#terex

Leia placed a hand on his shoulder, instantly calming him. Poe wasn't sure if she was using the Force or not, but he felt peace wash over him. "If the First Order wants Evelyn then I suggest that Captain Kun take her place on Black Squadron for the time being," she said, giving his shoulder a slight squeeze the moment she saw the protest forming on his lips. "It's only temporary, Poe. I know we need Evelyn out there, but right now, our priority is her safety."

Swallowing, Poe nodded his head. "Yes, ma'am," he whispered.  The move was meant to make him feel better, but the truth was, it didn't.  He was still convinced that someone was leaking information to the First Order and if that person was on base, Evelyn was in danger even on D'Qar.  "Can I make a request, ma'am?"

"Certainly, Commander," Leia replied, gently. "What is it?"

"My team needs a break," Poe said, straightening his frame. "We've been on three highly dangerous missions with little rest in between."

"General..." Dane started to argue, but was silenced when the older woman put her hand up.

Leia offered a soft smile to Poe. "Request granted, Commander. In the meantime, if we discover anything else, I'll send Kaleb and red squadron out."

Poe thanked her and dismissed himself from the situation room.  Outside Jess, Snap, and Evie were standing anxiously, waiting for him. Raising his brown eyes to meet Evelyn's blue ones, he sighed, "The General has assigned Karé to Black Squadron until further notice."

Jess threw her hands up in the air. "What? What about the mole? Did she take that seriously?"

"Of course she took that seriously, Jess," Poe responded, tightly. 

"Then why the hell is she grounding Evelyn, one of our best pilots?" Jess argued.

Evelyn broke eye contact with him. "She wants to keep me here; harder for Snoke to find me."

Snap shook his head. "Not if we have a mole. Damn, the First Order could know where our base is."

"One problem at a time, Wexley," Poe countered, frustrated. 

"You're right, sorry, Poe," Snap sighed, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. 

Poe gently took Evelyn's hand, wrapping his fingers around hers and holding onto her tightly. "General Organa granted us a break; relax, take some time to sleep. I'm not sure when we'll be going out again on our next mission." 

Snap glanced, tentatively at Jess. They both knew how these things worked; if Black Squadron was needed, then they were going to get the call--no matter how much time off the General had granted them. He grabbed Jess by the arm, and muttered, "Come on, Pava, let's go grab something to eat."

Jess started to protest, but then seeing the unshed tears in Evelyn's eyes, understood why Snap was leading her away. "Yeah, yeah, food sounds good.  Anything is better than those damn ration packs we ate for the last twenty four hours."

Evelyn tried to blink the tears away from her eyes, but a few managed to escape. 

Poe reached out and flicked them away and then he gently caressed her cheek. He was about to say something to her, when she surprised him by roughly grabbing his flight suit and pulling his mouth against hers.  The kiss was desperate and he knew he had to put a stop to it before all his senses slipped away. "Evie," he gasped, pushing her away, slightly, "not... not here."

"Then where?" she asked, heavily. "I need to feel something more than fear right now, Poe, please."

"Come on, sweetheart," he said, reaching for her hand. "Let's get out of here."

Hux was furious, but unlike his counterpart Kylo Ren standing next to him, he kept his fury on the inside.  Lashing out did no one any good the young general had learned as a child. He simply clasped his hands behind his back and waited until Terex was done recounting the events on Scarif.  When the Imperial agent was done, Hux contemplated his answer. 

Ren was the one that snapped first before Hux could even get a word out. "Your men were under strict orders not to harm her; attempting to bring her starfighter down would have led to serious injury or death."

Terex wasn't intimidated by the fallen Jedi, especially where in his eyes Ren was another more than a weak version of Darth Vader. "Listen, I under estimated Dameron.  It will not happen again Master Ren."

"See to it that it does not, Terex," Ren spat, before turning and walking briskly out of the Hux's office.

Still remaining neutral on the outside, Hux glanced at the agent. "The Resistance is going to be well aware now that are in pursuit of Evelyn Skywalker. I have no doubt that General Organa will keep her niece at their base and away from any missions that Black Squadron goes on.  Do we have another plan, Agent Terex?"

Terex rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I have a few, General," he said. "They require tactics that many in the galaxy might deem unethical."

"Look around you. Do you think I care about ethics?"

"Good point, General. If I may suggest--I keep pursuing Black Squadron. It might lull the Resistance into believing we no longer seek Miss Skywalker." 

Hux nodded.  The First Order still needed the information that the Resistance pilots were scouring the galaxy for.  If he sent Terex after them, well, it killed two birds with one stone--eventually--as soon as Leia Organa felt it safe to send her niece back out. "You will keep me updated."

Terex agreed and glanced in the direction that Ren had disappeared in. "And what about Master Ren? He seems as interested in the girl as the Supreme Leader."

