Chapter 19

When coming from where the Falcon was berthed, Ana's fighter was first on the left, just past Poe's on the opposite side. She had almost reached the fighters when Finn jogged past her toward the Falcon, a grimly determined look on his face.

"Hey," she called out as he passed, unable to resist, "Good luck, Finn. I hope you find your friend." He hesitated, managing a small smile.

"Thanks," he answered back, his head tilting a little, looking as though he was trying to remember something, "good luck to you too." Confused for a split-second by the odd look on his face, she pushed the thought away as he turned and continued on.

As she jogged past Poe's fighter, BB-8 was already starting it up, safely ensconced in his socket. But as she passed, Ana couldn't help but hear a faint buzzing from the ventral starboard engine hub. Gesturing up at BB-8 to shut it down, she was under the S-foil and opening up the panel almost before the engine had even cycled off. All it took was a little poking around and there it was: a loose connection on the repulsorlift gyro. She sighed in exasperation; that's what he gets for throwing all those really low altitude twists and turns. She had the same problem after developing her feint, but had learned to check the connectors before and after each flight, or at least get her tech to check it. Obviously Poe didn't…at least, not as regularly as she did.

"What are you doing to my fighter, Adyé? Trying to get rid of me?" Ana grinned, adopting an innocent expression as she peeked out at Poe.

"Of course. Why else would I be loosening the fuel injection modulator; hand me a micro-spanner, would you" she said back, absolutely deadpan, earning an amused grin from Poe as he ducked under the S-foil to see what she was up to, snatching up the requested tool and placing it in her waiting hand. She gestured to the repulsorlift gyro connector. "It was buzzing as BB-8 was cycling it on. I imagine you were noticing your rear-quarter repulsorlift wasn't firing quite as quickly or that you were having to amp up the power to get it to the output you needed?" He nodded thoughtfully as he inspected her work. She hit him lightly on the shoulder, but still hard enough to make her point. "You should have been checking this, Dameron, especially given your fondness for in-atmosphere acrobatics." A look of embarrassment flitted across his handsome face. Then he turned to her, fixing Ana with a look, a faint grin tugging at his lips.

"That's why I have you around. Though, don't you have your own fighter to prep, Adyé?" She shrugged as she retracted the connector housing back into the engine hub before closing up the access hatch.

"My fighter's already in tip-top shape, Commander," she said patronizingly back. He fought back a grin.

"So you decided to work on mine?" Ana tried to scowl at him. It didn't work.

"Well, you obviously weren't, and it would have been embarrassing for all of us if our squadron commander went and crashed himself over a silly thing like a repulsorlift gyro connector. Anyway, you should be honored; I'm still the best tech on the Base. I'm actually surprised you haven't been insisting I look after your fighter; you're weirdly attached to it," she teased. "Besides, I've grown rather fond of you, Dameron." She felt her cheeks warm the instant the words were out of her mouth. It had been meant as another playful remark, but it came out far more serious and meaning far more than she had intended. Apparently Han's talk had gotten to her.

Yet, she couldn't say she didn't mean it. Not considering the fight they were heading into. Her Uncle had been right; the odds weren't good on this mission, and everyone knew it. Poe's eyes turned serious even as he chuckled. In a blink-and-you-miss-it move, he ducked in to lay a quick kiss on her cheek.

"Thanks, Adyé," he said lightly, though there was nothing light in his expression, "you take good care of me." She understood, nodding in acknowledgement before ducking in just as quickly to lay a soft kiss on his lips.

"You're welcome," she said softly as she pulled away, "I'd hate for you to explode." A genuine laugh burst from him and before she could react further he leaned in to place a longer, more ardent kiss against her mouth, his hand rising to cup her cheek.

"Be careful out there, Ana. Don't do anything too reckless," he added as he pulled away before retreating from beneath the S-foil. Her cheeks quite warm, Ana followed, glancing up at him as he clamored into the cockpit of his fighter.

"Same goes for you, Poe," she called up to him, earning a quick, jaunty salute in reply before Ana too was off toward her own fighter.

N3 warbled with encouragement from next to her X-wing's port thruster as Ana walked up, drawing a small smile from her. Even he sounded nervous. Scaling the ladder, Ana was up on the fuselage and doing a quick check on the upper starboard engine's intake when she caught a glimpse of movement over her shoulder. Sitting up, she looked over in time to see the Falcon lifting off. A strange feeling of melancholy washed over her as the old freighter rotated, the engines coming online before she was pulling away from the planet. Ana forcibly shook her head to clear the sensation away, scolding herself for giving the feeling any thought. It was just her worry about the mission. It was dangerous; there was always a chance that not everyone would make it back…virtually a guarantee in this case. It was a reality of war. She was letting herself get distracted.

