I am now on AO3! My stories are now cross-posted over there but don't worry, I'll still update on here. Just thought I'd let you know in case you prefer AO3 over FFN.
I'm hoping to have some smuttiness for Karena and Poe out soon, but no promises. I have one done, but it's not the one I need to be done. Go figure.
ETA: Chapter disregards how the Resistance originally discovered the First Order was looking for Lor San Tekka in order to find Luke. I wanted to include Boba Fett.
Reviews:
DCDGojira: Thanks!
Zikashigaku: I'm so glad you like their dynamic! But yeah, you'd think someone attuned to the Force would have better forethought (not). Guess that's Kelin's job to be exasperated with them lmao.
32 ABY
The day had started off normal, calm even. Engineers worked on ships and droids. New pilots trained under their commanding officers. Officers planned movements and missions. Everyone was focused, and everything was calm.
But it didn't last long.
Kaydel Connix burst into Leia's office, wide-eyed and frantic. "General, urgent transmission for you with priority clearance codes," she announced to Leia and Admiral Statura who were both bent over her desk looking over schematics of the base. They had been discussing the addition of another hangar bay and expanding the barracks as their numbers continued to rise.
"Come in, Connix," Leia said, rolling up the schematics. "Put it up."
Kaydel entered the room, the door sliding closed behind her. Using her datapad, she transmitted the message to Leia's holoterminal. A hologram of a Mandalorian armor-clad man shown brightly in the room. Leia straightened her back, recognizing the figure immediately as Boba Fett.
Ever since Leia's creation of the Resistance and the twins joining up, the bounty hunter had promised to only take on bounties that wouldn't harm their efforts against the First Order, and he especially didn't take any by the First Order. Kaleena had really done a number on the man and his principles. Leia was glad she didn't have him against them, though. And occasionally, he checked in on the twins, meeting on one of the nearby planets. Though Leia hasn't seen him herself in a few years.
"This is an urgent message for General Leia Organa," the recording of Fett said. His form flickered, as if it had been recorded by a faulty recorder or the ship had an unstable connection. "I have information stolen from the First Order, but I'm being followed. My ship is damaged, and I can't make a hyperspace jump. I don't know how much longer I can hold out against them. Please send aid."
Before the message started over again, Kaydel turned paused it so she could give the general more information. "We tried to make contact with the ship, but it became unresponsive immediately after the message was sent. Last known coordinates are outside of an asteroid field near Naboo."
"That's not far from here," Statura said. "We could have a squadron ready and there in less than thirty minutes."
Leia shook her head, feeling both giddy and grave. "A whole squadron won't be needed. Knowing Fett, he took care of most of the fighters tailing him. I'll send Dameron, Pava, and Bastian. You're both dismissed."
"Yes, General," Kaydel said, nodded and exiting the office. Statura followed suit without the words.
Leia contacted Commander Dameron, Lieutenant Pava from Blue Squadron, and Lieutenant Bastian from Red Squadron, telling them to get ready to leave and that she'd meet them on the tarmac for their mission details. She also ordered the deckhands and technicians to ready the X-wings for take-off so the pilots could head out immediately.
Poe had been with Karena in the training center when he got the order. "Duty calls, sweetheart," he said cheekily with a wink. "Don't have too much fun while I'm gone."
"If anything, I'll have more fun," Karena responded. He chuckled and collected his water bottle and sweat towel as he walked away with BB-8. She watched him leave the room with a worried expression. Ever since they had grown closer over the past year, she started becoming worried each time he got sent out on a mission. She had sensed his own worry for her for each of her missions as well.
The three pilots hurried to don their flight suits and met out on the tarmac where their X-wings were being primed for takeoff by the technicians. Leia was waiting for them with her signature stern expression. They stopped in front of the general, holding their helmets at their sides. BB-8 went to be loaded into Poe's ship.
