AN: I apologize for the wait. I should hopefully not have any more large life events until the holidays to keep me off track. If you're keeping track of where we are in the films, we're headed towards the Battle of Crait in this chapter and moving slightly beyond. I hope you enjoy and happy reading!
✧✩✧
Kat looked up when Leia came to be near her. She was seated by Poe, holding his hand. There was a sad air about the older woman that even Kat could pick up on. "What's happened? Where's Holdo?"
"She's staying behind to pilot the cruiser."
Her eyes widened. "There's been so many losses already."
"It's her choice."
Kat sighed, nodding. "There was something she told me that made me worried." She looked to her mom, that worry written plainly all over her features. "She said that I was working in my blind spots. That I didn't see the picture clearly anymore."
Leia placed a hand on her cheek. "I have blind spots too. It used to just be in the form of your father but then it morphed to include you and your brother. In my experience, they're typically correlated with those you love."
Shaking her head, Kat didn't want to agree with what her mom had said. She could easily see it in regards to her. She had thrown out all she had been taught from the woman sitting next to her because she was trying to preserve Leia's life's work.
"Sometimes it's in the form of blindly following instead of looking at all options when presented with new information." She said, giving her daughter a knowing look.
Well, that statement hit a little too close to home. So Kat looked away and her eyes landed on Poe's still unconscious form.
✧✩✧
Suddenly Poe jolted awake, startling Kat. He looked around, dread filling his stomach before his eyes landed on a hand in his. He followed the hand to where it was connected to an arm, all the way up to Kat's face whose features had settled into something a bit apologetic. "No, no, no, Kat we're sitting ducks out here and you know it." He said as he sat up, turning to face her.
"Actually, we're not. They don't even know we're out here." She squeezed his hand before letting go and motioning for him to look out the bit of transparisteel they were sitting in front of.
A blue looking planet was growing larger and larger as they grew closer and closer. "What is that?" He asked, coming to stand near the two women.
"The mineral planet, Crait," D'Acy answered. "An uncharted hideout from the days of the Rebellion."
"That's a Rebel base?" Poe asked in disbelief, turning to look at the other commanding officer.
"Abandoned and heavily armored. With enough power to get a distress signal to our allies scattered in the outer rim." D'Acy answered once more, looking at both Kat and Poe, not knowing that the colonel had now been made aware of what Holdo's plan held.
"Holdo knew the First Order was tracking our big ship. They're not monitoring for little transports." Leia spoke up, speaking to the two right in front of her.
Kat looked up to Poe as he looked at her with a sigh, understanding washing over him now. Kat had figured it out when Leia had told her they were headed to Crait, she just wished she had been told before she made a mess of things. But then things truly clicked for Poe. "So we could slip down to the surface unnoticed and hide until the First Order passes." He said, getting the idea behind Holdo's plan now. He wished that he and Kat had just been told or they wouldn't have fought to try and save the Raddus. Not to mention Finn, Rose, and BB-8 would still be with them.
"Exactly." Kat agreed, nodding her head.
"Holdo was more interested in protecting the light than seeming like a hero," Leia said as she took the tracking beacon for Rey back from Poe's wrist and sliding it onto her own.
The two both turned to look at the Raddus through the transparisteel on the other side of the transport. Kat's heart felt heavy, knowing that Holdo was going to be another name added to the list of losses.
Poe looked back to Kat. "Seems like a better plan than ours." He whispered.
Kat shook her head. "Both were good plans with the information we had." She reached out and squeezed Poe's arm. "We're gonna get them back, Poe."
He nodded. "I know."
It was then the transport shook as one of the others was hit with a cannon blast from the First Order. Kat shot up, heart racing while simultaneously dropping to the pit of her stomach. Leia took her hand, bringing the woman to sit back down. "There's nothing we can do."
Kat whirled on Leia. "I can take over. We can push to maximum speed."
Leia shook her head, knowing that there was nothing they could do.
"These are my men that are flying. There has to be something!" She grew frantic, not wanting to lose anyone else. She was supposed to be the one who helped make sure there were few casualties and all she seemed capable of today was to add to that count.
Poe took her hand, caressing her knuckles. "Kat..."
"I swear to the maker Dameron if you speak anything other than an idea on how to help, you will be unconscious, again."
