Choosing A Commander

Called Off

Poe POV -

"General, with all due respect, she has to be out there somewhere." I stood my ground before the General's desk as she sipped from a metal mug. "We can't just call off the search!"

"Poe, we can and we will."

"This is bantha shit!"

"You may feel that way, but I've conferred with the other Generals and Admirals. We don't have the resources to keep searching for Black Nine."

I scoffed at her as I narrowed my eyes. "Black Nine? That's all she is to you, then? A number in a squad, disposal fodder for the fucking First Order?"

General Organa sat back and sighed, staring at the ceiling momentarily before she cast her gaze in my direction. "With no contact for weeks and no ransom demands, we must conclude that Kyla was lost in action or is now a captive of the First Order or worse."

"What could be worse than being taken by your evil spawn!" I shouted and turned away from her. My fist hit the back wall where the General's doors sat, making a sizeable fist-sized dent in the steel.

"Slavers would be worse to start."

I spun back and stared at the woman whom I'd respected more than anyone until this day. She'd mentored me and guided me throughout my time with the Resistance. But her ability to write Kyla off as a causality was infuriating and made me doubt her leadership for the first time.

"What's going on?" Landon burst through the door with the rest of the squad on his heels.

"Black Leader is simply exercising his right to disagree with me." General Organa stood and walked around her desk before sitting on the edge. "The hunt for Balck Nine is being called off."

"You can't be for real?" Uriel protested calmly and stepped forward. "It's only been a few weeks."

"And since your encounter with the Knights of Ren, we have scanned every single sector for her X-Wing's beacon with no results."

"What about BB-7?" Marco asked, surprisingly seeming to care.

General Organa shook her head, and as I watched her, I finally saw the sadness in her eyes.

"If Seven and her X-Wing are both offline, then they were either purposefully disengaged or..." Uriel's voice faded to nothing.

"Or they were blown to bits and unable to function." My chin dropped to my chest as I realized the true gravity of the situation. "She went after me. That's why she set out alone."

"It's not your fault, Poe." Sylas's hand patted my shoulder, and I looked up at his face as he spoke again. "She was fucking stubborn. Who knows, maybe she crashed on a deserted planet and lost the ship and Seven, so she is alive but has no way to reach us."

"She's fucking smart." Briggs chimed in. "If there is a chance she can contact you, she will. You had that girl dickmatized."

"Really, gentlemen!" The General scolded us, as most laughed at Briggs's words. But I could see the smile she hid as she walked out of her office, and we followed.

When we reached the tarmac, a large transport was loading everything that wasn't bolted down.

"What's going on?" I questioned as BB-14, who belonged to Jace, rolled up next to me and started beeping.

"WHOOP BOOP BEEP BOP BOP BOOP WHURR ZUR DUR!!"

"We're leaving?" I turned and faced General Organa, who nodded

"We also have to face the real possibility that Kyla has been captured since we have had no further run-ins with the Commander or his Knights. And if he has her," the General paused and swallowed hard before speaking with her voice choked in her throat. "There is a genuine possibility he will torture her until she gives him our location. So we have to leave. Now."