PHOENIX ━ dameron

004 | takeoff

Karé grinned, showing off a mischievous smile that was complemented by her shock-white hair. "What's that one kid's name? The one who probably set the galaxy record for crashing an A-Wing?" Karé asked, a friendly grin tugging at the corners of her mouth. She was testing the waters, trying to get a feel for who Lyra was and why, exactly, she was there.

At the same time, Jess and Lyra exasperatedly said, "Dash Pellian."

"That's the one," Karé nodded.

"Still," Lyra mused, "If there's a chance for more pilots, I'll take it."

"There's always the chance for an underdog," L'ulo mused.  He had seen years of dwindling support. It couldn't be easy for him to see the strength of the Resistance slowly wane. "No matter how many A-Wings we go through, there's always a chance we'll get another pilot out of it."

Poe finally burst into the room, terribly disheveled with his face twisted in a frown. BB-8 rolled in behind him like an orange and white shadow.

"Sorry I'm a little late," he began, running a hand through his hair. Something had shaken him, clearly.  He had always been terrible at hiding his emotions. 

Karé cut him off with her snickering. "A little? We've been sitting here for half and hour.  What else did you have to do, Dameron?"

Lyra could've sworn he glanced up at her like this was somehow her fault. She glared back at him when he turned away again, not forgetting their last fight. Unprepared was the first word that popped into her head.

"Nothing," Poe told Karé, shaking his head. "Lost track of time."

Karé made an ambiguous noise of disbelief, but Poe ignored her. "So, Ovanis. We recovered hardly anything from the Creché tribe, but Terex also knows nothing about our true intent. Our next point of interest would be Grakkus the Hutt."

Thank the Force Lyra had asked Jess and the General about the mission. Poe didn't seem to care at all whether she was caught up or not.

Grakkus was next in line for information on Tekka, and he was being held on Megalox Beta, a large prison of a planet. Lyra wondered if Poe knew how they had come by the information on Grakkus. Or, that her hyperdrive had been busted because of it. It had taken a great deal of time to locate the cruiser. The Phoenix Squadron had spent a full day going over star charts and miscellaneous reports regarding the cruiser in preparation for their brief with the General, let alone jeopardizing the safety of her squadron after it exploded. She liked seeing that the information was being put to use, but it was taxing to never get any credit for it. Over and over again, her covert operations stayed in the background.

Your high-and-mighty gang of assassins.

"Grakkus is currently being held on Megalox, one of the private prisons with the highest security in the galaxy," Poe continued, not noticing the sour look on Lyra's face as she tried to keep her mouth shut. "It has anti-gravity shields, and it's self-governing."

"Self governing?" Jess interrupted. She scratched at her cheek, leaving a small red mark on her skin.

Poe stopped, more than happy to explain what was going on since it was one of his own who had asked. The dynamic was not hard to discern. "As in, the Twi'lek that runs it could care less what happens to the prisoners, so long as they don't escape. There are no rules set on the planet itself. Whatever happens between the prisoners stays between them."

"Cool," Jess swallowed.

"We've already secured a deal with the warden. They'll take us down to question Grakkus, then we leave," Poe said, voice crisp and without a trace of worry. "It's as simple as that."