The Adventures of Nomi Darklighter

Chapter 111 - The Imperial Garrison

Wedge woke his small commando unit at nightfall.
"We must go. The longer we take on our mission, the greater the risk that the Jedi Hope will be discovered."
They rolled up their blankets and hastily ate their ration bars before continuing up the mountain. Everyone walked on in silence as Nomi kept reaching out with the Force to check if the coast was clear.
Finally they reached the summit.
Antilles took out his binoculars and cautiously crawled to the edge of the abyss. He gave a low whistle.
"What is it, Wedge?"
Instead of answering, he handed Nomi the binoculars and then she saw the reason for his reaction. The Imperial garrison stretched out in the valley below. It was much bigger than they all expected. And then the Jedi saw the goal of their mission. The shield generator was at the center of the huge complex.
Wedge turned to his comrades.
"Any suggestions on how we should proceed?"
There was silence for a while, but then Corran spoke after exchanging a look with Tycho.
"As we descend into the valley, we will be within sensor range. I don't see any way we can approach unnoticed."
Nomi nodded in agreement. She was about to say that she had no idea either when she saw four Imperial biker scouts.
"Biker scouts, right in front of us."
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking right now?" Antilles asked, grinning.
His comrades nodded almost in unison. They drew their blasters and waited for the scouts to come towards them, not knowing they were there.
"We need their armor intact," Wedge reminded them.
"Hey, Wedge, this isn't the first commando mission we've done," Corran answered him with a crooked grin.

The scouts were only a few meters away when Wedge gave the order to attack. All four commandos jumped up and pulled their vibro knives from their sheaths. The scouts were completely surprised when they were attacked and were hardly able to defend themselves. It didn't take long before they were lying dead on the rocky ground.
"Good job, guys," Wedge said, looking at the bodies. "Now we should hurry."
They put on the scout armor before heading to where they thought the speeder bikes would be.
When they actually found them there, all four of them breathed a sigh of relief. In the garrison it would have been difficult to explain why they returned without equipment.
Before Nomi put on a helmet, Wedge looked her over.
"Is everything okay with you? You look pale."
"Yes, I'm fine, Wedge. I'm just a little dizzy," the Jedi replied, putting on the helmet that smelled of the man it had previously belonged to.
"Are you going to make it?" Antilles asked, wishing he could still see her face.
"Of course," Nomi replied in a distorted voice.
The Rogue Squadron commander nodded and also put on a biker scout helmet.
"Ok, let's go to the rancor's lair."
He mounted one of the speeder bikes and waited for his comrades to do the same.
Seconds later they were on their way.

After a standard hour they had reached the garrison.
The commando unit passed the guard at the entrance gate without difficulty and slowly approached the shield generator. The Jedi could hear Wedge's voice through the helmet's built-in comm.
"Nomi, can you influence the guards in front of the shield generator?"
Instead of answering, she nodded and reached for the stormtroopers' minds with the Force.
The Jedi smiled as she entered the minds of the guards, blinding them to what was happening. Then she signaled to her comrades.
They dismounted the speeder bikes and Tycho stepped forward to manipulate the lock on the shield generator.
"Damn," he cursed after a while. "The lock is secured with a code other than one of the standard Imperial codes."
Nomi pushed him aside and activated her lightsaber. The blade came to life with a hiss before the sound faded into a quiet hum. With one blow the young woman destroyed the lock and the door hissed open.
Before the technicians and stormtroopers in the room behind the door could react, they came under fire. The troopers quickly recovered and fired back while the technicians took cover.
During the firefight, Tycho managed to get to the back of the room where the shield generator's power supply was located and plant the explosive charges.
Wedge glanced at Tycho as he continued to fire at the advancing stormtroopers.
"Come on, come on now! We don't have all day!"
Nomi stood right in the line of fire with her lightsaber activated and blocked the blaster shots aimed at her.
"Let's get out of here!" Tycho shouted, charging towards his comrades while continuously firing at the Imps.
The four commandos ran as quickly as they could out of the building and directly into the line of fire of the stormtroopers, who had been alerted by the noise of battle. Nomi stood in front of her comrades, blocking the blaster shots with her lightsaber and directing them back at the attackers. The air was filled with the cries of the wounded and orders. It was absolute chaos.
Slowly but steadily, the four Rogue Squadron pilots retreated towards the speeder bikes they had come with. The last few meters they ran towards them, mounted them and drove at full speed towards the gate, which began to close.
Behind the commandos, the shield generator exploded and the attack by Nerf Squadron and Rogue Squadron could begin. Just before the gate closed, the four drove through and were safe.

