Star Wars: A Resistance Story. Book 3

Chapter 18: Back to the Base.

"No, no, no, no, no!"

Poe hurried towards what was left of the stone building, without waiting the site to be securized. He jumped across the dead corpses of the Stormtroopers, ignoring the calls of Finn, Rose and Snap. After having put his blaster's strap around his shoulders, he started digging through the rubble. Snap and BB8 joined him soon after and the pilot silently interrogate Dameron.

"She's right below. It was her!"

Ly'ra.

The only person able to place Poe between the state of passion and panic, and his only reason to continue the fight. No one had received news from her since her arrest by the First Order, almost a year ago. And according to most people, she had been executed. But since few weeks, there was a growing rumor saying that Kylo Ren had taken a new apprentice. And after having seen the veiled figure, he thought that maybe, for once, the rumor was true.

"Ly'ra!"

When the pilot heard the panicked voice of his friend and the frenzied beeps of BB8 who was digging also as soon as he had heard the revelation of his master, he hurried to help them. Quickly, they found Switch, unconscious and hidden under the mercenary, a thin unconscious frame. Poe freed her as fast as he could and after just a second of hesitation, he removed her hood and the curls from her face. And as an undeniable proof of her identity: the red cristal medallion around her neck. Snap let out a swear as he discovered the young woman who was badly wounded, but alive.

"Shit... So it was true."

"That was not Silri..."

But Dameron wasn't listening. He softly caressed the young woman's face, wiping away some of her makeup with water, before checking her wound, just under her ribs. She was bleeding severely and he understood that her wound had been caused by the explosion of the building. BB8 whistled sadly at the sight of his former owner and tried to shake her gently with one of his pliers in order to wake her up, but the young woman didn't move.

"We have to take her back to the base, now! Bring back the speeder!"

Snap gestured to one of the Resistant to bring the ship quickly and as he was looking up, he noticed the hesitation in Finn's eyes.

"What?"

The former Stormtrooper was obviously uncomfortable and waited few more seconds before finally saying what several Resistants were thinking.

"Poe... Look, buddy, it might not be a good idea..."

The pilot froze before looking up angrily at his friend who kept going despite the silent petitions of Rose next to him.

"She... Well, you saw what she did. Obviously the rumor was true. She is Kylo Ren's apprentice... So if we bring her back..."

Finn didn't have time to finish his sentence. BB8 whistled nervously and Poe, after having delicately placed down the young woman, stood up and grabbed the young man's collar furiously.

"She is coming back, understood? She's hurt and she's part of the Resistance, just like you!"

As he understood the underline, Finn stepped back, allowing Rose to take him further while the speeder was arriving. Snap helped Dameron to settle the young woman inside before hoisting BB8 next to her. He then watched as the Commander was quickly going back to the Resistance base with his lover.

The other Resistants who were still around seemed to hesitate, without really knowing how to react, and the small capital of Batuu seemed to dive into a death silence.

"What do we do with him?"

Being the highest officer, Snap turned on his heels and looked at Bango who was pointing his blaster on Switch, still unconscious on the ground.