The Origin of Poe Dameron
He woke up and he was covered in blood. His body was drenched and tears flowed down his face. He looks down at his body, and is relieved he is in his own bed, and is drenched in sweat. Poe Dameron woke up from another sleepless night. For the past 10 years Poe hasn't slept a full night. Every time his head hits the pillow, he re-watches his father being slaughtered by Captain Phasma and her legion of storm troopers. Ten years before Poe Dameron was the face of the reisitance, he was being help captive with his father on their homeplanet of Yavin-4. Captain Phasma took off her helmet, and looked Poe in the eyes. She smiled, and said "I'm doing you a favor, this will make you stronger boy." Poe was confused. The ten year old boy looked at his father to hear him say "Son, look awa…" and before he could finish what he was saying a KB-29 vibro-knife pierced his father throat. The blood sprayed and covered Poe's face. Poe screamed and fell to the ground. Captain Phasma un-lodged the 12-inch blade from his throat. Captain Phasma slowly kneeled down to Poe's level. She wiped the blade on Poe's shirt, and her cold metal gauntlet pulled up his chin to make eye-contact with her. "Don't make the same mistakes as your father. The resistance will only bring you death." She left and was followed by her storm troopers. Poe bent down to pick up his father's leather pilot coat. He slowly put it on and wiped away the blood and tears. And in this moment, he knew he was to kill Captain Phasma.
Fast forward ten years, and Poe is covered in sweat. He looked out the barrack window and his X-wing was being soaked in the morning sunlight. He looked back at his bed and the bum of a naked woman stuck out from the sheets. "Poe, come back to bed baby… keep me warm." Poe tucked her in , "I wish, time for me to cop some fools." He put on his father's resistance leather jacket, and walked out the door. The sun felt great, but there was a tangible tenseness in the air. General Organa had addressed the camp the day before about how their most recent scouting mission to find her brother had failed. With The First Order on the rise, Luke Skywalker could be the fulcrum for change. Having the force on their side would change everything.
Poe sat down in the mess hall and ate. Gatro-egg omelet with iktotch toast. When he was orphaned he never ate this well. After he finished his hearty meal, he started walking to the shooting range for some target practice. Before he could retrieve his blaster, a fellow pilot intercepted him. "Black Leader, General Organa requests your presence." Poe followed him to the commander's tent. Poe didn't know why the general wanted him, but he was nervous. He slowly walked into the tent to see the back of General Organa. She turned and spoke to him "Poe, welcome, please take a seat." Poe sat down and looked around the room to see all of the high command of the resistance. Admiral Akbar was even present. General Organa pulled up a projection of the planet Jakku. "Poe, I have a mission for you. As you may know, we have been searching for the Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. And we have a lead on the planet Jakku." Poe looked into her eyes, "I would be honored to assist you General." Organa showed him a picture of man. "At these coordinates you will find this man. His name is Lor San Tekka. He has a star-chart to Skywalker's location." "I will not disappoint you General." Poe left the tent and went to his X-wing. He mounted his droid BB-8 on top of his X-wing, and climbed into the cockpit. He took one long look at the resistance base, hoping he will have the luck and grace to return.
Discussion of my fan fiction
My fan-fiction is both a brief origin story of the character Poe Dameron, and a prequel to newest Star Wars film. Along with using my creativity to add on to the Star Wars universe, I complemented my story with references to the Star Wars universe. Gatro eggs and iktotch toast are foods talked about in Star Wars novels, and the vibroknife is shown in the animated Star Wars series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Before I started writing, I was curious what fueled Poe Dameron to become the star fighter pilot he has become. With every hero there is a journey. And I wanted to shed some light on what I think the past of Poe Dameron could be. Hero's who go through pain and separation at a young age tend to be strong and adventurous, like Hercules.
There is a concept that was coined by Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno. It is called "mass culture." It is the idea that mass media in a capitalist democracy people are manipulated by the pleasures of conformity and consumerism. Star Wars is a great example of this. In the months approaching the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Disney was advertising the new movie on food, tv, and on consumer products. This influence and reach of influence can inspire people like myself to create fan fictions like these. I was hungry to know more about the life of Poe Dameron, so I created it for myself. There is a sense of beauty and ingenuity in fan fiction which doesn't exist in other forms of media.