Stardust ━━ Star Wars

━ 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘅𝘅𝗶𝘃

     Focusing his gaze on the path before him, Poe makes sure to give one last series of orders to the rest of the pilots before diving into the trench. "Everybody else, hit the target hard!" He instructs. "Give it everything you got!"

     He guides his ship dangerously low to the ground in the trench as he dodges and weaves between cannons. Behind him, Poe can see several TIE fighters gaining on him and he knows he'll need cover if he wants to clear the rest of the run. "I need some help here," he calls out. "I need some help!"

     Bastian answers first. "I'm coming in!" The pilot fires his cannons on the ships behind Poe and takes one of the TIEs out.

     Poe grins at that, but the smile quickly slips from his face when he hears Jessika shout over the comm unit. "Watch out!" She cries to Ello, but the warning comes too late. One of the cannons in the trench sends a torpedo directly at the Abednedo male's ship, sinking a hole into the vessel's hull.

     "I'm hit!" Ello shouts before his vehicle goes careening into the wall of the trench, bursting into flames on impact.

     Kriff! Poe nearly swears over the radio before biting his tongue. He hunkers down in his seat and focuses on the path ahead of him. It's a straight shot to the oscillator if he can just get there. Not wanting to risk the lives of any more members of his squadrons, Poe makes a split second decision to take the rest of the trench alone. "All teams, I'm going in," he tells them as the red glow from the oscillator grows brighter in the distance. "Pull up and cover me."

     "Copy that, Black Leader!" Snap replies, pulling his ship out of the trench. Poe sees Jessika and Bastian also pull up, leaving him on his own. "Good luck, Poe!"

     Most of the TIE fighters pursue the other pilots as they leave the trench, but one persistent fighter stays on his tail. Poe does his best to lose the stray ship, swerving through the trench in an attempt to shake it. As he comes up on the opening to the oscillator, Poe rotates his ship sideways, barely weaving Black One through the gap before he sees the TIE fighter go smashing into it, bursting into flames on impact.

     He exhales deeply, knowing that the worst of the fight is now over. With no ships left to oppose him, he sends volley after volley of torpedoes into the unguarded structure of the base, taking out the foundations of the oscillator before clearing the blast as quickly as he can. Seconds after Poe escapes the interior, the planet's core detonates in a tremendous explosion that wracks the entire surface. Towering clouds of smoke and flame burst from the center of the base as the fuel reserves rupture, stoking the fire even higher with each passing moment.

     Unable to stop himself, Poe lets out a triumphant whoop that the other pilots echo as they make their way from the blast, soaring high above the explosion. In the back of his ship, Poe hears BB-8 beeping excitedly and he can't help the smile that crosses his face.

     "All teams, nice job!" He commends his pilots before opening up his comm unit's frequency to the base. "General, the target has been destroyed."

     Leia's voice is warm and reassuring in his ear. "Good," she tells him. "Now, I want you to retreat immediately. The planet could be unstable. Get out of there now."

     Poe frowns when he hears her words. "If we retreat, we leave our friends on the ground behind," he replies stubbornly. He had absolutely no intention of following that order and abandoning Indira, Finn, and the rest of their group.

     "Poe, outside of those here with me on the base, your group is all that remains of the Resistance that is capable of putting up a fight," Leia warns him. "If you stay to find them, we risk losing you all."