The Adventures of Nomi Darklighter

Chapter 53 - Things always seem to happen when you least expect them

All was quiet on the base and the pilots of Rogue Squadron had nothing to do but combat drills.

Nomi and Dash had just landed their X-wings when they saw Leia, Han and Chewbacca boarding the Millennium Falcon. Luke was about to follow them when he saw the two pilots and walked over to them.
"Glad to see you both before I leave," the young Jedi said with a smile.
"Where are you going, Luke?"
Nomi looked at her childhood friend curiously.
"We're invited by Lando. After the Empire was driven out, he's back in Cloud City," Luke Skywalker replied.
Dash wrapped his arm around his wife's waist.
"It's good to hear the Imps are on the retreat. Safe travel, Luke."
"We shouldn't underestimate the Empire. Although the Emperor is dead, the Empire itself is not. Until we take Coruscant, things will stay the same. Liberating Cloud City is like a drop in the bucket."
It sounded pessimistic, but deep down all three of them knew it was true. Coruscant, the galaxy's capitol, was the key.
"The day will come when the Alliance flag will fly over the capitol," Nomi said firmly. "And we will live to see it, Luke."
Skywalker nodded his head.
"Yes, we will see, if the Force wills it, Nomi. But now I should get on board."
Luke turned and headed for the Falcon while Nomi and Dash went for their quarters.

Everyone on the base thought it was going to be a quiet day as usual, but they soon found they were wrong.
It was around midday when the siren blared and the pilots rushed to their fighters.
Gavin Darklighter looked over at his sister.
"Don't worry, sis, this will only be a drill," he called and was about to climb the ladder when Wedge entered the hangar.
"Unfortunately, it isn't a drill, Gavin. Our sensors detected something, but you know how difficult it is with all the interference. It could be an Imperial Star Destroyer. Let's take a closer look, Rogues. Sometimes the human eye is better than any sensors. We're getting support from the A-wing and the Y-wing squadrons," said the commander and went to his X-wing.
Nomi donned her helmet, climbed up the ladder and sat down in the cockpit.
Her astromech Fuzzy was already in his socket and greeted her with an excited whistle.
"Is everything ready, Fuzzy?" She asked while closing the hatch.
A confirming whistle and at the same moment the corresponding translation appeared on the display.
"Good"
Nomi buckled up and started the engines.

It didn't take long for the base's fighters to take off one by one. As they entered Dagobah's orbit, they saw who the uninvited visitor was. Wedge Antilles was correct in his assumption. An Imperial Victory class Star Destroyer was just a few klicks away.
The Rogue Squadron commander swore under his breath before addressing his pilots.
"I hate it when I'm right," they heard him in their headsets. "Attack formation. Get your S-foils in attack position. We must prevent the Star Destroyer from escaping and reporting our base. They haven't noticed us yet. Ground control will jam their transmissions."
"Ground control to Rogue Leader we're receiving new signals. Enemy fighters are approaching."
"Copy that," Wedge replied and the same moment he saw them. "Kark, whoever is in charge means business."
It wasn't just the ordinary TIE fighters that were launched, there were also TIE Defenders and TIE Bombers heading towards the Dagobah Base defenders. Even with the support of the other two squadrons, they faced an overwhelming force.
"This is Rogue Leader. They seem to have noticed us," they heard Wedge's voice again. "Rogue 11, you'll be my wingman."
"Copy that, leader," Nomi heard Dash confirm the order.
"All other pairings are as usual," the commander continued, steering his fighter towards the incoming enemy fighters.
For Nomi, that meant she would be Gavin's wingman instead of Dash's. But since she and her brother had fought together for a long time, it wasn't a big change.

