Star Wars: A Resistance Story. Book 3

Chapter 6: New Allies.

Obviously, it was market day in the capital of Utapau. People were gathering around the different displays and the small group composed of Poe, Nodin, Bango, Cane, Takeel and Nick had a lot of troubles to pass through this crowd.

"It's not far from here. Come on!"

Dameron nodded, trying his best to keep the rest of the group on sight. Several times, the pilot wondered if it wasn't a trap. If the so called friends of Bango didn't actually want to sell them to the First Order. This thought wasn't leaving him as they turned into a much smaller alley, further from the rest of the city. Nodin glanced back at him, visibly worried and Poe placed a hand on his blaster, getting ready to face anything.

After several minutes, Takeel finally stopped the group seemingly blocked by a dead end. Starting to feel the trap, the two pilots were ready to draw their weapons when the Togruta pushed and slid a part of a wall, revealing then a large cave, hidden and away from Pau City. He stepped inside, followed right away by Nick and Bango. Poe glanced at Cane who smiled at him, obviously amused before gesturing to them to step in as well.

"If we wanted to sell you, it would already be done."

After a deep breath, Dameron stepped in the cave, followed by Nodin. And the two pilots suddenly froze discovering the scenery in front of them.

Nearly a thousand feet wide and almost as high as the Opera on Coruscant, the cave was full of refugees, women and children, old people and sometimes even full families, hidden inside.

"Tell me it's a joke..."

Cane stepped closer and closed the hidden door behind him before joining Poe and Nodin.

"The First Order forced them to run away. They had no where to go so they hid the best they could. We're in contact with several other groups in various systems and they all have the same problem."

Obviously surprised by this turnaround, Poe rubbed his face before laying his hands on his head, overwhelmed by the amount of work that was waiting for him and for the Resistance.

"Shit..."

"When Bango contacted us, we were hoping you would be the help we needed. We're not enough to really help them and clearly not armed enough to protect them. For now, we have been lucky enough to not have been noticed by the First Order, but for how long?"

Dameron stayed silent a very long moment, his eyes fixed on these poor people who were surviving the best they could in the depths of Utapau. Once again, the reality of the war stroke him hard. All these refugees didn't ask anything, they suffered the conflicts between the First Order and the Resistance and because of that, they were losing everything. Their planet, their home, their family, their freedom, their life. The pilot turned his brown eyes onto the Zabrak and lowered his hand, obviously distraught.

"When Bango told me about you, we were actually also hoping for your help. Cane, we're just a small group, the First Order slaughtered us and we were looking for a place where we could hide a moment. We are not your saviors. I'm really sorry..."

Again, the Cyborg stayed silent a couple of minutes. He stepped closer to the refugees, down the small hill they were on with Nodin and Poe. The three of them looked around at the despair in front of them. After what seemed to be an eternity, Cane turned to face the pilots, his face strangely calm.

"Actually I think we could help each other."

Without saying anything more, the Zabrak gestured them to follow him and the three of them headed towards a tent further from the rest. Inside, the pilots discovered several computers, most of them decoding various things. Poe frowned and at the same time, Cane settled in front of one of the screens, adjusted his Cyborg eye before starting to type quickly on the keyboard in front of him. After only few seconds, he finally explained himself.