Hello y'all! Sorry for the delay. I meant to post this chapter earlier last week, but I had a week long training session for my new job. Seven hours a day! I made it out alive, however, and just in time to bring you this. Thank you again for all of the lovely Facebook likes and reviews. I hope you can enjoy this chapter. :) Let me know what you think!

xoxo

Mistro

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Poe was flying through hyperspace, his mind racing with thoughts. It felt uneasy not having Leo and Oddy on his tail, especially with Terex just arriving back on Kaddak. And what was worse, Poe was starting to have a strange feeling about the droid in his hull. Nunzix seemed too defiant and stubborn to be programmed by Threepio.

"The more I think about it, the more this whole thing seems messed up." Poe's fingers drummed on the control board. If Oddy Muva had purposefully snuck off due to some kind of leverage Terex was holding over him, what right did Poe have to abandon an innocent man? He quickly switched off his ship's hyper-drive, slowing in empty space. "I can't risk bringing Nunzix back to D'Qar until we know what's going on."

BB-8 whizzed in response, to which Poe ordered the Commando droid be woken up.

Within a matter of moments, a voice rang out from the side of the X-Wing. "And what, exactly, is this supposed to be?" The voice scoffed, if such a thing were possible. "I thought I was pretty clear when I explained this whole deal to you. Even dumbed it down a little for that blobby thing between your ears you call a processing unit." Poe's brows lifted. That was an insult he had never heard before. "You get none of my data until I'm safe and sound on the Resistance headquarters."

Of course, Poe had no proof that the droid was leading him astray, but even now the machine's words were vague. Terex had showed up, but what if it truly hadn't been because of Oddy this time? "I heard you the first time," Poe finally replied. "But let me be clear. I'm starting to think that you don't have any secret First Order data. I think this whole thing was one of Terex's tricks. Don't know how he pulled it off, don't know how he fooled Threepio, but that's what I think."

Only a few moments away, Terex and his crew were inching in on the Resistance pilot. He had picked up a signal from Nunzix and Terex could almost taste Dameron's fear on the tip of his tongue. What a glorious thing it would be to discover the Resistance base. What did it matter if it was not that pathetic inkling Kylo Ren who found it? Terex would finally get the respect he deserved, and if this was the only way to do it, then let the First Order fleet be damned.

"Where are we?" He asked one of his men. "We have to be close to the Resistance base."

"Lord Terex, we're in the middle of nowhere. There's a system not too far, but we're not getting readings from any base."

"What are you telling me, Brrang?"

"I'm saying…" The man said carefully, fearful of his Lord's anger management. "Dameron figured out what we were doing and dropped out of lightspeed. We're probably nowhere near the Resistance base."

"I see." Terex leaned back in his seat, his eyes locking on Dameron's X-Wing in the window ahead. "Well, so much for that. I guess we'll just kill him."

On the outside of the Carrion Spike, Poe and the rebel droid were continuing their conversation. A long pause filled the space between the two, Poe's suspicion lingering above their heads. "Yeah?" It was the only response the droid could manage. "What makes you think that?"

As if on cue, a fleet of ships appeared behind the X-Wing. In the middle of their makeshift bodies stood the Carrion Spike, its pointed tip directly aimed at Poe. "Blast!" Poe cried, his fingers scrambling for the controls. "I knew it! Calculate a new set of jump coordinates, BB-8! And tell me where we are! Any help nearby?"

What followed next was the last thing Poe had expected to hear.

"Did you just say… Mara Crescent?"

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Earlier on the Resistance base…

Mara had awoken to screaming. For a moment, she thought that she was lingering in that delicate space between sleep and consciousness, and that her dreams were mixing in with reality. However, after several seconds of rubbing her eyes, the sounds did not stop. Nor did the sirens. Metal doors were opening in the hallway, their urgent screeches ringing in her ears.

There was a rough banging at the door.

"Mara!" It was Elida's voice. "Mara Crescent! Are you in there? You have to wake up now!"

Without another word, Mara slammed the button that flew open the heavy door. Seeing Elida's face, she was grateful that she had fallen asleep in her uniform. "Elida?" Her tired eyes attempted to meet her friend's frantic ones. "What's going on? What's happening?"

From behind her, engineers and pilots were rushing through the corridor, their uniforms messily thrown together and several personal possessions strewn across their backs in packs. Whatever was happening, Mara understood one thing. They were leaving. They were abandoning the D'Qar base.

"An engineer was going through the reports for Snap's reconnaissance ship. The First Order was able to track it to the Illennium system." Mara knew what Elida was saying in so few words.

They had very little time.

The First Order was coming.

