So who talks first? | Calibrations

[happybeeps]

WHO: Poe Dameron, OPEN
WHERE: Poe's Calibration room
WHAT: Calibrations
WHEN: 3 June - 10 June
WARNINGS: Torture, War, Weapons of Mass Destruction



You step out into a hangar, half sheltered, but open to the air along one side. The sky is blue, and in the distance there's scattered chatter from resistance members passing by as Poe and BB-8 work. Poe's perched atop the broken wing of his X-wing, scorch marks on her belly suggesting they'd recently come out of a tough scrape.

Poe's still half in his flight suit, the upper half tied round his waist, his old jacket sitting off to the side, draped over a ladder rung with care. There's scattered tools and wires to navigate, a makeshift workbench set up with his helmet and blaster abandoned there, next to his data pad which flashes at him with some unread message, though Poe seems to be pointedly ignoring it. Looking quite out of place, there's a tooka doll, not the sort of sentiment one might associate with Poe, and beside it, and old model of an A-Wing.

Comments

Blue Skies

[backoff]

Cloud remembers being mostly on rooftops going into helicopters, not too many hangers. He's amazed at the open sky in the room. It's a clear sky blue which catches him there for a moment. This is another room but it seems so real. His gaze looks to the wing of the aircraft. That's all it is to him, he has no idea about space ships, besides for the ones that are outside. Cloud spots the man perched up on top of the wing. The pilot, he would take a guess, but what was the ball?

He didn't stay focus too long on BB-8 though. Cloud walks quietly closer looking down at the workbench. The helmet catches his eye. Cloud presses his lips together, there's a couple of other items on here too. But he reaches out with both hands to pick up the helmet with care.

[happybeeps]

The scene shifts, the hangar replaced with the busy interior of a resistance ship, and Poe- still in his flight suit- looks sweaty but pleased with himself. At least until he reaches General Organa, where his smile is knocked away with a slap. He looks at her with surprise and confusion, and she sternly tells him, "You're demoted."

Poe appears to be baffled, stopping her from leaving. "Woah- wait- We-...we took down a dreadnought."

"At what cost?" she returns pointedly, seeming exasperated.

"You start an attack, you follow it through," the pilot argues, and Leia shakes her head in immediate dismissal.

"Poe- get your head out of your cockpit."

He huffs and tries to remove himself from the conversation, but the General presses on. "There are things you can. not. solve. by ...jumping in an X-wing and blowing something up. I need you to learn that."

She goes to pass him but Poe stops her, grabbing her arm.

"There were heroes on that mission," he insists, and Leia meets his gaze.

"Dead heroes. No leaders." She pulls away and leaves Poe to sit with that, the hangar slowly fading back into view.

Poe looks up from his place on the X-wing, a pensive look on his face. "I really wish she wasn't always right." He tries for a teasing smile despite whatever seems to be bothering him.

[backoff]

Cloud tenses at the memory. That sounded like a hard slap. He puts the helmet back down on the workbench shortly after. The voice brought his attention to look over at Poe. Cloud wonders about what actually happened before the slap. Why did he make a decision that resulted in the outcome that it did?

"Commanding officers tend to be." At least some of the ones he knew.

They usually had more training, knowledge and experience in their field. "Who is she?"

[happybeeps]

"General Leia Organa. She's the leader of the Resistance. And before that she was one of the heroes of the Rebellion. She's...an old family friend. And she's stronger than she looks."

He smiles fondly, and rubs at his jaw like he can still feel that slap. Clearly whatever issues the pair had in that moment, he looks up to her.

[backoff]

Cloud grabs hold of his left arm, gripping it tightly as if he were remembering an old memory right now himself. Poe seemed to admire General Organa. A hero of the Rebellion. His lips pull into a frown. He remembers when he wanted to be a hero in SOLDIER because of a war hero General. Even while in someone else's room, his clothing fades into an Shinra Infantryman uniform. It startles him and he's annoyed by it right away.

"What rank were you before she demoted you?" He doesn't have to dig into the deeper questions right now.

[happybeeps]

The change of uniform has Poe's head tilting curiously, and with the question he fully stops his work to sit on the edge of the wing.

"Commander," he answers, "...She was right to do it. I made a call. Got a lot of people killed for a signal victory. I uh...I needed to learn that lesson."

[backoff]

Cloud reaches up and tugs at the green scarf around his neck. He makes a loud huff at it. There's a pause in his movements as he glances up at Poe as he speaks about what exactly happened.

"That would explain why she slapped you. Sometimes the decisions you make can get a lot of people killed or hurt." He too knows about that kind of decision making. Cloud's eyes drift back down to the workbench looking at the blaster.

[happybeeps]

[*typo in last- single, not signal]

Following Cloud's gaze, Poe twists a face. "You know, you're might end up with the wrong impression of me if you pick that one," he warns, but he doesn't actually move to stop him.

