Disclaimer: I don't own anything Star Wars.
There is an explanation of how my calendar works in the original 'Flame of Hope' if you're curious.
Flame of Hope – Poe & Mira
Prologue:
D15/28 ABY, Kamino
"You think we finally found him?"
The scepticism in Poe's voice was painfully obvious. Not that Mira could blame him; it had been two years since they started searching for the one known as 'The Last Knight'. With nothing but rumours to guide their journey back and forth across the galaxy, they'd finally ended up at Kamino, a world not even actually IN their galaxy.
Mira stared at the blue world almost completely covered over with clouds and nodded slowly. "Actually, love, I think we have, if the sense of intense cold I feel radiating off this planet in the Force is anything to go by."
Poe shot his wife a concerned look. "Maybe we should call in some reinforcements before we go down there? I know you're the galaxy's most badass Mandalorian Jedi ever to live and I'm not exactly helpless, but I don't fancy the idea of dying just yet; I happen to be enjoying married life, thank you very much."
Mira snorted at her darkly handsome husband, taking her focus off the planet below them to look at him with amused amber eyes. "You have been wearing a rather satisfied expression for the past couple of months," she teased. "I'm not sure why though; our lifestyle and activities haven't really changed with my new last name."
Poe quirked a dark brow at her. "You just answered you own question, sweetheart; you're officially mine now. You know how many scoundrels and nerfherders I had to fight off when they thought you were free for the winning?"
Mira smirked and tossed her long, mulitcoloured hair cheekily, holding back the urge to giggle at his indignant expression. "A couple?" she said just to see him get riled up. She had, in fact, witnessed most of those scoundrels and nerfherders getting their asses handed to them (which had turned her on more than a little), and there was even more that Poe didn't know about that she'd had to tell ever so nicely to leave her the kriff alone or they'd be carrying their favourite appendage home in a jar. (It wasn't easy being a good looking female in a galaxy of morons.)
Poe gawked at her for half a moment before he surged up from the pilot's chair to place his hands on either side of her head and loom over her. "A couple?! A COUPLE?!" He shook her chair a few times to emphasize his point while she gazed up at him with wide, super innocent eyes. "Mira, have you seen yourself lately? You're the hottest girl this side of the Unknown Regions!"
Mira finally let the giggle out as she grabbed fistfuls of his brown leather jacket and tugged him closer. "Force, I adore teasing you, but thank you for the compliment, love." She pressed a sassy kiss to his mouth, nipping his lower lip before letting him go and pushing him away. "Now be a good pilot and fly us down to that planet; we have a Darksider to eliminate. The Last Knight has taken his last potshot at my family."
Poe shook his head at her, not surprised that he'd fallen for her teasing yet again or that she was forging ahead with her mission despite the possible danger. "Fine," he said as he settled back into his chair and gripped the controls. "But at least tell someone where we are so they know where to come look for our bodies."
Mira rolled her eyes at his frowning face while he reluctantly started flying their ship, but complied enough to reach for the long range comm. "I'm surprised at your lack of enthusiasm, Poe. You knew what you signed up for and I thought you were just as eager as I am to stop this guy."
"It's not that," he said, his frown deepening as he glanced at her. "It's what you said when we first came out of hyperspace. You said the PLANET felt cold in the Force. From what I've learned about this Force stuff, isn't that a little extreme for just one Darksider?"
Now Mira returned his frown because he was right and she'd let her own overconfidence blind her to her own words. "It is extreme, actually. Maybe the planet itself is a Dark planet. Maybe that's why he likes it here."
"Assuming the Last Knight is actually down there."
"It does fit all of the clues we've scrounged up so far," Mira pointed out needlessly, since they'd already had that discussion before jumping to Kamino.
Poe glanced at her again and caught her nibbling on her lower lip in thought. "Do you still want to go down there? Cause I'm all for waiting a couple days for reinforcements to arrive. We can watch movies and catch up on sleep and... other things."
Mira shook her head at him, a smile curling her lips up, as the comm chimed and Chopper's familiar beeps filled the cockpit of the Lothjaig. "Insatiable," she mouthed.
He winked as he eased up on the Kom'rk's throttle.
"You rang, Spectre 9?"