"You're being sent to intercept First Order fighters attacking a civilian ship with important intel to deliver," Leia explained curtly. "The rules of engagement are void in this case. Fire first. Destroy the fighters, help the ship land on the nearest planet, help with emergency repairs, then escort him here. You may be entering an asteroid field, so stay vigilant and don't hit one."
"Yes, General," the three pilots said in unison.
"Get to your fighters. The coordinates have been uploaded to your navicomputers."
Poe, Jess, and Bastian broke off and ran to their X-wings, climbing up the ladders and into the starfighters. Their blood was pumping, ready for a fight. It was what they had trained for.
Once cleared for takeoff, the ships flew through the air, off the planet, and into hyperspace.
Karena cleaned herself up, ending her workout short with Poe gone, and made her way to the Command Center to see her brother and aunt to ask where Poe had been sent. She sensed something through the Force but couldn't quite tell if it was good or bad. Perhaps a mixture of both. Reading the Force was Kelin's thing though, so Karena tried to push the attempt at interpretation aside.
When she entered the Command Center, officers were bustling about as normal. None of them seemed panicky, distraught, or worried, so she took that as a good sign, but it did fill her with confusion as to why Poe had to leave on such short notice.
Leia stood by the galaxy map, watching three dots appear on the map and travel through space, having dropped out of hyperspace. Unlike the rest of the officers in the room, she looked concerned.
Karena joined her aunt near the map. "What's going on?" she asked.
"We received a distress call from Fett," Leia explained, her eyes not leaving the map. "He's taking fire by First Order fighters, so I sent Dameron, Pava, and Bastian to take care of them. They'll be coming up on his last known coordinates in a moment."
Karena looked at the map too, watching the three dots as they neared an asteroid field. "If you sent the best in the Resistance then why are you worried?"
Leia turned to look at her niece. "You're saying you aren't worried about Dameron or Fett? Not even a little? Not even about them meeting?"
Conceding, Karena nodded. "Good point." They stood in silence for a few moments, but Karena had another question. "What does the First Order want with Boba, anyway?"
"I don't know," Leia answered. "All he said was he had information for us. He didn't say what it was or why he had felt the need to steal it from them. I don't even know how he was able to get anything from them."
"You think he took a First Order-issued bounty?"
"I hope not. He promised he wouldn't. And if there's anything I trust that man with, it's for him to keep a promise to you, Kelin, and your mother."
Karena took that as a sign that she didn't trust Boba with much else. Not that she found it surprising. Once upon a time, he had given the Rebellion a lot of grief, including Leia personally. At least they were civil with each other and not at each other's throats.
As Poe, Jess, and Bastian exited hyperspace, Poe opened the comm channel between the fighters and said, "Wings, report in."
"Red Four, standing by," Bastian answered.
"Blue Three, standing by," Jess added.
The three X-wings flew through the emptiness of space towards a large asteroid field in front of them. Their scanners hadn't picked up anything yet and they couldn't see anything out of the ordinary with the naked eye, which meant they had to enter the field.
"Okay, kids, ready to enter the asteroid field?" Poe asked, flipping a few switches.
"You're older than me by like two years, Poe," Bastian argued. "Settle down."
"You can call us kids if we can call you old," Jess chimed in. She actually was far younger than Poe, by about seven years. "Ooh! Or Gramps!"
Poe could hear her amused grin through the comlink. "I resent that, Jess. Lock S-foils in attack position. I have a feeling we'll be needing them once we're inside."
"You got it, Poe," Bastian said, following the order. Jess did the same.
BB-8 voiced his dislike of entering the asteroid field, his self-preservation protocols kicking in.
"Happy beeps, buddy," Poe coaxed. "We'll be fine."
Poe took a deep breath as they closed in on the asteroid field. He had done a lot of stupid things when flying ships but entering an asteroid field would be a new one. The comforting thought of having someone waiting for him back on base helped ease the slightest flair of anxiety at the situation though.