There was movement that caught Kat's eye. She pulled away from the two people who were trying to keep her calm so she could look out the window. The Raddus was firing up its engines and turning around. "She's running away," Connix said, watching beside Kat.
"No, she isn't," Kat replied, dread filling her. Holdo was about to jump to lightspeed and destroy the First Order fleet as she flew through them. She hoped that Finn, Rose, and BB-8 would still be okay if they hadn't been killed already.
✧✩✧
Once they landed on Crait, everyone grabbed a weapon. They lowered the blaster doors until just a small gap was left so that Leia could watch the skies. Just because they landed, didn't mean that they were safe. A ship headed towards them, followed by two TIE fighters. Over a small radio, Leia ordered the person on the other line to close the shield door.
The leading ship came in hot and the blasts from the TIE fighters were slipping through the remaining opening. Everyone ran towards the back of the base. Kat and Poe ran on either end of the group yelling out orders for people to run and to keep going back in between orders to get the door down.
The First Order transport slid inside the base just at the last minute, coming to a stop just in front of where the remaining Resistance members shot towards it. Poe, Leia, and Kat took the lead, moving in closer to the ship until they heard Rose and Finn's voices. "Hold your fire!" Poe shouted.
When the blasts were done both Rose and Finn popped up from the cockpit. "Finn!"
"Rose!"
"You're not dead!" Kat and Poe exclaimed at the same time, lowering their weapons.
"Where's my droid?" Poe asked just before BB-8's chirping could be heard as he exited the ship.
Both Poe and Kat took off running but while Poe stopped to reunite with his droid, Kat ran right to Rose, wrapping the mechanic in her arms. "I'm never letting you go on a mission again." She said, rocking them back and forth.
Rose couldn't help but laugh. "I don't know. I think I did an okay job."
Kat pulled back, giving the other woman a pointed look before going to hug Finn. "I'm glad you're safe too."
Finn chuckled, returning the hug despite the surprise he felt towards it at first.
"This is all that's left?" Rose asked as Kat pulled away.
The colonel sighed. "I'm afraid so but we're reaching out to our allies in the outer rim. Hopefully, we'll be able to rebuild. For now, we're gonna give the First Order all we got. Now come on, I'm sure we could use your help in getting everything booted back up." She draped an arm over Rose's shoulders and moved towards the command center at the back of the base.
"Actually Rose, will you take a look at what was left behind and see what we can use?" Leia asked as the two women passed her.
Rose nodded. "Of course." She squeezed Kat's hand before calling out a few names so they could help her.
"You and Poe are running point on this," Leia informed her daughter as they made their way towards the command center.
Kat looked to her mom, confused. "Oh, ha, ha I get it cause we did the thing on the Raddus. You're hilarious."
"That's exactly why." Leia looked completely serious.
"Wait, is this my punishment?"
"Call it a lesson." The corners of Leia's lips quirked up as she continued on without Kat.
She watched Leia in awe before turning around to see if she could find Poe. He was still talking with BB-8 who wanted to tell him all about what he had done while they were apart. "Hey, I hate to cut this reunion short but I need your help setting up this base." She said, touching his arm to get his attention.
Poe looked up at her, curiosity was written all over his features. "Okay. We need to get the shield up first."
"My thoughts exactly." Kat agreed.
"Is this because..."
"Absolutely. She's teaching us a lesson." Kat cut him off, her answer causing him to chuckle.
"After the shields are up we can send out our signal and depending on what we find here, we can hopefully defend ourselves long enough for help to arrive."
"Rose has already been asked to take a look at what was left behind that could potentially be used."
"Alright, let's get these shields up then."
The two moved around the space checking on everyone as they helped clean, reboot, and get the command center back in order. Anytime they passed each other their hands brushed, silently keeping each other grounded so the what-ifs wouldn't plague their thoughts and control their decisions. Leia watched on with an amused look. Yes, the galaxy would be in good hands with those two.
They got the shield back up and just as Connix planned on using Leia's code to send out a signal to their allies, Rose and her team returned from their hunt. "Rose, what do you got?" Kat asked.
"Rotting munitions, rusted artillery, some half-gutted skim speeders."
Poe sighed beside Kat, having come up behind her when he saw Rose coming in. "Well, let's just pray that big ass door holds long enough to get help."
