AN: I know I've been posting a lot of updates already with some older chapters but I HIGHLY suggest you go back and read since I've edited them and have added some things to really flesh everything out even more. I've got so many chapters waiting to be posted so I'm hoping to update with a little more frequency. With this chapter we get into The Last Jedi! I hope you enjoy and I can't wait to hear what you think!
✧☆✧
Kat and Leia stood behind the command center on the bridge of the Raddus. Both women along with their fellow commanding officers were helping to lead multiple assignments at once in the hopes of an easy evacuation. Leia had sent Rey and Chewbacca out before they left to go to Ahch-To while Kat and Poe worked on the evacuation and potential defense against the First Order.
The Raddus remained in orbit of D'Qar, waiting for the last remaining people on base to evacuate. The recently promoted Connix led the efforts and they were just waiting for her to clear the planet before they all took off into hyperspace to their next location.
Of course, they also had their remaining naval fleet at the ready with bombers and fighters just in case the First Order showed up. They hoped to take down the dreadnought and then get the hell out of there. Kat and Poe came up with a rather crazy idea but if everything went just so then it'd be one hell of a victory.
They were so close to being able to not have to worry about the First Order until the telltale sign of ships coming out of light speed was heard. For the briefest of moments, Kat's heart sank. It looked like they would have to fight again after all.
All necessary communication channels were open as she watched Poe fly out to meet with the Finalizer and dreadnought by himself. She hoped this worked because this all hindered on what she knew of General Hux from Ben and well, Ben didn't particularly care for the red-headed general.
BB-8 wasn't too thrilled about this plan and the droid let it be known. Poe sighed. "Happy beeps here, buddy, come on. We've pulled crazier stunts than this."
"Just for the record, Commander Dameron, I'm with the droid on this one," Leia said, giving a pointed look towards Kat.
"Thank you for the support, general." Poe quipped.
Kat rolled her eyes. "It's going to work." It had to work.
And it did for what felt like the briefest of moments. TIE fighters were soon flying out of the dreadnought while the Resistance fleet prepared their descent on the large ship. Time froze as they watched the cannon blast from the dreadnought fire onto the base. Connix's voice coming over the intercom informing that they indeed had cleared the base sent relief rushing through everyone on the bridge.
Leia turned to her daughter and shuffled them a bit away from the microphone. "I'm going to call them back. We need to get out of here."
"What? We're so close. If we destroy that thing, we have a better chance at survival. One blast from them and we're all wiped out. I mean look at what it just did to our base." Kat argued.
The general shook her head. "We've lost too many already today. We have a chance to get away. We can fight another day."
Kat let out a sigh. Leia was right. Only six of the twelve pilots had returned from the Starkiller base and she had never been in the business of putting lives unnecessarily in danger. She then nodded her agreement and Leia commanded that Poe return.
"No, general, we can do this." Poe implored even if he was currently waiting on his weapons system to come back online. "Colonel, are you really wanting this?" Kat had been so on board when they planned it. Surely she didn't agree with this.
"General's orders, commander. It doesn't matter what I think. Besides, we've lost too many already. Turn back now and we can get out of here." Kat said.
"We're going to lose more if we don't follow through. This thing is a fleet killer." Poe argued, hoping Kat would press Leia to let them continue.
Leia grew impatient. Now was not the time to question her orders. "Disengage now, commander. That's an order."
The resounding click of Poe turning off his comm made Kat's heart drop to her stomach. "He did not just..." She trailed off, anger starting to boil inside her. "Is a private line still open for Commander Dameron?" She asked.
"There's the line that he has with the other pilots." A ground control officer answered.
She walked over to them, a fake smile on her face. "Great. Can you patch me through but just to him?"
"No, it would interfere with their communication. I'm sorry, sir."
Kat ran her hand through her hair in frustration, doing her best not to yell. "Thank you, officer." Her voice was strained as she tried to keep her emotions at bay. She went back to Leia's side as they watched their entire bombing fleet get destroyed. "Dammit, Poe." She muttered under her breath.
