Poe watched upside-down as Dara jumped down from a steep overhang and obliterated a group of Stormtroopers with an artful spin of her dual lightsabre. A second later and he was right way up, pulling the x-wing to the right.
"Black Three, engage bogey two, Black Four support." He kept as calm a voice as he could, whilst he attempted to maintain some semblance of a formation. They were doing very well. One of the guns was down, and the ground team was fighting well. Finn was working on the second gun. Poe had lost only one ship, and the pilot had ejected in a beautiful movement. He was very, very proud of his squad, but the battle was far from over. Poe was feeling they stood a chance at taking this base, when he heard the drone he had been waiting for. TIE fighters.
"Blue Leader this is Black Leader, requesting air support. Enemy inbound, over."
"Roger that, Black Leader. Blue Squadron inbound, over." Poe switched transmission back to his own team.
"Enemy inbound. Gull formation." In a beautiful motion, his pilots lined up beautifully and focused firepower on one gun, bringing its shields down. Finn had completely disabled the second gun, and there was only this third one left. As his squad continued their formation, Poe rolled over and directed fire back at the third gun, clearing a path through the Stormtroopers.
"Come on Finn…" Poe muttered under his breath.
"GO CHIEF'S BOYFRIEND!" chanted the squad. Poe gave a quick laugh and continued to concentrate.
The TIE fighters were intercepted by Blue Squadron and the Black Squadron received no additional heat. And like that the third gun was down. The black squadron cheered and whooped.
"Blue Squadron requesting assistance." Poe gathered up his pilots and flew towards the dogfight taking place over the base.
"Command, guns are down. I repeat. Guns are down." he reported back to the General. The ground troops were going to be deployed, and it would only be a matter of time. Poe was starting to feel more confident that he would live to see another day. Live to hear Dara tell him that she felt the same way, which she obviously did. Poe broke into the dirty dog fight with the rest of his squad. Poe was in an absolute sweat. This was one of the most difficult air battles Poe had been in. His teeth gritted the whole time. He felt like he was on the back pedal for much of it, until the tide of the dog-fight turned very suddenly. Having sustained some damages, BB-8 set about patching up and fixing the ship. He would come out of this alive. He had to. For Dara. To see her smile again. To see her beautiful face, to hear her beautiful voice, to catch an insight to that incredible mind again. With incredible determination, Poe chased down the final TIE fighter, Blue Leader right beside him. Pulling off impressive barrel rolls, and advanced manoeuvring, they finally locked onto the fighter, and shot it out of the sky.
"Ground Team, report." Poe held his breath, hoping that they were okay.
"We're okay." came Finn's voice. "We're all in one piece. Waiting for the other troops." Poe felt faint with relief. They had passed the most dangerous part of this battle.
"Black Squad, advance to ally carriers. Protective formation, over." Poe's squad fell into line once more, seamlessly. They escorted the troop carriers down to the surface. Poe had time to breathe a little easier.
"All flight squads, stand by for orders." The General's orders. Poe kept his squad circling as the ground troops prepared themselves. When at last the time came for an assault on the base, an outpouring of Stormtroopers came to meet them head-on.
"Light em up!" Poe barked as he swooped in to fire at the masses of Stormtroopers. They cut into their ranks. Some of the troopers had smaller air-defence weaponry, so the dance continued. Dodging between blasts, Poe again hung upside down above the battle. He saw Dara, lightsabre blades glowing stark in the darkness, streaking ahead into the Stormtrooper forces. Poe felt sick.
"Dara no…" She cut them down like they were made of butter. With a scream from her, tens of the enemy exploded outward from her. Poe righted himself, and flew on, being careful to fire into parts of the enemy hoard that didn't have the woman he loved in its midst.
The radio buzzed, as more TIE fighters were released. Someone was trying to make contact. Blaster sounds filled the radio feed.
"Kylo Ren." came Rey's voice, in a pant. "He's here!" Then the radio communication cut off. Poe felt very cold and filled with dread. There was silence across the radios, that had been filled with chatter a moment ago. The silence was terrifying. The thought of Kylo Ren being here was even more terrifying. He knows, Poe thought. He knows that Dara was going to be here. Was she strong enough to defeat him? Even as he engaged in another dog-fight, Poe's mind was flooded with the memories of his torture. His hands clenched on the console. Now was not the time. He had more important things to do.
"Tighten up that formation! Black Three! Black Three! DAMMIT!" One of his x-wings exploded violently with one of his pilots still inside. That seemed to fill the squad with the increased desire to fight, and destroy the First Order. Poe swore furiously as he gunned down the TIE fighter that had killed his friend. He would make them pay. They would not win. He would not allow them to.