The Adventures of Nomi Darklighter

Chapter 22 - Mission at Gall

Nomi missed Dash, but she knew that her fiancé's mission was vital, if not for the Alliance but for Princess Leia.

Two days after Rendar left, Wedge Antilles called the pilots of Rogue Squadron to the hangar bay. Nomi went there followed by Fuzzy, who beeped and whistled. He was the most talkative astromech droid the young woman ever met. But she began to get used to it and sometimes she understood him even without the X-wing's translator.
"Yes, you are right, it seems we will fly soon, Fuzzy," she said while walking through the hallways towards the frigate's hangar.
When they reached their destination the whole squad was gathered already. Commander Antilles leaned at his X-wing with his arms folded over the chest. As he saw Nomi and her droid enter he raised an eyebrow, unfolded his arms and began to speak.
"Now since we are all here, I'll tell you about our upcoming task," he paused for a moment until everybody's eyes were on him and the chatter ceased. Then he continued. "We received a message by Dash Rendar who saw Boba Fett's ship, the Slave I, at Gall. On the moon is a big Imperial garrison and so it won't be an easy task. Rogue Squadron should distract the Imps so Princess Leia, Chewie and Rendar can land their ships on Gall. The mercenary will bring them then to the location of Slave I. Are there any questions?"
He looked at his pilots expectantly, but nobody lifted a finger or made another sign that they wanted to speak up.
"Good. The course is fed to your nav computers already. Man your fighters and prepare to launch. May the Force be with us," he turned to his own fighter and climbed up the ladder.
The other pilots of Rogue Squadron entered their X-wings as well and after a quick preflight check they launched, shortly after they made the jump to hyperspace.
Nomi leaned back in her seat and tried to get comfortable in the cramped cockpit while Fuzzy in his socket whistled happily. It would be a rather long journey since Gall wasn't just around the corner.

Finally they reached their destination and fell back in real space. Nomi gasped seeing the Victory II – class Star Destroyer looming in striking distance. This was a bite they might be unable to chew. Wedge Antilles' voice startled her out of her musing.
"Not what I asked for, but you know the task ahead. Let us buy them time. May the Force be with us," Antilles said and prepared himself for combat.
Nomi and the other pilots set their S-foils to attack position and activated their target computers.
Fuzzy gave excited beeps and whistles and prepared as well for what would come. Nomi bit her lower lip, as she saw TIEs being launched. They knew that this Destroyer wasn't the only one at Gall. There was another one at the moons dayside and if it would come for reinforcement they would be done. But for now they were only facing the one in front of them and its fighter squads. This was more than enough, since they had to deal with superior forces.
It wasn't only this.

The Rogue Squadron pilots picked their targets. Everything went well so far until something odd happened.
"What are you doing, Rogue 6?" Luke's voice was heard over their headsets.
"It isn't my fault," the response came from Wes Janson. "My R2-unit went mad, it seems. It took over and I can't do anything."
Wedge cursed under his breath, as he saw Janson's fighter being in hot pursuit of Luke's firing wildly. Being tailed himself by an enemy fighter there was no way to help the pilot in distress. Also the other Rogue Squadron pilots were in dogfights themselves. Skywalker was on his own and in danger of being vaporized by a fellow pilot or rather the pilot's malfunctioning astromech.
Nomi crossed her fingers mentally while taking out the next enemy fighter.
"Good shot, Rogue 10," she heard her brother's voice. Gavin flew at her side and waggled his fighter's wings. "I've a lock on another one."
Her brother wasn't the only one she heard in her headset. Wes Janson's voice became more and more desperate as his X-wing was still out of control. Luke flew evasive maneuvers and thought about how to solve the issue without killing his fellow pilot. Finally he must have found a solution as Janson's fighter stopped tailing and shooting at him.
So far so good, but the mission of Rogue Squadron was nevertheless ill-fated.
"The second Destroyer will be in firing range soon and deploys its fighter squads already," Wedge said after he cast a glance at his readouts. "We must abandon the mission and retreat."
The same instant they heard Princess Leia's voice.
"Understood, Commander," there was a sad undertone in the woman's voice, since she saw the chance to rescue Han Solo began to dwindle.
"I'm sorry that we can't do more. May the Force be with you," then he turned his attention back to the task at hand. "Jump on my mark...three...two...one."
One by one the pilots of Rogue Squadron engaged their hyperdrives and made the jump, leaving the drifting debris of the recent battle behind.

Everybody hoped that they had bought enough time for the rescue party to reach Slave I, but back on base they learned that it wasn't the case. The crew of the Millennium Falcon had no chance against superior numbers when Dash Rendar headed for the Outrider and abandoned them. Boba Fett had escaped.
When they were alone, Nomi confronted the mercenary. She was furious about his behavior and the argument became heated quickly. The small woman stood in front of her fiancé and glared at him.
"Why have you left them alone? They could have died!" Nomi almost yelled at him and struggled to keep her temper in check.
Rendar looked down at her without a word. He was unable to understand why Nomi was this angry with him. He simply shrugged and let the rant wash over him. When the rebel pilot took a breath he was finally able to say something. Somehow he knew that Nomi wouldn't like what he had to say.
"They paid me for bringing them there, Nomi. Damn, more wasn't agreed on! It seems you've forgotten that I'm a mercenary! People get what they've paid for. No more, no less! If they expected me to fight for them, then they would have had to pay me for this! They haven't, so I left!"
A look in her eyes told him that his answer had hit her hard.
Nomi turned away so he was unable to see the tears which were on the brink of falling. This wasn't the man she believed to love. She had the feeling as if there was a stranger standing in her quarters.
"You still don't understand, Dash," she was finally able to say.
Rendar took her gently by the shoulders and turned her to face him. She lowered her gaze to the ground so he was unable to see the tears which were now streaming down her cheeks. He realized that he was about to lose the woman he loved. When he spoke he put all his love for her in his words.
"Please don't cry, Nomi. It...," he hesitated before he continued, since he wasn't used to apologizing. "It was wrong what I did at Gall and I'm sorry."
Then he cupped her chin gently and began to kiss her tears away.
Nomi resisted at first and tried to escape, but then she gave in to his endearment. Dash breathed a sigh of relief as he noticed that his fiancée responded to his kisses.