Work Text:
In the crowded Resistance base, it wasn’t uncommon to see large gatherings throughout the base, whether it was for professional or social reasons.
However, it was entirely uncommon to see one of said large groups sprawled out on the floor of the Command Center.
“Hey Poe, I found another one about us setting up a base on Ajan Kloss,” Lieutenant Kaydel Connix called.
“There seems to be a lot of those. Maybe we should consider it as a potential base.”
“Ooh, here’s one.” Rose tapped at her datapad, scrolling through a long list. “I found a ton about a relationship between Rey and the Supreme Leader!”
“I don’t know...remember the ones we found about Poe being a spice runner?” Finn asked. “Besides, Rey and Kylo Ren ? Really?”
“Yeah...that one doesn’t seem credible,” Rey added quickly.
“Are you sure? There’s a lot. Like...a lot a lot. Wow. These people are really invested.”
“I- I think Chewie’s calling. Probably another problem with the Falcon . And the porgs. And...I’m gonna go fix...that.” She ran off, taking her datapad with her. Everyone decided not to mention that Chewie was in the room with them.
“I can’t believe this is actually working,” Poe admitted. “Interesting idea, Rose. Hey, how did you hear about Archive of Our Own?”
“...don’t worry about it.”
“Here’s one about something called the Final Order, but it kind of brushes past it.” Kaydel squinted at the screen. “Apparently it’s really dark. And there’s space horses. I’ll look into it.”
“I found a bunch of...memes?” Archex held up his own datapad. “It seems that they’re focused on the fact that stormtroopers can fly.”
“They fly now?!” Poe looked over at Archex’s datapad.
“Yes, that’s what you said. You do know they’ve been able to fly since the Clone Wars, right?”
“I’m kind of used to fighting them in space, Emergency Brake. In TIE Fighters. Not on the ground.”
“Oh for force’s sake, I don’t even wear red any more…”
“Here’s a theory about Rose dying,” Vi Moradi called. “It doesn’t look very credible, though. Wow...this person really doesn’t like you.”
“That’s their problem. I don’t plan on dying anytime soon. By the way, I’ve decided I’m now fully invested in this whole Reylo thing. And Stormpilot. That’s the pairing of Poe and Finn.”
“Good to see I’m not the only one who has eyes,” Vi grinned.
“Hey, I think this is a list of everyone who dies!” Finn scrolled through a very long list.
“Is Rose on it?”
“Yes.”
“WHAT?”
“Oh wait, it’s just a list of people who are alive after Crait.”
“Oh, good.”
“This one’s about space horses, didn’t Kaydel say something about that?”
“Yeah, turns out we ride them across the surface of a Star Destroyer. And Poe’s girlfriend helps us!”
There were several loud curses from Vi and Rose’s corner at the mention of Poe having a girlfriend.
“I found some stuff about C3-PO turning into a Sith Lord,” Archex volunteered.
“Why does Archex keep finding the weirdest parts?”
“I dunno. But there’s another one here about Rey being related to the Emperor?”
“I doubt that’s real. We’ve found about twenty different theories about her parents. Besides...I really don’t wanna think about that.”
“Yeah…”
“Hey Poe, what have we figured out is real so far?”
“Um...Ajan Kloss base...former stormtrooper named Jannah...space horses...Leia dies...something about the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise...and Anakin Skywalker’s force ghost?”
“Okay, Rose and I found something.” Vi tapped her screen a few times. “Rey and Kylo Ren have a ‘force bond’.”
“A what?”
“We’re working on it.”
“Is that like some sort of force-term for Jedi and Sith rivalries?”
“No. More like a ForceTime that initiates at random times.” Vi covered her eyes. “And. Um. Rose, you do it.”
Rose shook her head, pushing the datapad towards Poe. “No way.”
“So...you’re saying...they can see each other…”
“Naked. Essentially.” Rose took the datapad back, and she and Vi settled in to read.
“Here’s one about General Hux.” Archex pointed to another tab.
“Please tell me it’s a serious one for once.”
“It says he has a cat named Millicent.”
“Awww,” Kaydel cooed. “Are there pictures?”
