Hunted

XXXXV. The Showdown

They had taken refuge deep below the base. Unbeknownst to Serela, there were at least 5 underground levels below the one she had lived on during her time here, and they had taken the stairs down to the very. bottom. one.

Winded already from carrying Ben down so many steps, Serela leaned against the wall of the room they ushered her into and slumped to the floor, giving herself a moment to rest. The others filed in unceremoniously -- Statura had left their procession on the main floor, heading for the control room to oversee the defence of D'Qar. First Order storm trooper scouts had already been spotted outside close to the area where Kylo had been abducted. General Hux was not stupid, he knew the Resistance must be close to where they had taken him.

The room they holed up in was little more than 4 stone walls and some chairs around a table. A radio in the wall allowed Leia to communicate back and forth with the control centre upstairs. Rey sat diagonally from Serela and Ben, crossing her legs and leaning against the other wall, assuming a meditative stance against it. Reha took one of the chairs when Luke held it out for her and then seated himself after. They both turned the seats towards Serela, already so exhausted her eyes were shut, trying to soothe the ache of her eyelids that begged her to close.

Staticky voices spoke with Leia back and forth through the rusty old radio, often almost intelligible in their messages, leaving Leia to ask them to repeat 3 or 4 times. Serela nodded off once or twice, lulled by the sound of Ben's even breathing against her chest, her head lolling to the side uncomfortably.

The first tremors of the base shook her awake.

Behind her the wall seemed to lurch against her back with the force of some unseen momentum many hundred feet above them. Her heart gave a turn as she wondered where Kylo was and if he was safe.

The shaking grabbed the attention of everyone in the room, even Rey halted her meditation -- they all stared at the walls and the ceiling, then finally the door as if it might fly open at any moment, revealing a troop of First Order officers with blasters pointed and ready.

"This will be the last place they look," Leia spoke, trying to assuage the fears of the other women. Luke sat complacently in his chair, watching their expressions and searching the Force for answers.

"H-How will we know w-when it's safe to go up?" Serela stumbled through her words sloppily, sleep deprivation severely reducing her coherency.

"Hard to say," Leia answered, "But I think it's safe to assume now is not that time."

More vibrations as the walls trembled with the forces that were battling above them. The fear was potent, everyone but Luke looking watchfully from the door to the ceiling when a particularly violent tremor would shake loose a few particles of debris, most of it dust that rained down softly on their heads as they tried to remain calm and avoid imagining the worst.

At first there were multiple communications through the radio for Leia, but as the explosions went on they became more sporadic, and after the first hour they ceased completely. Ben woke and cried and Serela fed him until he slept again, but no new messages came through the rusty speaker. The others remained outwardly calm for Serela's sake, but the claustrophobia began to set in for her and she stood to her feet to begin pacing the floor, desperate for some form of exercise.

"Maybe we should go back up and see what's happened," she suggested frantically, and Leia scoffed, "Hardly, Serela. This is the safest place for us right now and there's no way we would risk Ben's life and yours by going up to where the worst of it is."

"But it--"

Leia held up her hand in a way that bade no disagreement and shook her head, "The answer is 'no'. I know you're worried about Kylo and the others, but putting yourself in worse danger only risks undermining the very thing they're fighting for. We're staying here."