[the quiet isn't unusual. people tend to go a little silent when they find out he's intelligence, because even though it says nothing in detail, it opens the door to ideas. intelligence agents are like shadows.]
The Pathfinders are invaluable.
[cassian just sort of...looks at poe for a second, trying to imagine him doing any kind of undercover or intelligence work. it's literally impossible. he wears his heart on his sleeve.]
[of course he blew everything up.]
The only time it's a good thing to end with an explosion is if that is the end goal, you realize.
[ Poe sits up a little straighter at Cassian's declaration. Not that he didn't always think that himself, not that he won't consider his parents' service invaluable until his own dying day, but it's different to hear it from someone who was there that his father's contribution is valued.]
It usually worked out.
[ Except for that last time on Jakku. But hey who talks about that certainly not Poe.
[the pathfinders did a lot of the gritty and dangerous work on the frontlines. cassian absolutely utilized them when he deemed it necessary.]
[he stares again though. who tf put this man on a covert mission?]
'Usually' does not inspire much confidence. [there is maybe a little judging. or a lot. he is basically a super spy, okaY!!] I hope you did not do it often.
[that's a familiar round of logic, except cassian usually applies the no choice sentiment before a murder. self defense. they needed to die. for information, for the rebellion, for cassian himself to live.]
[he takes another sip of his drink, and his next words are dry.] There never seems to be much of a choice.
It may not really be a matter of what I want at this point anymore.
[there are THREE people from the future and he's already gleaned that even though the empire is gone, it's not... over. not really. it's disheartening, and he's been putting it off, as much as his compulsive need to know things fights against hiding from it.]
You have the right to say no. To keep us at a distance. If you want the three of us to stay away from you for however long we're here, we'll do it. You've earned that, more than earned it.
The only thing I earned from my death was being dead. The future should not have come to us at all. There are a lot of things I may not want but happen anyway.
She didn't want to put that on you. She wanted to protect you both. [ A small, sad smile. ] She does that.
But no. They're not just a fringe group. They might have started that way--might have stayed that way if the New Republic had done something--but no one wanted a fresh war. The First Order had thirty years to turn into something a lot bigger, a lot worse, and a lot better funded than anyone in the New Republic wanted to believe was possible.
[ It's... pretty obvious, how miserable Poe is talking about the New Republic's failings. He served them. He loved them. He was proud to be an officer in the New Republic Navy, right up until he learned their own senators were funding the First Order's activities. He tells Cassian that, too. About his tracking of the ship that the First Order hijacked, going AWOL, his recruitment by Leia, the capture of the Hevurian Grace. ] I'd been trying to get the New Republic Navy to do something about it for years. Appeal to the Senators. Form a commission. Investigate, broaden our protections of shipping lanes, something.
[ He thumps his fist lightly against the bar. ] Leia was the only one taking action. So that's where I went. That's where we all ended up, me and Finn and Rey.
[pointless, is his very first thought. what was the point of committing his entire life into stopping the empire if it didn't even last? he knocks back the rest of his drink in a few large gulps to stave off those feelings.]
[he recognizes poe is very upset about these matters just the same, and he tries to focus on that instead of his own thoughts too.]
I suspected it was not something quite so fringe, given their use of stormtroopers. [but he kind of wanted to pretend, at least for a little while.] There is only so much bureaucracy and official channels can do. I saw it in my work, and I saw it in the Rebellion even in my time.
My dad was afraid. [ It shocks Poe that he's even admitting this, that he would draw out a memory so private to share with a near stranger. ] When I was little, he told me he was afraid that everything he'd done would be for nothing.
[ Poe's jaw twitches around clenched teeth. He won't let that be true. He will die before he lets that be true.
The mention of Leia's last name draws his attention, though. As though he could have been referring to any other Leia. ]
[suddenly cassian feels almost afraid too. did he die for nothing? the death star was destroyed, he helped to stop the empire from growing even more powerful but... it was not fully extinguished. he supposes that wasn't the best hope to have, because he's realistic about the political nature of imperialism and resistance, but it was supposed to last more than just thirty years. it was supposed to do more.]
[he shoves it all down, or at least he tries, signaling for another drink and focusing on the organas. that seems easier.]
I knew her father more. Bail Organa was instrumental to the Rebellion, all right under the Empire's nose.
