Force Destiny

Secret Weapon

Poe Dameron confidently strolled into the room full of commanding officers from allied systems around the galaxy. He took a seat at the head of the table.

"Admiral Dameron," they addressed him respectfully. He nodded dutifully. A Mon Calamari pulled up the battle schematic on the holotable. "We have organized the fleet as you have requested. We are currently coordinating the extensive strike plan you designed. It is quite the undertaking to organize all of the allied forces to strike concurrently."

"But it is necessary," Poe interjected.

Be that as it may, we have scouts on most of the flotillas of the FO fleet, but, unfortunately, we have been unable to locate the Finalizer."

"Leave that to me." A cocky grin was plastered across Poe's face, "I know exactly where they will be."

"Sir?" the Duros general to his left questioned expectantly. Confusion spread across his green face.

Poe leaned back and rested his hands behind his head smugly. "As we speak, our secret weapon is landing on the surface of Ilum, the largest First Order mining center in the galaxy."

"The girl Jedi?" the general asked. "I was unaware she was involved in a trap?"

"An ingenious trap, if you ask me," the Resistance pilot chuckled, "The First Order will ultimately notice the most infamous and recognizable ship in the galaxy. Kylo Ren will be unable to resist her. He will lead the Finalizer straight into our grasp." The others seemed skeptical—or at least not as confident as the admiral. They were tentative allies, only merging their militaries out of necessity. While most of the strong personalities had accepted Poe as their interim leader, promoting him to admiral, he had to prove his worth to them before they would follow him anywhere.

Another voice broke through the silence. "An doe Hutts moolee-rah tah hopa doe Jedai gee nudcha noleeya Ilum." The Hutt was merely a hologram, but the others stared at him in revulsion as if they had to share the same recycled air as the creature.

"What did it say?" an Ithurian asked, feigning a cough to suppress a gag.

"He said," Poe translated with a reproachful tone, "that they are flying to Ilum to protect the Jedi and ambush any First Order troops there."

"I thought the Hutts hate the Jedi. Can we trust them?"

"Tagwa, jee-jee naga tah killyah First Order chuba Jedai," the Hutt barked.

Poe raised his hand to the Ithurian and another general from Wobani who moved to interrupt. "He said you can trust them because their revenge is focused on the First Order."

"For what?"

"The First Order destroyed Nal Hutta and its moon, Nar Shadaa. Only Grakkus and the other members of the cartel traveling to rendezvous with the Resistance survived. The others will join us in the attack on the Finalizer."

"You really have thought of everything, Admiral," the Mon Calamari admired, though Poe couldn't discern whether his tone was mocking.

"That's only the half of it, General," he replied. "While we ambush the Finalizer, she will lure Kylo Ren to the surface, where Resistance members are waiting to assassinate him. Without a leader and with no other Force-users to take command, there will be a power vacuum. While the upper officers fight to fill the role, the First Order will be weak and vulnerable to our attack."

"And we can trust this girl to entice him there? Will he not be able to see through an obvious ambush?"

"That's the ingenious part," Poe's eyes were alight in his hubris, "she has no idea the role she plays. He will be lured to the surface by his pure desire to be with her. She is his weakness, men, and she will be his downfall."