09 || tatooine troubles

"THIS SHOULD BE INTERESTING."

MOS EISLEY, TATOOINE-

There was nothing to calm Kyra's nerves as she sat inside the bar on Tatooine, swirling her cup of spotchka in front of her nervously. Everything that was going on inside of the bar made her go onto high alert, carefully eyeing everyone who walked past her table.

This mission was everything to Ren.

Which was why she had to make sure that whatever information he wanted would never get to him this time.

The bar was not as crowded as she thought it'd be, the place having a few scattered customers, but no blasting music or crazy aliens looking for a fight with someone. Soft music from a cantina band played in the background, allowing a more calm mood to be set inside the bar.

The bar itself was an older one, beaten up and fading. The outside walls were showing some signs of cracks, as the countless dust and sandstorms slowly wormed their way into the cantina. There was always a small residue of sand everywhere, almost as if you couldn't escape the terrain outside.

The information from a First Order informant was supposed to be with the bartender, although Kyra wasn't sure if it actually was. The past couple of years taught her to trust no one, even if they were a "supporter of the First Order." More often than not, those people ended up as another mark in Kyra's skin, betraying the First Order for the glimmer of hope that the Resistance brought.

Giving another sigh, Kyra took another sip of her drink, tapping the table impatiently. She was hoping that the disguised signal from her usual spaceship that she had reached the Resistance channels that she knew lingered in between the First Order ones, and that they had sent someone to receive the information.

Of course, she would never lose that information on purpose.

That would be what she told Kylo Ren, at least.

The past few years for the girl had been filled with secretly slipping the Resistance information about what the First Order had been doing, trying to stop them from taking over the galaxy entirely.

Kyra still wasn't entirely sure why she did it, but something deep inside her knew it was the right thing to do. She didn't want other planets to end up the same way hers did- or come to have a fate even worse.

Hearing someone clear their throat, Kyra looked up to see the bartender in front of her table, seeing him somewhat annoyed. Almost trying to stop her eyes from rolling, she stared at him expectantly. "You have what Ren desires?" She droned out, bored of the usual standard that the missions the First Order leader now brought her.

"I assume this will stay in the correct hands." His eyes narrowed at her, his expression one that reminded Kyra of a snake. "I trust that the most skilled warrior of the First Order will see this to the proper hands."

Opening her palm expectantly, Kyra was handed a small strip of paper, the man then wrapping her fingers around it. His hand was cold, much like his demeanor.

"Of course."

"The Resistance has been lingering around this area, searching for signs of where the map could be, you know." The man continued, almost staring down the door. "They believe that the place where the famed Luke Skywalker grew up could be the clue."

"This is the place where Skywalker grew up?" Kyra questioned, surprised by the fact. She just assumed it was another planet for another mission- not one of important significance to the Resistance and the last Jedi.

"Yes. And where his father before him was raised. The man that we have become to know as Darth Vader. Many years of history lie on this planet, not all of it so happy." The bartender gave more background, his eyes narrowing in on Kyra again. "Although with your help, I'm sure that the First Order will be able to squash these hopes of a Resistance and ensure that the galaxy is under the rule of the First Order."

"Yes." Kyra muttered, not really even paying attention anymore. Her eyes were now looking down at her hand, where the name of a person was scrawled out, and location coordinates of the planet they were on. "The way that it should be."

Carefully watching the woman, he nodded his head, turned and walked away, satisfied with her answers that she would not be giving away this important information to the wrong parties and the fact that she had tucked it away into her top part of her mission suit for safekeeping.

Kyra gave a look of disgust as he turned his back to her. Looking behind her, she saw blast marks in the walls, probably a remnant from some blaster battle that happened some years before. Kyra started at it for a moment in curiosity, wondering why might have happened to cause it.

The cantina's doors slid open before Kyra could come up with a sound idea, causing her head to turn and stare at who walked inside.

And that person was Poe Dameron, the pilot from the Resistance.

His eyes immediately locked onto hers, and Kyra gave a small nod of recognition, almost a greeting to the man. She was already internally panicking,realizing that this wasn't going to be as easy as she thought. Kyra has assumed that it was going to be some random member of the Resistance, not the man who had been keen on tracking her down and helping her.