[ There was, he mentally corrects himself, his stomach twisting. But they agreed, they all agreed: Cassian and Jyn will never know about Starkiller Base. ]
[statue implies he's died, but he doesn't even want to ask how or when right now. thirty years is a long time, with a lot of possibilities.]
That suits him. [he always hoped to bring back the senate, always participated even when draven thought it stupid.] I am not surprised his daughter would follow in his footsteps.
[it's just upsetting that she had to, in two separate wars. is it better to be in one long continuous battle until you die, or to experience and lose peace as an interim between two?]
[ Poe couldn't be prouder to serve Leia Organa, and as usual, there's absolutely no disguising that. ] She has. Leia Organa is and will always be a hero. She's the best leader we could ask for.
[he saw signs of her fire in their few and brief interactions, but leia was so young. he supposes that doesn't make much of a difference. she was what, eighteen or so the last time he saw her? he was already killing people at that age.]
It's good to know the resistance remains in capable hands.
[there are always things he wants to ask, always things he wants to know. it's a compulsion that lives even outside spy stuff. maybe he would rather be ignorant to details so he can pretend he didn't die for no fucking reason, but he knows that would drive him crazy to just run on assumptions.]
How long? [he pauses. he should be more specific.] How long have they been a threat? How long have you been fighting?
It hurts, to answer this question. It hurts to admit how deeply the New Republic failed those it was meant to protect. ]
The General has been fighting them outside the bounds of the New Republic since she discovered their existence six years ago. They started operating openly about five years ago. We've been at open war with them for... [ Poe smiles bitterly. ] About a week.
[six years feels like a long time in theory. he supposes it would be, when you're used to peace, but cassian doesn't really remember existing in a space that wasn't wrapped up in empires or fighting, so six years is... almost a relief. open war has only just begun. only six years in the shadows, not twenty.]
She got a head start then. [the rebellion as most people think of it hadn't really started until after the empire was made official. sure there were mumblings, separatists who never stopped, but the alliance took a very long time to build.]
[he can see how bitter it makes poe though.] Something like the Empire, if not stomped out completely, can fester in the embers. I hope your war does not last as long as mine did.
She didn't. [ If she'd gotten a head start, Finn and thousands like him never would have been taken and turned into cannon fodder. If she'd gotten a head start, there would be more than four hundred-odd Resistance fighters facing down legions. If she'd gotten a head start the twelve billion souls in the Hosnian System might still be alive.
"What're you afraid of now?"
"That it was all for nothing."
He flags the bartender and pushes his half-finished glass lightly across the polished wood. ] I'll take some gin in that, actually.
[ She gives him a sharp look, and smiles at her. ] Just a little.
[she didn't. it raises more questions. he wants to ask immediately, that old instinct to just know know know.]
[but he's already dealing with a massive sense of failure and waste and he's not sure he wants to add any more right now. he wants to go back home and talk to jyn, but he also doesn't want to put this on her too. he will, of course, because he can't fathom keeping it from her, but everything just happens so much, and they can't catch a break.]
[the bartender brings back over both their new drinks and cassian immediately swallows down at least a third of it.]
Well. Rebellions are built on hope. [he manages to make it sound both genuinely hopeful and a little bitter at the same time.] It can go a long way.
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The Pathfinders are invaluable.
[cassian just sort of...looks at poe for a second, trying to imagine him doing any kind of undercover or intelligence work. it's literally impossible. he wears his heart on his sleeve.]
[of course he blew everything up.]
The only time it's a good thing to end with an explosion is if that is the end goal, you realize.
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It usually worked out.
[ Except for that last time on Jakku. But hey who talks about that certainly not Poe.
Don't judge him Cassian gosh. ]
I said I did it, I never said I was good at it.
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[he stares again though. who tf put this man on a covert mission?]
'Usually' does not inspire much confidence. [there is maybe a little judging. or a lot. he is basically a super spy, okaY!!] I hope you did not do it often.
[kanyeshrug tbh.]
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He looks away from Cassian and lifts his drink, studying the lime at the bottom without taking a sip. ] Didn't have much of a choice at the time.
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[he takes another sip of his drink, and his next words are dry.] There never seems to be much of a choice.
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How much do you want to know about the future?
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[there are THREE people from the future and he's already gleaned that even though the empire is gone, it's not... over. not really. it's disheartening, and he's been putting it off, as much as his compulsive need to know things fights against hiding from it.]
