Theodosia

Chapter 24

The next day, she woke up early in the morning, having only slept for an hour after the incident. She had fled from his room and ran back into her own, willing herself to stop crying as she sat at the foot of her bed, calming herself down. Even in the morning now, she still felt uneasy with what she had discovered. 

She made no mention of it, of course (not that he wanted to talk to her anyway). The things she saw were too personal, too sensitive a subject to simply bring up over a meal. As selfish as it may have seemed, she was a bit hurt that there was so much she didn't know about him. That maybe Kylo Ren- no, Ben Solo, she recalled, was someone she knew very little of.

Shaking off her unease, she dressed in her uniform and got ready to face another work day. She walked into the cafeteria, exhausted. While in queue for food, she could hear the different conversations of the officers around her.

She usually tuned out the conversations as they were never anything good. However, just as she reached for the ladle to scoop a portion of porridge into her bowl, she froze when she heard someone mention something about the destruction of the Resistance base.

"You should have seen it! We took out their main bridge," one of the officers said proudly.

Another piped up, "Word has it a group of them escaped but, they'll run out of fuel eventually. A ship that size with half its body destroyed? I give it a day at least."

She strained to hear the conversation, her eyes widening as they went into the grisly details of murdering people like it was the latest gossip. Someone behind her cleared her throat impatiently, and she jumped, realising she was still in the midst of scooping her porridge. Apologising hastily, she took her own food and exited the queue.

When she had left the bridge the day before, the First Order had just lost a Dreadnought and the Resistance, a few of their bomber squad. She had thought that was the end of the casualties. Distracted, she walked around the cafeteria, finding that there was no empty table. Spotting a glint that came from silver armour, she made haste to the table where Phasma was sitting alone, her mask placed beside her while she ate her breakfast.

"Captain, may I?" she asked.

Phasma looked up, and she almost said no before she decided to entertain the girl's request. Theo sat down opposite Phasma, wanting to ask more of what happened yesterday but not quite sure how to bring up the topic.

She ate her porridge stoically, keeping herself calm despite her eagerness to know what had happened. How many died? Did the Resistance truly escape? Was Poe even alive at this moment?

"Commander," Phasma said impatiently, having had to endure the girl fidgeting in her seat for a good five minutes. "If you have something to say, I suggest you say it now."

Theo's eyes snapped up, shaking her head quickly. "No, I don't-" she stopped upon seeing the frown on the older woman's face, sheepishly admitting, "I have a question."

"And?" Phasma asked.

"What happened after the loss of the Dreadnought?" she asked, trying to sound like it was merely a professional question.

"We tracked the Resistance ship and fired at them," was the simple reply, and she could not believe the nonchalant tone it was delivered in.

"Did...a lot of people..." she cleared her throat. "How many casualties were there?"

"Aside from the Dreadnought crew, the casualties are minimal. Our Black squadron made it back safely."

Theo didn't know how to ask if there were any Resistance people alive, and she wasn't about to compromise her position by asking after the Resistance.