42: A Poe Dameron Love Story

XVII

Poe smiled softly as my lips left his cheek.

"Whatda you say we get back to finish the repairs on the Falcon?" I asked, looking off to where Jannah and Finn were talking.

"Yeah," Poe said at last. "I'd like that."

As we turned back towards the ship, Jannah called from the top of the hill: "We're gonna try to take another skimmer!"

"Okay!" Poe called back. "We'll be finishing up the ship and will get you as soon as possible!"

As soon as we got back to the Falcon, Poe was all over the control panel, flipping every switch, testing every button. Finally, once we had gotten the landing gear to pick the ship up from the ditch, Chewy, Poe, and I went to work underneath.

Poe hummed a nonsensical tune, a screwdriver in his mouth half the time. I "sang" along, but the only lyrics I could think of were various forms of "Poe is an idiot, this is stupid, are we done yet?"

Chewy seemed to appreciate it.

Poe did not.

Finally, we were up in the air and flying over the dark waters.

Red and blue light flashed against the mist, illuminating the fog.

"Not again," Poe mumbled, flying in closer.

"It's that Ren guy, isn't it?" I asked. "What's his deal with Rey?"

Down below, a small figure quickly moved across a concrete structure emerging from the water. It was Rey and she was running straight for Ren's TIE.

"What's she doing?" Poe scolded. "The plan was to head back to Leia with the Wayfinder!"

"Maybe she has it?" I mumbled.

Movie Marker: 1:23:25

Rey started the TIE and took off, very much in the wrong direction.

Poe cursed under his breath.

Finn and Jannah had just arrived by skimmer only to watch Rey take off. With a sigh, Poe maneuvered the Falcon to allow Finn to board.

***

The flight back to the Resistance Base was entirely silent.

As we emerged from the Falcon back on the jungle-based planet, a woman came forward to talk to us.

"Poe, something's happened," she said.

"It can't wait—" Finn pushed passed her. "We've gotta see the General."

"She's gone," the woman said through tears.

I could only look to Poe who began tearing up as realization set in.

Chewy cried out and sank to the ground.

I felt so strange to not have known the General like they had, be grieved like they were. All I could do was offer a gentle hand or a patient hug.

Movie Marker: 1:28:10

When Poe and I entered the command center, we were met with more terrible news.

"Kajimi . . . How?" Poe began.

We had visited the planet less than a day ago and it was gone within an instant.

"A blast from a Star Destroyer," said a woman at the control panel. "A ship from the new Sith fleet. Out of the Unknowns."

"The Emperor sent a ship from Exegol," an operator explained. "Does that mean every ship in the fleet—"

"Has planet-killing weapons," Poe breathed, still troubled by the death of Leia and now his friend Zurii from Kajimi. "Of course they do. All of them. This is how he finishes it."

I realized the "he" Poe had been taking about was the infamous Palpatine.

"Listen," said another operator as she tuned the radio. "It's on every frequency."

A jumbled speech from a dark language met my ears.

"The Resistance is dead," I translated.

"The Sith flame will burn," continued the operator. "All worlds surrender or die. The Final Order begins."

My heart dropped. I turned to Poe for some answer, but it seemed the operator had a plan for him.

"Leia made you acting general," she told Poe. "What now?"

Poe took a deep breath and walked off to collect himself. He had been about to cry, I could see it in the way his eyebrows furrowed, the way his eyes slouched in worry.

I followed him at a distance, letting him have his space.

Poe stopped and sat down at the covered body of General Leia.

"I gotta tell you . . ." he began softly to her. "I don't really know . . . how to do this. What you did . . . I'm not ready."

"Neither were we," said a voice emerging from the shadows. It was the man we had met with on Pasaana, General Calrissian. "Luke, Han, Leia, me . . . Who's ever ready?"

"How'd you do it?" Poe began. "Defeat an empire with almost nothing."

"We had each other," the man explained. "That's how we won."

I moved up behind Poe and placed a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Stick together," Calrissian instructed, pointing to the two of us. "That's an order."