Mira tore her focus off her smirking husband and answered the family droid. "Can you patch me through to Daddy please, Chopper?"
"Sure," he beeped. "But it's the middle of the night here," he added.
"Then just give him a mess..."
The comm chimed again, indicating Chopper had already made the connection. Mira grimaced, afraid she'd now woken up her parents.
"Hello?" her father's somewhat out of breath sounding voice said a few moments later.
"Hi, Daddy," Mira said. "I forgot to check the time. I'm sorry to wake you."
"Oh, he wasn't asleep," her mother's voice said, sounding very amused.
Mira and Poe exchanged identical looks of horror at what Sabine had just implied.
"Oh, Force, Mom. I'd say get a room, but you're undoubtedly already in it."
"Actually..." Sabine and Ezra said together.
"Don't even!" Mira cut them off quickly. "I don't want to know!"
Her parents chuckled at the familiar response to their love life. "What did you need, sweetie?" Ezra asked after taking a few seconds to wind down.
"I'm just letting you know that Poe and I may have found our enemy's lair. The planet matches all of the clues and it is definitely strong in the Dark side. Very very strong, actually," she admitted.
"Where are you?" Sabine asked curiously while Ezra frowned in concern.
"Kamino."
Millions of kilometres away, Ezra and Sabine looked at each other in shock. "Kamino?!" they repeated together.
"Yes, Kamino," Mira said, rolling her eyes up and shaking her head minutely at their dramatics for Poe's benefit. "I know it's where the clones were bred. You don't have to get all excited about it. Anyway, Poe just wanted me to tell you where we were in case you need to come rescue our bodies."
"Hey!" Poe exclaimed. "Don't make me sound wimpy to your parents!" he hissed.
Mira and Sabine snorted in an identical fashion.
Ezra, being able to sympathize with the other male when faced with badass Mandalorian wives said, "Don't worry, Poe, I don't think you're wimpy. You've already more than proved yourself to be tough enough to withstand a pissed off Mando, so I think you're good. Don't let the girls get to you."
"Thanks," Poe said dryly.
"Now, as far as this mission is concerned, Mira," Ezra said pointedly. "You can proceed, but do so very carefully. Listen to the Force. If you feel like you need to retreat, then do so. Comm me and the whole lot of us will come rushing as fast as we can and we'll deal with the Last Knight together. Who knows if he's amassed a secret army or something over the years that we don't know about."
"Yes, Dad," Mira said in anything but an obedient tone.
"Mira..." Sabine said warningly.
"Fine," she huffed. "I'll be careful. I'll even leave my wrist comm on and Chopper can monitor our progress if you want."
"I want," Ezra said firmly.
"Alright," Mira sighed dramatically. "You two can now go back to whatever you were doing in whatever cringe worthy location you were doing it in."
Poe snorted with laughter, his shoulders shaking as he tried to keep quiet.
"I'm not sure I'm still in the mood," Ezra muttered just loud enough to be heard over the comm. That was quickly followed by an, "Owwwww, Sabine!"
Poe laughed harder while Mira literally tried to disappear into her chair.
"I guess I'm still in the mood," Ezra said resignedly. "My little girl's walking into danger, but that's not enough to stop me."
"I should hope not, lothrat," Sabine said warningly on a very clear undertone of laughter. "You were just getting to the good parts."
"Gaahhhhh! I don't want to hear this!" Mira exclaimed. "I'll call you later and tell you how it went," she said quickly before pushing the button to end the call and then slumping back into her seat.
Poe was still chuckling as he resumed his flight down to the planet and activated the cloaking device and the signal scrambler. "You do realize that we are almost identical to your parents in every way except I'm not a Jedi and you are?"
Mira huffed and crossed her arms over her armour covered chest. "I figured that out long ago. I think that's why we work so well, but jeez, Poe, don't tell them!"
He grinned at her fleetingly before concentrating on his flight through the atmospheric clouds. "I wasn't planning on it. You're mother already gives me a very scary glare every time she sees me so much as hug you."
Her wrist comm beeped, making her jump a little before she pushed the button to answer it. "Yes?" she asked tentatively, afraid it was her parents about to yell at her for hanging up on them.
"It's just me," Chopper beeped.
