Warrior ◊ Star Wars

chapter twenty-four: given chances

They spent the next few hours bringing up the weapons and strategically placing the guns behind certain rocks and the grenades near their new exit. The two pilots exchanged more flight banter, which Mara found herself enjoying. It'd been awhile since she'd had a genuine conversation about aerial warfare that wasn't with some stuck up general who believed she wasn't good enough for their mighty Order. She was continually impressed by Dameron's overall knowledge on the subject, not that she'd ever admit that to his face. Whenever it seemed like Poe was winning a trivial debate, she'd snark back and hand him another grenade.

BB-8 just watched from afar, chirping mostly in support for his companion. If the astromech didn't like the tone the blonde used with his favorite human, he'd shine the light directly in her face and momentarily blind her.

The sun did eventually begin to rise as Poe hopped back into the base carefully, then climbed back up with the remains of the lizard they'd gotten a few days earlier. BB-8 warmed it up for them, and they ate the last of their rations as they waited for the First Order to arrive.

"So what your saying is, the flight raid on Onderaan back in the Clone Wars was foolhardy? Man, you just disrespected like three dead generals." Mara commented in between a bite, shaking her head at Dameron's logic.

He sighed, "No recon flight, just going in there head on? Four more hours would've bought them twenty more ships from reinforcements. It's actual madness they succeeded."

The blonde scoffed at him, "They already knew the Separatist attack patterns. The enemy was taken by surprise at that time. Besides, they might not even have had fours hours. Who knows what would've happened if they waited."

"They had hope, I'll give you that, but it was also a bit of arrogance there as well. Risking your pilots lives like that when an alternative way was there in that crucial of a fight? It's something you do to put on your résumé if you win, and definitely was not the best interests of saving lives." He responded, finishing off his meal while Mara crossed her arms.

"That whole 'Resistance Poster Boy' thing? You are really selling it." The blonde retorted quickly, noticing how his little speech practically reeked of 'sense of duty plus hope plus innocent lives' propaganda she'd read about in the times of the Rebellion in the Imperial era.

Poe slightly chuckled at the remark, but did continue to challenge her, "C'mon, it's the old academy routine. You look at some old engagements and you point out where things could've gone wrong."

"And once you're done, I expect 'and that's why we should fight for freedom and justice in the galaxy' to be your closing statement." Mara cocked her head to the side, giving him a look that said all to well 'I'm right, aren't I?'.

Dameron glanced away from her back over the base, seeing the day's first light hit the basin floor, "Well, is that such a bad thing?"

She rolled her eyes, grabbing for the water sack and taking the last shallow gulp. They'd now used up the last of their resources, putting all their faith in the attack, because if it failed or not, they really wouldn't anymore good from this planet. Dead and captured? No need for this planets food then. Safe and imprisoned? Nope.

Mara had been thinking about being imprisoned lately. Yes, it was about 13 times better than dying here, but still sucked. How long would they keep her there? For how long would they interrogate her? She'd decided when they did, she'd cooperate for the most part as a revenge against the First Order. Yet, would they detain her for years? Use her as a bargaining chip at some point?

The last thought had scared her. She glanced at a now unconscious Dameron, who probably needed sleep for the fight if his brief episode of laughter was evidence enough. She narrowed her eyes slightly as she continued to explore the thought of being used to bargain with her brother's army.