Over the Base comm a warning sounded that the fighters were to be ready to depart in another five minutes. An anxious flutter settled in Ana's chest. It was nearly time. Behind her the mechanism that lifted N3 into his socket clunked and whirred, and as Ana scurried back toward the ladder, N3's dome popped up into sight, the green and silver droid chortling excitedly.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm getting there," she laughed back at his entreaties to hurry up, "but I need my helmet, don't I?" In an instant she was back on the duracrete, turning to snatch up her helmet and gloves from the rack where she'd left it. She started as it was being held out to her almost as soon as she turned around.

The General gave Ana a reserved smile, one that Ana could understand perfectly. With a tempered smile of her own, Ana took the helmet, her flight-gloves neatly tucked inside where she left them. There was a lot left unsaid between them in that moment. Ana had to fight back the urge to hug her Aunt, suddenly longing for one of the warm hugs Leia would give her when she was a child. Her nerves were grating at her, reminding her constantly of the stakes of the coming battle. It was all or nothing.

If they failed, D'Qar would be destroyed and the Resistance lost. Sure, it would probably go on for a time; there were plenty of operatives, Admirals and Commanders who were away from the Base who would take up the fight, but it would lose its heart without Leia. And Ana knew just as surely as though her Aunt had said it aloud, that the Alderaanian Princess wasn't about to abandon the Base, not even when others had suggested it as a precaution.

Then there was the reality that Ana was particularly aware of that she might not make it back herself. There was a good chance that none of the fighters would make it back even if their mission succeeded. They were going up against nearly impossible odds. It didn't stop Ana from convincing herself that they'd succeed in their mission and they'd make it back with minimal losses, but it was a truth she couldn't manage to ignore entirely…not this time.

"Be careful, Commander. Don't do anything too reckless," Leia finally cautioned after a moment of trying to decide what she wanted to say. It meant so much more than those few simple words, especially since Leia couldn't say what else she might have wanted. Not for the first time Ana couldn't help but wish, just for a moment, that she didn't feel such a need to keep it quiet that they were family. Ana managed a grin for her Aunt, surprisingly not feeling the urge to make some sort of quip in response. Instead she simply nodded.

"Yes, General," she said simply. Nodding to herself, satisfied as she could be, the General stepped back, turning away from Ana. Then Leia's lip quirked as she started to walk away.

"Oh, and Commander, " Ana looked up from fishing her gloves out of her helmet at her Aunt's voice, "remember, if you crash my fighter, you have to fix it." Ana smiled widely for real, chuckling at the long running joke between her and her Aunt.

"Of course, General," she said cheerfully as she signaled up at N3 to fire up the converters. Around them, any of the other fighters that weren't already running were similarly spooling up. With a final laughing grin, Leia turned away, hurrying from the landing pad as the other fighters around her were beginning to lift off from the duracrete.

In moments Ana was securely nestled in the cockpit of her fighter, her helmet in place as she quickly tugged her gloves on, fingers flexing to get them settled comfortably on her hands as she lifted her own fighter off the ground.

"Black Leader, the Falcon has landed," the comm echoed in her ear before giving the final clearance for takeoff. With one final look around the familiar green-bermed Base, Ana guided the starfighter up and through the atmosphere along with entirety of Blue and Red Squadrons. As soon as the final checks and roll call were dispensed with, it was simply a matter of waiting for the order. In moments they were all clear of D'Qar's atmosphere, the bleak emptiness of space with its pinpricks of light arrayed before them.

"All fighters clear," Ematt's voice called over the Comm.

"All teams, altitude confirmed," Poe's voice quickly followed, "Hold for jump to lightspeed on my go." Around her, Ana could see the squadrons forming up in preparation for the jump.

"Copy that," Bastian echoed, voicing the squadron's response. Asty replied too with: "Roger. Lightspeed."

"Is there any other speed?" Ana bit back a snorting laugh at Snap's dry quip, the recon pilot's snark barely audible. It did the trick, though, easing some of the tension, even if only marginally. Even Poe's chuckle was audible. All too quickly though, he sobered and the order was given.

They were off to Starkiller Base.

A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you all enjoyed!

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Misun: Aren't they just wonderful? I just love writing Han. C: And yeah, it really is, isn't it. Thanks for reviewing!