The First Order had listening posts dotted all along the border of contested space - or conquered space, Luna corrected herself, realising there needed to be a new name. These bases were small had little defensive capability, relying on the fact that they were hidden behind border defences and creating so low a footprint that they were practically invisible to the enemy. Really, the only way you would know that they were there is if you happened to stumble upon one - or have a highly detailed map of the sector, courtesy of the First Order.
Nexu squadron, thanks to their previous life as thieving no good pirates, had exactly that. They picked one of the three listening posts as their target, which was hidden in an asteroid belt of an otherwise uninhabited star system.
'Go in fast,' said Face at their briefing, 'go in hard.'
And that's exactly what they did, the Nexu's Nest jumping in dangerously close to the edge of the asteroid belt. Eleven Uglies detached themselves from the skeletal framework that was wrapped around its body and fanned out, diving headlong amongst the asteroids and began shooting indiscriminately.
The listening outpost took the bait. Whoever was on duty had started up the automated turrets, which let out a stream of laser fire at the oncoming, the bolts doing nothing but telling the Nexus exactly where they needed to go.
Luna, sat in the cockpit of the Nest, gunned her engines, the cruiser heading straight for the outpost at breakneck speed. Asteroirds floated around and in front of her, promising a sudden, terrifying end, but the fire from the outpost and her own cannons together ensured that they posed little problem, and she only had to perform the slightest of manoeuvres to keep herself out of danger, the other Nexus following in her wake as she carved out a path.
The cruiser hurtled through space like a slug from a magcannon and it was on the outpost within minutes. There was no time for Luna to take time to slow down and aim properly so she locked her cannons in the forward position and aimed the nose of the ship at the tall, delicate looking transmitting tower that poked up from the squat base that lay on the large, pockmarked asteroid like a parasite. She relied on nothing but instinct as she let her cannons roar out, sending fiery red jets of plasma out ahead until she saw them connect in a wave of explosions that tore that tower in two. And just like that, in mere milliseconds, she was past the outpost, her hands working without conscious thought to slow the ship down and come round in to face the structure again.
Ahead, swarming around the outpost like flies on a shaak, the Nexus tore up the asteroid around the building, sending potshots at the hangars, made attacking runs on the cannons trying and failing to protect it and Luna came up and parked above the outpost. Rerouting power from the engines to her shields, she unlocked her cannons and sent a hail of fire down, turning the protective cannons into so much molten slag. Even when they were completely obliterated, she kept up her withering fire, but taking care of what she hit. The point wasn't to destroy. The point was to sow panic. Nothing caused panic more than overwhelming firepower, even if the firepower amounted to two laser cannons - masterfully controlled cannons, she didn't mind admitting to herself.
In twos and threes the other Nexus guided their starfighters into the hangar. She paused her barrage of harrying fire just for a moment to roll the ship over, so that the outpost looked to be above her, and she could watch with her own eyes how the firefight unfolded. She swivelled her cannons around so that they pointed up to the outpost below, and continued firing.
Minutes passed by in silence and she imagined the Nexus sweeping through the base, fighting who knew how many stormtroopers were posted there. As the silence continued, she began to fear that they had somehow chosen the one outpost that had an elite company of infantry, battle ready at all times, unflappable in the face of a surprise attack, and had brutally repelled her friends. She cast her eyes over the building, looking for some sign, but the pale grey bulkheads gave no indication. Then, movement in one area - a large room that was mostly glass, and she could look in and see consoles littered throughout the room. A control hub, she surmised. She saw uniformed people huddling behind consoles as bright red lights flashed just out of sight, and then a great hulking red mass stepped into view, waving at them to come out. Slowly, reluctantly, the First Order officers came out of their hiding spaces, then cowered on their knees in front of the big red mass. Upside down, it took Luna a few moments to recognise the bulk that was Vix Horne, his orange New Republic coveralls were stripped down and wrapped around his waist, just like how Cora used to have hers, and his large red chest bare. He looked up and waved at Luna, idling above him. She waved back, grinning, feeling her mood lift for the first time in what felt like forever.
Turning off her cannons, she piloted the Nest to a docking tube that was even now extending from the far side of the outpost.
And just like that, Nexu Squadron had their own base and, for the moment, hidden in hostile territory, with enemies all around, in every direction, they were safe.
