Learning to Fly - A Star Wars Fanfiction - Part One of the "Balance" Trilogy

Jay

    Jay watched her look around with that incredible, undying curiosity and couldn't help but doubt the General. How could this girl be a threat to the Resistance? How could she have caused so much trouble on that First Order ship? He led her through the base, introducing her to the very few soldiers that hung around. Eventually, they made their way to the hangar, with the few X-Wings the Resistance had been able to afford after the Battle of Crait. This seemed to be of larger interest to her than anything else.
"You have X-Wings in there? Real X-Wings?" He nodded. "What models?"
"After our practical obliteration," he paused, looking down. "We were able to find enough credits for ten used fighters. Six T-65 fighters from the time of the old Alliance, one T-65C-A2 fighter, and three T-70 fighters. Those T-70s are only flown by the best." He opened the doors. Morgan walked forward, eyes wide. The fighters were lined up, some under maintenance, some still home to the odd astromech. Jay saw her eyes light up when she spotted the T-70s. The furthest one was black and orange to pay homage to its pilot's old model: Poe Dameron's fighter. Morgan glanced back at Jay, then started towards it.
"You coming?" she called back to him. He laughed, then ran after her. They passed two astromechs and a gold protocol droid, apparently in the midst of a heated argument. The gold one turned to look at Jay, who winked and stuck up two fingers. The droid turned away, message received.

    Now Jay and Morgan had arrived at Poe's ship. Morgan stood at its nose and stared up at it in awe.
"That's -" she swallowed. "That's Poe Dameron's ship." Jay frowned at her.
"Yeah," he nodded. "It is. How - How do you know that?" Morgan looked towards him, but her gaze was far away.
"He flew a recon mission at the Ring a while back. I watched him. He has to be the best pilot in the galaxy. Got in a few scrapes with the local bounty hunters, made a few enemies, but he was all the other rogues would talk about for the next three years," she paused, swallowing. "And then Starkiller happened. The Republic died. The First Order took over. We lost what little hope we had. But then we caught wind of some scavenger - Day? Rey? Anyway - This girl and her friend, an ex-trooper, allying with the Resistance. Then the return of Han Solo. And, soon after, word of Luke Skywalker's location. Luke Skywalker. Two of my friends took off after that, claiming they were going to join up."
"Join up?" Jay asked her.
"The Resistance," she explained. "They kept me on the comm for a while, said they'd let me know whether it was safe to come after them. I'd stayed behind to keep an eye on our shelter and goods. You know, just in case something didn't work out. And guess what?" Her expression grew tense and clouded with anger. "Two days in. I'd been pouring over the comm obsessively, hadn't slept for fear of missing a message. And then I heard them. You know what they said?" She looked at him. He shook his head. "'They've found us.' 'Who?' I asked. No reply. Never a reply. Eventually word got 'round that Kay and Lyn," she closed her eyes. "They'd been captured by the First Order. Never saw them again. The comm had gone silent." She sighed, looking back at Jay. "I don't have the faintest idea why I just told you all that." He looked at her sympathetically.
"I'm sorry," he offered. That was all he could think of saying. Because, in truth, he knew what had happened to Kayden and Lynley Stone. He had to - He was the one who'd helped to put them behind bars.
She waved the words away.
"You don't have to apologize," she gave a little laugh, probably forced. "It's not like it's your fault." He winced, turning away.
"Yeah," he replied. She came closer to him, hesitated, then spoke again.
"I think you can understand, now, why I wasn't sure if I could trust you when I heard you were with the Resistance." He glanced back at her, nodding.
"Couldn't blame you if I wanted to," he winked. She laughed again.
"Interesting bedside manner, flyboy. Learn that the hard way?" Then, softer. "What's your story?" He opened his mouth, about to say something, then stopped.
    "A story..." he swallowed, facing her, forcing a smile. "A story for another time."