As if on cue the ground started to rumble. Dirt started to fall from the ceiling and the vulptices began to whine as they looked around, nervous. Finn stepped over to the telescope to see what was going on outside the door. Sighing, he pulled away from the lookout spot to the team. "A battering ram cannon."
"A what now?" Poe asked.
"Miniaturized Death Star tech. It'll crack that door open like an egg." Finn further explained.
"There has to be a back way out of here, right?" Rose asked, looking to Poe and Kat.
BB-8 began chirping as the astromech and C3PO rejoined the team after looking into the mine's schematics. "BB-8 has analyzed the mine's schematics." The golden droid translated. "This is the only way in or out."
Kat's fingers itched for her batons, needing to think. She took a step forward but Poe took hold of her hand. "Don't you start pacing." He warned quietly. If she started pacing it'd worry everyone else and they couldn't exactly start dancing either.
"Come on. We have allies. People believe in Leia. They'll get our message, they'll come. But we have to buy time. We gotta take out that cannon." Finn spoke up, causing all eyes to be on him.
At his words, Kat nodded, all information she had managed to gather about the base starting to come to her. She had a crazy idea and it just might work. "He's right. So here's what we're gonna do."
✧☆✧
She along with Poe, Finn, Rose, the members of the Black Squadron, and the handful of pilots she still had in her naval fleet flew the skim speeders towards the AT-ATs and battering ram while most of the resistance stayed behind in the trenches in front of the base and the defense canons. Kat was on one end while Poe was on the other. The speeders were in horrendous condition but somehow managed to still work.
Soon First Order TIEs joined the scene and Kat really didn't like their odds then. But she'd been playing against bad odds all day so she was bound to have a good go at some point, right?
"Fighters, break off!" Poe ordered and soon they all began to break their formation.
"Come on! We gotta hold them until they bring out that canon!" Kat said as she dodged a blast from one of the TIEs. She briefly wondered if Ben was in one of them or one of the AT-ATs. She then wondered if he knew she was in one of the speeders, would he call the TIEs off. Then again he was near when Leia had been pulled out into space and she hadn't received one call from him and he certainly didn't try to contact her after Han's death. Could he truly be completely taken over by the dark side now?
It was then a familiar shadow flew over her causing her to look to the sky. The Millennium Falcon had appeared and she shouted with glee. Chewbacca and Rey were back. That hopefully meant Luke was too.
They drew the fighters away just as the First Order was finally bringing the cannon forward. "Okay, it's heavily armored. Our only shot is right down the throat." Finn informed them as they kept driving towards it. The cannon began whirring to life and Finn shouted, "the cannon's opening. This is our chance."
The AT-ATs then focused their attack onto the speeders and soon they were down to eleven with more going by the second. They were then down to Kat, Poe, Finn, Rose, and the members of the Black Squadron. Having learned his lesson with their mission against the dreadnought, Poe ordered everyone to pull away.
Kat looked over to where Poe was, smiling. He was trying to save the rest of them. She was glad she didn't have to speak up to try and convince him to do just that. Finn, however, was determined to take out the cannon. "No, Finn! It's too dangerous. We have to retreat now. That's an order." She argued as she turned her speeder around.
Finn kept going towards the cannon despite everyone else listening to their leaders' orders. Instead, he kept his course and fired up his guns.
"Finn! It's too late, don't do this!" Rose tried to get him to see reason.
"No! I won't let them win!"
"No! Finn, listen to Kat and Poe. We have to retreat!"
Finn pushed the mic to his headset up, ending the connection.
Those that had listened to the order had jumped from their speeders as the cannon fired on the door. The power behind it caused things to blow around as if the presence of a powerful wind was there. They slid into the trenches, running back inside. Poe waited just inside the base, waiting to see if Kat had made it back safely and when he saw her running towards him, he held out his hand for her to take.
Just like back on Coruscant, they ran hand in hand back through the base to prepare to fight against the oncoming attack. They were waiting, guns at the ready when a cloaked figure walked past. They all stood watching, some not realizing who it was, but Kat knew right away. Tears sprang to her eyes as she stepped forward. "Uncle Luke?" She honestly hated how her voice cracked.
The Jedi turned to face her and smirked. "Does my being here really make you that upset?" He teased her.
She ran over to him, wrapping her arms around him. "You came. Rey and Chewie brought you home."
Luke pulled away from the hug and gave her a sad smile. "Not exactly. Now go get the rest of the Resistance to safety. I'll handle your brother." He pressed a kiss to her forehead and continued out to face Kylo Ren.