Turning her back to her friend, Mara began to shove several things into her satchel. Her clothes were easily forgotten, but her hands reached for Poe's X-Wing model. She searched his drawers and found a small amber jewel that may have been of importance, and several photographs of his team members. Mara winced when she didn't recognize over half of them, briefly understanding why Poe had kept them hidden. As she gathered her things, the questions flooded out of her. "What about Poe, BB-8, Leo and Oddy? We need BB-8 and Poe to head the fleet."

"I know," Elida was bouncing where she stood, anxiously awaiting their exit. When the door was sealed shut, they began to sprint down the hall, their words coming out in weary puffs. "We have a mechanic working on overriding Poe's commlink system as we speak. If we can manage to lock onto his location, we can find him and bring him back."

Mara sighed with at least one ounce of relief. Thank the Stars that idiot took his X-Wing.

"He's with his ship," she said as they made their way into the hangar. "He always keeps his uniform handy too, so he'll be ready if something should happen."

"Something will happen."

In the hangar, a wave of people engulfed the girls. Everyone was running towards the back entrance where the Resistance's largest ship was stationed. It would be able to hold the entire crew, with the exception of the fleet and bomber ships that were now being prepared. Ahead of them, through the open gate of the main entrance, the runway stood abandoned. Engineering tables were crashed over, their supplies scattered. Buckets, uniforms and other bits of waste lay beside them, the scene an uncomfortable suggestion that this would be the last time Mara would ever step foot on D'Qar.

It wasn't supposed to be like this.

"Come on," Elida tugged her towards the control room. "You need to get the coordinates of Poe's location."

Mara's brows furrowed. "I do?"

"Yes," Elida gasped, her panic starting to set in. "General Organa has already boarded the ship. She thought-"

Mara raised her hand to silence her friend. Others might have thought it looked like Leia was throwing Mara into the deep end, but the engineer understood. Of course she would be the one to get Poe. The fleet needed to stay in the D'Qar atmosphere, and the mere sight of Mara's worried face would be enough to send Poe into lightspeed before anyone could blink.

"I've got this, Elida." Mara spun her friend around towards the wave of people. "I'll meet you back on the ship through the escape pod portal."

Elida tossed one final look at her friend, her black eyes expressing more than needed to be said. Without a second of hesitation, Mara entered the control room to find Ady and a young girl at his side. She joined them, her eyes scanning the monitor for any coordinates. They were already on the screen, as if they had been waiting for her. How had she slept through such horrendous alarms? Her sleep was really coming back to her, but perhaps not for the better.

"Are you sure you're okay with this, Mara?" Ady asked with worry. His wrinkled face had seen so much in his years that Mara hoped today would not be the end of it.

"Of course," she breathed, her hands on her hips. "I'll take one of the former X-Wings in case I run into any trouble on Kaddak."

The girl beside them shook her head. "These coordinates aren't linked to Kaddak. It seems Commander Dameron stopped in the middle of nowhere. However, he's not too far from our planetary system."

Mara groaned, her head rolling backwards. "That likely means he's gotten into trouble." The two looked concerned as she expressed her anxiety, but she quickly reassured them. "I can take care of it - this is a Wednesday routine to Poe. Nobody will see me coming and I can lightspeed back here before they even know who I am." Her face twitched. "Not that they'll know who I am anyway."

Ady gripped Mara's arm before she turned to leave. "Be careful, Crescent. Get to the ship as fast as possible." Her eyes flickered to the girl, who was a good head shorter. "And what's your name?"

"Rose Tico." The girl's hand stuck out fast, taking Mara by surprise. She gripped it with enthusiasm. "Thanks for offering to bring back Commander Dameron."

Mara chuckled darkly as she reached for a nearby X-Wing helmet. "Let's just hope there's something left of Commander Dameron to bring back."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Poe could hardly maintain his shock at the X-Wing that was now staring down his nose. Without warning, his commlink begin to buzz. "What the hell is going on?"

"That's one way to say hello." Mara's breath was shaking, her words full of fluster.

Poe glanced back at Terex. It seemed his ships were just as surprised as he was at the new X-Wing on the scene. Could he see Mara? Would he remember her? "How did you track me here? Did you override my system?" The anger in him was boiling, but he understood in his heart that something must have gone wrong for her to have done something so risky. "Terex is on my track. They're following me with this droid and if I don't lose it now, they'll know where the-"

"They already know!" Mara screamed, beads of sweat falling from her forehead. "They're going to arrive at the base any minute, Poe! The fleet needs you back now!"

The reconnaissance ship.

Poe instantly understood. They must have tracked Snap's report back to the Illennium System and eventually to D'Qar. It was Poe's worst nightmare come true, and he couldn't imagine what the base looked like. Abandoned. Frantic. Lost. It sounded like the First Order had yet to arrive near D'Qar, but Terex was still an issue. A very big issue.

"Drop that droid!" Mara screamed, mirroring his thoughts. "None of that information matters anymore! I'll head back to Kaddak and look for Leo and Oddy!"

