Planet D'Qar
Resistance Base
"Captain on deck," I walked into the meeting room where a group of resistance officers, standing at attention as soon as I was entering the room, the noise was once again quiet as the monitor was in the middle and the current plans were drawn up and ready for me to see and approve on.
"What's the report?" I asked, seeing one of the other officers coming over to hand me some of the papers that they had presented to me.
"We lost more men with the counterattack against the TIE fighters," He explained to me, having me read the numbers and see the damage there.
"We lost, at least, four other pilots to the recent attack against the First Order," I said out loud from reading the paper and seeing the names there that we lost the battle.
"We need more men, Captain," The officer almost pleading with me as I looked over at him, watching him point to the monitor in front of us and the number of pilots we have left that were still alive on the left and those we lost on the right, "If we don't do something now, we could lose all of our assault fleet that we would need in the future."
"We cannot forget those we still have, Lieutenant," I reminded him, walking around the circular table a bit more to see the pilots that we still have a bit more closely on the monitor, "The ones we still have been in our fleet for plenty of years and through plenty of battles."
"Do we rely on our seasoned pilots, no matter how many we still have?" He asked me, having me still keep my composure there and nod my head at him without missing a beat.
"I would rather rely on our pilots who have more quality in their flying technique than try to recruit reckless pilots who do have the leadership skills instilled in them to bring us to victory," I explained to him clammily as I placed my hands on the table and leaned against it slightly,"With these pilots, and the plenty of other seasoned officers that we do have, we know what kind of pilots we need in order to succeed against the First Order. I hope that the next time we recruit more pilots, that we don't make the same mistakes as before," It was almost a warning to them all right now and they said nothing for a moment or two before the doors opened again, all of us looking and seeing it was none other than our general.
General Leia Organa.
"Captain Neyli is right," She said to the group of officers as she walked over to my side and looked at the monitors, "We must look at the quality of our pilots and their determination in those fights, not the number that we have. We may have a low count wit hour pilots, but that is not going to stop us from our mission of peace in the galaxy and our fight against the First Order, understood?" She asked the group, all of them nodding in agreement and having me look over at her, seeing her eye me now as she moved passed me.
"Meet me in my office," She said to me as she passed by me, having me watch her move over to where her office was and close the door behind her. I had to sigh, thinking that I once again did something wrong and it made me look back at the files in my papers, the officers were watching me now for any other further command.
"Make sure the supplies are reloaded for another mission. get the X-Wings fixed up and check on the droids for any other further repair," I explained to them, seeing them all nod in agreement and then having me leave the papers there on the table for the officer to grab. It wasn't that I didn't look forward to meeting with General Organa, I have learned plenty under her command. it was just a matter of me not knowing what she wanted to talk to me about and what she had to say to me.
"Come on in, Captain," I opened and closed the door behind me, finding myself in General Organa's office and she was standing right behind her desk, arms crossed in front of her and she looked a bit softer at me than she did in front of the other officers some moment ago. Her room was filled with piles of papers, maps of other constellations and the planets that she was keeping an eye on. I could even see some of her family pictrues, tucked away on the bookshlevs beind her and around the room. Every once in awhile I would look at those pictures and see who was in them. In the corner of the room, dusting away at some of the trinkets there on the wall, was C3PO, a trusty robot that worked for General Leia.
"Oh, Hello Captain! Pleasure to see you again!" he said to me in his chipper yet robotic voice. I smiled at him as General Leia finally spoke up.
"Have you heard from you father? Has he made any kind of contact with you recently?" She asked me, her voice a bit on the lower side but gentle as I shook my head.
"No, ma'am," I replied back to her, seeing her think to hers for a moment before almost looking like she was about to crumple down a bit.
"He's never not contacted back here to me for this long period of time," She explained, "I just don't know here he is."
"You have no way of tracking him?" I asked in curiosity, seeing her shake her head.
"If I know your father as well as I do, he knows how to get under the radar so no one can find him, not even the First Order," she explained back calmly now as I could see she was about to be upset about it, "But then again, your father was always reckless, for the type of man that he is."
"I hope that I don't have that within myself, ma'am," I said, almost in trying to make it a lighter manner of conversation and she grinned at me then, hearing the joke I had on my lips.
"You don't, thankfully. Though you do have a bit of the adventurousness that he would always have within him, something that I have and always will admire,"
"Thank you, ma'am." I thanked her, feeling a bit lighter about what she said about my father and I shifted a bit in my spot with my hands behind my back and my eyes straight forward.
"You have been doing profoundly well for the Resistance here, being a good Captain for the others to follow and admire, I could be prouder than you," She said wholeheartedly and a small smile on her face, standing now right in front of me and having me look down at her a bit since I had my height on my side.
