Danger Zone

Chapter 6: Vanquished Hope and Starkiller Update

After a small discussion between the four of us and a quick introduction between Finn and Admiral Ackbar, the latter two walk off to swap information and talk about Starkiller Base. In the meantime, Leia gathers Poe and me up with the rest of the massive group to have a look at the piece BB-8 has been carrying. It's the moment of truth, however, something tells me there's a slim chance that this piece will be fully helpful; like something is missing from it. And we're about to find out. I look up at my brother, my teeth clamping on the inside of my bottom lip a little. He peers down at me and gives me a soft pat on the back.

Circled around the central holographic projector, all of us wait for our General to feed the long sought for piece into the projector, everyone holding their breaths. I don't think I have ever sensed such a strong atmosphere of nervousness and hope mixed in with insecure doubt at all in my life. The tension inside is thicker than ever thought possible; it feels as though it's goo, thicker than the thickest, engulfing the entire compact space. It feels very uncomfortable.

But as soon as the piece of the map shows itself to the room, more hope grows amongst us....until we realise that the map is more than just incomplete; despite familiarities seen, not a single person or chart records stored here can tell what part of the map it is. Murmurs and mutters of discouragement at the false hope sound from all corners of the room. Even Poe and I give each other a slightly disappointed look.

After all our efforts, especially my brother's and his droid's, the Resistance has been encased in a dead end in the search of the missing Jedi. We can do nothing more about it until we recover the rest of the map that fits the piece we have, but no one has a single idea on where to start. According to my calculations, there aren't many possibilities of locating this old map anywhere or that it's still intact, still existing, for that matter. And with the time that the Resistance and the New Republic have left in this desperate time of war, there is no way we would be able to start another search for more evidence of Luke's tracks.

As Han Solo, a smuggler-gone-hero-gone-smuggler-again who is also General Leia's lover, and Leia walk off, all of us remaining continue to whisper and gaze around in dismay. Without Leia's brother, the hard-earned peace that the Rebel Alliance had restored 30 years prior is in jeopardy and has no chance of keeping. The New Republic is already on the brink of breakdown after the literally most recent destruction of the Hosnian System and there's no doubt in anyone's mind, not even my own, that things are going to get worse before either side of the war defeats the other. There's no doubt: The galaxy needs Luke desperately.

A few hours pass. The faint noise eventually diminishes into nothing and the emotions are gloomy. The whole Base has only one thing on our minds: We have to fend for ourselves, every last one of us, to the very end without any help of a trained Force Sensitive. One advantage the First Order has over us.

Finn and Admiral Ackbar enter the room, drawing all eyes to them. Even the General and the father of her son emerge from where they disappeared off to. The vibe channelling from the two newcomers changes the air of the room from dismay to urgency as everyone regathers. The appearance of the ex-Stormtrooper and the Mon-Calamari Admiral can only mean one thing to all of the Resistance: information about our enemy's superweapon.

Finn, who's standing in the inner circle, places himself beside Poe while I position myself on my brother's other side. I'm slightly surprised, but at the same time happy, that the former Stormtrooper gets to stand in the inner circle; the inner circle is for most trusted personnel and high ranks.

A positive step for Finn: being embraced with welcoming and non-judgmental arms. I just hope he doesn't betray this trust. I doubt he will as Poe is a hard one to be fooled by acts and trickery. And if my brother trusts him, then we should too.