The Broken Ones | REYLO [Complete]

25. Fire Meets Fate

--POE--

"General, the First Order has launched two separate attack divisions from The Supremacy," I yell, sprinting down the hall, out of the command center. Leia is standing in the mess hall with Lieutenant Connix and looks up in alarm, the color draining from her face.

"They found us." She sinks into the chair behind her as I stop beside her. "How is this possible?"

"I don't know," I pant, "but we need to get out. Now." I don't mention my suspicions that the First Order spy among us is most likely the culprit. We never discovered their identity after they informed the First Order of our Coruscant mission that seems like a lifetime ago.

"Where's the other division going?" Connix asks, handing Leia a cup of water.

"They followed Kylo Ren," I answer, "to Jakku."

Leia looks up at me, a strange expression on her face. "What do you mean followed? Shouldn't they have gone with him?"

I smile at her, knowing the impact my words will have on her, as well as the entirety of the Resistance. "He renounced the First Order. We think he's going to find Rey."

Her eyes are wide, shining with unshed tears. "You're-you're sure?" She chokes. Her hands tremble slightly where they're clutching her chest.

"How can you be certain?" Connix asks, brows furrowed.

"Finn was contacted by several stormtroopers who offered up information in exchange for protection. Apparently Hux and Phasma have declared your son a traitor. There's a price on his head now. As for Rey, I can't think of any other reason he'd be going to Jakku."

"More stormtroopers like Finn? I figured he was the only one to shake the brain washing," Connix muses.

I shake my head. "Their troops are defecting left and right. This could change the course of the entire war!" I can't keep the excitement from my voice. Never in a million years did I think we would have an opportunity like this.

Leia lets out a strangled sob, and I rush to her side to catch her before she collapses on the floor. "My baby, my baby," she cries over and over. "I knew he wasn't lost, I knew it! My baby, my baby..." I kneel on the floor beside her, holding her trembling hands in mine.

"General, with all due respect, we need orders," I say as gently as possible. "If they don't know that we know, we can get away in time. I think we should join up with Rey and Ben on Jakku. Help them take on that division, then pick up the stormtroopers Finn has been communicating with."

Leia looks at me with bloodshot eyes. "You're right, of course." She sniffles and the impenetrable mask of command slides back into place. "Lieutenant Connix, I need you to oversee the personnel evacuation. Load everyone on our remaining transports."

"Yes, ma'am." Connix jogs from the room, barking commands into her com link.

"Commander Dameron?"

"Yes, General Organa?"

She smiles at me, squeezing my hands. "I'm putting you in command. I have too much on my mind and heart to think clearly. Can you lead us?"

My heart skips a beat, then speeds into a full-on sprint. "I, uh, what? You want me to assume command?" I stare at her, jaw on the floor. She nods. "Like, now? The entire Resistance? Me?"

"Poe, if you aren't up to the task, I can find someone else. But there's no one I trust more than you." She smiles at me, giving my confidence a little boost.

"No! No, I can do it. I won't let you down, General." I try to keep my anxiety at bay, but ice spreads through my body as I think about the enormous responsibility I'm about to shoulder.