Poe's hands shook. Not a great idea when he was trying to cut his hair. He took a deep breath and put his hands down. He stared into his own dark eyes in the mirror. He was on a massive dreadnought with a good bulk of resistance forces. The ship was closing in on Sullust. The entire ship had an air of doom over it. Everyone was quiet. There was no laughter. There was tension. There was a flurry of preparation, individuals trying to mentally prepare themselves. Poe stared at his head of curly locks. They'd have to go. He had been getting attached to them, but he had to be pilot Poe Dameron now. When he had time to prepare for a big terrifying battle, he always cut his hair. He always tried to make himself look his best. He wanted to leave a beautiful corpse. With steadier hands, he reached up once more, staring into the mirror of his locker and snipping at the locks of hair. He cut his hair just that little bit tighter. He started to shave the back and sides of his head, but he just couldn't bring himself to getting rid of the last of his beautiful hair. A fade it was. That hairstyle hadn't been in fashion for decades. He couldn't sacrifice his curls. He wouldn't. He set the razor down, and brushed the remaining clipping from his neck and bare shoulders. He hastily cleaned up after himself. He made his way into the shower room, cleaned himself off quickly, and shaved the impressive accumulation of stubble from his jaw. He looked clean and fresh. Tidy. He looked like a pilot. He dressed himself in his flight suit, making sure everything that needed to be connected was connected. He pulled on his boots and laced them tightly. He grabbed his helmet from his locker. He paused for a second to look at the picture of his parents.
"I'll do you proud mom." He kissed his fingers, and gently laid them on the image of his dead mother. He slammed the locker shut and started to make his way down to the hangar. He was trying to mentally psyche himself up. He'd have to give his team a pep-talk before this. He needed to psyche them up too. Before he managed to get to the hangar he met Rey, Finn, and Dara, also making their way.
They all stopped and looked at each other. They all looked different, and grim. Rey was dressed sensibly as always. Light brown colours in loose fitting clothes that would allow her to move. A lightsaber was clipped to her belt, and a blaster strapped to her leg. Finn was dressed in dark colours, armoured, and armed with a variety of weapons. Both of them looked scared. Dara was a frightening sight. She wore her customary black. Her long hair very practically braided down her back. She had painted a red stripe across her eyes, and her face had a dark and sinister look to it. She pulled her braid over her shoulder, and pulled up a hood. Rey and Finn made their excuses to leave and go on ahead. Dara stayed behind, staring into Poe's eyes.
"You cut your hair." she said. Poe was starting to notice that she had a knack for stating the obvious. Poe looked up and down the corridor. They were alone. He gently took her hand and kissed her.
"I love you Dara. Please, please come back." Her eyes widened. Before she had a chance to say anything at all, Poe had moved away towards the hangar. He told himself that they would both come back from this, and that she would tell him she loved him when they were both safe again. But Poe felt that he would never return. He felt that this was it. This was the end of Poe Dameron, the best pilot of the Resistance. He felt like he would certainly die.
He rounded the corner leading into the hangar bay, and saw a large collection of x-wings and troop transit vehicles. Rey and Finn stood off to the side with two others, exceptional resistance field agents. The tall thin woman with tightly cut hair waved at Poe. He nodded, and gave her a serious look. She understood his meaning. Keep them safe. Poe faced his pilots. They all stood together, wound tight as a spring. They were all feeling jumpy. That would do no good.
"Black squadron, fall in!" he shouted. They jumped to attention and aligned themselves in a neat line. He took a breath, squared his shoulders and walked over to them slowly, inspecting them. Everything appeared to be in order. "It is a beautiful day to save the galaxy!" he said loudly, mustering as much cockiness, and gusto as he could. He couldn't let his troops see him terrified and afraid for his life. They needed to believe they would escape with their lives. "We are gonna go down there, cover the ground-team, and kick some First Order ASS!" He could see some of the colour returning to some of their cheeks. Some nodded in agreement. "We are gonna stop them in their gorram tracks! They don't get to have another Star Killer base, because Black squadron ain't gonna let that happen!" he shouted. A few shouted their agreement. "I wanna see tight formations down there! I don't want to see a single wing clipped! Perfect flying! We are the best of the best! We can't let Blue squadron swoop in and steal our thunder! This is our glory, and dammit, we are gonna take it!" Everyone looked sufficiently pumped. "Load up your droids, run diagnostics, and be ready on my order." he said, as he strolled over to his own Black One, running a hand along the slick paint job that made him untraceable to sensors. BB-8 nudged into its master's legs. Poe looked down at the little droid.
"We're gonna make it, buddy." The droid beeped soothingly. BB-8 knew they'd be fine.
He felt Dara enter the room, rather than see her. He could feel the raw power almost sparking around her. She looked as determined and sinister as he had ever seen her. Poe loaded BB-8 up into his x-wing while he stared over at her. She was as terrifying and beautiful as ever. She clutched her lightsabre in her hand tightly. And spoke to the rest of the ground team in serious tones. They were nodding agreement with her, whatever she was saying. Poe's heart thudded heavily as he watched them loading into the carrier ship, with General Organa stopping her daughter to hug her. She held her child at arm's length and appeared to speak soft words to her. Poe saw Dara look sadly at her mother and answer back with a short utterance. Poe watched until he could see the last glimpse of her. He turned back to his x-wing and pulled on his helmet. The world took on an orange hue. He climbed up into his seat with a practiced grace, and checked over systems.
"This is Black Leader to Black squadron, over." he said, to check the communication systems between the other x-wings.
"Copy Black Leader." replied several voices. The carrier vessel took off ahead of them. They were to give them time to get to the guns, before the rest of the force engaged. Poe switched on the engine and let it power up. He took a few calming breathes and tried to relax his body. But he felt rigid with nerves. He rolled his neck. He was the master of the skies. This was child's play. He rolled his shoulders and stretched his arms. This was nothing. He could do this in his sleep. Well one way or another, he was going to have to do it.