Before entering, Poe picked up five ships on his scanner. "There they are. Alright, follow me. Try not to let them get behind you."
The three Resistance pilots entered the asteroid field, flying towards the scanned ships.
Karena took in a deep breath as she watched the dots on the galaxy map enter the asteroid field. Leia noticed and reached over, setting a calming hand on her niece's tight grip on the computer console.
"They'll be fine," Leia said quietly, trying to be reassuring and not focus on her own minor worry. "I know they will. It's what they're best at: helping people."
"You and Uncle barely made it out of an asteroid field alive, if I remember correctly," Karena pointed out, glancing at Leia from the corner of her eye. "And I remember Mom telling Kelin and me a story about Grandpa entering one while following Boba's dad, and he had almost died, too."
"But neither of them were the best pilot in the Resistance."
Karena could hear the teasing in Leia's voice. None of them knew where the phrase 'best pilot in the Resistance' had come from when describing the great Poe Dameron, but most people on the base admitted it suited him. He was the best they had, the most daring too, even if Karena was irritated with it and wanted to challenge him to a race to prove she was a better flyer. But she also didn't want to in the off-chance that she was wrong and he was better, which she saw as a very real possibility.
"They also have X-wings," Leia added. "Those have better maneuverability than a freighter like the Falcon."
"What about a Jedi starfighter piloted by a Force-user?"
Leia didn't answer and rightfully so.
Poe's eyes zeroed in on the First Order fighters and noticed they were following and attempting to shoot down a larger ship. It looked like an older patrol ship, so Poe was briefly surprised at how maneuverable it seemed to be as it flew around asteroids and dodged blaster fire.
"Wings, follow me," Poe said into the comms.
"We're right behind you, Poe," Jess assured.
Poe took a sharp turn around a particularly large asteroid and took a shot at the nearest First Order fighter. With one hit, it went spiraling into the nearest asteroid and exploded. Poe made a small congratulatory noise for himself, but it didn't last long as the remaining three First Order TIEs broke off from their attack on the patrol ship to turn and attack the Resistance X-wings.
"Incoming!" Poe yelled, dodging a shot from a TIE.
The X-wings broke their formation and engaged in a short firefight with the TIEs. Despite the TIEs having better maneuverability, the TIEs didn't last long against the Resistance pilots with better firepower as Poe shot down one more, and Bastian and Jess destroyed the other two.
The scanner showed the patrol ship leaving the asteroid field.
"Nice job, Jess, Bastian," Poe praised. "Now, let's go check in on our damsel."
The pilots went nose up out of the asteroid field, happy to no longer having to dodge space rocks.
They flew in formation to the patrol ship. As they drew near, Poe opened a channel to commune with the pilot. "Civilian ship, this is Commander Poe Dameron of the Resistance," Poe greeted formally. "Do you copy?"
It took a few moments for Poe to hear the crackling of the comm channel being opened by the new ship. "Can't say I've ever been called a civilian ship, but yeah, I hear you loud and clear, Commander Dameron," a modulated male voice replied.
"We have orders to escort you to a nearby planet to make repairs," Poe told the man. "Are you good to make the trip?"
"Yeah, she'll hold together," the man assured. "My readout says the nearest planet is Rugosa."
"Fantastic. Wings, fall in, and lock S-foils in closed position."
"On it, Black Leader," Bastian answered.
The S-foils of the X-wings closed as Bastian and Jess flew their ships lower to be below the civilian ship and Poe flew above it, the three escorting the ship to the temperate moon Rugosa.
The green and pink moon had been the site of a Clone War conflict in an effort to bring the planet of Toydaria under control of the warring Separatist Alliance or Republic, so a small portion of the surface still showed its scars with fallen battle droids and downed ships and tanks.