[backoff]

[noted! o7]

Cloud tilts his head curiously. "Do you want to tell me anything before I pick it up? Or do you want me to make a judgement?" He takes a step to turn to look over at Poe.

"You might have the wrong impression of me by touching your things. I've never seen a weapon like that before."

[happybeeps]

"It's just a blaster..." Poe sighs, and nods for Cloud to take it. Better to let him see and explain after, there doesn't seem to be any other way out of this.

[backoff]

Cloud raises an eyebrow at that statement. A blaster that held what memory? He picks it up as if he were going to examine it closer.

[happybeeps]

They're back on the ship, more crowded, and as a purple haired woman gives the order to load the transports, the memory of Poe sighs.

"Yeah. I was afraid you'd say that."

He turns cocking his blaster, joined by a small number of resistance members, evidently staging a coup, and the woman turns as Poe speaks.

"Vice Admiral Holdo. I am relieving you of your command, for the survival of this ship, its crew and the resistance."

She stares him down with a disappointed look, while the officers raise their hands.
"I hope you understand what you're doing," she says solemnly.

"Yeah," Poe holsters his blaster, "I'm going to the bridge. If they move- stun 'em."

[backoff]

He puts the blaster back down by the helmet. Cloud brings up a hand and places it under his chin. There's something at the end that Poe says that intrigues him. "You told them to stun them and not kill them."

Cloud looks up at him. "You stated that you were doing it for the survival of the ship. Where did you go wrong?"

[happybeeps]

"I was trying to protect them, not get them killed." From his tone it may not have worked out exactly as intended.

"She was trying to do the same thing. She wouldn't let me in on her plan and I refused to believe I didn't know better. If I'd just stood down things might of ended different."

[backoff]

Cloud's head dips down as he looks towards the ground. What if? That was something he's familiar with. "I know all about not telling people things that I should have, including my own friends."

This is a bit awkward for him. He's been in the shoes of the person not telling another a lot of things. Cloud looks guilty knowing how it can cause everyone else to feel. The uniform goes back to his black outfit that he's more comfortable with. He adjusts the gloves on his hands. "What happened after that?"

[happybeeps]

"Leia took control back. Stunned me. Explained everything Holdo was trying to do...that I was too stubborn to see. We were able to escape because Holdo sacrificed herself for us. She was more interested in protecting the light than seeming like a hero." He frowns, finding himself parroting Leia's words to him.

[backoff]

Cloud frowns at that. Another tough lesson to learn about being headstrong. "I'm not really experienced fully in the depths of this military action. But I can only offer one thing."

He pauses a bit as he looks at Poe. "It's nice to have a friend around to get you out of that stubbornness. Are you..." Cloud glances downward. "seeking forgiveness?"

[happybeeps]

"..." Poe freezes up, wetting his lips, seeming a little off balanced by that question.

"People I need it from aren't here any more."

[backoff]

Cloud looks at him tilting his head a bit. He glances down while taking in fully what Poe said. They were here before but now there weren't. How would he feel if Reeve has left? Even if this Reeve came from a different world of laws, they were still friends. "I'm sorry. A loss is still a loss."

He would end up going quiet for a while himself if he was still stuck here. "I wouldn't know who to go to if I was in your situation. I could go to Reeve but..." He knows how much he brews in his own self doubts.

He bites the inside of his mouth. "I'm used to someone else being able to punch me out of my stubbornness with words." Her words hit hard than her fists.

[happybeeps]

Poe gives a small smile, and Cloud's words seem to resonate with him.

"...there's a rank badge on the desk there, it'll open the door for you," he offers, nodding back to the sealed doors he'd entered through.

[backoff]

Cloud's eyebrows knit in the center at that statement of the badge being in the desk. He's confused and keeps his attention on Poe.

"Are you sure that's how this works?" He's questioning it a little bit.

[happybeeps]

"I'm sure," he promises, "It'll open. Badge wasn't there a moment ago. It is now." Cloud's helped him. Poe's gotten what he needs out of this, even if it's taken him by surprise.

[backoff]

Cloud takes a look towards the blue skies of this room as he heads over to the desk. "You have a nice view here." He's hesitant on picking up the badge right away but he does it anyway.

Besides everyone has memories they would rather keep to themselves. Cloud looks back over at Poe before trying the badge on the door.

[happybeeps]

"It is, isn't it?" Poe misses it. He wants to hang on to it a little bit longer.

The door slides open as promised and Poe flashes him a smile. "Thanks for the talk."

[backoff]

Cloud tilts his head at the sliding door not quite expecting it. He gives Poe a slow nod while smiling a little. "Come find me if you ever need something."

He gives a two finger wave before going to step out the door.