Lose Control

Chapter 3

Alder stayed with BB-8 as he fled the fighting, he should've stayed; he could've protected the villagers... But he was a coward, a Jedi without full use of the Force... was that even considered a Jedi? He had been trained as one, excluding the mind trick parts, but without the Force he was nothing but a weakling. The last defense the Resistance had against the First Order after Master Skywalker had disappeared, his only hope of achieving anything was finding the real Jedi their side needed to win.

"I'm sorry Poe..." He glanced back behind him to see the smoke from the flames quickly obscure his vision of the fighting inside the village. He hoped Poe was able to escape, once the fighting started they had gotten separated. "I need your help..."

BB-8 beeped beside him, rolling swiftly over the ground that easily allowed the droid to keep up with his pace. Alder looked down at the white and orange droid. "I can't go back, I could die! I know Poe needs my help but... I can't fight my way back in there, I was almost killed escaping!"

Alder knew his fear wasn't a trait the Light side should have, fear was taking the path to the Dark side. He wouldn't go down that path; it would break his mother's heart. But at the same time, he reasoned that going back there would too risky. BB-8 had the map safely stored but what if the little droid ran into trouble? Poe was a fighter, he would find a way out, right now Alder had to get the rest of the map.

Something tugged at him to look back once more but when he did he quickly regretted it, the village was nearly burned to the ground... it had gone silent. "BB-8, do you see anything?"

The droid gave a mournful sounding series of beeps that basically translated to no. Alder tried to reach out with the force to get into anyone's mind but gave up; he was too far away to even weakly get into someone's mind. It had taken all his concentration to read that bounty hunter earlier and even then it had been difficult from a few feet away. Why had he expected to use the Force from this distance? He started to go back, he needed to find Poe quickly... the Resistance couldn't lose another member... not because he was a coward. Before he was even halfway back however, blaster fire erupted from the smoke, cutting off the fearful screams of the innocent villagers.

Alder came to a halt and stared towards the village in horror while the First Order's ships flew off and away from Jakku, probably to get back to their base. He felt sick as he forced himself to walk back into the burning village, he should have stayed; he could have stopped this...

"I shouldn't have come on the mission..." He slumped his shoulders as he walked, if he had stayed at base he wouldn't feel so guilt wracked over this. "It isn't like I was useful anyway."

The droid stayed silent as he trudged into the small village, from where he was walking, Alder could make out the pile of bodies in the center of town where they had been left for rot and scavengers. He picked up his pace to a jog, desperate to know if Poe was one of the victims or if he was possibly still alive. The minutes ticked by as he went through every victim, searching for Poe's face, terrified that he would find it, but it didn't appear among the bodies. Mysteriously enough, neither did that bounty hunter's, had she actually been working for the First Order? She was cold enough to be.

By the time he had finished searching the village the fires had burned out with only ash and faint smoke remaining and the daylight was falling down on the ground, making it all stand out mockingly. Alder sank to his knees and bowed his head in grief. Poe was missing, which wasn't a good thing. Who knew what the First Order would do to him to get the information out, and the entire village of innocent people were dead. He wanted to be dead... he should be dead... if he hadn't run away like a craven.

Something bumped his side and he glanced over to see BB-8 watching him, he swore that droid was so human sometimes. "What?"

BB-8 gave a series of beeps and rolled across the sandy ground.

Alder felted a prick of irritation at the lack of English speech but pushed it away, the droid couldn't help not having a human language. "What is it?"

BB-8 continued to move in a circle in front of him.

With a frown he tried to figure out what the droid was trying to tell him... then it clicked and seemed so simple! BB-8 was reminding him about the entire reason they were there! In letting his emotions take control, Alder had completely forgotten that the little white and orange droid in front of him had part of the map. He stood up with renewed hope, he might be stuck here until he could find a way off Jakku and communicate with the Resistance but that didn't mean he should give up.

"Thank you." He gave the droid a small grateful smile before heading back out of the village. "Come on BB, let's go find someone who can help us. We'll find Poe and get the rest of the map soon enough. Master Skywalker will be found and this madness can end."

The helpful droid gave a series of beeps as it followed him, which he took to be an agreement.