"I'm going to be demoting him," Leia said.
The colonel nodded. "You won't hear any complaints out of me." She then let out a heavy sigh. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I need to go find Rose."
She didn't have to look far, for the small mechanic stood in the entryway to the bridge. A hopeful yet sorrowful look on her face as she searched for the person she knew that would not only give her the answer she needed but the comfort she sought after as well. Kat took a deep breath, eyes stinging with unshed tears. She really couldn't believe she hadn't cried them all out yet.
Kat draped an arm around Rose's shoulders as she steered them down the corridor and away from the bridge. Once away from most of the hustle and bustle, Kat wrapped the other woman in an embrace. Rose brought her arms up to encircle her friend's waist. "It's true then, isn't it?"
"It is. She was on the last bomber that destroyed the dreadnought."
Rose let out a shaky breath as she nodded. "She died a hero then."
"Yeah, yeah, she did." Kat let out a sigh. "I'm so sorry, Rose. We tried to get them to turn back."
She squeezed her friend. "It's something we knew was a possibility when we signed up. You did the best you could. It just means we've got to keep going or it'll all be for nothing." She slowly pulled back and wiped her tears away. "I'm gonna go make sure everything is still in working order."
Kat nodded. "I'll come to check on you later. Until then you know where to find me if you need anything."
Rose gave a small smile and nodded before heading to the underbelly of the ship where all the escape pods were. Kat watched as her friend made her way down the corridor, her heart heavy. She had so many people that she'd have to reach out to in order to pass along her condolences. She was about to head back to the bridge when it was announced that the fleet was now docking.
Steeling herself, she turned on her heel and marched down the corridor, fully planning on ripping into Poe. She was just about to reach the docking bay when she saw Finn, still in the bacta suit walking towards her. She hurried across the few remaining feet separating them. "Hey, Finn. You wanna head back to the med bay?"
Before he could answer Poe was at Finn's side practically asking the same things. Finn just looked between the two before asking. "Where's Rey?"
"I'll let you fill him in," Kat said, giving a pointed look to Poe.
Poe gave her a pleading look. "Kat, please, can we not talk about this?"
"I don't want to talk to you right now." Her voice dripped with ice and barely contained anger. When she looked to Finn, some of her warmth returned. "We found Skywalker. Rey went with Chewbacca to try and bring him back. Dameron can fill you in on the details. I've got to get back to the bridge." She ignored Poe calling her name as she walked away. Sure she had just wanted to read him the riot act but she was not about to do it in front of Finn when he needed assistance immediately.
Finn looked to Poe with a raised eyebrow. "What did you do to her?"
Poe let out a sigh as he ushered them to the med bay. "I don't even know why she's that upset. Our plan worked and those that died all died heroes."
"I think it's best I stay out of this one." He chuckled. "Did you guys really find Luke Skywalker?"
Poe nodded. "Sure, did. I'll tell you everything once we get you situated." He promised.
After Finn was squared away, he and Poe headed to the bridge. Poe hoped to find Kat so they could talk and Finn was looking for Leia to get more details on Rey. Instead, Poe was met with a slap from Leia. Finn stepped over to talk with Kat figuring that would be the best option until Leia was free.
"You're demoted," Leia informed Poe, not allowing any time for him to recover from the shock of being slapped.
He looked for Kat but only received a look of indifference and a shrug before she went back to speaking with Finn. Seeing that Leia had already moved on, he let out a sigh before hurrying to catch up with her. "Wait, we took down a dreadnought." He really couldn't believe he was being demoted for this.
"At what cost?" Leia asked.
"If you start an attack, you follow through." He said making sure he was loud enough so that Kat could hear him as well.
It clearly got some sort of reaction for Leia was smirking at him. He was just about to ask her why when he felt the sting of someone smacking him in the back of the head. A livid Kat now stood in front of him, arms crossed over her chest. "Do you have something to say to me, captain?" She leaned into his new title, giving him a pointed look.