Kat watched him, confused by what he meant by not exactly. She touched him. He felt solid. And then he was consumed by blaster fire. "No!" She screamed, starting to make her way to him but Poe rushed to her, holding her against him so she wouldn't get caught up in the same thing.
Then the red smoke settled and Luke was still standing. "How?" She gasped, silent tears still rushing down her cheeks.
"He's projecting himself through the force," Leia answered as she came up behind him, throwing Poe a grateful smile for keeping her daughter from running out into the fight.
Poe nodded, letting Kat go as she turned to face Leia. "He's not exactly here." She whispered as things began to click together. She wiped away her tears, steeling herself to keep fighting. She looked over, seeing Rose receiving medical treatment and Finn watching over her. How did she miss their return?
She shook her head to clear her thoughts she needed to focus. Poe reached out and took her hand, squeezing it. Not entirely sure if he should tell her that Kylo Ren had just appeared. The look on Leia's face told him to keep it a secret for now. "He's doing this for a reason." Poe finally said, trying to come up with said reason so they could make a plan. Then it hit him. "He's stalling so we can escape."
Kat looked at him and nodded. "There's gotta be another way out."
"Exactly. There's gotta be another way out." He smiled at her as they started walking towards the back of the base.
"Sir, it is possible that a natural unmapped opening exists," C3PO spoke up, coming over to the pair. "But this facility is such a maze of endless tunnels that the odds of finding an exit are 15,428..."
As the droid began talking Poe realized something. It was quieter than before. The tinkling from the vulptices could no longer be heard. With his free hand, he waved towards the droid trying to get them to stop talking. Finally, when they were about to rattle off the odds, they listened.
"Listen," Poe suggested.
Everyone paused to do just that. When Kat realized what he was listening for, her face lit up. "Where'd the crystal animals go?" She asked just as one popped out at the end of one of the tunnels.
Smiling at one another, they turned to the rest of their team. "Follow us." They started making their way towards the vulptex but when they noticed no one was following them, they turned back around.
Everyone was looking at Leia, who then looked behind her. "What are you looking at me for? Follow them." She motioned to the pair who smiled their thanks and began making their way towards the tunnel.
"I think we passed," Poe whispered to Kat.
"I think we did too." She smiled.
✧☆✧
They hurried through the tunnels, not knowing how much time they really had before the First Order figured things out. Things were looking up as they heard more vulptices but when they came to an opening, large boulders blocked their path. "No, no, no, no, no," Poe muttered as he let go of Kat's hand to move towards the rocks.
Kat followed him but just as she was about to start suggesting they try to move some, a rumbling began and they were lifted out of the way. Amazed they hurried to the entrance and saw Rey standing there, arm outstretched. Finn, who had been close behind them after seeing the rocks move on their own, pushed past them and ran towards his friend, pulling her in for a tight hug.
With the rocks out of the way, Kat and Poe started ushering people towards the Falcon. She honestly didn't think she would ever be more relieved to see the hunk of junk freighter than she was in that moment. She motioned for Poe to go ahead, waiting for Leia so they could walk into the familiar ship together. Honestly, she didn't want to enter the ship just yet knowing that Han wouldn't be there to greet her. She was appreciative of Poe's support and comfort but there was just nothing that could beat the comfort of a mom.
She and Leia had just reached the top of the canyon when she noticed that subtle shift in her mom when she felt something shift in the force. Leia looked to Rey who had felt it too. "What happened, mom?" Kat asked softly.
Leia patted Kat's hand, smiling softly at hearing her still using mom to refer to her. "Your uncle has passed but we need to get going before your brother catches onto us."
Kat let out a heavy sigh and nodded. "It never ends, does it?"
"I'm afraid not. Now go see if Chewie needs some help flying the old girl." She squeezed Kat's hand as they entered the Falcon.
The colonel made her way to the cockpit, throwing her arms around the Wookiee from behind. He growled in welcome, patting her arms. She leaned her head against his, just enjoying being close to her beloved uncle. Chewbacca and Lando were the only two left that she had met and had a connection to. "I came to see if I could offer any assistance."
"You're too late on that," Poe smirked up at her from the pilot's seat.
Kat turned to him, surprised she hadn't even noticed him sitting there. Then again her focus had truly been on Chewbacca. She shoved at his shoulder. "Get out of my seat!"
