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'𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐞'
━━ -ˋˏ★ˎˊ- ━━
...OUTER RIM TERRITORIES
WHEN THE THREE SHIPS of the Black Squadron finally touched down on the ground, Poe was already enveloped in silence. The desert winds had begun to pick up, but he only felt the sting. All sound had already vacated the atmosphere.
Three ships, not four. Snap, Karé, Jess.
And then, it sounded like the planet had split in two with an echoic crack. It was seismic, the grief. The three pilots, his friends, they had all made it safe and sound. And L'ulo Lampar hadn't.
The Duros had watched him and Eleni grow up. He used to spend so much time around his parent's house that Poe used to think the man was actually his uncle and not just his parents' best friend. He helped him grieve after the death of his mother. Even when Poe rejected the help and ran away, L'ulo never faulted him for it.
Now he was gone. Irrevocably, gone.
Jess's eyes were red-rimmed from crying as she climbed out of her ship. A staggering reminder that she was the youngest of all of them, the one who had seen a lot but still, nothing like this. Snap and Karé were both stoic, experienced at keeping their emotions below the surface for the sake of duty. Jess had the innocent gift of living without that talent.
"We lost him as we were flying in, the flagship turned its guns on us before we even had a chance," Snap explained, words filled with the anguish of loss. "He went down fighting, saying how he was going to light the bastards up."
Karé gave the smallest, saddest smile Poe had ever seen as she reached out and squeezed his hand. "He went out the only way he would have wanted."
Jess, crying quietly, was pulled into a comforting hug by Snap. All four of them looked at each other, none of them really knowing what to say. Poe was supposed to take charge and lead, but what good had that done? L'ulo was gone. Lyra was aboard a shuttle heading farther and farther from their reach. The heat from the sun was suddenly unbearable, burning mercilessly on the back of his neck.
Finally, Jess looked up and took in the sight of him for the first time. "Where's Lyra?"
Though it wasn't an accusation, it sure as hell felt like one. "They took her prisoner," he said.