"Oh, thank the Force," she muttered. "All right, Chop, you can listen, but don't make any noise that might give us away."
"Got it."
"Thanks, Chopper."
Poe brought their ship to a hover in the last layer of rain clouds, the ocean just barely visible below. "Okay, my Jedi wife, where to from here?"
That was a really good question that Mira hadn't thought of yet. She sat up straighter in her chair and closed her eyes. "Just give me a minute to see if I can sense him."
She stretched her Force senses out, feeling like she was struggling through clouds of Dark side energy. She'd never felt this much Dark energy concentrated in one place before and it was starting to worry her just a little. She pushed the little niggle of doubt to the back of her mind and concentrated harder, trying to find where the Dark energy was coming from.
She was just starting to think that they'd have to call in Jacen to come 'find' her quarry when she suddenly had a feeling about which way to go.
Opening her eyes, she nodded to the right. "Go west."
Poe turned the ship and started flying, sticking to the clouds as extra protection against detection from the natives. "How far?"
Mira frowned, eyes closing again. "I don't know yet. Just keep flying until I say stop."
"Yes, Ma'am," he snarked.
Mira cracked an eye and shot him a look that he ignored. Laughing softly, she closed her eye again and got back to concentrating, seeking out the strongest source of the Dark side.
It took about fifteen minutes, and they were practically on the other side of the planet before she told Poe to stop.
He lowered them into the dark night, rain hitting the transparisteel like blaster shots, and they both got their first look at the massive circular buildings perched over the crashing ocean waves. Most of the buildings were dark, but one was well lit, both inside and out.
"Why do I get the feeling that we're being set up?" Poe said as he crept their ship forwards despite the instinct that was telling him to RUN.
"Probably because we are," Mira admitted. "I've always thought that some of the clues to this location were just a little too easy to find."
"Then why are we doing this?" Poe said, looking at her with his eyes even darker than normal from worry.
"Because someone has to," she answered, durasteel resolve in her voice. "This sleemo has been attacking my family and the Jedi school for years and we haven't managed to catch him yet. This can't go on any longer, Poe. Eventually, he's going to get lucky and actually kill someone and I just can't let that happen."
Poe hung his head for a moment as he reminded himself that he'd promised to follow her to the ends of the galaxy and beyond if that's what she wanted. Well, they were definitely beyond, and he was still here. He looked up again and gave her his best kick ass look. "All right, sweetheart. Let's do this."
Mira beamed at him as he found a landing pad to aim for and she stood. She double checked her blaster and lightsabre before pulling a hair tie off her wrist and swirling the long mass into a quick bun at the back of her neck. As Poe touched the ship down to the landing pad with a gentle bump, she scooped her helmet off the floor and then leaned over and kissed his cheek. "I love you, babe."
As he smiled at her in clear adoration, his fingers automatically going through the shut down sequence, she palmed her blaster and stunned him. Twice. Just to make sure he stayed out for at least a couple hours.
For half a second, he looked at her in shock and then he slumped forward in his chair. Mira caught him and settled him back, gloved fingers brushing the dark curls off his forehead lovingly. "I'm sorry, my love," she whispered to his sleeping form. "But I can't be worrying about you right now. This fight is no place for a non Force user."
Taking a deep breath, she pushed her helmet down on her head and walked out of the cockpit, ready to deal with whatever traps the Last Knight had up his proverbial sleeve.
A/N: Hehehehehe. I'm sooooooo sort of sorry about this cliffhanger of a prologue, but I couldn't help myself. And... it might be a looooonnnnng time before I actually get back to this arc, but hey, if it get's your attention, then I did my job. :D
At the moment, you can find a bit more about Mira and Jykto Ren (the Last Knight) in the EVERYONE story in the chapters called 'Hera's Been Stolen' & 'Hera's Daring Sacrifice'.
A/N: Thank you all soooooo much for reading my stories! Every fav, follow, or nice review makes me want to write that much more for you. :D :D :D :D :D
I'm always open to suggestions for my current stories if there's something you really want to see happen. I can't guarantee I'll add your suggestion, but it never hurts to try. :D
It would mean the world to me if you would like my Facebook page and say hi!
Just search for 'Thelonerebel's Stories' in your Facebook search bar and you should find me. :D
