07 || corellia's confrontation

"HEY, SPACE GIRL, WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?"

CORELLIA, CORE WORLDS-

Corellia was a shit stain of a planet.

Kyra had to admit, even though the planet was under supposed First Order rule, it definitely didn't look like it. The calm order of everything on the Star Killer base was not reflected in the ratty streets of Corellia, where children dressed in scraps ran everywhere, begging for food. Waves of Stormtroopers scouted the streets of the dark city they were in, Coronet City.

"So this is where our next mission is?" 4236 muttered in Kyra's ear, dressed in his normal street clothing again, without his mask. It had been a couple of weeks since the last outing that he had been on with her, as they were advised to lay low until the Resistance had stopped their search for the girl spy. "Because this place is an even worse one than the last place- and that was on the Outer Rim."

"Ren said that the mission was to grab a hard drive with information that the First Order has gotten about our new Star Killer base. He didn't tell me much, but from what I heard, it's for a new plan of the base- the completed version of the base." Kyra muttered back. This time around, only 4236 was with her, this mission much more easier than the last. 6978 had stayed with the ship, ensuring that no one stole it.

Plus, if any of the Resistance were here and that pilot had shared the information, he would've only been able to identify 6978. Which was a plus for the mission they were in.

Checking the sights of the crowded capital of the planet, Kyra just saw a busy marketplace, stalls tucked in between repair shops and messy alleyways. She couldn't take her eyes off of the children that continues to weave their way through the big crowds, hoping to snag or steal some food from a clueless traveler or trader.

The sights, sounds, and smells of the place were very overwhelming. Nothing she had ever experienced in her life was as chaotic or busy as this. Everything was so jam packed, so busy. There was a hustle and bustle about this place that was nothing in comparison to the home planet she had grown up on or the Star Killer and Destroyer bases she had spent her time on with the First Order.

It took a moment for Kyra to notice that she had bumped into a small girl, thin and dirty. Her eyes were filled with the same kind of dreamy and far off look that she had as a kid- except her hands were full of Kyra's money bag that she had swiped off of her.

The young girl was caught red-handed, like a kid in a cookie jar. Her cheeks were flushed red, almost embarrassed that she had been caught in the middle of a crime. She looked as if she was about to stutter something out, but wasn't, scared of what the woman donned in all black with a scary man by her side would do to her.

Looking down at the girl, who was staring up at the taller woman in fear, Kyra squatted down to meet her height. Carefully taking the bag from the girl, she opened the bag, taking out more than enough coins to make sure that the girl was well fed. Placing the coins into the girl's hands, Kyra made sure her small fingers were wrapped around the precious gift.

"If you needed the money, you could've just asked." Kyra ruffled the girl's hair carefully, looking around at the filthy surroundings. "I know this place isn't the most grand to grow up in, so take it. It should be enough for you and whatever friends that you have."

The girl's small expression of joy was enough to make Kyra's money being given away worth it. She gave a small smile, squeezing Kyra's hand before ripping away eye contact with her. A sparkle came to her eyes as she ran off, probably to spend the coins on much needed food.

"You probably shouldn't have done that, Princess." 4236 grumbled as he watched Kyra rise from her spot, earning a glare from the young woman. "Just from my experience, those kids don't do much with that money."

"Some money is better than none." Kyra disagreed, shrugging her shoulders as she watched the girl run away. Her eyes following the girl, she made eye contact with some that she thought seemed familiar, but she looked away before she could identify them. "Besides, you never know what they're going to do with that money."

Offering an impartial look, 4236 just sighed. He scanned the area once again, finding nothing but busy crowds- one of the things that he hated the most. "So, where's this person with the drive supposed to be? Somewhere inside of this marketplace?"

"Ren told me that he'd be in an old Imperial scrap shop. It's somewhere towards the west side of the marketplace we're in." The girl pointed to a more west side of the market, trying to see if she could find the sign of the place. "Odnam Smith Shop."

"Alright then. Let's head west." 4236 agreed, starting to walk towards the west side of the marketplace. The two were at the heart of the Coronet City market, four different hallways branching off into the different areas of the marketplace. Kyra and 4236 had landed the ship with 6978 on the south side, so they had to turn left at the center place.

Walking a couple more paces, Kyra gave a small sigh as she scanned the west part of the marketplace, still not finding the sign. "You spot it yet? I can't see it." She grumbled, trying to weave your way through the crowd.

"That's because you're too short, Princess. What are you, like 5 feet?" 4236 laughed, ruffling Kyra's unkempt hair, which was not in her signature ponytail. Looking over the crowd ( as 4236 was at least a foot taller than Kyra), 4236 tried to spot the sign she was looking for.