“Yeah, a few.”
“She’s so cute!”
“Kaydel, she belongs to a murderer,” Poe sighed, rolling his eyes.
“You let Vi and Rose read Reylo!”
“No I didn’t. Vi, Rose, don’t do that…”
“Why?”
“Because we’re supposed to be working!”
“We’re literally going through Rose’s fantasy story website to find out how to predict the future.”
“...Fair, but after you finish reading that one, get back to work.”
“Fine, but we still have 48 chapters to go.”
“WHAT?”
“It’s 50 chapters long. I seriously think this thing is longer than most actual published books.”
Rose typed something into her datapad and nodded. “It’s longer than any of the Harry Potter books.”
“Anything look accurate?”
“Ajan Kloss again. And you and Finn both live. Kaydel too. Ooh, and there’s a tag that says Rose Tico Deserved Better. I like this already.”
“Guys, I found one where Archex dies.” This was from Kaydel, who had moved from researching space horses to researching dead people.
“Where?”
“Really, Poe?” Archex shot him a glare. “ That’s your first question?”
“Well if it’s on Ajan Kloss, we’re not going there!”
“It doesn’t say where. But apparently you explode.”
“So we’re keeping Emergency Brake away from the bombs, then?” Vi asked, looking up from the fic she was reading.
“Oh good, apparently Kylo Ren dies as well.”
Mixed cursing and cheering from Rose and Vi.
“You’re sure that one’s credible?” Poe consulted the short list of things they’d figured out from the mix of fanworks.
“Looks like it. Something about a planet Exegol. And Blackspire Outpost.”
“I’ve heard of Blackspire,” Vi cut in. “It’s an old smugglers’ hideout. Might be a nice place to set up a base for a while.”
“Exegol? That sounds made-up.”
“I can’t find any records of it,” Finn said, shrugging. “Maybe someone did make it up. We’ve found a couple made-up planets.”
“Alright, so that one’s not accurate. We can still consider Blackspire Outpost if Vi’s correct, though. Maybe Vi and Archex could set up a team down there, recruit some more people to our cause.”
“Hey guys, Rey’s still not back,” Rose pointed out. “I found some Jedi stuff I was gonna ask her about. Should I go look for her?”
“Sure.”
********************************************
Fifteen minutes later, they’d managed to find out from a large collection of memes that the Emperor would return with an army that had been hidden for decades. Well, supposedly that was how it would happen. The Resistance was basically split down the middle when it came to deciding whether or not the memes were credible.
Rose and Rey returned soon after, Rose struggling not to laugh, and Rey looking like she’d rather be anywhere else in the galaxy.
“What did you do?” Poe asked immediately, seeing their expressions.
“ForceTime,” Rose managed to gasp out before she collapsed into a fit of giggles.
“Wait...” Vi held up her datapad, and Rose nodded. “No. You’re kidding.”
“Nope!”
Vi grinned. “So how’s the FO? Hux is still a murderer? Phasma polished her armor after that last battle?”
Rey flushed. “It’s not like that-“
“It is!” Rose was trying hard to compose herself again, and failing miserably.
“It’s not. They’re, uh...actually, everyone in the FO’s on Wattpad right now.”
Poe shot the three women an incredulous look. “Wattpad?”
Vi’s eyes widened. “Hey wait...isn’t Wattpad that site that’s like AO3?”
“Yeah.”
“Wait…” Poe was still trying to connect the dots. “How do you know this?”
“ ForceTime ,” Rose repeated, finally managing to control her laughter.
“Wait, that’s REAL?”
“Mhmm.” She stared at the ground.
“How many other crazy theories are real?”
“The...the cat one.”
“I knew it!” Kaydel crowded. “Is she as cute as she is in the pictures?”
“Definitely.”
“So you’re saying...the First Order and the Resistance are both using fanworks to predict the future?”
“Yes, basically.”
“Did we at least choose the better site?”
“Also a yes.”
“Well, at least there’s that.” Poe sighed. “I don’t get paid enough for this.”
“You don’t get paid at all,” Finn pointed out.
“Yeah, yeah. Alright everyone...let’s...let’s just hit the fics. Again.”