Tate Verlice had almost gotten kicked out of flight school twice. Keyword: Almost. With her luck, she was able to join the Resistance fighters and even come as close to becoming Poe Dameron's right hand woman.
But war is nasty, and what happens when...
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Finn looked at the Resistance flight base, seeing the people move between. Unlike the chaos the two endured on their trip here, this was organized. BB8 bumped into Finn's leg, happily jittering toward someone. Tate was rambling about the mechanics of the Falcon, and how Han Solo had been her idol since she was young. "Leia didn't even realize that I was a pilot and not a mechanic until she saw me already in the air, spinning upside down and doing tricks for some trainees." She smiled.
"Poe?!" Finn shouted, running. Tate looked, seeing them clash into each other in a hug. Tears brimmed Tate's eyes in happiness, stuck in her position. The men exchanged silent words, Tate only seeing Finn point to her. Poe traveled the line of sight, excusing himself from Finn as he ran over to Tate. He scooped her up in a hug, wrapping his arms around her so that nobody could see her besides him.
"I thought you were a goner, Star-Boy." Tate laughed through little gasps of sobs.
"You can't get rid of me easily, Captain."
"That's a shame, I was fitting into my new Commander role pretty nicely," Poe laughed at her statement. He wrapped an arm around her, walking back toward Finn. "Yeah, Knockoff and I are basically best friends now. Sorry, he replaced you." Tate teased.
"You wish you could find a replacement for me." Poe told her. They turned to Finn, expectedly.
"I'm loving your reunion, but I need both of your guys' help." Finn told them both.
The trio walked down the steps hastily, trying to find Leia. "General Organa," Poe called out, looking at the man who was speaking to her prior to their arrival. "I'm sorry. This is Finn, he needs to talk to you."
"And I need to talk to him," Leia turned to Finn, "That was incredibly brave what you did. Renouncing the First Order, saving this man's life."
"Thank you, ma'am. But a friend of mine and Tate's was taken prisoner."
"Han told me about the girl. I'm sorry," Her eyes flickered over to Tate's for a brief moment.
"Finn's familiar with the weapon that destroyed the Hosnian system. He worked on the base." Poe interjected.
"We're desperate for anything you can tell us."
"That's where my friend was taken. I've got to get there fast." Finn told Leia, a silent but desperate plea.
"And I will do everything I can to help... but first you need to tell us what you know."
Tate, Poe, and Finn ended up all standing around the table as Poe gave his speech. "The scan data from Snap's reconnaissance flight confirms Finn's report."
"They've somehow created a hyper-lightspeed weapon built within the planet itself."
"A laser cannon?" One asked.
"We're not sure how to describe a weapon of this scale,"
Tate snapped her fingers together, "Sparkler." Poe gave her a pointed look, though he was a little amused himself.
Ematt sighed, "It's another Death Star."
"Well, I wish that were the case, Major." Poe slid up, "This was the Death Star." He tapped in a couple buttons, "And this Starkiller Base." People murmured around, shocked.
"So, it's big." Han shrugged.
"How is it possible to power a weapon of that size?"
"It uses the power of the sun." Finn informed. "As the weapon is charged, the sun is drained until it disappears." An aide appeared by Leia's side, handing her something.
"The First Order. They're charging the weapon again now. Our system is the next target."
"Without the Republic fleet, we're doomed." CP-30 worried.
"How do we blow it up?" Han asked, and Tate pointed to him in agreement. "There's always a way to do that." "Han's right."
Statura looked around, "In order for that amount of power to be contained, that base has to have some kind of thermal oscillator."
"There is one. Precinct 47." Finn walked around over to Poe, the blue hologram glowing orange at where Finn pointed it out. "Here."
"If we can destroy that oscillator, it might destabilize the core and cripple the weapon."
"Maybe the planet."
"We'll go in there, we'll hit that oscillator with everything we've got." Poe commanded.
"They have defensive shields that our ships cannot penetrate."
"We disable the shields," Tate and Han spoke in unison, making them look at one another weirdly. Han side-eyed her, before continuing. "Kid, you worked there. What do you got?"
"I can do it." Finn nodded, "I can disable the shields, but I have to be there. On the planet."
"We'll get you there."
"Han, how?" Leia questioned her husband.
"If I told you, you wouldn't like it."
"So, we disable the shields, we take out the oscillator and we blow up their big gun." Poe concluded, "All right, let's go." Poe pushed himself off the table, Tate hot on his heels. Poe turned to Tate, "You're by my side?"
"Forever and always, star-boy." Tate pecked his cheek, running off to her ship. Poe watched as she ushered BB8 to her ship, getting him in. Her ship began hovering, "Checking in, one-two, one-two." She spoke over the comms. "Ba, ba, black sheep, have you any wool?"
"I hear you loud and clear, pretty." Poe grinned, even if she couldn't see it. "And Captain,"
