Saving the Monster

Chapter 36

After the connection Rey had wept.  She wasn't completely sure why, but something about his sadness, his conflict, his loneliness, it reminded her of her own private hell, reminded her how human he was, reminded her of the traitor in the First Order and the fact that they knew exactly where the Supreme Leader would be sleeping and probably now exactly how they would kill him.

It struck Rey then that she had seen him asleep in bed, so peaceful, so free from the stresses of the day and the very thought of them sneaking in and killing him where he lay, sent a rush of panic through Rey. She squeezed her eyes shut, what should she do?

A knock at her door. Rey took a deep breath, "Come in".

The door opened and Finn stood there. His face gleamed with sweat and his clothes were muddy but he was smiling broadly and his voice was jubilant as he spoke, "Rey we have new information, we attack tomorrow".

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"Thank you all for coming. Our spy in the First Order has been in touch with valuable information". Leias voice, still able to pull rank over a room of rowdy men and women, echoed through the main control room. Rey stood motionless at the back of the room, thinking fast. This was it then, they would attack and he would be gone. The thought made her feel sick and she stepped forwards, raising her hand,

"Excuse me General, but can we trust this spy? It could be a trap". Rey's voice seemed small in the big room, but the buzz of voices that followed were as loud and echoey as Leias introduction had been.

Snap Wexley stepped forwards, "She's right, this could be an ambush, and if that happens it will turn into a massacre". Chewy roared his agreement and Rey nodded once at him, thanking him for his support. She had to stall the attack, goodness knows when she would be able to warn Ben.

Poe Dameron stepped forwards, coming to stand next to Leia, a hand on his hip, "No, we don't know for certain that the mole can be trusted, but what choice do we have?"

A man that Rey recognised from yesterday's combat training raised his hand, "What's the new information? What did the traitor say?", he asked, his eyes moving between Poe and Leia.

Leia leant heavily on her stick, "The First Order are having a weapons and troop inspection at noon tomorrow.  This means that everyone, troops, generals, commanders, weaponry, even droids will be grouped together....", Leia paused, turning and pressing a button on the console next to her.  A holoscreen appeared with a floor plan on it, Leia tapped an open space next to the floor plan with her stick, "here, they will all be gathered here, out in the open, sitting ducks.  We can get all of them at once, it's even better than attacking at night".

Snap snorted, "No, it's too easy, it has to be a trap"

Leia shook her head, "The First Order share the same arrogance as the Empire.  They won't even consider the possibility that anyone would dare attack their base.  We have to take advantage of this, it's too good to miss"

"And their Supreme Leader, where might we find him?  I have a little score to settle on behalf of the people of Kijimi" Zorri said, her hand on her hip. 

Next to her Babu Frik jumped up and down "Eh, boom, all dead dead"

Rey's heart was in her mouth as Poe turned to BB8, "More detailed floor plan buddy" he said in the gentle voice that he seemed only to reserve for the droid.  BB8 beeped excitedly as his in built holo projector projected a close up of a section of the larger floor plan.  "Right here", Poe pointed, his finger going through the image, "Apparently the Supreme Leader takes to his private quarters between twelve and one each day.  We do this right people, we can not only wipe out a vast chunk of their troops and weaponry, we can also wipe out their Supreme Leader too"

A cheer went up and Rey turned to look at Leia, unable to believe that she would back a plan to hunt down and kill her own son.

The General wasn't cheering, but she wasn't objecting either.  Rey slipped out of the main control room and headed for her hut, she knew what she had to do.