Hope is like the Sun

Not Your Fault

It wasn't your fault. The target was right in front of you. Take out the big gun and everyone could make the jump to hyperspace. All you needed to do was pull the trigger.

Your squadron had been sent out to do a sweep near Bogano. There shouldn't have been anything out there, but someone had gotten intel that a few smugglers had seen a lone Star Destroyer out in that sector. Your squadron dropped into the middle of a TIE training run and had hardly had a moment to prepare for a fight. You'd all held your own fairly well, but there was no escaping while the destroyer had its cannons online.

"Red Five, take out that cannon. Rix, cover Eila. Everybody else, let's keep these TIEs busy!" commanded your squadron leader.

Of course, it hadn't been easy getting to that perfect position to fire on that last cannon. You hadn't seen much of Rix but figured he was covering your six. It had taken a considerable amount of maneuvering and a bit of luck to get a clear shot, but you'd made it. Maybe Poe was right; maybe you were a pretty good pilot.

Your thumb hovered above the trigger, ready to fire. Threecee beeped that the shot was clear. You fired.

And then Rix dive-bombed in front of you.

"I've got it! I've got a clean shot!" he yelled across the comms. You were close enough to see the red tally marks he'd scratched into the side of his X-Wing.

"Rix!" It took a moment for it to register that you'd screamed that across the comm channel. There wasn't time to warn him. He'd broken ranks, disobeyed orders, and was now in the path of your blast.

Time slowed and raced at the same time. The adrenaline rushed to your head, but there was nothing you could do.

The shot that should have saved your squadron was going to kill Rix.

"What the—?" crackled across the comm from the doomed pilot, accompanied by an attempt at an evasive maneuver. Your shot clipped his wing, and Rix spiraled away, but his evasive maneuver opened up your shot at the cannon once again. You took the shot and watched the cannon burst into nothingness.

"Cannon disabled! Rix? Are you there?" Your voice trembled a bit, fearing the silence that would follow. You looked out at the stars, pinpricks of white against the eternal blackness, trying to find him in the midst of the battle surrounding you.

"I'm here," a strained voice replied. Relief flooded your body. Rix. "This wing isn't gonna hold up much longer though."

"Everyone jump as soon as you're able," Red Leader commanded.

Your squad mates began jumping to hyperspace, flashing to safety. You finally got a visual on Rix. There was no way you were going to leave before he did. As he prepared to jump, a lone TIE began to fly up on his six.

Without hesitation, you changed course and headed straight for Rix. You couldn't think about how upset you were with him, how he'd apparently wanted to steal your shot, how you'd almost killed him; he had to make it home.

You accelerated harder, locked in a race with the TIE fighter to reach the smoking X-Wing. Threecee warned you that the TIE was within firing range of Rix. Just then, your targeting computer chirped. You had a lock. You fired. The TIE burst into flame and nothingness as Rix completed his jump.

Threecee quickly completed her calculations, and you followed soon after him, the last ship to leave the battle.

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The short hyperspace flight back to base seemed like hours. What was he thinking? Rix had tried to steal your shot. What was that about? Did he not trust you? Should you trust him anymore since he obviously didn't have your six like you thought?