"Wasn't there a Clone War battle here?" Jess asked. She loved hearing stories about the Old Republic, the Clone War, and the Galactic Civil War. And everyone knew not to get her started on the legend that was Rebellion Hero and Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. She could talk for hours about him. It had taken her a bit to get used to working on the same base as Princess Leia Organa, another walking legend.
"Cut the chatter, Blue Three," Poe said, not surprised it was Jess who brought it up. "But also, yes, I believe so."
The four ships flew towards the surface and entered the atmosphere, quickly finding a spacious spot to land by one of the rocky caverns along the coral forest treeline. The Resistance pilots opened the hatch of their cockpits and picked themselves up to sit on the edge.
"Bastian, stay with the fighters and keep your scanner on to keep an eye out for incoming ships," Poe ordered. "We don't know if the First Order has sent more fighters. And contact General Organa to inform her we made contact and our progress. Jess and I will help with the repairs."
"Suits me just fine," Bastian said, stripping off his helmet and setting it on the seat. "You two have the hard job. I can kick back and relax."
Poe and Jess chuckled at his response then took off their helmets, leaving them in their cockpits and grabbing their emergency toolboxes. Poe ruffled his hair, scratching his scalp after wearing the helmet.
BB-8 let out a string of beeps, wondering what Poe wanted him to do. "Stay with Bastian, buddy," Poe said. "Make sure he stays in line." Bastian scoffed and shook his head, and Poe sent him an exaggerated wink with a big grin before climbing out of the cockpit.
The hatch of the large patrol ship slid open to reveal a tall man dressed in green Mandalorian-styled armor. He leaned on the door frame, staring silently down at the pilots. Poe and Jess glanced at each other then started walking towards the older ship and up the ramp.
"Commander Dameron," Poe introduced once at the top of the ramp. "This is Lieutenant Pava." He gestured to Jess beside him then held out his hand for the man to shake.
The man didn't take it, his glance at the outstretched hand barely noticeable under the helmet by the twitch of his head. "Boba Fett," he said. Boba didn't miss the reaction of the young pilots. While both Poe and Jess tried not to seem automatically intimidated by hearing his name, Boba noticed the tension in their shoulders and jaws. He was usually amused by people's reactions to his reputation but not when he was trying to help them. He gestured to the inside of his ship with his head. "It's my hyperdrive and stabilizers. The rest can wait."
Boba stood up straight and turned, entering his ship. Poe and Jess looked at each other. Jess let out a large breath that she had begun holding the moment the bounty hunter said his name, and Poe chuckled quietly before following the bounty hunter.
Inside the ship, Boba opened the access hatch to the engine room, but Poe paused, his eye catching something painted on the wall by the ladder leading up to the cockpit. It was the same symbol tattooed on the back of Karena's neck. He knew it was the same one without a doubt in his mind. Over the past year, he had seen the tattoo quite a bit. He could trace the pattern over and over again with having to look at it. And there it was painted in bright cyan on the wall in an infamous bounty hunter's ship.
"Poe?" Jess called quietly, standing by the hatch and Boba.
Poe tore his eyes away from the triangular, maze-like symbol with a slight shake of his head. "Yeah, coming."
Jess and Poe entered the engine room, Boba eyeing the commander carefully. Boba glanced at the painted symbol before following the pilots down. He didn't know why Commander Dameron recognized the hunter symbol, but he had a feeling it had something to do with one of the children of the original woman who donned it.
As the three got to work fixing up the hyperdrive and stabilizers, Poe wondered why Boba Fett of all people had Karena's tattoo painted on a wall. Then he remembered what Karena had told him about her tattoo. Her mom had it, too. It didn't belong to Karena, it belonged to her mother, which meant Karena's mother and Fett knew each other. They had been close enough for Fett to want to paint her symbol in his ship as a constant reminder of her, to have a piece of her wherever he went: the same reason Karena had gotten it as a tattoo.