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You have the right to say no. To keep us at a distance. If you want the three of us to stay away from you for however long we're here, we'll do it. You've earned that, more than earned it.
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[don't make him ADMIT he likes people, god poe.]
The only thing I earned from my death was being dead. The future should not have come to us at all. There are a lot of things I may not want but happen anyway.
You don't have to keep secrets on my account.
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Softly: ] Okay.
Rey said she mentioned the First Order.
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Let me guess, they are more of a threat than she had me believe.
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But no. They're not just a fringe group. They might have started that way--might have stayed that way if the New Republic had done something--but no one wanted a fresh war. The First Order had thirty years to turn into something a lot bigger, a lot worse, and a lot better funded than anyone in the New Republic wanted to believe was possible.
[ It's... pretty obvious, how miserable Poe is talking about the New Republic's failings. He served them. He loved them. He was proud to be an officer in the New Republic Navy, right up until he learned their own senators were funding the First Order's activities. He tells Cassian that, too. About his tracking of the ship that the First Order hijacked, going AWOL, his recruitment by Leia, the capture of the Hevurian Grace. ] I'd been trying to get the New Republic Navy to do something about it for years. Appeal to the Senators. Form a commission. Investigate, broaden our protections of shipping lanes, something.
[ He thumps his fist lightly against the bar. ] Leia was the only one taking action. So that's where I went. That's where we all ended up, me and Finn and Rey.
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[he recognizes poe is very upset about these matters just the same, and he tries to focus on that instead of his own thoughts too.]
I suspected it was not something quite so fringe, given their use of stormtroopers. [but he kind of wanted to pretend, at least for a little while.] There is only so much bureaucracy and official channels can do. I saw it in my work, and I saw it in the Rebellion even in my time.
[a beat.] Leia... Organa?
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[ Poe's jaw twitches around clenched teeth. He won't let that be true. He will die before he lets that be true.
The mention of Leia's last name draws his attention, though. As though he could have been referring to any other Leia. ]
General Organa. Yeah.
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[he shoves it all down, or at least he tries, signaling for another drink and focusing on the organas. that seems easier.]
I knew her father more. Bail Organa was instrumental to the Rebellion, all right under the Empire's nose.
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[ There was, he mentally corrects himself, his stomach twisting. But they agreed, they all agreed: Cassian and Jyn will never know about Starkiller Base. ]
Right outside the Senate building.
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That suits him. [he always hoped to bring back the senate, always participated even when draven thought it stupid.] I am not surprised his daughter would follow in his footsteps.
[it's just upsetting that she had to, in two separate wars. is it better to be in one long continuous battle until you die, or to experience and lose peace as an interim between two?]
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It's good to know the resistance remains in capable hands.
[there is that much good news, at least.]
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Is there anything you want to ask?
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How long? [he pauses. he should be more specific.] How long have they been a threat? How long have you been fighting?
[when did this new war begin?]
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It hurts, to answer this question. It hurts to admit how deeply the New Republic failed those it was meant to protect. ]
The General has been fighting them outside the bounds of the New Republic since she discovered their existence six years ago. They started operating openly about five years ago. We've been at open war with them for... [ Poe smiles bitterly. ] About a week.
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She got a head start then. [the rebellion as most people think of it hadn't really started until after the empire was made official. sure there were mumblings, separatists who never stopped, but the alliance took a very long time to build.]
[he can see how bitter it makes poe though.] Something like the Empire, if not stomped out completely, can fester in the embers. I hope your war does not last as long as mine did.
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"What're you afraid of now?"
"That it was all for nothing."
He flags the bartender and pushes his half-finished glass lightly across the polished wood. ] I'll take some gin in that, actually.
[ She gives him a sharp look, and smiles at her. ] Just a little.
[ To Cassian, he says: ] I hope so, too.
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[but he's already dealing with a massive sense of failure and waste and he's not sure he wants to add any more right now. he wants to go back home and talk to jyn, but he also doesn't want to put this on her too. he will, of course, because he can't fathom keeping it from her, but everything just happens so much, and they can't catch a break.]
[the bartender brings back over both their new drinks and cassian immediately swallows down at least a third of it.]
Well. Rebellions are built on hope. [he manages to make it sound both genuinely hopeful and a little bitter at the same time.] It can go a long way.
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