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ways_back_room2017-12-22 07:55 pm
annalalaith) wrote in ways_back_room2017-12-22 07:55 pm
Advent Day 10!
And another one by Munnin!
Scarif medallion
The thing that Finn found weird was how people treated him when he woke up.
They looked after him. They checked in on him. The medics insisted he stay in the infirmary for at least a week. To give him time to recover.
They didn’t blame him for getting injured. No-one pushed him to ‘get up and get back out there’. No-one accused him of malingering.
People genuinely cared about his health.
And they wanted to talk to him. Even people he didn’t know.
Some of them even wanted to thank him – for his part in destroying Star Killer Base.
The hardest one was the people who wanted to hear about death of Han Solo, for someone who was there.
That would have been weird, coming from anyone in the First Order. But the rebels who asked, asked politely, listened reverently. And mourned respectfully.
He found, after a while, he got better at telling the story – not making it sensational or anything. Just… telling it. Telling how he felt as well as what he saw. He had the feeling it made him closer to everyone who listened. Even if they were strangers.
He missed Rey and he worried about her every day. But at the same time, he was learning to trust, to feel part of the whole.
He tried to explain the feeling to Poe, when the pilot visited that day. As he visited every day. That was the thing about Poe, he made time for everyone who needed him. And Finn was very grateful for that. In a base of more or less strangers, even if they were strangers who accepted him, Poe was a friend.
Poe listened to Finn’s fumbling explanation, offering Finn a reassuring smile every time Finn seemed to get frustrated with his own inability to express what he felt.
“It’s just… I’ve never felt welcomed, you know. Like I belonged.” Finn muttered, tripping over his words in an effort to find the right ones. “It’s nice. It’s better than nice but… it’s weird sometimes too. I keep expecting it to be some sort of trick. Like people are only being nice to be nice to me to get something. But they mean it. And that’s… weird. Good weird but weird. I mean, I was the enemy.”
Poe offered Finn a soft smile. “Finn, buddy, I understand. It’s a lot to take it. But believe me, it’s not a trick. You’re one of us now. And we need you. There’s a lot to do. A lot to rebuild.” He squeezed Finn’s hand. “Would it help to know you’re not the first defector who saved the Alliance?”
Finn frowned. “I don’t understand.”
Poe nodded to his old jacket, now Finn’s and recently repaired. While Finn had still been in unconscious, someone had taken it away, patched the sabre-burnt gash up the back of it and give the jacket a good clean. “Check the inside right pocket. Hopefully it’s still there.”
Finn reached for the jacket, wincing a little pain in his back even bacta couldn’t heal. After a moment’s fiddling, he drew out a coin sized medallion of some thin metal, perhaps the scraped hull of an X-wing. Inscribed by hand but with some care was a circle with an explosion radiating out from the centre. On the other side was a series of letters in pairs and the words Never forget. It had a worn feel, slightly concave as if it had been rubbed over and over. Even holding it, Finn felt the urge to brush his thumb over the letters. “What is it?”
“It’s a Scarif medallion. A lot of pilots carry them. They remind us of those who went before. Those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom. Do you know about the battle of Scarif?”
Finn shook his head, turning the little disc in the light to read the letters.
“When the Death Star first loomed over the galaxy, six people,” Poe smiled, thinking of them, “Six disparate heroes, scarified their lives to steal the plans from under the Empire’s nose.” He took Finn’s hand, reading the initials though he knew them by heart. “Cassian Andor – a rebel intelligence officer. His partner – K-2SO, a reprogramed imperial droid. Jyn Erso – a rebellious firebrand whose family was torn apart by the Empire. Chirrut Imwe and Baze Malbus – Guardians of the Whills who never stopped fighting, even after their home, the world was destroyed.” His finger pauses on the second last set of initials. “Bodhi Rook, the patron saint of pilots. He was a lot like you – an imperial defector. A humble cargo pilot who didn’t believe he was brave or special. Bodhi gave up everything, risked everything to carry the message. To bring hope to a galaxy in the grip of terror.” He smiled to Finn. “Like you, he changed the world. By being braver than he thought he could be.”
