FREE FALLING ━━ p. dameron ✓

sixty nine

The mass of ships follows Poe and I as we lead them towards the Final Order fleet.

"Hit those underbelly canons!" I yell excitedly into the comlink.

"Every one we knock out is a world saved." Poe adds on.

I let out a whoop as I follow Poe through the mass of ships. We weave, swerve, spin, dip, duck, dive, whatever it takes to get to those canons.

"Nice flying Lando!" I hear a familiar voice say. A gasp escapes my throat.

"Wedge?!" I ask in excitement. There's a laugh.

"Hey kid." He says. I grin to myself. Behind me, BB-12 lets out a series of happy beeps. We can do this. We can win.

I fire my guns at a Star Destroyer canon and watch as it explodes into a fiery mess. The rest of the ship follows not far after.

I let out a happy laugh as I explode canon after canon with Poe. A ship I couldn't name soars in front of us and explodes a canon by themself.

"So long sky trash." They say over the comlink. My laughing pauses. That voice. It's all too familiar.

"Who's that flyer?" Poe asks.

"Take a guess spice runner." They say. I can faintly make out the cheer of Babu Frik.

Poe lets out a laugh and a whoop. I do too. "Zorii! You made it!" My boyfriend says excitedly.

Our group of three ships darts through TIE fighters and space battles. More and more people can be heard cheering over the comlinks.

Right as I'm about to say something, it goes quiet. Then, there's a muffled boom. Lightning shoots through the air, hitting every Resistance ship.

I scream claws its way out of my throat as my X-wing begins to plummet to the ground. I watch in horror as Poe's X-wing begins to fall rapidly as well.

"Poe!" I scream into the comlink. He doesn't respond. "BB-12! What's going on!"

In the back, my droid isn't responding. I turn and see that the electricity is getting to him too.

"BB-12 no!" I scream. I furiously pull on my joystick to no avail. In the back of my mind, I hear a sinister laugh. One like nothing I've ever heard before.

It rocks me to my core and shivers wrack my body. Goosebumps pop up on my arm and I momentarily rub them, trying to get rid of the cold.

Then, as soon as the lightning had come, it stops. All the ships stop sparking, and I immediately pull up.

"General?" I ask into the com. He doesn't reposed. "Poe?"

It takes a minute, but eventually I hear him. "Hey Birdy. I'm back on! This is our last chance. We gotta hit those canons now!" He orders.

I nod and press a button. My thrusters fire up and then I'm soaring through the air again. As we level up to the Destroyers I see green blasts shooting at the main Destroyer.

Then, right in front of us, the command Star Destroyer explodes. It's huge. Bits of debris, glass, and fire go flying everywhere.

"Poe! Wren! The command ship!" C'ai says.

"Their fleet is stuck here! They're toast!" I yell happily.

Poe spins his X-wing around sharply and I follow. "Come on!"

There's a surge of Resistance ships flying towards the remaining ships. There's also a surge of Star Destroyers going down.

"Finn! You seeing this?" Poe asks excitedly.

Finn doesn't respond. Rose does. "Finn didn't board the lander." She says.

My jaw drops.

"They're still on that command ship?" Poe nearly whispers.

I soar towards the burning and falling Destroyer. Poe follows.

"I see them." He says. "Wren, come help me."

"Of course General." I say.

"We're going to get them." Poe relays to Rose.

"General! Black Leader! You won't make it!" Jess cries.

"Trust me. We're fast." Poe says. Just as we're about to dive down, the Falcon sparks in front of us.

"Not as fast as this ship." Uncle Lando says. I can hear the smugness in his voice. I let out a laugh and pull my X-wing away.

After a second, Poe does the same. I watch as more and more Destroyers fall to Exegol's ground.

"Wren." Poe says over the com. "I think we're winning." He says.

I laugh. I'm about to respond when I double over gasping. There's...a presence here. One I haven't felt in a long time.

It's mixed with pain, fear, sadness, despair. Underneath most of that is love. And underneath love is the feeling of acceptance. Like they know what they have to do. Even though the cost is high.

"Ben?" I whisper into the coms.

"He's here? Ren is here?" Poe asks nervously.

"No, no." I say softly. "No. Kylo Ren is dead. It's...it's my brother. It's Ben."

I pause my babbling. Now there's something else. There's someone else. And now? Happiness. Something I haven't felt from my brother in a long time.

"Ben." I say quietly. "He's saved! He's-"

No. He's gone.

I close my eyes and let a few tears slips past my eyes. They're both happy and sad. Ben got what he wanted. What he deserved.

Redemption. My brother got redemption. The name Kylo Ren is dead. Ben Solo is saved.

"There! Look!" Finn yells over the com. My head snaps up and I see an old X-wing model soaring through the falling mess of Star Destroyers. "Red Five is in the air! Rey's alive!"

"I see her." Poe says. He's excited. I can tell.

"Rey!" I cry out happily.

"Poe! Wren! We did it!" Finn says.

"We did it." Poe says breathlessly.

The Falcon begins to soar out of the air, with Poe and I following. Rey joins the parade and soon, we're darting through lightspeed.

Back to Ajan Kloss. Back to base. Back to home.

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when poe takes his helmet off an his hair is all messy, i just melt 🥺🥺

word count: 1098