"5'3." Kyra groaned, looking up in hatred at 4236. "I'm not that short." She muttered, trying to jump up and see the sign. Her jump earned a laugh from 4236, who just shook his head and pressed on through the crowd.

As the two made their way through the western hallway, the crowds became less and less. The hallways got more open, markets less sparse. The alleyways were darker down this area- definitely the place to do black market deals or trades regarding the Resistance. There weren't as many Stormtroopers in this section, almost as if they didn't want to know what was going on in this section.

A couple more market stalls down, 4236 stopped, finding some faded words scratched upon a building, just on the corner before the marketplace stopped. "Well, Princess, I guess that this is the stop." Pointing up at the sign, Kyra saw the sign-

"Odnam Smith Shop"

"Guess so." Kyra muttered, seeing the open doorway. A rag curtain barely protected the inside of the building, the girl brushing the cloth away to reveal the inside of the Smith Shop. It was dark, light from a forge inside barely lighting up the inside. Another curtain was at the back of the building, disguising what Kyra assumed was another room for the worker.

Looking around for a moment, Kyra saw nothing but an empty workroom, the fire from the forge and its embers casting an orange-reddish light over the place. Unfinished pieces of work laid across the tables, the smell of smoke curling up and hitting Kyra's nose. The strong scent made Kyra recoil, causing her to bump into a tool in the shop, the item clattering to the ground with a large bang.

"Shit." Kyra whispered, trying to hastily pick up the piece and place it back on the table. Glancing back at 4236, he just shook his head in exasperation at the girl, complexed as to how she was even stupid enough to knock the item over, what with her ability as a spy and all.

Someone inside of the shop recognized that there was a fuss in the forge room, and walked inside to see two strangers inside the store. The man was on the older side, their eyes barely able to detect who came in. When they realized who was inside, their eyes widened. "They told me to expect you, Solani. But I didn't expect for you to be so young."

Kyra's nose scrunched up at the name Solani, the reminder of her awful code name and the carnage she brought with it something not flattering for her to remember. "Yeah, well, some of us don't really get the privilege of living a life that we want for ourselves." She shot back, crossing her arms in a cool kind of rage. "All things aside, I hope you do have what we came for."

The man seemed to be a tad insulted with her behavior, shaking his head before leading the girl to the second area of the small smith shop, making sure that 4236 didn't follow them as he did. Shutting the curtain behind him, the man gripped his tool belt and pulled something out of the right pocket. "I still don't understand why your First Order wanted me to work on this project, but there are two hard drives, one with the original plans that your First Order gave me that are flawed, and the corrected ones." The workshop man walked over to where Kyra was, opening the palm of her hand and clasping it shut with the drives inside, reminiscent of the way that she had wrapped the coins inside of the girl's hand a few minutes earlier.

"And you're assuring me that these are the correct ones?" Kyra questioned the man, knowing that you would never be too safe when dealing with outside forces. "You haven't sold us out to the Resistance in the process of achieving these blueprints for the First Order?"

The man shook his head, almost sighing at the girl's overbearing nature. "Girl, in my old age, I've seen empires rise and fall. By now, I've learned that it is best to not mess with the ways of the Dark Side and the forces they bring with them. If I wanted death to be on my side, I would've called the Resistance. And no one wants death to be on their side in a time like this. Red one is the original, and the black one is corrected."

Giving one last long and lingering look at the man, Kyra saw the shadows of a man who once had hopes and dreams like she did, crushed by the countless evil regimes that had ruled the galaxy for years. She saw that same desire to break free of the chains the First Order held her in, but the same saddened expression that showed that there would be no escape. Grasping the drive carefully, Kyra gave a respectful nod, trying to apologize for her crude behavior if she could.

"Thank you for your service towards the First Order." She barely whispered out, not being able to say the words herself. Not wanting to look at the man any longer, Kyra turned away from him, walking out of the back part of the shop. What she saw was upsetting- a concerned look on 4236's face.

"What now?"

"That little blacksmith back there? He lied to you, Princess. 6978 just told me that he saw some Resistance members walking into the marketplace from his station on the ship- and one of them is that pilot that you outsmarted in the bar. That smith lied to you, using a similar story to get us apprehended by the Resistance." 4236 informed Kyra, seeing her face fall in an instant. "That means he betrayed the First Order. And you know what we have to do to traitors."

Kyra didn't want to do what happened next. She really didn't. But if she was to survive, if she were to ever get anywhere that would allow her an opportunity to escape somewhere far beyond the First Order's clutches, she would have to make this sacrifice in order to do so. Taking one of the hard drives, Kyra tucked it into 4236's pouch, offering him one of her two blasters and a knife. She stuffed the correct hard drive with the information for the First Order inside of his pouch.. "Take this. After I cause the distraction outside, go out the back entrance where the workers come in for their tasks, and run to the ship. I'm sure 6978 already has the ship running for our getaway, but be prepared for immediate takeoff when I get there."