Long had Ren's personal history with the Skywalkers made Hux doubt exactly where his loyalties laid.  However, the galaxy was not privy to the deep connection that Kylo Ren had to the last remaining Jedi in the galaxy. "If he's interested it is only because Snoke is," Hux finally answered. "I do not believe that he will interfere with your mission, Agent Terex."

"I hope not. I have enough problems with Dameron around."

"Hopefully throughout the course of all this--he'll be taken care of."

"Are you giving me permission to kill him, General?" Terex asked, quirking an eyebrow. He'd been told he could dispose of any of Black Squadron if they stood in the way of him obtaining his target, but he hadn't been given outright permission to assassinate anyone.

For a second Hux didn't say a word. Dameron had been a thorn in his side since they had caught up to Lothor.  "I'm giving you permission to do whatever it takes to complete the mission for the Supreme Leader and the First Order."

Even though Leia had assured Poe that she was going to give Black Squadron a break, he still found himself on edge--waiting almost impatiently for the next call. He tried to calm his nerves by working on Black One but the solitude of working on his ship only offered him time for his mind to wander. And the one prevailing thought he kept having--keep Evelyn safe, out of the hands of the First Order. Out of the hands of Kylo Ren. 

"Hey Commander," a friendly voice said below the belly of Black One. "Lieutenant Pava sent me to find Lieutenant Skywalker.  Have you seen her?"

"Sorry, Oddy," Poe said, glancing down at the mechanic. "Haven't seen her since breakfast. What does Jess need her for?"

Oddy looked away and suddenly became a little anxious, which seemed odd to Poe.  "She, ah... she wanted some help with her droid.  You know the droids have nicknamed her the Droid Killer, right?  She was hoping that Evelyn would be able to settle her new droid--she seems to have a knack for handling them."

Poe had to agree.  Evelyn had grown up with droids around her--Artoo, Threepio--if anyone could handle temperamental droids it was her.  He wiped his hands on a cloth and turned towards the ladder. "I may not be the droid whisperer that Evie is, Oddy, but I might be able to help."

"Oh, don't worry about it, Commander. I'll keep looking for Lieutenant Skywalker."

"Are you sure? She's pretty good at hiding when she doesn't want to be found."

"I'm sure, sir," Oddy said, walking away, nervously. 

BB-8 pointed out the awkwardness of the conversation once Oddy was gone. Poe nodded his head. "Yeah, I agree, buddy.  That was strange."  He didn't get to ponder it much more, he was being called to command.

Jumping down from his x-wing and not bothering to pull the half of his flight suit he'd tied around his waist, Poe made his way inside the base alongside BB-8. Snap, Jess, and Karé were already there when he arrived. "Did Oddy find Evie for you?" he inquired of Jess.

She looked confused. Jess glanced at Snap and then Karé.  "Was I looking for her?"

His brow furrowed. "Yeah. He said you wanted her to talk to your droid."

"I haven't seen Oddy all morning. Why would he think I needed Evelyn?"

"You are the Droid Killer."

"Shut up, Snap."

Poe tossed them a slight smile, but deep inside he did not feel good about Oddy lying to him.  He didn't think in the weeks that he'd been here that he'd given the mechanic any reason not to trust him. Could Oddy by connected to the mole activity? Instantly, he felt guilty for even being suspicious of one of his teammates. Poe would trust his team with his life--he just didn't see one of them handing information over to the First Order to put all of them in danger.  Hell, Snap and Jess had been almost shot out of the skies because of the leaked intel.

Leia stepped into the room then, eyes immediately going to Poe. "I know I told you that I would give your squad a break. But we have a problem.  We finally managed to figure out what Agent Lothor had sent Lor San Tekka--a map to the very first Jedi Temple."

Snap's eyebrows shot up in curiosity. "This is important because..."

"Rumor has it that's where Master Skywalker retreated too," Poe answered for Leia. "The First Order is looking for him."

"It appears to be that way," Leia said with a soft sigh. "Which could also explain why they want Evelyn."

"Kriff," Jess cursed. "They want to use her as bait."

Feeling BB-8 nudged his leg, Poe glanced down at his droid, trying to compose himself.  Evelyn and Kaleb had had very little contact with their father since their mother's funeral. They weren't even aware of his exact location.  Looking back at Leia, he saw the pain flash in her eyes. "What do you want Black Squadron to do, ma'am?"

Leia smiled, wirily at him. "I'm glad you asked, Commander. Ever been to Ovanis?"

"Ah, can't say that I have."

"It's the last known location of Tekka.  He was living with the Créche."

"The Créche?"

Korr stepped forward then, a data pad in her hand. "Yes, a culture that lives in caverns underneath the planet's surface.  According to Master Tekka's essays, these people guard an egg."

Poe was almost afraid to ask, but he did anyway because curiosity got the best of him. "Why?"

"They believe that the creature inside the egg is going to save the galaxy," Korr replied, seriously.

"You asked," Snap drawled as the exasperated look came over Poe's face.

"Do you want us to leave immediately, General?" Poe inquired, shooting a glare at Snap.