"There were heroes on that mission," Poe said.
"Dead heroes," Kat replied.
"And no leaders. You've got to get your head out of your cockpit. There are things you cannot solve by jumping into an X-Wing and blowing something up. I need you to learn that." Leia gave him a pointed glare that made it clear that this is the woman Kat learned hers from. "Now, if you two are going to hash things out, please take it somewhere other than here." With that she let the two be and Finn took the opportunity to speak with her.
Once Leia was gone, Poe opened his mouth to try and convince her to talk to him but she cut him off. "I have nothing to say to you. You should know why I'm so upset and this time, I don't know if you can talk your way out of it."
She moved to go back to her station when the proximity alert sounded. Kat hurried over to where Leia and Finn were standing. It couldn't be. The First Order had found them. Even through hyperspace. She and Leia shared a knowing look. They had a lightspeed tracking device, it was no use. They had to fight.
"Permission to hop in an X-Wing and blow something up?" Poe asked, looking at Kat.
"Permission granted." She nodded as Leia was giving orders to the admiral driving.
Kat then jumped into action, calling out orders over the intercom in the docking bay. That's when she saw the First Order fighter flying around to the side. It was Ben's ship. She froze, completely overtaken by the emotions she had been keeping locked away. Her brother was here but any familial attachments were severed. She couldn't process much more for she stumbled from the blast inside the docking bay, breaking her out of her thoughts. Her heart stopped at the realization as reports were being shouted.
"Go." Leia nudged her forward, giving her a knowing look.
She didn't have to be told twice as she took off running down the corridor. She knew she had others she needed to check on but there was only one pilot she needed to know their location before all the others. Debris littered the corridor. The pristine white now darkened with soot. She noticed his boots first and then followed the orange of his jumpsuit up to his face. He was awake and talking with Finn.
Next to the two men was the familiar orange and white astromech. To not interrupt and to still keep things close to her chest, she crouched down next to BB-8. She still kept an eye on Poe, however, to make sure he was okay even if she acted like she was looking over the astromech. The droid gave a few greeting sounds that pulled her attention away from Poe. "You doing okay, Bee? Do we need to have Rose take a look?" She finally said, now that she was truly focused on the droid in front of her.
BB-8 let out a negative beep. Kat gave their head a few small pats after she gave them a true once over. Poe watched the interaction, a small smirk on his lips. He appreciated that Kat checked in on his droid but he couldn't help but tease her. "I'm doing okay too, colonel. Thanks for asking."
Kat rolled her eyes but before she could reply, BB-8 sassed him back causing everyone to laugh. She even patted the droid's head once more.
"Okay, okay. I'm glad she cares about you too." He addressed his droid before turning to Kat and Finn. "Now help me up so we can get to the ship's defenses."
Finn and Kat did just that and soon all three were running down the corridor, BB-8 on their heels. As they passed by a pane of transparisteel, the ship shook once more as it took a critical hit from the First Order. Watching as the bridge opened up and everyone inside sucked out into space, Kat became unaware of her surroundings and zero focused on getting to Leia.
A jarring shriek filled the corridor before Kat ran to where the bridge once was. At the sound, Poe whipped his head to the side, looking at the woman in shock. She just called Leia mom. As far as he knew, she never called Leia that. He was just about to run after her when he noticed movement. Leia was using the force to come back in.
Poe called for a medical team as he finally started making his way to the bridge, Finn, and Connix, who had stopped to ask Kat a question just as she screamed, behind him. Once they arrived Kat had already opened the door and had Leia in her arms. He hurried over to her side to help get Leia on the gurney the med team provided. As the med team began to move, Kat started to numbly follow behind. She didn't get too far because the medic droid closest to her informed her that she needed to remain behind until they could get her in a stable condition.