Chewbacca growled in agreement with Kat which caused Poe to sigh. "One day." He touched the control panel longingly before getting up.
"Why don't you go check on our crew, hm? I'll join you once we set the autopilot." She looked up at him as she took over the pilot's seat, looking quite comfortable in it. It had been a while since she had flown the Falcon but it was all coming back to her.
Poe just waved her off and left the two behind as Chewbacca asked Kat where she planned on going. There was an old rebel base on a jungle moon in the outer rim. The planet it orbited protected from cosmic radiation which also allowed for them to hide well since it messed with any tracking technology. "I'm thinking Ajan Kloss. Hidden base and very much out of the way and the last place anyone will think of so we can properly start rebuilding."
"Smart decision." Leia's voice sounded through the cockpit.
Both Chewie and Kat turned to look at the latest addition to the space. "You really think so?"
Leia nodded, sitting in one of the jump seats. "I do."
Kat smiled and turned back around to set their course.
"I want you to go to bed after you make your rounds," Leia said in a motherly tone.
"I'm not ten anymore. You don't get to decide my bedtime."
"Today has been a tough one on you, I can tell. So you're going to get some rest, colonel, and that's an order."
Sighing, she turned on the autopilot and stood from her seat. "Yes, general."
As she walked past, Leia held out a hand to stop her. When Kat looked down she just smiled and tapped her cheek causing Kat to laugh. The young woman bent down and placed a kiss on her mom's cheek. "I love you," Leia told her which made tears well up in Kat's eyes. Okay, yeah maybe she was tired because she did not typically cry this easily.
"I love you too," Kat replied, blinking back her tears.
She stood at the entrance of the main hub, looking over the remaining members of the Resistance. Her eyes landed on Rose, who was still unconscious but now wrapped in a blanket in one of the cots built into the wall of the ship. Finn was sitting on the ground in front of it as if he was keeping watch. Kat's lips quirked up a bit at the sight.
Soon a slim brunette entered her field of vision as Rey approached her. "You must be Kat. I'm Rey." She held out her hand for her to shake.
Kat nodded, shaking the woman's outstretched hand. "I'm assuming you know because of Han. Please tell me he didn't tell you anything too embarrassing."
Something passed over Rey's features before she schooled them into a smile. "No. Just said that he hadn't seen someone take so keenly to the Falcon since you."
That did make Kat smile even if she was trying to figure out what Rey was keeping from her. "I learned how to fly on this thing believe it or not." She shook her head at the memories but then something clicked. Rey didn't just know Han and Chewbacca, she knew Ben as well. "You also know me from my brother, don't you?"
She looked a little hesitant but finally nodded. "He thinks about you often. You're one of the reasons I believe he hasn't turned fully to the dark side."
"Then you clearly haven't noticed that Ben is completely gone. I don't know who he is anymore. Within the span of 24 hours, he's quite literally tried and partly succeeded in destroying our entire family." Her voice was cold but there was something akin to hope at hearing that he thought of her.
Rey nodded. "I am truly sorry for your loss."
Kat gave her a soft smile and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you. For all you've done." She then noticed the cut on Rey's arm. "Now, if you haven't already, that cut looks like it could be taken care of. I'm sure there's a medic around here somewhere."
"They've set up near the kitchen. Need directions on how to get there?" Poe said as he approached the two women.
Rey shook her head. "Think I can manage thanks." She gave a small wave to Kat and left the two alone.
"How is everyone?" Kat asked, turning to face Poe.
"Tired. Everyone's finding a spot to sleep. Where'd ya wind up taking us?"
"Ajan Kloss."
Poe nodded. "Out of the way enough."
"Exactly." She smiled. Knowing that everyone was okay, she was truly beginning to feel the exhaustion settling into her bones. "Well, I'm under direct orders from the general to go to bed so I'm gonna do just that." She pointed in the direction of the captain's quarters she was fully planning on using if anyone hadn't claimed it yet. "You should get some rest too. How's your head?" She reached up without even thinking it through to run her fingers along the back of Poe's head.
"I'm fine, Kat." He promised, pulling her hand around and pressing a kiss to her knuckles. "Go get some sleep." He gave her fingers one last, lingering kiss before nudging her down the hallway.
She fell asleep wondering what his lips would feel like against hers.