"And you'll tie up the loose ends?"

"With the original hard drive and the false information on it, I can use it as bait for the Resistance. And as for the other thing? I'm already getting it resolved." Kyra swallowed down the fear in her throat, prepping her blaster and turning the safety off. Walking into the next room, she tucked behind the curtain, her eyes following up to where the man stood, his back facing her.

"I knew you would return for me."

"What did you expect, ratting us out to the Resistance? I expected an old man like you to be wise with your decisions, not be foolish and irrational with them." Kyra held her blaster steadily at the man, not knowing what to expect. If he pulled out a weapon himself, she had to be ready to shoot first. "After all, you did say that you would not prefer to be on death's side."

"Being a part of the First Order's schemes is to be on death's side." The man turned around, now face to face with Kyra, making her hands shake. "Although I suppose you already knew that. Didn't you, Solani?"

Her hands trembling even more than before, Kyra advanced upon the man, walking closer and closer with each step, ensuring that her gun never left where she was intending to aim. She tried to block out what he was saying, and all the memories that they brought with it- but his words only caused her nerves to be even more on edge.

"All the planets you burned to the ground. The lives you killed because they were a threat to your precious First Order. The innocent lives that you slandered due to their sensitivity to a magical aura that no one is sure even exists to this day." The man spat at her, getting more hostile with every word as she approached closer and closer.

"You, you are a coward. Too afraid to stand up on your own so you run away to follow your leader, willing to kill and kill and kill so that you don't have to face the truth. You are a mons-"

The familiar noise of a blaster resounded through the blacksmith shop.

There were tears in her eyes as Kyra shot the blaster, turning her head to look away as the familiar sound of a body hitting the floor rang in her ears. Her eyes still clasped shut, Kyra fell into the rhythmic routine of turning the safety back on her blaster and sliding it into her weapons belt. Wiping away the traces of her tears, Kyra stepped into the next room, finding 4236 waiting for her.

He was holding the inked knife she always had him carry around, hidden away so that no one would be able to figure out how the markings on her arm appeared- or who helped her get them in the first place. A sad look was on 4236's face as he watched her sit down in front of him, and take off her leather jacket and mission suit top.

The man didn't falter at seeing her only in her undergarment of a sports bra-like covering, instead finding where they had last left off their count on her right shoulder. Looking up at her for a moment, the two made eye contact for a moment, Kyra nodding her head at the trooper before staring at the now empty blacksmith shop.

A new mark was carved into her skin seamlessly, and without any words spoken between the two afterwards, Kyra placed her mission clothes on again, giving a squeeze of luck to 4236 on the shoulder and a quick trade of which drive he had (without him noticing) before watching him depart out of the back of the shop, finding no trouble come to him.

Her arm still throbbing from the new mark, Kyra opened the curtain back to the real world, stepping out to feel the familiar pressure of a blaster against her head. "I had a feeling you were going to camp right outside of the entrance." She clicked her tongue in disappointment, turning her head to see a random Resistance fighter holding the gun up at her, arching an eyebrow at him. "You all weren't really that dumb as to only bring two of you, were you?" She asked, earning no response from the fighter.

Kyra gave a sigh, moving her arm slowly down to her weapons belt, pulling out the seaglass knife, rapidly knocking the blaster out of the man's grasp. Watching it fly up into the air, it took a split second for the girl to grab it and point it at the Resistance member, who stood there shell shocked. "Wonder who's being threatened now." She laughed, knocking him over the head unconscious with the blaster.

Within seconds, Kyra had another blast coming at her, from somewhere down the end of the West Hallway. Turning to see who it was, her eyes fell upon the Resistance pilot that she had outsmarted the last time she had an encounter with the Rebel forces.

Not bothering to even shoot back, Kyra flashed a smile at him before looking up above her, finding an easy way up the building. Her eyes scanning the best possible route, she flitted her gaze back over to where Poe stood, finding him rushing over to her.

Placing her feet on some delivery boxes in front of the shop, Kyra swung up to the small rock awning above the entrance to the black smith shop, kicking down the box she had used to access the roof as she did so.

No Resistance members would be following her trail.

With an almost grace, Kyra scaled to the top of the building, looking down to find an irritated Poe speaking into his comms. Scanning the area around her, Kyra saw that all of the buildings connected, or had small alleyways she could leap over until she got back to where she started- the south side of the Coronet City's marketplace.

