Kyber Heart - Poe Dameron

Chapter 17

Below the surface of D'Qar, the Resistance had assembled in the main conference room. The inner most circle was made up of their leadership – the older, veteran leaders of the last war, and the young captains and commanders of their defence squadrons. Finn too joined this inner circle, earning himself such a position amongst them with his invaluable inside information.

"The scan data from Snap's reconnaissance flight confirms Finn's report," Poe said, leaning against the conference table.

Nova stood beside him, now dressed identical to him in her orange flight suit. Arms folded across her chest; her eyes narrowed at the hologram.

"They've somehow created a hyper lightspeed weapon built within the planet itself," Snap elaborated.

"A laser cannon?" a younger major named Brance questioned.

"We're not sure how to describe a weapon of this scale," Snap said grimly.

"It's another Death Star," Major Ematt – a man among the older leaders – piped up in horror.

"I wish that were the case, Major," Poe said, his expression becoming tight. He tapped the controls to produce an image of the first dreaded super weapon.

"This was the Death Star," the commander observed. Another control was pressed, and a second hologram was produced. "And this, is Starkiller Base."

A murmur of horror covered the room like a blanket as the holograms appeared side by side, with Starkiller dwarfing the Death Star in size – it was almost laughable. Next to the icy planet, the Death Star looked like a mere moon.

Han seemed unphased, offering up a sarcastic remark to ease the tension. "So, it's big."

"How is it possible to power a weapon of that size?" Admiral Ackbar asked. He had seen his share of super weaponry – being among the renowned leaders from the Battle of Endor – but had never seen anything like Starkiller.

No one had.

"It uses the power of the sun," Finn explained. "As the weapon is charged, the sun is drained until it disappears."

Nova surveyed the holographic threat with a frown.

Silence fell, and a collective breath seemed to be held as an officer pushed her way through to Leia. Her expression was grave as she handed the General a datacard.

Leia's face fell upon reading it. "The First Order, they're charging the weapon again now. Our system is the next target."

Another fearful murmur circulated the Resistance.

"Oh my. Without the Republic fleet, we're doomed," C-3PO said.

Nova's heart began to sink. They had more pilots than ships, which was not saying much. Their fleet of fighters – the only ships even remotely capable to taking on such a weapon – was dangerously small. Her and Poe losing their ships on Jakku had not helped the issue.

The odds were not in their favour.

"Okay, how do we blow it up?" Han said. "There's always a way to do that."

"Han's right," Leia agreed in an instant, catching him off guard.

"The energy from a sun is a lot to hold and keep stable," Nova said, looking around her higher-ups and technicians. "How are they doing that?"

"In order for that amount of power to be contained," Admiral Statura supplied, "that base would need some kind of thermal oscillator."

"There is one," Finn said, springing to action beside Poe. "Precinct 47 – here."