gold-flecked eyes that were filled with the brightest emotion I had ever seen. I lowered my head, pressing my lips against his and reveling in the comfort they brought me. He brought one hand from below my thigh and placed it on the back of my head, deepening the kiss for a moment before pulling back and resting his forehead against mine.
"This is the best day of my life," he said in a light voice.
I smiled, biting my lips in nerves before replying. "I bet I can make it even better, General."
His brow rose, and I took in the slight indent from his scar he had gotten what felt like a lifetime ago. "Try me, doc."
"I'm pregnant, or something," I finished with a playful eye roll, referencing his words from Crait.
I felt his grip on my leg slacken, so I placed my feet on the ground, giggling as my words registered. His eyes were wide, but he took his bottom teeth between his lips before his handsome grin appeared. Poe's rough hands reached up and held my face. "You're pregnant," he whispered, not as a question. He said it like he needed it in his own voice to know it was real. I nodded, not able to speak before Poe dipped me back with a breathtaking kiss. The cheerful noise around us fell away as we savored the moment together.
I felt moisture on my face, and pulled away to find that it was Poe's tears. "Oh, love," I said as I traced my thumbs over his wet cheeks. He shook his head, chuckling before looking up through the trees.
"Agh, damn. I-" he stopped before looking down to me again, clearing his throat. "I love you, Sienna. I've dreamt of this moment since I met you."
"And I've dreamt of you my entire life," I whispered as I kissed his full lips again. Sometimes it truly amazed me that I had met this man and that he'd chosen to spend the rest of his life with me. Everything he added to my life were now things I knew I couldn't live without.
"We can celebrate this later," I said pulling away reluctantly. "Let's go find the others after I sling your arm." He rolled his eyes as I grabbed the fabric he had, tying up his still injured arm quickly.
Hand-in-hand, we navigated through our comrades. Poe turned when he heard his name, and leaned down with a smile when we faced the person. "That's Zorii," he said, and I nodded at her with a large smile, saluting her as a thank you for her help in the field. She returned it before turning away, making her way into the crowd. We heard both of our names then, spinning back around at Finn's call. Poe released my hand and pointed at his dear friend, embracing him. They held on to each other tightly, gripping each other's necks affectionately before Finn turned to me.
"Good to see you, Si," Finn whispered as he wrapped his arms around my shoulders. I placed a soft kiss on his cheek, returning the hug. I pulled away when I heard the familiar engines of an X-wing, and spun around to see one land in the distance.
I looked back over my shoulder with a smile. "Rey."
The three of us made our way towards the ship, huddled together like we were afraid to lose one another in the celebrations. We didn't stop until we saw her. She had blood on the side of her face and her robes, but emotion filled her eyes when she saw us. We met her half way, all of us wrapping our arms around each other in a tight embrace. Finn's tears fell onto my shoulder as he gripped us harder, overcome with emotion.
"Can I get in on this?" a teary, familiar voice called.
We broke apart, and I smiled at Poe's expression of realization as he looked at Tash, then back to me. "Big papa..." he said, and I nodded. Finn and Rey looked thoroughly confused, but Tash knew exactly what he meant.
"You told him!" She yelled as she squealed and gripped Poe in a vice-like hug.
"Big papa?" I heard Rey say to Finn under her breath. A giggle bubbled in my chest, never imagining those words coming from her mouth. I walked over and hugged Tash tightly, squeezing her hand when I let go and turned to Poe. I could tell he was dying to tell our friends.
"Go ahead," I said with a nod, loving the way his eyes lit up.
He wrapped his good arm around my shoulders, kissing my temple before looking at Rey and Finn. "Sienna's pregnant," he said with a grin.
Both of their jaws were on the floor at the news. "You- your-" Finn stuttered as he looked at my stomach.
"Yes, Finn, I'm-" I wasn't given the chance to finish before Finn rushed me with a hug, picking me up and spinning me once. I was laughing when Rey met me with a beaming smile, embracing me and whispering congratulations in my ear. Being able to share our happiness with our friends made my heart feel like it was floating in my chest. Poe winked at me over Rey's shoulder as Finn slapped his back in congratulations, and I knew he felt the same.
The five of us continued to walk around, taking in the sights around us. I held Poe's hand that was draped over my shoulders, giving it a squeeze affectionately as I looked up to him. "What a future we get to face, huh?"
"It will be a great one," he said excitedly, meeting my eyes. "And the best part is, we get to face it together."
Looking around at our closest friends and the family that we had chosen for ourselves, I knew there was no other group I'd rather have by my side through it all.
***
My friends, we have reached the end of the Sienna and Poe's story within the Star Wars plot! But fear not, I have an idea to do an epilogue. I assume you guys will want to see where life takes them. It will take me a little bit to get it uploaded, but I promise it's coming!
I cannot say thank you enough for the support you have given me over the last six months. Every read, vote and comment means the absolute world to me. It has been a joy getting to talk with you guys. Thank you, thank you, thank you!