Poe remembered learning stories about the infamous bounty hunter Boba Fett. He had heard them during his time on Yavin IV. He had heard them during his time as a spice runner. He had heard them during his time as a New Republic pilot. All stories pointed to him being around for quite some time, as far back as the Clone War during the time of the Republic and before the rise of the Empire. Depending on his age during the war, it would make him either old or ancient; he was at least as old as General Organa, and likely even older by at least ten years.
Poe wondered how he knew Karena's mother and how close they had been. But Karena's last name wasn't Fett, it was Aput, he presumed based on Colonel Kelin Aput, her brother, so Poe discarded the idea of Boba Fett being their father. Perhaps a close family friend or old ally.
The three worked quickly on the ship components, keeping the chatting to a minimum unless they needed a hand with something, and once the hyperdrive and stabilizers were operational, Boba started up his ship, the Slave I, and Jess and Poe returned to their X-wings, Poe glancing at the symbol again before walking down the loading ramp.
Before reaching the starfighters, Jess quietly asked, "You recognized the mark, didn't you?"
"Yeah, I did," Poe answered.
"Is it bad?"
Poe shook his head. "No, just curious. Don't worry, Jess."
Jess could tell he wasn't lying, simply choosing not to tell her everything, so she dropped the subject.
The three Resistance pilots readied their X-wings and followed the Slave I off Rugosa and into the atmosphere. Then they all inputted the coordinates to D'Qar into their navicomputers and entered hyperspace.
The hyperspace jump was quick, and the four ships exited above the jungle planet of D'Qar shortly after leaving Rugosa. Poe never grew tired of seeing the planet from space, likening it to a gem in the vast darkness of space, even with the ring casting a shadow over a portion of the surface. The ships made the descent to the planet's surface, getting their landing cleared by ground personnel as they drew near.
They started their landing cycles, and when their ships were fully parked, the pilots climbed out of their cockpits. Technicians and deckhands handled bringing in the X-wings and the Slave I was to stay out on the tarmac by order of General Organa who knew Fett didn't plan on staying for very long.
Resistance personnel eyed the bounty hunter skeptically as he disembarked his ship.
Poe looked to Bastian and Jess. "You go on ahead," he told them. "I'll take him to the General." Both pilots were quietly grateful.
Poe motioned for BB-8 to follow him then set off towards the imposing bounty hunter. It wasn't often he found himself insecure about his height, but when next to a well-traveled mercenary dressed in intimidating armor, Poe definitely didn't like being on the shorter side of human males even if he wasn't even considered short.
Poe joined Boba on the tarmac and said, "I'll bring you to General Organa." Boba nodded curtly and didn't reply, following the commander into the base and to the Command Center.
"She's in her office," one of the officers said once he spotted Poe.
Poe made a quiet notion of acknowledgment and turned towards the hall leading to Leia's office.
Outside the office, Poe knocked on the door and waited for Leia to say, "Come in," before pressing the button and gesturing for the bounty hunter to head in first. Poe followed, closing the door behind him.
The door had just closed when Poe watched Karena rise from her seat by Leia's desk and launch herself into Boba's arms. She didn't care that Poe would learn more about her: she cared about hugging the man who was practically her grandfather. Kelin followed suit a few moments after, and Boba held them both tightly against his chest plate, his body releasing all the tension and unease it had gathered while walking through unfamiliar territory. He was with the twins, and that was all that mattered to him.
Poe stood off to the side to give them a private moment which Leia noticed, a small smirk gracing her lips at the pilot's minor discomfort at feeling like an intruder.
The hug didn't last long as the twins extracted themselves from Boba's arms. "It's good to see you two safe," Boba said quietly.
Kelin spoke for both him and Karena when he replied, "We missed you."
"You're always welcome here, Fett," Leia said from behind her desk.
"A military base isn't where I belong, even if I do come bearing gifts," Boba told her, pulling a small disk from a pouch on his belt. He took a few steps forward, moving around the twins, and handed the disk to Leia. "I think you'll find this helpful."