Kyber Heart - Poe Dameron

Chapter 45

Blitz stood on the corner, twisting their knife over in their hand. Their face was set in their signature, though unseen, diplomatic scowl.

An unknown had reached out to employ their skill set, and so they found themself awaiting the unknown's representative to deliver the details. Standard procedure – nothing they had not done a hundred times over in their two-year run.

Adjusting their position, they watched the ebb and flow of the shadows dancing across the stream of people. Many gave them a wide birth, looking nervously at the knife dancing around their fingers.

After five more minutes of waiting, they spotted someone making a firm path towards them through the crowd. They assumed them to be the representative, but he was nothing like the sort they usually had to associate with.

He certainly was no senator's assistant, or local for that matter. The way he dressed and carried himself did not fit with the pristine haughtiness that tended to come with the richness of the upper city. Nor did it fit with the grime of the under city, though he did not look uncomfortable or skittish to move among its patrons, merely practising caution to avoid attention or trouble.

He was no taller than Blitz, and at a guess not much older. His skin was a naturally tanned colour, which was complimented well by his mess of dark brown curls and dark eyes. They would not deny he was attractive; in an obvious sort of way that was.

As he drew nearer, Blitz tensed, a sudden uneasiness settling in. This was to be no ordinary assignment, or perhaps it was to be no assignment at all. But something told them to stay, the same something that told them to put their knife away.

He was unarmed, so the power still rested with them if he started threatening.

"So, you're the one people like to call 'Blitz'." His voice was warm and casual, but a hint of ice and slight accusation lingered underneath.

"I also like to call myself that," they shot back coolly, voice grating through the vocoder.

"Master bounty hunter and assassin, picking up dirty jobs for politicians," he continued.

"Flattery will get you nowhere," they warned.

He ignored the threat. "That's quite a way to make a living."

"It pays the expenses. Allows me to make my own way in the galaxy."

"But I'm guessing it wasn't entirely by choice," he said. "Was it, Nova?"

Her body froze at the use of her name, and her teeth clenched together unpleasantly. But his tone disarmed her – there had been no malice or triumph at the reveal of his hand. Instead, there had been something akin to kindness.

"You're either brave or a fool," she said.

"Can't I be both?" he smirked.

"What do you want?"

"To help. I'm with the Resistance."

She had heard whispers of such a group – an insane splinter from the New Republic Defence Force. If political rumours were to be believed then they were glory chasers and war mongers, looking for the old days of the Galactic Civil War. But she knew better than to listen to the New Republic Senate.

"Am I meant to be impressed?" she bit back sarcastically.

He frowned. "Kinda."

"Well, like you said, I'm a master assassin – deadliest in the parsec. Takes more than that to impress me."