Kyber Heart - Poe Dameron

Chapter 4

Nova reawakened after another hour, throwing herself against her restraints once again, paired with a few choice curses directed at the ceiling.

From across the room, Poe too groaned to life, her curses ringing in his ears. "Nova..."

"Poe!" The strain in his voice had her concerned in an instant. "Are you okay?"

"I'm sorry... he knows where the map is, Nova. I failed. I couldn't..."

Her heart sank hearing him beat himself up over it. She knew he could never have withstood that. Deep down she wondered if she should have given in to begin with. "Poe, listen to me," she begged. "It's not your fault, all right?"

"Quiet!" the stormtrooper left to guard them cut in, though he did not sound invested in his demand.

Nova ignored him. "He was going to find it either way. No one could withstand that, I just... delayed the inevitable."

The loud whoosh of their cell door opening cut their conversation off. Raising their heads as much as their aching bodies would allow, they saw it was simply another stormtrooper – perhaps there to take over guard duty. However, their words to their fellow trooper came as a surprise.

"Ren wants the prisoners."

"I wasn't told to expect you."

The newcomer's voice – undeniably male – darkened. "Do you dare to question his orders?"

"No. No! Of course not!" with shaking hands, he released them from their chairs. "You sure you can handle them alone?"

The first trooper looked between the exhausted pilots. "They don't look like they could put up much of a fight."

"All the same," said the second. "Keep your blaster on her. Should give him enough incentive not to try anything."

Nova grumbled as she was cuffed and handed over, glaring at the new trooper as he held his blaster to her ribs. She offered Poe a tight smile as he too was cuffed, and together, they were led back out into the halls of the Finalizer.

They were not walking for long.

"Turn here," the trooper said gruffly, dragging the two pilots aside into a narrow, dimly lit corridor. He did not wait for them to steady themselves before he was speaking again in a low, sharp voice. "Listen carefully; you do exactly as I say, I can get you out."

"If – what?" Poe said, his tired mind struggling to keep pace. He was unsure if he was even hearing properly anymore.

The trooper pulled off his helmet to reveal a young man. Umber coloured skin, buzzed hair, dark brown eyes, full of a surprising innocence. He looked desperately between his two 'prisoners', though that title seemed ill fitting now under the change of circumstance.

"This is a rescue," he said. "I'm helping you escape. Can you fly a TIE fighter?"

Poe and Nova exchanged a quick, hesitant glance.

"You with the Resistance?" It was the only question Poe could think to ask. Not even he knew the full extent of his general's contacts – in his eyes at that moment, it was not out of the question to have people undercover in the order as stormtroopers.

"What? That's crazy!" he said, the idea rightfully seeming insane to him. "How long do you think someone with Resistance sympathies could last in here? No! I'm just breaking you out. Can either of you fly a TIE fighter?"

"We can fly anything," Poe cut in, eliciting a smile from their saviour.

Nova however was still sceptical. "Why... why are you helping us?"