The Adventures of Nomi Darklighter

Chapter 117 - It's not over yet

Dash entered the cockpit after being awakened by the signal indicating that they had reached Coruscant. Leebo made room for him and he sat in the pilot's seat. Then he pulled the lever and the Outrider re-entered real space. In front of him, the former mercenary saw the capital planet of the galaxy.
After receiving clearance to land, he entered the atmosphere and a few minutes later weaved through heavy traffic on the way to the former Imperial Palace. Nomi entered the cockpit and sat in the copilot's seat after giving him a kiss.
"It's always nice to come home after a successful mission," she said, looking out the viewport.
Dash turned his head.
"I doubt the mission is over yet," Nomi's husband replied with a grin.
"Do you think so?"
Rendar nodded and refocused on flying his ship.
After a while they reached their destination and landed in the palace hangar.
Dash turned off the engines, unbuckled and stood up before heading for the hatch, followed by his wife. He pressed the button, the hatch opened and the ramp lowered.
Moments later, Dash and his wife walked down the ramp hand in hand. No one was waiting for them because they hadn't informed anyone about their arrival.
"We can pick up the children later," Rendar said as they made their way to their quarters.
He was hoping for some more alone time with Nomi. But his hope was to be disappointed.

The couple had just reached their destination when Rendar's comlink went off. The Rogue Squadron pilot answered the call and frowned when he heard General Madine's voice.
"Major Rendar, I saw the Outrider while looking out the window of my office. It's good that you and Commander Darklighter are back. I expect you both to report to me personally about the mission I sent you on."
Dash glanced at his wife before answering.
"We're on our way, General," he finally said before turning to his wife. "I wonder why Madine is in such a hurry."
The Jedi shrugged.
"I've no idea, but we shouldn't keep him waiting, Dash."
Her husband nodded and set off, followed by Nomi. On the way, Rendar ordered a speeder taxi that would take them to General Madine's office.
Due to the usual heavy traffic, it took a while to reach their destination. After paying the taxi driver, they got out of the speeder and entered the building.
The general's aide was already waiting for them.
"Commander Darklighter, Major Rendar...General Madine awaits you. Please follow me."
The young man led the way and soon opened the door to the general's office and let them enter. Madine sat behind his desk, studying reports. As the couple approached him, he deactivated the datapad.
"It's good that you're here. Please take a seat," he turned to them without any formality and pointed to the two chairs in front of his desk.
Nomi and Dash followed the request before giving Madine their report on the rescue mission.
The general listened attentively. When the two pilots had finished, he cleared his throat.
"So you believe that Admiral Strombol was responsible for Katarn's capture," he said finally, while he steepled his fingers. "So it wasn't his main force that we had beaten. The man is still a threat to the New Republic. We must counter this danger."
"I agree," Dash said as his wife nodded. "But we don't know anything about the strength of the forces there. My wife and I only saw one bunker and the troopers who led Kyle Katarn to the mud hole. There could be a lot more personnel there, including air forces. We would go in blind."
"The only thing we know for sure is the Ysalamiri that Strombol uses to weaken Force users like me," Nomi added.
"As hard as it sounds, we have to take the risk," replied General Madine with a sigh.

At that moment the door hissed open and Wedge Antilles entered the room.
"I agree with General Madine," he said, pulling up a chair and sitting next to Nomi and Dash in front of the general's desk.
"Commander Darklighter and Major Rendar believe that Admiral Strombol is on Romegan, Commander Antilles," the general added.
"If it really is Strombol, we need to hit him hard before he can gather more troops and equipment," interjected Wedge.
Crix Madine nodded thoughtfully and activated his datapad.
"We can't spare many capital ships but we could send the Home One and the Silent Water," he said after looking up some data. "Both cruisers have sufficient firepower and personnel."
"And Rogue Squadron will be part of the mission," the commander looked at Nomi and Dash. "I want you both to take your places on my squad again. You were on Romegan and your knowledge will be valuable."
"We don't know much, Wedge." Rendar answered. "And we have already told General Madine about the few things we know for sure. Nevertheless, Nomi and I will take part in the mission."
"I expected nothing less from you. We will be stationed aboard Home One as usual. See you in two hours." Antilles stood and bowed his head to Madine before leaving.
The general turned his attention to Nomi and Dash after the door closed behind the Rogue Squadron commander.
"That's all, Commander Darklighter, Major Rendar...dismissed."
They both stood up, turned around and left the office.
Madine's aide was waiting for them in the hallway to lead them to the exit.

Back at the former Imperial Palace, Nomi and Dash entered their quarters to pack for the new mission."Didn't I tell you it's not over yet?" Rendar winked at his wife before picking up his helmet.Nomi pocketed her comlink after asking Luke Skywalker to look after the children for a little longer than expected."Yes, you were right about that," she replied before giving him a kiss. "Given the traffic, we should leave now to be on time for the troop transport."Rendar shouldered his backpack, opened the door and stepped out followed by his wife.Shortly afterwards they made their way to the spaceport.