She still remembered the last time that they had truly interacted, him begging her to go with him to the Resistance and run away from the reign of the First Order. He had given her everything that she needed to escape, the docking bay and the ship with the coordinates to their base locked in. Dameron had told her to come with him, stand on the side of the light and be free.

She almost took his hand and joined him that day.

But the reminder that her friends 4236 and 6978 were still stuck inside the First Order made her stay, knowing that if she would leave, they would surely be punished for her actions.

Their eyes still remaining contact for a moment more, Kyra finished the rest of her spotchka, watching him go to the bar. Seeing him turn away towards the bar to order, she made a conscious decision to keep her blaster close and unlocked, ensuring that if anything bad happened, she could clean up the mess that she started.

Gracefully sweeping the cup into her hand, Kyra slid out from the table, walking to stand right next to Poe, who had just given his order to the bartender. She placed her cup on the table, not daring to look at him. If she did, it would surely give them both away.

"Where are your two sidekicks this time?" Poe questioned the double agent, curiously mocking her as she slid into the standing spot next to him. He gave her a cautious side eye, seeing that her eyes were locked upon him.

"Not here." Kyra gritted our, trying not to glare at the Resistance pilot. "I'm alone this time. Prefer to keep it that way. What I have is too important to have more people know about."

"And will you tell me what that certain thing is, Space Girl?"

"Not here." Kyra whispered, giving a quick look around her, seeing the familiar signs of First Order supporters obvious within the bar. There were too many to count, mixed in with the regular Republic members who just wanted a drink.

"Where to, then, Space Girl?" Poe muttered, grabbing his drink from the bartender and leaving a few coins down as payment. "There's not a lot of room to adventure here in this town."

"Just trust me, I know a place. Scouted it out before we got here." Kyra whispered back, placing her own payment down and giving a firm nod to the bartender. "Meet me outside as soon as you're finished. I'm assuming you've brought your droid with you-right?" Seeing a look of confirmation, Kyra smiled. "Good. I'll be outside- the droid's an important part of this too."

Turning her back to Poe, Kyra walked smoothly out of the bar, not even noticing the fact that the bartender was still staring straight at her- a message coded in his communicator to the First Order.

It was a few moments after that Poe walked out of the bar, hastily looking around for Kyra. She watched as he saw her, leaning against a wall of an old moisture farm right next to his droid, seemingly chatting with his droid pal.

"You ever gonna tell me what we came outside for, Space Girl?" The Resistance pilot sighed, running his hand through his hair hastily. He had run over from the bar area, annoyed at the small jog that he has to do in order to get to his droid and the double agent. Looking down at his droid, Poe gave a small smile as BB-8 chirped at him.

"There's too many First Order supporters inside. Couldn't exactly give you information that's supposed to go to the First Order when all eyes are on me." Kyra spoke bluntly, hearing the droid underneath her beep in agreement. "Your BB unit agrees with me."

Placing his hands on his hips, Poe gave an almost deadly stare to his droid. "You know, he already likes you. Suppose there's a reason for that. You're all business and no nonsense."

"Yeah, well I've learned there isn't much time for anything." Kyra grumbled, looking around at the people staring at them.

"What did you tell BB to do, exactly?" Poe questioned, arching an eyebrow at the double agent. "Because is you told my droid to do something wr-"

She abruptly grabbed Poe's hand, pulling him into the corridor that was in between buildings of the moisture farms on the outskirts of the trading post. "I didn't do anything to your droid. I just told your BB unit about what I was giving you and the coordinates, just in case you lose them on your way home." Kyra fished the piece of paper out of her top, where she had tucked it in. "I trust you'll get this to the right people inside the Resistance."

The paper was carefully slipped into Poe's hand, Kyra squeezing his hand before letting his fingers clasp around the paper. There was a spark of worry in her eyes, something that Kyra was trying to disguise- and not very well.

"This paper- everything on here- the First Order has been keen on getting this for years. Ren has ripped apart the galaxy to find this- whatever this is. All I know is that it involves Luke Skywalker and the Jedi." Kyra whispered, trying to keep the information somewhat close, always cautious about who could be watching or hearing them. "You can't let them get it."