With the speeder bikes they got back to their camouflaged X-wings much faster. Together they removed the camouflage net and jumped into their fighters to join the attack.
After putting on her helmet, Nomi closed the canopy and started the engine. Adrenaline coursed through her body.
"Full power on the shields, Fuzzy," she ordered as she took off.
The red R2 unit with the silver dome gave a confirming whistle. A quick glance at the display showed the young woman that the shield capacity was at 100%.
"Let's go, guys. Wes and the others may need some help," she heard Commander Antilles' voice in her headset.
"Copy that," Nomi confirmed.
One by one they took off and flew at full throttle back to the garrison. En route they switched to the squadron's combat frequency. It didn't take long until they reached the battlefield.
"Hello, Rogue Leader, do you need any help?" Antilles asked.
Smoking rubble could be seen on the ground with corpses lying in it. There wasn't much left of Admiral Strombol's garrison. The New Republic Forces had done a good job.
Before Wes Janson responded, laughter could be heard.
"No, the surviving Imps have just surrendered. Where have you four been for so long?"
Wedge laughed too.
"I'll tell you when we get back to the Jedi Hope, where we drink some good Corellian brandy."
"I'll come back to that." Janson replied, obviously in a good mood.
The X-wings of Rogue Squadron and Nerf Squadron ascended into Lip'a'rii II's orbit and flew towards the waiting Star Destroyer.
As they landed in the hangar bay, Dash Rendar ran to his wife's X-wing. Nomi had barely reached the hangar floor when he hugged her and kissed her deeply.
The Jedi blushed as she noticed everyone in the hangar looking at them with curious looks.
"Please, Dash, let go."
Her husband laughed.
"Everyone can know that I love you and that I am very proud of you. You and the others did a good job down there."
He gave her another kiss before they left the hangar hand in hand.

In the evening, a small victory celebration took place on board the Jedi Hope, during which, among other things, Dash was promoted to major and Nomi to commander.
Commander Xale walked up to the newly promoted couple and smiled at them.
"Let me be the first to congratulate you on your promotion," the older officer said, holding a glass of sparkling wine.
Music was playing and Xale bowed slightly after placing the glass on a small table.
"With your permission, Major..." He glanced at Dash. "May I request this dance, Commander Darklighter?"
He offered Nomi his arm after her husband nodded in agreement.
"With pleasure, Commander," Nomi answered and took the offered arm.
The former imperial officer led the former rebel officer to the small dance floor where others were already dancing. Former enemies were now brothers in arms.
Nomi enjoyed dancing with Xale, but also really wanted to dance with her husband. She smiled at her dance partner as the song ended.
"Thank you for the dance, Commander."
"I must thank you, Commander," Xale replied with a slight bow before leading Nomi, who reminded the former Imperial of his own daughter who he had rarely seen during the Civil War, from the dance floor back to Dash.
"Enjoy your evening, Commander...Major," he said, bowing slightly again, taking his glass and walking towards his aide.
Then a song that Nomi had often danced to in her youth was played.
She took her husband's hand and wanted to drag him onto the dance floor, where several couples were already moving to the rhythm of the music. Dash looked at her in shock.
"You want me to dance with you, honey?"
Nomi nodded and her husband blushed in embarrassment.
"Nomi, I've never danced in my life. I never had the opportunity," he finally said.
Laughing, she hugged him and gave him a kiss.
"Then you'll learn. C'mon..."
Reluctantly, Dash let his wife pull him onto the dance floor, where she showed him the steps. He quickly understood, and although he stepped heavily on her feet several times, this dance was the most beautiful she had ever danced.
When the dance was over, they sat down at a table after taking two glasses of wine.
"Do you know what day it is, Nomi?" Rendar asked, looking at her over the rim of his wine glass and smiling.
"Yes, a day when we have once again achieved victory over the Empire," his wife replied before taking a sip of wine.
"Not only that, darling. It's the day we met and fell in love."
"That you thought of it, Dash."
"How could I ever forget our first meeting?" Dash laughed, took her hand and kissed it. "I was very impressed by the little, sassy, red-haired smuggler, who was not intimidated by me. Now close your eyes and hold out your hand."
Nomi followed his request, closing her eyes and holding out her hand. Then she felt him place something on her palm.
"Now open your eyes, my love."
When she opened her eyes, she saw in her palm the most beautiful earrings she had ever seen. Her husband beamed with happiness when he saw her joy at his gift.
"It's an Alderaanian filigree, Nomi."
She leaned over and gave him a kiss.
"I don't know how to thank you."
Dash gave her a lopsided grin.
"I already have an idea. Let's leave the party and go to our quarters."