Kat nearly lunged towards the droid but Poe reacted quickly. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight against him despite her struggling to get out of his grasp. "She's not going to get the help she needs if you go attacking the droids that are helping her." He told her, hoping that she would calm down.
As the words registered, Kat slumped against him, taking in, for the first time since she saw Leia get sucked into space, her surroundings. She saw the nervous glances that Finn and Connix were giving her. There also seemed to be pity mixed in and she could barely take it. She didn't need anyone's pity. She looked back down to the floor, taking a few deep breaths before she patted Poe's arm. "You can let me go now, Dameron." Her voice barely above a whisper. She honestly didn't know if she could speak louder without her voice cracking. She needed to get it together.
He did what she asked, slowly unwrapping his arms just to make sure she wouldn't do anything rash. Once she was free, she took a few steps away from the group so she could look at them all. Poe's face didn't hold pity, it held worry and she honestly didn't know which was worse. She cleared her throat and straightened out her uniform. "Go see if anyone else could use your assistance. I'd assume the docking bay is an area that needs it the most. Now if you'll excuse me, I have commanding officers to find."
"Well, you heard the woman," Connix said as she made her way back down the corridor.
Finn picked up the cloaked tracker that would lead Rey back to the Resistance and looked to Poe. Rey couldn't come back to this. He needed to get off this ship and somewhere safe. "You okay?" He asked his friend.
Poe slowly nodded. "Yeah, yeah I think so."
"Is she going to be okay?"
He let out a sigh and shrugged. "I honestly can't tell you. I need to go see who else of the fleet is still around, you going to be okay?"
Finn nodded. "Yeah, yeah don't worry about me. I'll go find somewhere to help out."
Poe clasped the other man's shoulder and flashed him a smile before heading down the corridor.
✧✩✧
"We're really the only ones left?" Kat asked as she looked to Commander D'Acy and Vice Admiral Holdo.
"I'm afraid so, colonel. What do you want us to do?" D'Acy asked.
"Me? No, I'm not ready. I nearly attacked a medic droid because I got too emotional." Kat shook her head. There was no way she was going to accept the interim general position.
"The chain of command clearly states that you're next," Holdo said.
"And I'm declining which means Vice Admiral Holdo, you are in charge of the Resistance until General Organa wakes up," Kat said with as much authority as she could muster.
Holdo placed a hand on the young woman's shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "Are you sure this is what you want? No one would blame you for getting emotional over what happened to Leia."
Kat nodded. "I'm sure. I want to be by Leia's side for as long as I can. She can yell at me later for not keeping my post. I, of course, will do whatever I'm needed for."
Holdo nodded before giving Kat a small hug. "Then it's settled. Commander D'Acy call a meeting for those remaining."
The three women stood at the head of the assembly. The crew aboard the Raddus sat in a circle around the remaining commanding officers of the Resistance. Once everyone was settled, anxious for a report on Leia's status, D'Acy stepped into the middle of the circle with a heavy heart. "General Organa, Leia, is unconscious but recovering. This is the only good news I have. Admiral Ackbar, the rest of our leadership, they're gone."
Kat then stepped forward, the wall she typically kept up seemed to be shaky at best as she addressed the Resistance. "Leia was the sole survivor on the bridge. If she were here, she'd say save your sorrow for after the fight. Which is why Vice Admiral Holdo of the cruiser Ninka will be taking her place instead of me."
Everyone was shocked but most could tell that Kat wasn't handling this well. Poe tried to catch her eye but she avoided his section of the assembly with everything she had. "This does not mean I'm stepping down from my position. I will still be giving orders to what is left of my team. I just need to be with my mo-, with Leia right now." She then turned to Holdo and motioned for the vice admiral to take the floor.
Once Holdo began talking, Kat slipped out of the room. She let out a heavy sigh as she sat by Leia's bedside. Reaching out, she took a hold of her mom's hand, relieved that warmth had returned. When she had pulled her back in, Leia had been so, so cold. She never wanted to feel Leia that cold again. It frightened her the most. Would she wake up from being that cold that it looked like ice covered her skin?