“And this one?” Finn pointed to the letters next to BR.
“Galen Erso. He was the chief weapons designer for the Death Star.” Poe held his hand out as Finn reeled back, surprised his name would be here with these heroes. “He sacrificed so much to save the galaxy. His wife was murdered, his daughter stolen away, he was held captive by the Empire and force to build their death machine. But they never broke him. He and Bodhi became friends, perhaps more than friends. Because he entrusted Bodhi with the greatest secret of all - The Message. All those years under Imperial control, Galen Erso built a flaw into the Death Star. The very flaw that allowed Luke Skywalker to destroy it.” Poe huffed sadly. “And it was the Rebellion who killed him. He deserves to be recognised as a hero.”
Poe took a deep breath, pulling himself back to the present. “Because of them, their sacrifice we’re here. We owe it to them to keep fighting. That’s why we carry the Scarif medallion. To remind us.”
Finn looked up, holding the medallion out to Poe. “I’m sorry! This is yours, isn’t it. All this time, I’ve had it when I took your jacket. I’m sorry.”
Poe closed Finn’s fingers over the little disk, holding Finn’s hand in his own. “No, you keep it. I want you to have it. To remind you that the humbled of people can change the galaxy.” He rested a hand on Finn’s shoulder. “And those heroes were Imperial defectors. Galen Erso, K-2SO, Bodhi Rook,” He smiled, his hand moving up to cup Finn’s cheek. “And you.”
Scarif medallion
The thing that Finn found weird was how people treated him when he woke up.
They looked after him. They checked in on him. The medics insisted he stay in the infirmary for at least a week. To give him time to recover.
They didn’t blame him for getting injured. No-one pushed him to ‘get up and get back out there’. No-one accused him of malingering.
People genuinely cared about his health.
And they wanted to talk to him. Even people he didn’t know.
Some of them even wanted to thank him – for his part in destroying Star Killer Base.
The hardest one was the people who wanted to hear about death of Han Solo, for someone who was there.
That would have been weird, coming from anyone in the First Order. But the rebels who asked, asked politely, listened reverently. And mourned respectfully.
He found, after a while, he got better at telling the story – not making it sensational or anything. Just… telling it. Telling how he felt as well as what he saw. He had the feeling it made him closer to everyone who listened. Even if they were strangers.
He missed Rey and he worried about her every day. But at the same time, he was learning to trust, to feel part of the whole.
He tried to explain the feeling to Poe, when the pilot visited that day. As he visited every day. That was the thing about Poe, he made time for everyone who needed him. And Finn was very grateful for that. In a base of more or less strangers, even if they were strangers who accepted him, Poe was a friend.
Poe listened to Finn’s fumbling explanation, offering Finn a reassuring smile every time Finn seemed to get frustrated with his own inability to express what he felt.
“It’s just… I’ve never felt welcomed, you know. Like I belonged.” Finn muttered, tripping over his words in an effort to find the right ones. “It’s nice. It’s better than nice but… it’s weird sometimes too. I keep expecting it to be some sort of trick. Like people are only being nice to be nice to me to get something. But they mean it. And that’s… weird. Good weird but weird. I mean, I was the enemy.”
Poe offered Finn a soft smile. “Finn, buddy, I understand. It’s a lot to take it. But believe me, it’s not a trick. You’re one of us now. And we need you. There’s a lot to do. A lot to rebuild.” He squeezed Finn’s hand. “Would it help to know you’re not the first defector who saved the Alliance?”
Finn frowned. “I don’t understand.”
Poe nodded to his old jacket, now Finn’s and recently repaired. While Finn had still been in unconscious, someone had taken it away, patched the sabre-burnt gash up the back of it and give the jacket a good clean. “Check the inside right pocket. Hopefully it’s still there.”