Starting to run across the tops of the dull monotonous grey buildings, Kyra caught the eyes of the marketplace goers below as she leaped over alleyways in the western hallway of the marketplace, not finding a stop to rest at. The wind was whistling in her ears, her higher altitude making the weather a little more intense than it had been on the ground, the cold a little bit more hostile than it had been on ground level. Poe still trailed her, and Kyra was certain that there would be more Resistance fighters coming in to ambush her soon. Grabbing her blaster out of her tool belt, Kyra turned around for a quick shot at Poe, trying to distract him.

Her shot ricocheted back against the buildings around the Resistance pilot, causing him to tear his eyes away from the First Order spy, allowing her to jump into an alleyway, landing safely. Kyra looked around her for a moment before bounding out of the hallway, leaping out into a full on sprint. She couldn't let the man beat her to her location.

Turning around to check where the Resistance pilot was at, Kyra saw him nowhere in sight, allowing for the girl to let out a relieved laugh of joy as she turned down the Southern hallway of the marketplace. Slowing down her pace, Kyra tried to blend in with the now increasing crowds, keeping her head tucked down low.

Her eyes, however, couldn't linger long in one spot. Anxious to make sure that no Resistance person was watching her on where she was going, Kyra kept scanning the market for any conspicuous activity. However, Kyra's eyes fell upon something different instead. The young girl that she had seen earlier was staring at her from across the way.

Jostling her way through the crowds, Kyra came and squatted in front of the girl again. Flashing a small smile at her, Kyra pulled out a few coins to give to the small peasant girl. She dropped them into her hand, almost letting the girl get away before a thought sprung into her head, the last words of the blacksmith still ringing in her ears.

"You are a coward. Too afraid to stand up on your own so you run away to follow your leader, willing to kill and kill and kill so that you don't have to face the truth."

There was no good inside of her anymore, no innocence or purity that would allow her to be redeemed. Kyra knew that. But if she could make a difference this time, make a choice that would change the way that the First Order would go about their business-

Maybe this time around, Kyra wouldn't have to kill anyone anymore.

Maybe this time, Kyra could help stop the carnage that she kept leaving behind her, all in the name of the First Order.

Taking the drive out of the place she had tucked it int, Kyra handed it to the little girl, her eyes taking upon a serious glaze as she wrapped the little Corellian girl's tiny and grubby fingers around the drive. "I need you to do something for me." She whispered, something in her tone making the little girl immediately trust her. "Can you do it?"

When she got a nod of confirmation from the Corellian, Kyra's smile grew even bigger. "Great." Leaning in closer to the girl, Kyra cupped her hand around the ear of the child, as if she was telling her the biggest secret to ever be kept. "Here's what you're going to do..."

POE was upset.

At this point, he had lost the First Order spy twice, letting her slip through his grasp. Or, in this case, letting her melt back into the crowds of the busy marketplace. Barely able to catch his breath, Poe pocketed his blaster, ready to talk into his comms about the loss of Space Girl when he felt a tugging at his pants leg.

Looking down at the young Corellian, Poe saw a girl covered in the grime and grit, someone just looking to get by. He felt sympathy for her, however, and leaned down to open his purse strings and give her a few credits. However, before he could, the young girl spoke.

"You don't need to give me money." She slowly and cautiously spoke, one of her hands curled up into a tight fist, almost as if she was holding onto something. Poe was curious as to what it was, but he wasn't going to press the young girl about it if she didn't want to be asked about it.

"Then what can I do for you, kiddo?"

"Are you Poe Dameron the Resistance Pilot?" The young girl asked him, her words drawn out slowly as she raised her fist at him, unraveling her hand to reveal a wrapped black drive with a First Order insignia to him, holding it out to him.

Looking at the drive in shock, Poe carefully picked it up, placing it inside of his leather jacket, making sure that it was secure before he spoke again. "That, I am. What can I do for you, other than keeping this safe for you?"

"Take it to the Resistance."

"And who is this gift from?" Poe asked the girl, clasping her hand shut again with the softest of care, letting her hand rest down by his side. Taking in a deep breath, Poe tried to process everything that had just happened to him and what was happening to him all at once. "Kiddo, who exactly gave you this black First Order hard drive?"

"She said you'd know her as Space Girl."

Poe's breath hitched.

"And what did she say this drive contained?"

"The plans for a new Death Star."

<~•~>

ok so my update schedule has gone down the drain even though it's break

what did I do instead of write?

bake a cake

clown? me

🤡🤡

anyways I don't think there's much to talk about. the wheels are turning on someone's slow character arc and we're learning more about our characters!

I would also like to recognize remuslupout for yet again stunning me with some gifs, this time they're for the epigraph of this book, so I'd recommend you go look at those! they're absolutely amazing!

I hope you guys enjoyed this one!