"The General told me that it's a map to him. To Luke, at least." Poe stared into Kyra's eyes, seeing her eyes meet his, the woman quite a few inches shorter than him. "I don't know if the rumor about it being the map or not is correct, but-"

"If there's any remote chance that it is, you can't let Ren get his hands on it." Kyra pleaded, her hand grasping around his with the paper once again. "I've risked so much to give all of this information to the Resistance-" She stopped, unsure of her actions and the sudden rush of warmth that came through her when their hands made contact again. "Don't let Ren destroy everything in this galaxy."

There was something felt after that moment that caused the both of them to go silent. Neither was sure what it was- the fear and pressure of getting the job that both had risked so much to do or the intense emotions and the close quarters they were keeping.

Poe, seeing the nerves that were all around Kyra, grasped her hand between his two, something in his own hand pressing into hers. "I promise you we won't let this happen. You've stuck up for us from the inside for almost five years now. You're a part of us now."

Feeling Poe let go of her hand, Kyra opened her palm to see a small pin, the Resistance sign imprinted into the metal. Looking at the Resistance pilot, she was shocked that he would give her something that was so important to the Resistance- one of their signs of hope.

"It's my first pin I got when I joined the Resistance. They don't give them out anymore, but if you have one, any Resistance member can recognize that you mean business. If you ever need to run- if you ever get found out or something horrible happens- go to an outpost and wear it. Someone will find you. I'll find you." Poe reassured the girl, something inside of him blossoming up when he saw her give a small smile. It was a real and raw smile, one that he had never seen from their interactions.

She had always been cocky, putting on a demeanor as if they were enemies fighting for the same thing. Somehow she would always win, and the cycle would start again. Yet when Poe looked into her eyes, he couldn't see the First Order assassin and mission runner he was trying to track down anymore for the sake of the Resistance.

He saw her.

"Thank you." Kyra muttered, unsure of what else to say. Tucking the pin into the safest and most secure place that she could inside of her suit, Kyra looked up at Poe for another moment, smiling softly again. "I don't know how I could ever repay this back." She whispered, shoving her hands into her jacket in an almost unsure manner.

"Tell me your name."

"What?"

"Your name. I still don't know who you are, Space Girl." Poe gave a small chuckle, running his hand through his hair nervously. "It'll make these conversations much more easier than having to refer to you as Space Girl."

"Right." Kyra blushed, looking away almost nervously. She wasn't really sure why she was embarrassed by the fact that she had forgotten that the Resistance pilot didn't know her name in the spur of the moment. Trying to regain her composure, Kyra cleared her throat. "My name is-"

The stomping of boots interrupted Kyra's sentence, sounding quite like Stormtroopers on the ground. "Find the Resistance member. At all costs. We can't have him getting the information the First Order wants." The voice of a trooper echoed through the small alley where they were tucked away, the sound causing Kyra to go back on high alert.

"They're here for you." She swore under her breath, shaking her head. "The bartender must of let the First Order know that you were here." Looking out at the alleyway, Kyra peeked out to see where the troopers were at the moment, popping her head back in when she had a clear picture.

"If the bartender knows that I'm here, then he knows that you're probably in on whatever agenda I had here with me. We'll both be dead if we're found out." Poe muttered, worry flooding into his brain as he thought about what would happen if either of them were exposed.

"No. I won't let that happen. I won't let either of us get sold out by the First Order." Turning to Poe, Kyra kept a straight face. "If you're going to get out of here alive, I'm going to have to have you do three things for me."

"Me-" Poe stammered, confused as to why she would much rather go back to the First Order than escape with him on his X-Wing. "You're in so much more danger than I'm in!"

"Listen. You and your droid have a better chance of escaping together without me. I'm well known in the First Order. They'll know straight away." Kyra explained, giving a sigh as she pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. "Please, just do this for me. You know where the information that you have has to go."

"Okay." He muttered, conceding to the girl. "Let's do this. The faster we do this, the more chances we have to get out of here alive, right?"

"Right." Giving a worried wince, Kyra gave a hesitant smile to the Resistance pilot, knowing that what he was going to have to do to her was not going to be pleasant. "Listen to me very closely. We can't make any mistakes, unless you want to end up face down in the desert sands."

"So what do I have to do?"

"First, you're going to have to punch me in the face."

<~•~>

hey y'all sorry this took a while I've been a tad busy with coming back to school and everything

we're attempting to build up romance and utterly failing and we're also setting up chapters ten and eleven! which will be very fun, I assure you

anyways I think that's everything I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you in the next one!