A/N: Welcome back! Chapter Two here! This one takes form events in Before the Awakening, which is a pretty cool little book. I wanted to mention that none of the stuff in Before the Storm, the oneshot that led to this story, has happened yet. That's all to come later. You'll know when it's coming :) Part II to this chapter coming soon! Maybe sooner than you'd think...Vara belongs to me but Star Wars doesn't!

Chapter 2

The End of Rapier Squadron, Part I

1 year before the events on Jakku

"We've been sitting here doing uneventful runs for a month. Why aren't they giving us anything else?" Iolo Arana said, swirling the drink in his hand. "What do you think, Kilo?" Before long, the Rapiers had given Vara a nickname: Kilo-9, because "she was the best to have on your side in a dogfight," Muran had said.

"They're just waiting for the right time to bring us something big," Vara replied, taking a sip of her own drink. "At least, I hope so."

Next to her, Poe sat back and crossed his legs. "They know we've been talking about the Resistance," he said quietly. "They're going to give us something big next. Keep us with them."

"Doesn't waiting around make it worse?" Iolo grumbled.

"It does for me," the fourth member of the Rapiers, Lieutenant Muran, replied. The only name he had ever given them was Muran, and that suited the Rapiers just fine.

"If it keeps going like this, I say we split. Go Resistance. At least we'd be doing something," Iolo said.

The Rapier Squadron had talked about this move for the last year or so. They were valued in the Republic, but they were all of the mind that the Republic didn't know how much of a danger the First Order really was. General Leia Organa had been trying to warn them, but most people dismissed her pleas and called her a warmonger. Something in the back of Vara's mind told her that the General was right - that the First Order was steadily, quietly growing strong enough to take back power.

"Guys, we gotta head back before our run in the morning," Poe said, glancing at his datapad. "Whose turn is it?"

"Mine," Muran said, throwing a few credits on the table. Even though there were nights where the Rapier Squadron put the parties on Coruscant to shame, they always took turns with the bill. "Let's boogie."

"What the hell is a boogie, Muran?" Iolo scoffed as they left the bar and made their way to their landspeeders.

"No clue. Heard it once on Coruscant. You hear all sorts of weird shit on that planet."

In the morning, the four pilots suited up and headed out on a run, checking the space around the Mirrin system. Their base was on Mirrin Prime, and every day they flew through the area, patrolling. For the last four weeks, there had been nothing at all wrong on every single patrol. Vara had used the extra time to upgrade her R9 unit, a red-and-white droid that was her prized possession, though some droids you could hardly call possessions. R9 was one of those, even becoming best friends with Poe's BB-8 unit. Iolo said they took after their owners.

"All wings, report in," Poe's voice came over her radio.

"Rapier Two. Everything's green, Commander," Vara sighed. The two remaining fighters checked in and Poe said something about reporting in nicely like Muran had. Vara yawned for effect.

"Bring it around to one-four-mark-four. One more loop and we're back to base."

The Squadron banked in unison, having flown together for a few years now, and Iolo went on about how long it had been since they had any action. Things were all quiet in the system, and the group of all-star pilots had grown bored. Vara interjected to correct Iolo on the time since they'd seen anything and lost herself in her thoughts for a moment. There was something coming, something big, that Vara could feel. Something was about to change, but she couldn't pin down what it was.

"Got something," Poe's voice cut through her thoughts. For the second that the radio patched through, she heard BB-8's excited chirps. The droid patched the distress call through, as choppy as it was. It would only be a moment until the little droid had coordinates for them. R9 let out a low whistle. Vara picked out that the trade vessel Yissira Zyde was under attack, and that there were multiple fighters involved. All four of the Rapiers confirmed the coordinates, and Poe's voice came once again, not trying to hide the excitement.

"We're going in hot. Punch it."

They snapped out of hyperspace in front of the planet Suraz 5, locking into attack position on Poe's cue. "All Rapiers, report in."

"Rapier Two, standing by," Vara said. Even with the laughs only a few minutes ago and drinking the night before, the Squadron was all business. They were outstanding pilots and excellent fighters, and they all knew it. The group headed around the planet and accelerated towards Suraz 4, where the Yissira Zyde was calling from.

"Yissira Zyde, this is Commander Poe Dameron of the Republic Navy. We have received your distress call and are en route to render assistance."

The silence that followed was unnerving. R9 whistled again, blipping out his fears in binary.

"Don't worry, R9. We'll be all right," Vara reassured, though she wasn't quite convinced herself. They rounded the planet and what they saw made her even less sure. The freighter had a massive hull breach on its starboard side, venting atmosphere. There were two shuttles pulled up along the other side, the boarding party breaking off and heading towards the damaged ship. No less than eight TIE fighters zipped away from the Zyde and headed for the newly arrived X-wings.

"First Order," Poe confirmed, an edge creeping into his voice. "Break, two elements. Rapier Two, on me tight."

"On you tight, Rapier Leader," Vara responded. Iolo and Muran broke towards the shuttles, and Vara took a deep breath. When she relaxed and let her instincts work for her was when she flew her best. "Two against eight, Poe."

"Yeah, I kind of feel bad for them," he said, and they laughed before getting tangled in with the TIEs.

Poe took out the first with one shot from his laser cannons, hiking right to follow another that simply couldn't defend against the X-wing. Vara swooped down and pulled up under another, and they had taken out three of the enemy fighters in less than a minute. She served away, trying to lose the two that had come around to her tail, briefly getting a glance of her Commander and seeing that he was in the same position. She dove, corkscrewing around and blasting one of the fighters' wings with her cannons. It spun out of control and she focused on losing the second and finding the one that wasn't chasing either her or Poe. She saw a flash out of the corner of her eye and one of the shuttles exploded, the other stretching into hyperspace. The TIE fighters broke formation and turned to flee. Vara raced after them, flying over Poe and taking her third down. Another fireball told her that Poe had taken his fourth out, and there was one left, almost too far to pursue.

Vara and Poe seemed to see it at the same time. She banked towards the Zyde, which had begun to glow from its stern. Poe's voice shouted to Iolo and Muran, telling them to break away. Iolo managed to twist out of the way, but Muran wasn't quick enough before the shockwave of the freighter's hyperspace jump sheared a wing from his ship and part of its hull away.

"Eject! Muran, eject!" Poe screamed desperately. Vara could only watch as the X-wing exploded, taking their friend with it.