FREE FALLING ━━ p. dameron ✓

thirty six

Our X-wings land on a platform of sorts. All I know is that Poe said this is where his friend would be.

"Where are we?" I ask, looking around. I jump out of my X-wing and land on the concrete with a thump.

I glance over the railing and see miles of blue water.

Poe walks up beside me. "We're on Castilon."

I turn to him. "Castilon? We're in the Outer Rim?"

Poe laughs. "Yup. We're here to see an old friend."

I shiver slightly at the breeze blowing off the ocean. I turn and see Poe already slipping out of his jacket.

"Oh no Poe-"

"What's mine is yours." He says.

"Poe I already have like...four of your jackets."

He smirks. "I know."

I smile and accept his jacket, thankful for the warmth it gives off.

Poe leads me through a checkpoint of sorts and then we're actually inside the fueling platform. It's crowded.

We're walking through a market and there's people yelling out offers. Food cooks and smells loom at me.

At one stall, there's a couple cages of Kowakian Lizard-Monkeys. They point their fingers at me and laugh.

Poe shudders away from them. "I hate monkeys." He says when I glance at him.

I stifle a laugh. "The brave Poe Dameron is afraid of little monkeys who taunt?"

"No, no, you don't understand. They're devils."

"You're a devil in a leather jacket."

"You are in the leather jacket."

"You got me there." I hold up my hands in mock surrender.

By now, we're inside the platform. It's warmer in here, but not by much.

"Where are we going?" I ask Poe.

"To the bar. Aunt Z's. Kazuda should be there."

I nod. BB-8 and BB-12 roll behind Poe and I. BB-8 looks excited. He keeps rolling ahead of our group and beeping at us to go faster.

Finally, we arrive at a small bar. It has windows everywhere. In the far corner there's a pool table, darts, and what looks like a casino slot machine. There's tables and alcoves sprinkled around.

There's a women manning the bar and a droid shadowing her.

"Aunt Z!" Poe yells.

The women turns and smiles at Poe.

"Dameron! Good to have you back. You lookin for Kaz?"

"As usual." Poe says with a smirk.

"He should be here any minute." The women, Aunt Z I assume, says.

At that moment I hear a pounding of feet and a kid burst through the doors. Well not a kid. More like a teenager. He looks to be about 15 or 16.

"Poe!" He yells. A droid at his feet beeps. It's pink.

"Kaz!" Poe says. The two step towards each other and shake hands. The droid, CB-23 rolls over to BB-8 and the two wave at each other with their little mechanical arm.

Once Poe and the boy, Kaz, are done, they both turn to me.

"Who is this?" The boy asks.

"Kazuda this is my uh...partner." Poe says, pausing slightly at the word partner.

Kazuda looks me up and down, his eyes lingering on Poe's jacket.

"What kind of part-" He starts. I cut him off.

"Oh I remember you. You're that spy from the Colossus. When you were to report in, you specifically asked for Poe."

The boy, Kazuda, turns to fully look at me. "I remember you too!" He says excitedly.

"I'm Wren Solo." I say, holding out my hand. Kazuda takes it.

"Solo? Never heard that one before."

"I'm General Leia Organa's daughter."

Kazuda's eyes go wide. "General Organa...?" He looks to Poe who nods.

"Wow. It's such an honor." He says.

I smile. "The honor is all mine."

"Now Kaz, what did you call us here for?" Poe asks.

"Oh, oh, right. Yeager went on a mission to get parts for the Colossus a couple days ago. His comlink has gone all static and I can't contact him. I need your help."

"What planet did he go to?" I ask Kaz.

"The planet Aeos. When the Colossus was on the run from the First Order, we stopped there. Made some enemies who turned out to be friends."

I take a step backwards. "This is the Colossus?"

"You betcha." Aunt Z says, wiping down a glass. She winks at me.

Poe rubs his chin. "Alright. Aeos. That's not far. Let's get going." He says.

Our small group, now six, follows Kaz.

He leads us through the platform and we arrive at what looks like a mechanics workshop.

"Hey Tam!" Kaz calls out. A girl around his age pops her head around a ship.

"What is it Kaz?" She asks.

"I'm taking the Fireball. To go find Yeager."

The girl drops her mechanical tool. "Oh no you don't. Every time you take the Fireball, you bring it back nearly broken."

"I need it to go find Yeager. Come on Tam."

"Yes Tam! Let Kaz go find Yeager. We can keep in contact with our comlinks." A Nikto steps out. His green skin is incredibly bright.

The girl, Tam, sighs and picks up her toolbox.

"Fine Neeku. If you don't come back with Yeager, I'm going to kill you Kaz."

Kaz smiles. "I know." He turns to Poe and I. "I'll meet you in the air."

We both nod and head back to our ships.

"He seems...interesting." I say, once we're out of ear shot.

Poe shrugs. "Him and Yeager are both good friends of mine. Wouldn't want to loose either of them."

I nod and climb into my X-wing, slipping on my helmet. BB-12 beeps at me as I flick on the switches.

"Yeah I know buddy. Hopefully this doesn't go too bad."

Both of our X-wings rise into the air. We skim the surface of the water, until I spot Kaz's ship.

It's old and looks like it could fall apart in seconds. But at least it's still flying.

"Ready to go Kaz?" Poe asks over the comlink.

"I was born ready." Kaz says.

I let out a laugh. "Everybody says they are Kaz."

Our ships leave Castilon's atmosphere and then we're jumping to lightspeed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have so much I wanna out in this whole section of the book. I have at least one more arc.

word count: 1054