An alarm beeped obnoxiously, waking me from a deep sleep I didn't even know I fell into. Startled awake, I lost my balance and fell off my seat onto the cold grating of the ships floor.

"She's beauty and she's grace," I mumbled groggily as I winced at the pain.

I got up and threw myself back in my seat to check on that alarm. It had finally picked up the droids location and was just about a mile away.

"Yay!" I cheered quietly to myself and increased thrusters.

I stood up and stretched my aching back, hearing sand fall off of me. Ugh I needed to clean up.

As I discarded my sand covered clothes and poured a dune out of each shoe, I was starting to get a feeling. Or was it two? Once I was finally in the shower it became clearer. The girl was close by, I could sense it. And the droid was set to cross paths with her. Looks like my job was getting done for me! I should make sure nothing interfered with their meeting though, wouldn't that just be my luck.

An alert blipped and lit up the screen in the shower wall. A TIE fighter had just crashed about 10 miles east of my current location.

"The pilot and the Trooper," I muttered in realization. "Your stupid idea actually worked."

My heart leapt with satisfaction and surprise. But now I was pulled in two directions, too many variables had presented themselves. I had no choice, I had to use the force.

Closing my eyes I reached out to see the girl and the droid. Definitely on a collision course with each other. Good. Now I checked on the other two. The Storm Trooper was with the ship still, unconscious but he'd be ok. Somehow his path was going to cross the girl and the droid. The shape of the future looked a little rough, but they'd be ok together. The pilot was another story. He was blank and uncertain. I hated that. There was no accounting for people like that and my mission required precision. The girl, the droid, and the Trooper would take care of themselves without my interference but I had to get this wild card pilot out of here. I reset auto pilot and hurried to finish my shower.

Poe: A Mirage Named Hope

My head was pounding as I awoke, and I immediately spat a mouthful of sand out as I quickly sat up and looked around. Nothing but red dunes all around.

"Finn!!" I called loudly, my voice dry and cut short by the desert wind and absorbed by the sand. "Finn!"

I stood on shaky legs and looked around again. I rubbed the sand off my face and shook some out of my hair. Sand was caked to my bloody lip and I licked it off before spitting it out.

"I hate deserts," I sighed to myself before trudging up a nearby dune to get a better view.

Once at the top I could see clearly that... I was all alone in the middle of nowhere.

"Perfect," I muttered. "Well, I can't just sit here. Come on Dameron, pick a direction."

I went with my gut and started trudging along the high ridges of the dunes. I wanted the advantage of the high ground and the view it afforded. Fortunately that put the sun behind me as well. After being tortured by the first order I was already on the verge of dehydration, I needed water soon or I'd be a goner.

"You survive torture by Kylo Ren and a crash landing only to die meaninglessly in the middle of a sand box," I anti pep talked myself before realizing it.

Still I trudged on until the sun made its way in front of me like the fiery ball of misfortune that it was. I'd come to the end of the ridge I'd been walking along and saw a large sandy valley in front of me. Obviously the heat and dehydration were getting to me because the mirages were starting. I saw a bit of silver waving like a flag in the heat that could have been a ship. At the very least maybe it was a place where there was some shade. Realizing that every direction was uncertainty, I might as well go this direction and check it out, mirage or not.

My throat was so parched it felt like it was cracking, and my legs were exhausted from struggling in the sand. By the time I got close enough to see a clear shape of the ship I was convinced it was an illusion, I was just that far gone and it was too good to be true. I tried my best to ignore it and walk right by, but when I got closer I couldn't help but look over and see her. The loading ramp was down and a woman stood there in a flowing lavender shirt and tight gray pants. Black glasses shaded her eyes from the sun, and she held a sweating glass of water. A mirage for sure.

I shut my eyes tight and willed myself to walk right on by.

"Hey!"

I stopped dead in my tracks. I couldn't remember if mirages talked.

"Yoo-hoo!" Her voice called again and every muscle rebelled and turned to look over my shoulder.

She smiled when I looked at her.

"Come here!" She waved.

I didn't move, I still wasn't sure if I was hallucinating or not.

"Come on, please? I'm just trying to help you," she called.

"You need water at least," she said, shaking the glass at me, ice cubes clinking like bells from heaven. That got the rest of my body turned around.

"Come on, it's hot out here," she mildly complained as she tried to hide in the shade of her ship. "And I already got one pair of shoes full of sand, so get a move on."

My feet shuffled back in her direction which made her smile again. When I was finally standing in front of her, she lifted her glasses and I saw big, dark blue eyes. When she smiled there were no wrinkles, just soft, pale skin. She offered me the glass of water but I kept my eyes on her.

"Are you a mirage?" I asked stupidly.

She looked at me blankly for a second before reaching up and-

"OW!" I cried, holding my forehead which she'd just flicked really hard.

"Not a mirage," she clarified and thrust the water into my other hand.

It was cold and slippery with sweat and I instantly put it to my chapped lips and drank without a second thought.

"That better?" She asked when I'd finished.

I nodded and wiped my mouth.

"Thanks. Who are you?"

"The resistance sent me to pick you up," she told me, motioning me to follow her onto the ship.

"I'm supposed to just believe you?" I called after her, not setting foot on the ship yet.

She turned to me, that blank look on her face again. After a second she walked back down to me and reached for the chain around her neck, pulling it out of her blouse to reveal a resistance pendant on the end. I looked from it back up into her disarming blue gaze.

"What's your name?" I asked her a bit softer now.

She let out a small sigh and her features relaxed into a semi defeated expression as she stared down at me.

"Hope."

Hope.

A smile broke out on my face, cracking my lips painfully but I didn't care. Her blank expression took over again as she stared at me.

"Alright," I said as I handed her back the empty glass and sauntered past her and onto the ship. "Let's get out of here."