"I have a good General to look after and take notes from," I voiced to her, seeing her tilt her head to the side now as she then chuckled and placed both of her hands on my upper arms now, almost as if she was bringing me back to earth.
"You know, you don't have to call me General all the time, Neyli," She reminded me, having me roll my eyes at her and give her a small smile.
"I don't think it would be wise to call you mother in front of the men," I countered, seeing her grin even more and we both hugged there in her office. I could hear her sigh against my shoulder then, having me feel how she was holding me there and she had plenty weighing on her shoulders since she was leading this resistance how all by herself. Hell, she could do it, but she was still only one person, and I was still there trying to help her in any way that I could.
"We'll find him, mom," I reassured her now in a hushed manner, "Dad will come home soon."
He had to come home soon.
Four years earlier
"But why can't I, at least, help and fly one of those fighters? Don't you want me to help out?" I was having another infamous fight with both of my mother and father, both of whom were not looking too pleased on my end as we were in my mom's office now and they were not pleased as punch when I took one of the X-Wing vehicles to help in a mission that was needed. But then again, since I was the daughter of a General and a war hero, there was apparently more expected to me.
"You are not authorized to be flying on of those X-Wings, especially in the current time of frame that we are in. It is too dangerous for you to be flying out there with the rest of the pilots." My mother reasoned with me, my father right behind her as some kind of support, having me huff and place my hands on my hips. My hair, brown and red in color, was shortly chopped then and framing my round face and my brown eyes, apparently the ones I inherited from my mother were giving them cold stares.
"I am a soldier here and a pilot, aren't I?" I asked her back since I thought she would forget about my ranking as a pilot there at the base.
"You are, but you're not ready for something as dangerous as this mission that they are about to go into. You are going to be staying here on the ground until you can prove to me that you are ready to fly with the boys up there and hold your own ground," My mother explained to me, having me swallow my own need to talk about to her since she was not only my mother but also my boss. I knew she was going to treat me like the others, I wanted her too. She was not going to treat me different because I was her child, but then again I thought it would be the same this time so I can join the boys. I guess not. I even looked at my father for some kind of support, but I got nothing from his face as I noted my head at the both of them.
"My apologies," I replied to them, seeing my mother nod at me and I knew that was my cue to leave. I walked out the door, closing it behind me and sighing in defeat then. Pilots were talking left and right, talking to each other like it was a normal day there at the hanger. It was typical to brethe in the air fumes within the area of the hanger, pipes were all over the place along the top of the walkways and the sides, it was my home afterall. But once again I was having a power struggle. I really want do go and fly out on the X-Wings and fulfill my duty, but I also felt like I was being held back by my own mother.
"Did you think it would be easy for us to have her not fly?" My father asked my mother under a mutter in his breath.
"Han, don't start," My mother warned him.
"Come on, Leia. It was bad enough that we had to take the lightsaber away from her, but now her flying?" He asked her, having me feel a bit uneasy again from a recent memory of my childhood.
"It's too risky for her right now, it's not like when she started piloting. Not with what's going on with the First Order," My mother said to him in a careful way, having em finally move away from the door now and get over to where my living quarters. I didn't want to think about it anymore, it was just draining me and having me think that I was not going to get anywhere.
My own living quarter was small enough for me, a snug bed in the corner and a desk at the foot of it near the wall, gadgets and wires all over the top and pouring out over the sides of the desk and some X-Wing schematics on the walls pinned there. All of the pilots, when starting out, would have a living quarters like this until they get promoted or placed in a new facility. Mine was tucked away in the back, away from the front as closest as possible since I was more prone to have my alone time compared to the other pilots.
I liked it enough, the tight quarters there and how it felt so snug within my own area. Some of the other pilots would think that I would have a high rolling like a place, on a count of who my mother was, but I refused. I wanted it like the rest of the men, and I wanted it to be an equal playing field.
Stripping off my combat jacket, I plopped down at the desk in the chair, running my fingers in my hair and trying to find my peace again. I had a family picture propped on my wall, one of my whole family when I was a little girl out one the planet Naboo and posing at one of the waterfalls that I loved. I was so small then, being held in my father's arms and we were giggling about something. It was one of those moments, many moments of course, that I really wondered if I made the right choice of being a pilot under my mother, was it really worth it? I had to think it was since I knew about the good side of the galaxy more than the bad.
A sudden beep was heard, along with a few sounds of a droid coming in from outside in the hallway. I grinned, knowing who that was and I looked behind me, a small droid of white and orange popping his head in and buzzing at me excitedly.