"Why are you not the one talking about sparks that ignite fires?" Poe asked, breaking her out of her reverie.
"Please, just go." The response she received was the sound of the door closing but she knew it didn't mean that he actually listened to her request.
A chair was pulled up next to her instead. "You really trust her to keep this up and running?"
She turned to Poe in indignation. "Why, Poe? Leia trusts her so that's good enough for me. It should be good enough for you too."
"She's not giving me any information. All I can tell right now is that she's just going to run our fuel low."
"You're a captain now. You don't get to know the big decisions anymore. If you're trying to get back your commander title I wouldn't give it back to you either."
He rolled his eyes. "I don't care what title I have. I want to know what's going on and what I can do. There's got to be a better option than just running. You've got to have some other plan circling around in that head of yours."
"The only plan that I have right now involves me in a ship going to rip Kylo Ren apart. So, no, there is no other plan because the smart thing to do is stay here, wait for my orders, and help where I'm needed."
"I don't know where Katerina Metonae went but we're going to need her back," Poe said, standing up before things took a turn for the worst. He would figure out things on his own.
She grabbed one of the extra pillows and threw it at his back. "I almost attacked a medic droid today, Poe! I barely kept it together announcing Holdo's promotion. The only plan I can remotely focus on is the most reckless thing I've thought of in a long time. The one person in my whole life who has never once abandoned me was nearly taken away from me after I just lost my dad. I don't know when she'll wake up and kick my ass into gear again and that honestly scares me just as much as the thought of losing her. So I'm so sorry that I can't keep it together enough to give you orders that you're going to blatantly ignore anyway."
"Oh, so now you want to have that conversation." He said as he turned back around to face her.
"No! I want you to leave." She huffed out.
"I'm not going anywhere until you get all your anger out." He crossed his arms. "Then maybe you'll think more clearly."
Kat groaned and covered her face with her hands. "If I go talk to kriffing Holdo will you leave me be? I don't have time for whatever weird comforting thing you think this is."
He walked over and crouched in front of her. He slowly pulled her hands away, keeping her wrists in his hands. "I would like it very much if you talked with Holdo. I just needed to make sure that the next time I saw you, you weren't going to be shut down. I can take being yelled at by you. Been doing that since the day we met. I also know that had you been crying when I walked in that I would have approached everything differently but you were pissed instead so I poked the bear. So, you feel better?"
She just stared at him for a few moments before she shook her head in disbelief, trying to school her features back to her typical stoic ones. "You are absolutely ridiculous."
He smirked up at her, giving her wrists a small squeeze before standing up. "Well, what are you waiting for? No time like the present. I'll stay with Leia."
Sighing, she stood up, flashing him a grateful smile before making her way to command.
As promised, Poe stayed behind as she went to the bridge. He sat in the chair previously vacated by Kat and took Leia's hand. "We all need you to come back but especially her. She even called you mom when she saw you get pulled out. I've never heard her call you mom, ever so if that's not reason enough. But apparently, she's waiting for you to give her the all-clear, I guess. She let Holdo take over command instead of her. I know, I know, trust your leaders." He rolled his eyes, hearing Leia's voice clearly in his head from the many times he came to complain about Kat.
"I hope she'll at least talk to Kat because hopefully there's actually something happening. If Kat was running things, there'd be movement already, I just know it. Or at least trying to figure out where we could land for a temporary base." He then let out a sigh. "She's not ready to listen to me yet. I mean she rarely does anyway but I know she's still mad about what happened. Matter of fact, I'm a little mad at myself too. I was their commander and I led them all to death. It's like watching Muran fifty times over. I guess I still have some learning to do."
He squeezed her hand. "I could also really use some Leia advice. I really care about your daughter but the last time I tried to have romance during a war, it ended badly for me. I want to know how you and Han did it. Hell, how you think my parents' managed. So if you could wake up soon, that'd be really appreciated."