* // RISSA

poe smiled at her response, glad she excepted. it was something that.. that could distract him. not to mention how this could help the resistance. having another pilot would… that could work. he nodded, “good, i’m glad,” he paused at her question, “well, we can’t go out of atmo, but we have some places out of the city that we can use. safe, if that’s what you’re wondering.” 

“you’re sure?” she questioned, not knowing if any place in the planet was really safe now. but if poe said so, she guessed that she should trust him. after all, this was certainly the best thing that’s happened to her since she arrived here in coruscant. maybe. it would be able to take her mind off of all the fighting if only for a short time. “what are we flying then? i pick things up pretty quickly, i’d be happy with anything you prefer.” 

the coruscant government was not an extension of the first order, which meant there was no complicating factor for iden to speak freely on her opinion of it. after all, its restrictions on both factions because of the ceasefire were wildly unpopular and standing on unstable ground. “it is stagnant,” she agreed with a nod of her head. “they probably realize that they don’t have the power to do much other than try and stop the fighting on their planet. they’re not looking for the big picture.”

rissa shouldn’t have much of an opinion in these matters since she wan’t very involved. but she might be receiving flight lessons, and there was a possibility of her working more and more with the resistance in the near future. however, it was all up in the air. these things weren’t to be shared with strangers, and she knew that. it was best to hold her cards close to her chest but this was just casual, nameless conversation. “big picture is hard to see when you’re closed minded i suppose,” she admitted with a small shrug. but this walk was nice... it was what she needed to clear her mind. 

poe laughed some at her comment, “het, as long as you come out in one piece, crash is still pretty successful,” he teased some, a small smile returning hers. sure poe was busy but…. this was something he enjoyed that could be useful to the resistance. besides hearing her talk? she seemed to enjoy it– and if he could help her learn more, “sure? why not? i probably have a few tips i could share.”

THIS WAS MORE THAN SHE BARGAINED for, but rissa would never argue against such an opportunity. to be trained by the resistance was a dream that her parents would have loved to see. her features brightened at his agreement, and rissa nodded in acceptance of his offer. “alright.... yes, i would like that,” she grinned, unable to wipe that look of excitement off her face. “how exactly do you train people around here?” space must have been limited, and she assumed they would have to be pretty stealth. 

with the news about the syndicate that had broken, it was no longer quite as black and white for most people. of course, she’d lost that binary before then, had it utterly destroyed. iden no longer knew where her loyalties lie, only where they should have, and that they didn’t. but those thoughts were too dangerous to risk voicing out loud to anyone… other than del. “all of this is a lot bigger than any one person,” she empathized. “it only seems like things are getting more complicated. it’s hard not to worry.”

RISSA HADN’T BEEN ABLE TO REALLY talk to anyone about her feelings about this since she’s got here. in actuality, rissa never had someone to speak with like this. her life had been isolated for the most part, but she didn’t mind. she liked the quiet. while she wanted to be more, she was content with her life. “i’m not really sure what the coruscant government is doing, to be honest... shouldn’t they be attempting to fix things? it’s none of my place, but they seem stagnant.” maybe she spilled too much, but the situation was infuriating.

Bodhi hadn’t been expecting such a warm response to his question and, for a moment, it threw him for a loop. “I… yes… I… History? I guess.” he replied, feeling even more nervous now. The way the woman looked at him… it seemed like she knew him, but how? He didn’t remember her, although that could have been the after-effects of Bor Gullet, once again creating holes in his brain. If she was from the same time as him though, wouldn’t he remember? It didn’t make sense, but he tried to ignore it. “I guess… I want to learn more about what happened after Scarif.”

HE SEEMED NERVOUS. rissa supposed that she was quite nervous in the beginning as well. but just hearing those heroic stories about him and his team, she thought he would be more extroverted... it was nice to see that he was a bit quieter. much like herself. her eyes still shone in admiration though rissa attempted to remain as cool as possible. he wanted to learn about scarif... that made sense. he had died before knowing if the mission was successful or not. “well, i could give you a run down but i think that a holovid might be more in depth...” 

gazing up at the never ending shelves of books and papers, bodhi’s eyes widened. he wasn’t even sure where to start. he’d arrived at the library in the hopes of finding out more about what had happened since scarif but as soon as he walked through the doors, he’d been overwhelmed. there was so much and so little time. he wasn’t the type of person who usually spent time in libraries but he had to know what he’d missed. “excuse me…” he asked, turning to face the person closest to him. “do you… do you know your way around this place?”