Without hesitation, Poe let the hull open. The droid's body was quickly pulled into space, a shocked jaw dropping on Terex's face.

"What is he doing?" The bounty hunter gasped, standing up and slamming his fist into the control board. "Shoot at that ship before it enters hyperspace!" Terex had heard the entire conversation by linking into the droid's communications system and knew that this girl, this familiar girl, was going to make her way back to Kaddak. If he couldn't get the pilot, at least he could bring something to the First Order.

As Poe was gearing up to head back to the base, he shouted back at Mara. "Leave Leo and Oddy behind! We can come back for them!" Mara was preparing to protest, but Poe went into hyperspeed without warning. She was entirely alone now, staring ahead at a fleet of smuggled ships. In the pit of her stomach she knew that it was Agent Terex looking back at her. She was thankful not to see his smug face directly, otherwise there was no guaranteeing where her anger would take her. Or her fist, for that matter.

Terex, on the other hand, had already seen her. "Is that Dameron's dirty, little mechanic girlfriend?

Before his question could be answered, the girl also went off into hyperspeed. Interestingly enough, she was going an opposite direction of her pilot friend. It seemed that she was headed back to Kaddak, just as she had announced over her headset.

"Interesting." His brow rose slowly, a gesture of seduction passing his lips. "She defied Dameron's orders. I do love a naughty woman. Mara." The name tasted sweet yet bitter on Terex's tongue, like orange marmalade. Oh, he certainly remembered her. She had been there during the fight on Megalox. She was the one the pilot had swooned for, drooled over, and the sheer memory of it made Terex's lunch come back up his throat. "That's right… pretty, pathetic Mara." Terex quickly tapped into his computer base. After he punched in her name, a large note read:

WANTED BY THE FIRST ORDER FOR INTERROGATION

"Well, well…" Terex drummed his fingers on the side of his chair. "I really don't have an interest in doing this, but seeing as we've lost our lead, I think we'll go for the damsel in distress route."

"My Lord?" Brrrang said curiously, his helmeted head cocking with curiosity. "Should we set a course for Kaddak?"

Terex nodded slowly. "Set a course for Kaddak. I want that girl within the hour."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Mara could only pray that Leo had not yet left the hangar. As she pulled into the Kaddak atmosphere, she was certain many eyes were lingering on her. Bringing an X-Wing so obviously into plain sight was a massive risk, particularly if it were a newer model. She was certain the gangs paving the streets had hundreds of X-Wings lying around in their garages, in fact Terex's fleet only moments ago had several, but hers was slightly too shiny. Resistance members would not be tolerated there, and the Sliver was an unfriendly reminder of that.

There had been no time to override Leo or Oddy's commlink. Poe was of the utmost necessity, and it made Mara want to scream just thinking that he could be fighting against the First Order that very minute. And yet, she owed it to both Leo and Oddy to tell them what was happening. If they jumped into hyperspace to come back to an entirely vanquished D'Qar, where could they go?

Mara was pulling into the hangar just after stating her ship number. The guards seemed particularly lax, making her stomach churn with concern. When she stepped outside, an unfriendly face was there to greet her.

"What are you here for?" The man said, his left eye sewn entirely shut. Only one eye, glossy and blue, glanced down at her. His lip shriveled with a glance at her boots.

Mara stood up straighter. "I don't believe you have permission to ask that question."

"Indeed I do, girly. You see, you failed to state your name."

Mara took a step closer. She was not afraid of a bully. "You should already have my name. It will be logged with my ship number."

The man glanced down at his data pad, his single eye glossing over the words curiosity. "Are you telling me that your name is Lieutenant Bastian?"

Mara's stomach dropped. Of course, she forgot to log her name into the system. The old names were still registered with her stolen X-Wing. Defiantly, she stood near on her tiptoes. "Would there be an issue if it was?"

"Just one."

The voice did not come from the man. It was a voice Mara knew too well, and it had come at her back along with something cold and round. Mara's arms lifted instinctively, not turning around to face Agent Terex and his raised blaster. If anything, it would piss him off more to not see her face, but she most certainly would have spit into it had they locked eyes.

"Oh?" She mumbled. "And what issue would that be?"

Terex rolled his eyes. No wonder the idiotic pilot fell for that girl; they were birds of a feather with their irrational courage. Without hesitation, he shot the blaster into her back, sending her falling into the fat arms of the hangar guard. He caught her smoothly, the smell of smoke and meat cuts drifting from his clothes onto hers.

"That you are a filthy liar," Terex spat, his saliva directed towards her shoes. The girl lay unconscious in the man's arms, her body slumping further towards the ground. She was sweating profusely, but Terex had noticed that the heat was not so bad. Why had she come there? What was going on at the Resistance base? Had they already started their silly war? "Bring her to my ship," Terex mumbled, wiping his blaster on his knee. "And get Phasma on the line."