The Adventures of Nomi Darklighter

Chapter 37 - Imperial Mine Complex

Dash had moved into Nomi's quarters with bag and baggage. It would have been rather cramped with two humans and their droids, but Leebo agreed to stay onboard the Outrider.

Nomi was happy to have the man she loved around, but it wasn't all roses.
The former mercenary had developed an over protectiveness if it came to his fiancée. It began to go on her nerves.
She just crawled in her X-wing's service access, when Dash yelled at her.
"Nomi!"
The young woman was startled and hit her head on the ceiling. Slowly she crawled out of the confined space, wiped her greasy hands at her coverall and glared at Dash. The man was totally unimpressed by this and looked down at her.
"What are you doing here?" He asked with a worried undertone, which caused the pilot to roll her eyes.
She was well aware of the curious glances by her comrades and their chuckles. Nomi really hated to draw derision.
"Maintaining my fighter as every pilot does," she said and her annoyance was palpable. "I'm still able to fly in combat so I can do this as well. There is no need to pamper me. I'm pregnant, not sick."
She turned, grabbed a hydrospanner and crawled in the service access again.
Dash sighed and noticed then that everybody in the hangar was looking at him. He shrugged and went over to his newly assigned X-wing where his astromech was waiting for him. The droid whistled questioningly, but the stare given by his master let it fall silent. The Rogue Squadron pilot was glad that the droid wasn't as insistent as Nomi's Fuzzy or his own faithful companion Leebo. He touched the starfighter's hull which he would fly in combat.

Nomi Darklighter had just finished her work, when Commander Antilles entered the hangar and climbed on a crate. He cleared his throat to have his squad members' attention, who gathered in front of him.
"It seems we will have a new assignment, Rogues. We are ordered to come into the briefing room at 1100."
There was a hubbub when he jumped down and left the hangar. Many of the pilots made assumptions about the upcoming assignment. Every single one of them was itching for action. Their downtime has been too long already.

When it was time, the pilots of Rogue Squadron made their way to the briefing room where Admiral Ackbar and General Madine were waiting for them already. After everybody had taken a seat, Admiral Ackbar activated the holoprojector and dimmed the light. The projection showed an asteroid field with red dots. From experience the pilots knew that the dots represented either enemy fighters or something else which would be unfriendly.
"Our Bothan spies were able to locate a secret Imperial mine complex. There they mine ore which is vital for the construction of weapons and other war materials. The complex itself isn't heavily fortified, so it will be easy to destroy."
There was a murmur amongst those gathered, until the admiral made a hand sign to silence them.
"But what will be difficult is the way in, since the asteroid field you see here is mined. It is very important that this mission is successful. This mine complex is the main source for the basic component of durasteel. If it is destroyed the Empire will have massive supply issues." The admiral sat down and General Madine took the word.
"We would have sent SpecOps, but they aren't such skilled pilots like you and your squad, Commander Antilles."
Wedge nodded his head thoughtfully. He knew that most of his pilots had experience with flights through an asteroid field back then from Hoth, but a mined one would be a challenge.
"Therefore I suggested Rogue Squadron to General Madine," the admiral said and inclined his head slightly to the man standing at his side.
"It's doable, Sirs, but it won't be easy and the odds are high that not everyone will come back. Because of this I want to exempt Lieutenant Darklighter from this mission. She is pregnant and unable to manage such a dangerous flight, in my opinion."
Nomi frowned upon hearing this and couldn't believe that Wedge wanted to leave her behind if it came to a mission. She raised her hand.
"Yes, Lieutenant?" Admiral Ackbar recognized her request to speak.
"With all due respect, Sirs, I don't want to be exempt from this mission. I didn't join the Alliance to be left behind. Yes, I'm pregnant, but I'm still able to do my duty in Rogue Squadron and I have experience if it comes to flying through an asteroid field," she said and cast a glance at Dash, being unsure if he would understand.
But her fiancé kept his mouth shut this time.
It took a while, but then Admiral Ackbar spoke again, after he had made up his mind.
"So be it. Lieutenant Darklighter will take part in this mission. You will leave in 1 standard hour. In the meantime the coordinates will be fed to your nav computers. May the Force be with you...dismissed."
The pilots stood up and left the briefing room to prepare for the upcoming mission.