SHE HAD BEEN THERE FOR AN HOUR and was almost about to leave when she caught a glimpse of a familiar face. not one she had ever met, but she had seen him. she knew exactly who he was and her heart might as well have already beaten out of her chest. the excitement was noticeable, but rissa forced herself to cool down before moving to a shelf close by his, acting like she was still minding her own business. and then he spoke to her. she didn’t expect that, but it was something that she was still in awe of. she turned to him, light smile on her face as she nodded. “the library? yes, i visit pretty often. are you looking for something?” 

Cienna pretty much immediately moved on from looking through the items, telling herself that she would sort and organize the items later, though she didn’t stop Rissa from sorting through things too. Cienna had her own system of organization, as messy as it appeared to others it worked for her. “I think less of a shortage and more of a problem where you need a source to get things. I know plenty of scavengers and scrap dealers here who just go through dumps and scrap heaps nonstop.” Cienna looked to be focused on the droid once more but she kept up conversation with Rissa just fine “It does help, anything helps as it seems the entire planet is more and more against us. I know it’s been harder to get some resources. Besides, you know I’ll take any scrap I can get.”  Cienna glanced at the girl before grabbing some pliers “Less making new things and more repairing everything else. Like I said, getting parts is hard, and now that I can’t leave base it’s even more difficult. Glad I can count on you though.”

“just say the word and i can dumpster dive too,” rissa joked around. it wasn’t idea in the least, but if cienna needed more supplies then she would just have to set aside her feelings about city dumps. it wasn’t anything she wasn’t used to, but coruscant was large and populated. even the air was less clear and each dump she came across was more grimy than the last. rissa didn’t have the resources to make effective deals with anyone or the contacts for that matter, but she was pleased to see that cienna thought her findings were helpful somewhat. she watched while cienna grabbed a pair of pliers and just observed while she worked on the repair on the table. “of course you can. you know me, i’m always around,” she smiled. she had an inkling as to why cienna couldn’t leave, but she guessed that it wasn’t a topic she wanted to speak on. “i don’t know if things are getting better up there. maybe in a few more days.”

he let out a small laugh at her joke, “well, most experienced pilots can’t say that. so i’d say you’re doing better than you give yourself credit for,” he said, taking the holopad back, setting it back aside for now. poe had met a decent number of pilots like this by now, and he had a feeling she was pretty good. “i could help you, if you want to keep up with that training.”

RISSA PERKED UP AT THOSE words. they were kinder than she’d expected and it was nice to hear that she might even be a decent pilot some day. the scavenger grinned, stuffing her hands in her pockets a bit nervously with a shrug of her shoulder. “oh, i’m sure that it i flew more you’d see more crashes from me too.” she laughed, but his next offer took her by surprise. “really?” it was a generous offer, but rissa felt guilty to take his time. “are you sure?”

was everything okay? no. iden could acknowledge that easily, but at the same time, as far as she could see… there was nothing that could be done about it. the ceasefire that they were all stuck in would inevitably fall, soon likely, and she wanted to know that she was on the right side of things. she’d always been confident about her position in the world, but now she wasn’t. having that foundation shaken left her worse off. “i’ve just got a lot of my mind. but i guess you do, too, to be out at this time of night.”

RISSA HAD NOT BEEN AS INVOLVED in the political side of things as she should have been. she understood the war, and she understood why they were here for the most part. but the ceasefire? it threw her for a loop. she wasn’t sure why they were urged to put a stop to their own war in order to deal with this third party, but rissa knew it wasn’t her place. the other was right though, she did have a lot on her mind. “i don’t understand everything that’s going on. i think i’ve been worrying about things out of my hands too much.”

poe quirked up his eyebrows at her admission. training. that was frankly better then some of the new recruits they had. this could work. sure they couldn’t get out of atmo, but training was still possible. “definitely better than none. that’s what i expected us to have,” leaning against the crates next to them, he watched her for a second, “training then? so you have some experience?” 