The first TIEs came within reach. Their pilots seemed skilled and hungry for the first kill.
"This is Rogue 4. Rogue 10, take the one at starboard. I'll cover you," Nomi heard her brother's voice.
"Copy that, 4," she confirmed, steering her fighter towards the assigned target. "I'm on it."
The TIE pilot noticed very quickly he was being tailed by an X-wing and tried to shake off the pursuer with evasive maneuvers. But it was to no avail. Nomi followed the TIE relentlessly while her brother gave her cover. Gavin watched the deadly dance in awe. It seemed to him that his sister was anticipating every move.
Eventually she locked onto the enemy fighter and fired a salvo directly into its cockpit. Seconds later all that was left of the TIE was debris.
"Great shot, Rogue 10. I couldn't have done better."
Nomi heard her husband's voice and smiled at the praise as she steered her X-wing towards the next enemy fighter.
"Shut up, Rogue 11. You can pat each other on the back when it's all over," Wedge Antilles said with an annoyed undertone as he fired at a TIE that exploded in a fireball.
One down but there were so many more.

Beside and ahead of them were the A- and the Y-wing squadrons engaged in fierce dogfights with the enemy fighters.
Two A-wings had already returned to base with heavy damage and three Y-wings had been destroyed.
Suddenly, Nomi noticed that Wedge was being pursued by a TIE Interceptor. The young woman wondered why he wasn't responding to the attack and where Dash, his wingman, was. "A TIE's tailing you, leader," she said, knowing that she couldn't help as she was engaged in a dogfight herself.
"My sensors aren't working, I can't see it. Rogue 11? Damn, where are you?"
There wasn't panic in Wedge's voice as he performed evasive maneuvers to avoid an enemy he couldn't see.
Meanwhile Nomi fired and scored a hit, causing her opponent to spin erratically and to crash into a nearby TIE. She would have cheered, but there was still her friend in danger of being vaporized.
Where was Dash who was supposed to support the Rogue Squadron commander in combat? It seemed he had stopped seeing Wedge as a rival when it came to Nomi, but did he really? What if he saw the incident as a welcome opportunity to get rid of the man who still loves his wife?
The other Rogues were still too far away to intervene, so it was up to Dash whether Wedge would live or die.
Nomi fervently hoped that her husband would make the right decision.
Suddenly there was an explosion and the TIE Interceptor erupted in a fireball.
Amidst the resulting debris, Dash's X-wing appeared, and Nomi heard her husband's cry of triumph.
The young woman let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding
"Thank you, Rogue 11. This was close," Wedge said, his relief almost palpable.
"Rogues never let each other down, leader," Dash replied curtly.

Meanwhile, some of the Y-wings broke through and dumped their payload onto the Destroyer's stern. The ion bombs disabled all electronics in the area, including the main reactor. Flashes of electrical discharge could be seen above the ship's surface.
"Rogues," they heard their commander's voice. "Let's end this quickly. The Star Destroyer was disabled by the ion charges."
He could imagine how desperately the Destroyer's crew was working to get everything back online.
"The A-wing and Y-wing squadrons are in control of the remaining TIEs," Wedge Antilles continued. "Ground control, open a channel to the Destroyer."
The connection was quickly established and Wedge hailed the Imperial capital ship.
"Imperial Star Destroyer Avenger II, this is Commander Antilles of the Alliance to restore the Republic. I ask you to surrender or we will destroy you."
For a long time, this ultimatum was only answered with silence, but then they heard a man's voice.
"This is Admiral Marsaskala speaking. We don't negotiate with rebel scum. To surrender would be a betrayal of the Empire," the reply came in a harsh voice with a Corellian accent.
Wedge flinched, being a Corellian himself and knowing how difficult it would be to convince the admiral to surrender.
"I have set the ship to self-destruct and it will blow up in 5 standard minutes," Marsaskala continued without any emotion.
Commander Antilles' heart fell.
"Admiral, be reasonable. You can't send 35,000 people to their deaths needlessly."
There was no answer, just static.
"Attention all units! Retreat from the Star Destroyer immediately. It will soon explode. Get as far away as possible," Antilles ordered without hesitation, realizing that the admiral had no intention of complying with the call for surrender.

The Alliance fighters barely had enough distance when the first explosions ripped through the Avenger II. They saw some escape pods being ejected, but then the Star Destroyer exploded like a supernova. The escape pods had no chance to avoid the debris and flames from the explosion and were gone in no time. There wasn't any chance to find survivors. Admiral Marsaskala had sent everyone on board the Avenger II to their deaths.

The Alliance base on Dagobah was safe again for a while, but at what cost?
Nobody was in the mood to celebrate this victory.