Kyber Heart: Before the Awakening - Poe Dameron

Chapter 11

"Karé, watch your six!"

"I see him, L'ulo. He's not gonna catch me."

"I'm coming in, Karé. I'll get him," Nova said, passing above the other woman's X-Wing to tackle the fighter on her tail.

"Thanks, Organa."

"There's too many of these blasted things," Jess exclaimed. "How are we supposed to rescue Poe if we get vaporised up here?"

"We can do this, Black Squadron." Snap's voice sliced through the chaos, unwaveringly firm. "These fighters are smashed-together leftovers from old Rebellion and Imperial tech. We can outfly them. Just stay cool."

His judgement of them being relics of the last war was correct - even a surface glance made that obvious. Several looked to have the base of old TIE models, or T-47 airspeeders that had seen better days since Hoth. One craft looked to be the cockpit of an AT-ST mounted with an engine - certainly not aerodynamic in design. Outflying them was the least daunting part. Their shielding and weapons-arrays were the problem.

"As far as Poe," he continued, "... he's just gonna have to hold on."

Nova's teeth sunk into the flesh of her cheek, eyes flickering across her readouts. Poe was not the only one who was going to have to hold on and hope. Terex's fleet had thoroughly split and surrounded them, lighting up every sensor on her console. Her targeting systems were scrambling to get a lock on anything, and her shields took a hit any way she turned.

"Seebee, reroute as much power as you can to deflector shields while keeping us in the air."

The red and blue droid warbled in response, shifting the levels for her pilot.

"Don't worry. I'll get us out of this."

The wound in her side sent a shot of pain through her body, reminding her of its presence and making her wince. She shifted in her seat, trying to find the angle that would impede her the least, keeping her eyes on the increasingly chaotic battlefield before her.

"Try Poe again," L'ulo's voice came through the comms. "There's got to be some update!"

"Black Leader, this is Black Two," Snap obliged, doing his best to keep his voice steady. "You still okay down there?"

"Yeah, but Terex's men are getting close to where I'm hidden," Poe responded, voice hushed. "There's nowhere to go. Gonna get real hairy real soon, Snap."

"We ran into a little delay up here. We'll be there as soon as we can." It was obvious he was trying to downplay, maybe keep all of their heads in the game. "You got any help? Beebee-Ate?"

"No. He's..." the pause was a heavy one. "He's gone. Terex got him. All I've got is the worst droid in the entire galaxy. No help there."

"Wait, what? Threepio's not that bad-"

"Not Threepio. One of his operatives; old Commando droid. But he won't fight. He's useless."

It was easy enough for Nova to imagine the glare he must be giving the droid in question. It would have provided her more amusement were it not for the spin she had send her ship into to avoid the enemy fire.

She had yet to perfect the fine arts of piloting a smaller, more nimble craft.

"A Commando droid?" Snap asked. "... okay, I think I might be able to help."

"Unless you're flying into this cave right now, I don't see how you can-"

"Just listen." He insisted. "I'm sending you a droid personality template. Should work on your Commando droid."