“a little, yeah.” it wasn’t formal training, but it was enough for her to know how to get an aircraft off the ground and back down safely. she handed him the holopad back with a slight shrug of the shoulder as to not up play her very limited experience. “i’m nothing like the pilots here, but i can get around. i haven’t crashed yet, so...” she trailed off, a small grin on her face at her little joke. 

her first reaction to the words normally would have been to laugh –– iden had been a weapon of the empire, and a damn good one. very few came even closer to accomplishing what she had, despite her youth during the peak of the war with the rebels. but things were heavier on her mind lately, about where the real danger was coming from. she couldn’t bring herself to muster up even a polite smile. instead, she took a deep breath and nodded her head in agreement. “it can be,” she offered up, not much for a hopeful response. “but as long as you’ve got your wits about you, it doesn’t have to be.”

𝙎𝙃𝙀 𝙍𝙀𝘼𝙇𝙇𝙔 𝘿𝙄𝘿𝙉"𝙔 𝘽𝙀𝙇𝙊𝙉𝙂 𝙃𝙀𝙍𝙀. things were so hardened and secretive. while rissa was accustomed to being alone, this was an entirely different game that she didn’t want to play. at least this woman was kinder than she thought she’d be. assumptions were necessary though, and rissa didn’t want to risk anything. she looked like something was weighing on her though and while rissa didn’t want to impose, part of her did want to know. she was too nosy. “i’ll have to work on that then... and i’m sorry, but is everyone okay?” 

poe glanced out at the ships, mentally counting which ones he hadn’t seen catch fire or back fire…it was a sad amount. their best mechanics clearly hadn’t been here lately, “i’d say it’s about… 50% that can make it up in the air right now. better than last week,” he said, glancing back at her. she seemed… unsure? or awkward at least, “no don’t worry about it, have a list right here,” he said, passing over his holopad, “haven’t seen you around here, you a pilot?”

𝙊𝙉𝙇𝙔 𝙃𝘼𝙇𝙁? that was pathetic, but not surprising. with the suppression of the resistance, rissa was shocked that they had any operating aircrafts to start with. “i guess it’s better than none,” she offered with a small sigh. eyes widened slightly when the man handed her to holopad of the list and she scrolled though, alternative between looking at the names and looking up at the fleet to identify them. “i’ve been training, but lessons got cut short when this whole thing happened.” if she’d stayed where she belonged, maybe she could’ve been an actual pilot by now. but now she was just able to study on the ground and not up in the air. 

poe had been busy lately fixing up the… scraps of ships the resistance had collected. glancing at a holo pad, he saw someone come towards him. he… look he was willing to take any distraction. he didn’t recognize her– new recruit? “not enough, i can tell you that much. not enough pilots either,” he said, a small chuckle on his breath. setting the holo pad down at the table next to him, he moved his hands to his hips. “i could get you an exact number if you need? but i assume you mean working ones.” 

“a number of all of them would be nice.” regardless of if they worked or not, the number already seemed staggering. “but do most not work? kriff, with all these mechanics running about?” having such nice equipment that was unable to run was a pity, but she guessed that it might’ve been difficult to get certain repairs when they were still hiding away. eyes gleamed for a second at his complaint about a lack of pilots. she was a pilot... kind of? she liked to think she was, but rissa had yet to do some serious flying just yet. definitely none in battle. “you don’t have to get me numbers though, i was just wondering...” 

doubt was not a feeling that iden was used to, but the seeds had been planted a few weeks ago, and now she could not seem to shake that feeling that lingered in her mind, clinging like a bad sweater. seeing del again should have warmed her her heart, but none of this had gone exactly how she had planned. she didn’t know what to think about this – any of it, being alive, the first order, the fallen empire… nothing made sense any longer. her guard was down, which wasn’t like her. when the woman addressed her, her eyes darted over to the other, looking her over quickly and assessing for some kind of threat out of habit. iden tried to smile, but the expression faltered. “yes,” she nodded. though it was night, it wasn’t entirely dark. coruscant never was. “something about nighttime air is good for thinking.”

“agreed...” she sighed, the response calming her nerves just slightly although she was still a bit cautious of the other woman. she looked far more professional and stoic than rissa could be herself. judging based on first looks was never a good thing, but it was a defense nowadays. the smile of the stranger’s wasn’t exactly jovial, but rissa understood. while the two were in different head spaces, both had their individual thoughts and worries. rissa’s were all surrounding the current issues and the lack of direction or even use in her end. unsure if the other even wanted company, she remained quiet for a moment before speaking up again as she felt far better with less silence. “they say it’s dangerous out-”

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