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

[deal_me_in]

Cayde sets the datapad down, folding his arms.

"I'd ask how someone can make such a thing under everyone's noses but we had somethin' similar to deal with back home," he says before glancing back at Poe. "That one wasn't mobile, was it?"

His gaze drops towards the floor as he's back to frowning. That was an awful thing to bring back up and he feels bad for it. "...sorry you had to go through that," he murmurs. In person, in recollection. It can't be a thing so easily forgotten, but it shouldn't have had to be brought up like this.

[happybeeps]

"They'd been working on it in secret for a while. We saw some of their tests, but- they kept it well hidden until they fired it. It was uh-...it was a planet. They turned it into a weapon..."

He offers a faint smile in return, nodding his understanding, "You didn't know. Besides...it's good to remember what we're fighting for. I've been here so long, I was starting to forget..."

[deal_me_in]

The Exo looks back at Poe then. "A planet?? Seriously? How the-" It's just insane to even process. The worse thing is that Poe's hardly exaggerating.

"That's sick. There are some sick people out there. We lucked out. The Red Legion had a ship, the Almighty. They go crashing through systems, and once they're done with 'em, they wiped out their sun with that thing. Didn't exactly believe in leaving anything behind." Except space dust. "It was a near thing, but one of our's managed to put the Almighty to rest before it could do a number on our solar system."

He shakes his head again, slowly turning back towards the pilot. "You're right though. You can't forget stuff like that. They're awful things, but they drive you."

[happybeeps]

Poe raised his palms in the air to indicate he really didn't know any better than Cayde. They'd seen super weapons before, but never anything quite like that. Even the Death Star couldn't compete.

He winces sympathetically, it sounds far too familiar a story. "I'm glad you were able to stop them."

[deal_me_in]

"You an' me both, buddy. So uh," Cayde tilts his head. "Please tell me there's a good ending to that whole thing."

The bad thing about stumbling across memories like this is that you have no specific timeframe. Did the mutiny happen before or after? His grabby hands want to wander back to that helmet there but after what he'd seen with the datapad, the Exo tucks them under his armpits as he folds his arms to keep them from wandering.

[happybeeps]

"Dunno yet," Poe admits, "We uh...we blew up Starkiller Base, but...there's only a handful of us left, and last I was there things seemed pretty bleak."

He watches Cayde's gaze and considers a moment. "...If you want a happier one, try the model ship," he offers.

[deal_me_in]

"But you blew up the thingy- that's good, right?" The less blowing up of planets and things, the better.

Things aren't over. Cayde looks down again as he thinks about it. "I hope things turn around for you," he says quietly. He's not sure how he'd sit if he was caught up here before anything had been resolved with the Red Legion.

His head turns towards the A-wing, glowing gaze flicking back at Poe before he loosens his arms and steps over by the model. "Happy's good. I can go for happy," he says as he reaches out to carefully take up the thing.

[happybeeps]

"Yeah, it's good. Should take them a while to be able to build something capable of that kind of destruction again," he agrees, at least he hopes it will.

"I hope so too..."

And then the world shifts again, a young curly haired boy sitting inside the cockpit of an A-wing, settled in his mother's lap as she runs him through the pre-flight. He's unmistakably Poe, and he looks every bit his mother's son.

The starfighter lifts off, giving a good view of the ranch and colony below, and then the jungles of Yavin 4. In the distance you can see the Grand Temple, ancient and towering above the trees, and Shara Bey points it out to her son as she guides his hands. Eventually she lets go all together, letting him steer on his own, and Poe gives a giddy laugh, looking just as at home here in the sky as his mother does.

[deal_me_in]

Cayde finds himself smiling at this one. He also feels a pang of something else, and while he knows sadness is in the mix, he's not sure what else it is.

"She teach you to fly?" They don't have to go through any fancy maneuvers for him to see how good she is. It's in her movement, the practiced flow even as she goes through things with a young Poe in her lap.

[happybeeps]

They're back in the hangar and Poe smiles fondly, giving a nod. "She did. That was her old RZ-1, part of her compensation when she retired," he explains, "Doesn't have quite the kick of the newer ships, but I love that thing."

[deal_me_in]

"Eh, sometimes new is overrated. You can never quite replace a classic," Cayde grins as he gives the model a closer inspection before setting it down.

"Sounds like a nice retirement package. I wonder if I'll get anything fun if I ever retire."

[happybeeps]

"You can't," Poe agrees with a thoughtful hum.

"I'm sure they'll take good care of you with all you've done. There's a rank badge there, if you want a way out. It'll open the doors."

[deal_me_in]

"One can hope. I think once you're in the Vanguard, you're practically in it for life." The Exo chuckles, turning to look at the badge Poe indicates.

"Had enough of me poking around your head, eh?" he grins.

[happybeeps]

Poe chuckles and shrugs a shoulder, "I think I've put you through enough. These aren't the stories I usually like the share. Come find me sometime and I'll tell you ones worth hearing."

[deal_me_in]

"Make sure to bring the ship too," Cayde says, knowing full well it's probably not going to work that way, but he wishes it would. He picks up the badge, giving it a flick and toss in the air before catching it again.

"Catch you on the flip-side." He gives Poe a salute, turning then towards the doors.