Chapter One: Leader

She landed the X-Wing in the hangar and jumped out, taking off her helmet and setting it in the seat before closing the canopy. Grabbing a band off of her wrist, she put her hair up into a messy bun as she waited for her Astromech droid, a little green and silver BB-unit that was assigned to her nearly three years ago.

"Come on BB-53. We've gotta get upstairs to the debriefing."

The little droid beeped, seemingly annoyed at her.

"Five-Three, now is not the time for a list of 'tweaks' that I should make to my flying. You've been trying to get me to change my technique since the day we met and you know it's not gonna happen!" She took off all of her gear and set it in the cargo hold of her X-Wing.

Five-Three set himself down beside his friend and rolled slightly to bump into her leg.

"Alright, alright. As long as you're ready." She smiled down at the little droid who looked up at her and beeped happily. Together, they walked out of the bay and up to meet with General Organa and the other pilots who were out flying the mission.

The room was full of pilots and high-ranking officers. She could hear them all chattering, and it was slightly overwhelming for her. After three years with the Resistance she still wasn't used to being around so many people. The noise was like a two-tonne weight on her chest and she prayed it would stop. Suddenly, with one voice overpowering the others, everyone stopped talking.

"Can I get everyone's attention?" She knew that voice anywhere. It was General Organa. Her voice and presence commanded so much respect that it was hard to mistake her for anyone else. "We lost some good pilots out there today but we accomplished our goal. We were able to drive out the First Order and secure our base. I'm proud of all of you, especially Black Leader, Poe Dameron, and Angel Four, Maärit Sparke. You two were incredible out there, but I expect nothing less from our two best pilots."

Everyone in the room clapped. The echoes of their clapping made her anxiety ten times worse. She smiled, though, and put her hand up modestly. The other pilot, Poe Dameron, did the same. He was standing across the table from her with his personal mechanic and avionics technician, Shaylin Andor. No, they were more than just pilot and mechanic. There was something else going on there and she could tell by the way that Shaylin elbowed Poe in the ribs and smiled at him. There was more in their smiles.

"Now, I know that we lost Angel Leader, Zephyr Den, today, but we need a new Angel Leader. It goes without saying that I should've done this a long time ago." General Organa continued as she waved Maärit over. The pilots and officers made a path for her to walk over to the General. "Maärit has earned her place as Angel Leader and it's a position that I should've given her a long time ago." Leia took her hand and smiled. "Congratulations, Sparky. You've earned this."

Maärit smiled nervously. "Thank you, sir." Everyone began to clap again. It was well deserved, but even still, she felt a bit uncomfortable.

General Organa hugged the pilot. "May the Force be with you."

"And with you, General."

They broke their embrace, and everyone was still clapping. Leia put up a hand and slowly the applause died out. "Now, go do whatever it is you do on your down time. Rest up. You'll need it." She looked around at all of the people in the room. She was proud of their efforts, but she could see how exhausted everyone was. "Dismissed."

Chatter resumed and Maärit stayed behind for a few minutes to let everyone clear out. BB-53 bumped into her leg again and she looked down at him. "Back down to the hangar? Put in a few more hours on The Guardian?"

The droid beeped happily and rolled around in a small circle. He loved when they were flying. Maybe it was because he knew how happy it made Maärit.

"Alright, let's get down there." She smiled and walked out of the room.

The walk back down to the bay was different than the walk up. She could feel another person not too far behind her. No, two people. It was Dameron and his "mechanic." She knew it. Who else would follow her? He probably wanted to talk to her. Congratulate her or something. She wasn't really interested at the moment. A large weight had just been placed on her shoulders and she just needed to clear her head.

Before she knew it, she was down in the hangar opening the cargo hold of her X-Wing, The Guardian. Her thoughts were racing as she began to gear up. Once she was ready, she walked over to find the flight line director. "Hey, Harlan, I'm gonna take The Guardian up for a while. I won't go far but I need a marshal."

"Sparky, you just got back and you wanna go up again?" He questioned. "Do you ever rest?"

"Don't know the meaning of the word." She smirked. "Now, can I get a marshal or not?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll send over Pacer."

"You're the best, Harlan." She turned on her heel and walked back towards her starfighter where Fiver-Three was already in the socket. She waved her hand in the air signaling to the droid that they were cleared for departure.

When she made it back over to her X-Wing there was someone waiting for her. Her first thought as to who it was was correct... It was Dameron. He was looking over the blue and gold fighter. She paid him no mind as she climbed up and grabbed her helmet out of her seat.

"You're Maärit Sparke, right?" Poe asked, breaking the silence.

Maärit took her hair down and climbed into the cockpit. "And you're Poe Dameron, the most daring pilot in the Resistance."

"Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say that. I just do what has to be done and sometimes it seems stupid and dangerous but…who else would do it?"

She shook her head and let out a small chuckle. "I guess you're right about that."

"You're headed out again?"

"Just going up to clear my head. There's not much I can do down here right now." She shrugged.

"Look, I know how stressful it is to have an entire squadron depending on you but you've been doing this for three years now, right? You just have to keep doing what you're doing. I can show you a few tricks if you want." His words sounded genuine and she could hear the smile in his voice.

"I'd appreciate that." She didn't look down at him. She was more focused on prepping The Guardian for take-off. "Maybe when I get back, we can talk more."

"Well, I'm always around. You won't find me too far from this hangar." He chuckled.

She pushed her hair back from her face as she started the engines. She noticed he stepped back, giving her plenty of room. Holding her helmet in one hand she reached up and grabbed the Transparisteel Canopy then looked over at the Black Leader. Her pale blue, clouded eyes met his. She could tell he was shocked. Not a lot of people knew that she was the only blind pilot in the Resistance.

"I'll see you around, Dameron." She smirked and pulled down the canopy. After making sure it's closed properly, she put on her helmet and grabbed the stick. She retracted the landing gear and pulled out of the hangar leaving behind an open-mouthed and astonished Poe Dameron. He couldn't move as he watched Maärit fly off in that blue and gold T-70 X-Wing fighter.

Shaylin walked over to his pilot and smiled. "I had the same reaction when I first found out too." He reached over and put a finger under his chin, closing his mouth. "The shock will pass." He gave him a quick kiss then punched him in the shoulder. "Now, come on. I wanna check out a few things on Black One before you take her up again. Just a few recalibrations. Two-man job. Let's go." He started walking away toward the black and orange X-Wing across the bay. It took a second for Poe to follow but once he put himself back together, he walked over to help Shaylin.