Finn reached for the jacket, wincing a little pain in his back even bacta couldn’t heal. After a moment’s fiddling, he drew out a coin sized medallion of some thin metal, perhaps the scraped hull of an X-wing. Inscribed by hand but with some care was a circle with an explosion radiating out from the centre. On the other side was a series of letters in pairs and the words Never forget. It had a worn feel, slightly concave as if it had been rubbed over and over. Even holding it, Finn felt the urge to brush his thumb over the letters. “What is it?”
“It’s a Scarif medallion. A lot of pilots carry them. They remind us of those who went before. Those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom. Do you know about the battle of Scarif?”
Finn shook his head, turning the little disc in the light to read the letters.
“When the Death Star first loomed over the galaxy, six people,” Poe smiled, thinking of them, “Six disparate heroes, scarified their lives to steal the plans from under the Empire’s nose.” He took Finn’s hand, reading the initials though he knew them by heart. “Cassian Andor – a rebel intelligence officer. His partner – K-2SO, a reprogramed imperial droid. Jyn Erso – a rebellious firebrand whose family was torn apart by the Empire. Chirrut Imwe and Baze Malbus – Guardians of the Whills who never stopped fighting, even after their home, the world was destroyed.” His finger pauses on the second last set of initials. “Bodhi Rook, the patron saint of pilots. He was a lot like you – an imperial defector. A humble cargo pilot who didn’t believe he was brave or special. Bodhi gave up everything, risked everything to carry the message. To bring hope to a galaxy in the grip of terror.” He smiled to Finn. “Like you, he changed the world. By being braver than he thought he could be.”
“And this one?” Finn pointed to the letters next to BR.
“Galen Erso. He was the chief weapons designer for the Death Star.” Poe held his hand out as Finn reeled back, surprised his name would be here with these heroes. “He sacrificed so much to save the galaxy. His wife was murdered, his daughter stolen away, he was held captive by the Empire and force to build their death machine. But they never broke him. He and Bodhi became friends, perhaps more than friends. Because he entrusted Bodhi with the greatest secret of all - The Message. All those years under Imperial control, Galen Erso built a flaw into the Death Star. The very flaw that allowed Luke Skywalker to destroy it.” Poe huffed sadly. “And it was the Rebellion who killed him. He deserves to be recognised as a hero.”
Poe took a deep breath, pulling himself back to the present. “Because of them, their sacrifice we’re here. We owe it to them to keep fighting. That’s why we carry the Scarif medallion. To remind us.”
Finn looked up, holding the medallion out to Poe. “I’m sorry! This is yours, isn’t it. All this time, I’ve had it when I took your jacket. I’m sorry.”
Poe closed Finn’s fingers over the little disk, holding Finn’s hand in his own. “No, you keep it. I want you to have it. To remind you that the humbled of people can change the galaxy.” He rested a hand on Finn’s shoulder. “And those heroes were Imperial defectors. Galen Erso, K-2SO, Bodhi Rook,” He smiled, his hand moving up to cup Finn’s cheek. “And you.”
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Thank you for reading, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Mild spoilers for 'The Last Jedi' in this comment!
Re: Mild spoilers for 'The Last Jedi' in this comment!
Heavy spoilers for 'The Last Jedi' in this comment!
Whitetext: However, how hard would it have been to say 'miniaturised Galen Erso's technology, rather than what they did say to explain it, when they brought out the big cannon?
Re: Heavy spoilers for 'The Last Jedi' in this comment!
Re: Heavy spoilers for 'The Last Jedi' in this comment!
When Holdo staid behind on the Raddu, named after an Admiral who fought at Scarif -- surely, that would have been a chance to mention Scarif and Rogue one. That was the ship which received the transmission they all died down there to send. Surely, they would not just name a ship after the Mon Calamari admiral, and forget all the rest of the heroes from that battle?
To begin with.
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Thank you so much for writing this quiet, powerful snapshot. ♥
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I love it, thank you so much for writing and sharing it!
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Thank you so much for reading.