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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Their ships danced along one another, a silent competition in place amidst their mission. "Red squad, Blue squad, take my lead." Their leaders responded, "Captain Verlice, I need you to stay behind us, pick up the scraps and make sure we don't get sloppy." They dropped out of lightspeed, approaching the Starkiller.
"Almost in range. Hit the target dead center. As many runs as we can get." Poe ordered.
"Approaching target." One informed, green blasters shooting from their ships.
"Alright, let's light it up!" Poe shouted. Tate threw her ship into full circles, making a show of the mission as she blasted at different areas of the place. "T-bone, you make some fine work."
"Well, thank you, pea brain."
"Move to the immediate comms if you're going to flirt," A fellow pilot, and friend of Tate's, told the two. They blushed madly, laughing in embarrassment. Just as they went swooped down, Tate pulled her joystick up, making the ship fly up.
"Guys, we got company!"
They continued the regular routine of sweeping down and shooting before going back up. "Stay classy, guys." Tate smirked. She jolted, "Someone's got my side! B, you good?" BB8 chirped, and she sighed in relief. They continued, up until the Sun disappeared from the sky. Tate switched to the immediate comms, looking for Poe. "Poe?"
"Yeah, pretty?"
"Do you think we're gonna make it?"
"I don't know..." Poe's heart ached as he looked at the sky. "Hey, Tate?"
"Yeah, Poe?"
"I wish this was more grand..." Poe sucked in a breath, "But if we don't make it out of here alive."
"Shut your trap, Poe Dameron." Tate snapped at him. "Whatever you wanna tell me, you're gonna tell me when we land."
"Yes, ma'am." Poe breathed.
"Black leader, there's a hole in the oscillator!" A new voice spoke, the two switching back to community comms. "Looks like our friends got in."
"Red Four, Red Six, cover us. Captain Verlice, you're back in the game. Everybody else, hit the target hard. Give it everything you got." Tate cheered, her 'whoo-hoo!' resonating in everybody's ears as she flipped open her cassette box. Hitting play, rock music began to play inside her X-Wing. She nodded along to the beat, hitting them with the full force she got. "All teams, I'm going in."
"Hot on your heels, babe." Tate teased, following him inside the oscillator. They eased through the hot bit, now hitting them in the internal organs of the place. They zoomed back upwards, "Beautiful work, if I say so myself." They got out of there much quicker than they stayed. Tate flipped back onto the private comms, "Great, now you can tell me whatever news you had when we drop."
"Looking forward to it, pretty." Poe flew over Tate's ship.
"Stay off the community comms!"
They entered the Resistance base, landing their ships. Tate flipped the switch, the glass barrier of her ship popping open as she took off her helmet in a gasp. Her shaggy, overgrown hair was sticking to her forehead from the sweat. She let down BB8, meeting Poe's eyes. She ran over to him, greeting him with a hug. "Safe and sound?" She asked him, and he nodded. Poe echoed the question back to her, and she nodded with a smile. "Glad to know you care," Tate teased him as she walked away.
Poe watched her leave, and Tate threw him a wink when she turned. As they re-entered the bunker, the pilots noticed that R2D2 was in fact, alive and well. He showed them a hologram, connecting to BB8's diagram of Luke Skywalker's whereabouts. "Luke," Leia gasped. Tate smiled at her, her heart tugging. She had heard about Han's demise, and after shedding just a little bit of tears, she regained her strong look once again.
Poe walked alongside Tate, watching the Millenium Falcon disappear as Rey and Chewbacca went to look for Luke. "Oh, I'm so jealous of her right now."
"Why didn't you go with?" Poe looked down at Tate, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her in.
"Someone had to look after your sorry ass." Tate patted his chest. She thought for a moment, looking up at him. "Hey, what did you have to tell me when you thought we were gonna die?"
"Oh, that?" Poe looked at her, the two beginning to walk away from the commotion into a quieter piece of the airstrip. "Just that," Poe pointed up to the air, where in hot pink smoke, was written:
'WILL YOU GO OUT WITH ME?'
"You're a dork," Tate commented, turning to him. Poe looked down at her, slightly holding his breath. "But maybe you're my dork." And with that, she captured him in a kiss.
END OF DANGER ZONE: THE FORCE AWAKENS. POE & TATE WILL RETURN IN "DANGER ZONE: THE LAST JEDI."
