A Pilot: A Poe Dameron Story

Commander Dameron

"Commander Dameron!" General Leia Organa barked as she strode down Yavin IV's airstrip. "Report immediately to me for a briefing." It was evening on the tropical planet that was home to the Resistance movement. The air was warm, filled with the sounds of starfighters powering down for the night and chatter between pilots and mechanics coming back and forth from missions. For a community at war against an insidious military power, the air was relatively peaceful amongst the fighters for now.

Poe, who had only just parked his black X-wing and popped open his cockpit after a quick reconnaissance run, saluted the General from his seat. To his astromech in the external back seat, he muttered, "I've been here two minutes, Bebe-Ate. What time did I have to get into trouble where she wants me for a briefing already?"

Do you need that much time?  Bebe-Ate snickered in a series of beeps, then let out a loopy whistle that sounded like the equivalent of a shrug. Better report anyway.

Shaking his head at his cheeky astromech – and grinning all the while – Poe dropped over the side of his craft. He landed just in time to dutifully push himself upwards and salute the approaching General. "What did I do, ma'am?" he chirruped.

General Organa, elegant in a long maroon robe, simply lifted one dark eyebrow at him in return. Poe knew that his mother and Leia Organa went way back as fellow Rebellion fighters before he was born. He didn't have to hear it from the older members of the Resistance flight crews to know that he was subject to a bit of special treatment because of that. He tried very hard not to take it for granted, but the fact was that the General was more than his superior officer. After his mother had passed, she had been more like family. Family who could have him court-martialed if he ever became too much of a smart-ass, but still. Lucky for Poe, the General could give as good as she got, and seemed to enjoy teasing Poe in an aunt-like way from time to time. "You haven't done anything remotely useful yet, Dameron. But that's about to change."

Poe beamed, breaking out of salute and stepping excitedly towards the General. "A new mission?"

With a regally-amused side glance his way, the General only said, "Take off your helmet." As Poe nodded and raised his hands to remove the aforementioned article, the General's voice dropped to a grave tone that made him freeze in his tracks. "But leave your droid in your ship. You'll be leaving within the hour."

Holding his helmet under one arm, Poe immediately fell into step beside the General as she started off for the tall stacked-stone buildings which housed the Resistance quarters and briefing rooms. His stomach turned at the faint echo of her voice. It sounded like Leia Organa was afraid – but no, Poe knew the General wasn't afraid of anything. She was dreading something. "Leaving for where, ma'am?"

The General looked straight ahead but Poe could see a new vein stand out in strain against her temple as she told him, "Naboo."

***

True to her word, it was no more than half an hour later that Poe was back in his X-wing, rocketing off into space. Poe deftly navigated through hyperspace, checking his starfighter's conditions for comfort as his thoughts swirled. After a few minutes, his droid slowly whistled. Something's wrong.

"With the ship?" Poe asked in alarm, scanning his altitude and life support gauges for signs of malfunctions.

His droid beeped in exasperation. With you.

Beneath the cover of his helmet, Poe rolled his eyes. "Nothing's wrong with me. Mission's just a little...different, that's all." He had purposely avoided mentioning anything about the General's orders to Bebe-Ate until they were well on their way to Naboo.

And what's the mission? His droid whistled promptingly.

"You wanna know the mission?" Poe let out a long sigh. "It's politics, Bebe-Ate. I hate politics."

A collection of beeps. Says the Resistance pilot.

"That's different. There's no confusion about what we do. We fight, they do...weird things with laws and networking and society." Poe scowled out at the stars streaking around the cockpit. When it came to some of the intangibles of war – the political maneuvering that the General was so good at, mainly – he felt like those principles also zoomed over his head whenever they came up at strategy sessions. He could spy, he could fight, he could steal if necessary. Poe knew politics were important, but it wasn't his area.

Why did the General send you, then?  Bebe-Ate whistled innocently. Must be important.

"Yeah, okay." Poe shrugged back at his droid. "She sent me because she trusts me. That's great. It really is. But I'm supposed to deliver this – " Poe dug around in his boot for a small woven white pouch and held it up so that his droid could see before returning it to the hiding spot, "to the Queen of Naboo."

Bebe-Ate chittered. What is it?

Poe spared a hand from driving to finger the pouch's rough material. From the way it rubbed between his fingers with a certain thickness, he thought there might be powder of some sort inside. "Something that's supposed to help keep her on our side or something...that's what the General said, anyway..."

Are you spice running again, Poe?

"No! I'm not spice running!" Holding up a finger defensively, Poe told the droid, "I trust Leia. She didn't want to say much about all this – and I sure as hell don't know why – but I know she's concerned."

Bebe-Ate burbled in the backseat as if about to say something else, but at that moment a green light pinged on Poe's dashboard and he yanked back on the clutch, dropping them out of hyperspace. In front of them floated the faerie planet of Naboo: deep blue and aqua-green, a huge beautiful bubble floating out in space.

Just looking at it made Poe feel seasick.

As he guided his ship to the coordinates Leia had provided for him, Poe repeated to himself, "She trusts me." He had to trust that his General wouldn't be sending him on a mission he couldn't figure out. Even if there were politics attached to getting one planet or another aligned with the Resistance that Poe didn't fully understand yet, he was committed to doing his part to bring down the First Order. He would get the Queen of Naboo that bag with whatever was inside it, then he would go back home to Yavin IV, where the world didn't look like it would sweep away under his feet. He couldn't wait to get going.