BB-8
"Hello you," I said to him as he rolled into my room. A few clicks and swirls were heard.
"No, I did not have a fight with my parents if that's what you're wondering," I replied, seeing him gurgle at me a few more times before I heard a knock at the door. I grinned, not looking up at who it was since I knew who it was. There would be only one person that would ever knock at my door since others would either just walk in or call out before walking in.
"Hello Poe," I said in a smile, looking up at Poe Dameron, one of the best pilots there was at the base and for the Resistance. He was a bit of a hero, acording the rest of the pilots, and yet he's been flying the same amount of time as I have been flying. I was a bit younger than him, but he was flying like he's a seasoned veteran of the trade for over 30 years. He was reckless, loyal to a fault, and not to mention, a great friend for someone to have. So, it was fair that we were just becoming closer as friends.
"How do you know it's me?" He asked me in a cocky grin, having me try and avoid the fact that I was feeling a bit warm all of from that one smile that he had. That was another thing that I never thought would happen to me, having feelings for the pilot. Sure, he was handsome and some of the other women on the base were caught looking at him for a bit too long when he would walk by, and the way he would walk like he was a Jedi on water was another thing. But to me, it was his kindness. There was not one person whom he was mean or cold hearted too, nor was he cocky enough to be snarked at by others. No, he was well liked young man there on the base.
"You're the only person that would ever knock to come and see me," I reminded him, seeing him think about it for a moment to himself and he nodded in agreement. BB-8 beeped again at me, moving my attention from Poe to his droid.
"What's broken?" I asked BB-8 now, Poe moving more into the room.
"There's a busted wire there in his hard wire and I don't think the mechanics can do a thing about it, and since you're pretty good with the droids and the hard wire, I figured you would take a look at him?" Poe asked in a suggestion, having me roll my eyes and hop off my chair to get down and sit Indian style in front of BB-8.
"Show me where it hurts," I joked with BB-8, seeing him roll a bit at an area where I could see was a bit rough and I started to get to work there. I worked on droids here and there when I was here on the base, it made me happy to just work through the droids and get my mind back in ease. I got pretty good at it, some of the pilots would bring me their doirs if soemthing was too complicated for them to fix. I got in trouble once or twice with my mother because of the mechancis were complaining I was steaing thier customers and thier droids. BB-8 was a good droid to work on, a quirky one at that. Of course he would belong to Poe, it made perfect sense.
"I heard you got grounded from flying with us tomorrow," Poe was making small talk, standing and leaning against the wall with his hands crossed in front of him, tilting his head at me.
"Already I'm being talk about with the others?" I asked back to him, hearing him snicker a bit.
"You are the general's daughter, so they can't help but talk," Poe reasoned with me now as I grinned widely, getting some wires out of the way in BB-8 for me to see the real problem.
"Yeah well, the general does not want me to go out on this mission," I explained as I snapped another piece of equipment in place.
"You're a good pilot," Poe said in a light manner.
"Thanks, but that won't convince her," I replied, getting the last bit down with BB-8 and hearing him whizz in glee. I had to chuckle, leave it to BB-8 to have it light in such an award conversation.
"You're quite welcome, and no more being a rebellious droid. Your master needs you," I reminded BB-8 then and he beeped right back at me in agreement. I got up from the sitting position I was in, standing in front of Poe and cracking my knuckles in the process, "Where are they making you head out on the mission coming up?"
"A distant planet for some information rounding, basic protocol. Nothing big involving The First Order yet," He said to me in a nonchalant tone.
"That's good," I voiced back to him.
"Eh, I think they would have gotten a better job for me to do," he commented, having me shake my head and how he really wasn't looking forward to it.
"Hey, at least you get to go fly," I reminded him, "You're the best one here anyhow." The way he grinned at me, it could make any other girl look at him and want to melt to the floor. I had to admit, he had me a bit too. It was another thing that I had to battle myself with, my feelings for the pilot and how I never saw myself in the same level playing field as him.
"Thanks, Neyli," He thanked me, sounded so sincere about it.
"You're welcome, Poe," I replied, our eyes still locking for a moment or two before BB-8 slammed into Poe then and Poe yelped out in the quick pain.
"Okay, Okay we'll go!" He said in a huff now as BB-8 rolled out of my room then. Poe followed suit with me grinning from their playful banter and he then turned to looked at me one more time, "Thanks again for BB-8. We'll talk again for sure, right?"
"You got it, Poe." I said back to him, seeing him pause for another moment or two before I said one more thing to him, "May the Force be with you." he nodded to me then and then moved out of the room. It was a typical thing for me, to deny the feelings I had for another pilot and call them childish and silly.
How long was the denial going to be?