New Friends

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Luna was not a natural duellist, but there was something about a giant pole ax that gave you an impressive advantage.

It helped, too, that Mara's old armour was blaster resistant. Not entirely blastproof; taking a direct hit to her chest hurt like hell, the kinetic energy winding her, and she felt the skin underneath blister, but it wasn't a life ending shot. She could do this. As the ship rumbled to life beneath her feet, she stalked through the bows of the Nest, swinging her ax, the blade cutting through each stormtrooper's armour like it was butter, and if they weren't dismayed by their invulnerable opponent then the giant ax certainly did it, and the survivors gave up and fled. They were the smart ones. Those in the hangar who chose to stay and fight were not, for had to contend with Cora and her lightsaber.

Luna tore off her helmet, happy to be able to breathe freely again, and stood at the foot of the ramp, urging the Nexus to get in the damned ship, and as they ran past she stayed there, watching her lover carve through the masses of skeletal troopers. And while Cora flew like an angel, she fought like the devil. It was brutal and dirty and bloody and efficient, taking the head off of one while kneeing another in the groin, throwing one into a power conduit, then tearing that conduit from its bracketing and launching it at a squad, exploding in an electrified fire.

Face was the last to get on board, hobbling slowly and refusing any help. He had aqcuired a blaster from one of the dead troopers and was providing covering fire for the others. He stood beside her at the top. 'Incredible,' he said to himself, so quietly that Luna almost didn't hear him.

'Get to the cockpit,' she told him. She'll be fine.' and even though Cora was quite outnumbered, Luna had no doubt that her lover commanded the battlefield.

'The tractor beam,' Face had to raise his voice over an upswing in blaster fire. We can't leave without disabling the tractor beam.'

Luna jumped back and into cover as several shots flew past her and into the ship. A moment later the fire stopped amid cries of pain. Thank you, my love, she thought, then weighed her options. They had come prepared for infiltration, and while they had made hasty preparations for several possible exfiltrations, all their plans had been to get in and out of Bastion, not a star destroyer. She leaned out of the ship to look across the hangar to the assault shuttle, the one that they had stolen from the First Order space station, the one that had been their escape, the one that Rana had been forced to leave behind, the one she and Cora had gone back to pick up for this mission and given the moniker Rana's Revenge. It seemed fitting. And it was there, on the Revenge, that all their supplies were kept. If only she could get to it - but no. Several squads of stormtroopers were even then setting up a makeshift barrier out of loose cargo crates and were making a firing line between the Nest and the Revenge, blocking any return. Well, any easy return. Cora could probably just jump over them. As those words entered her mind, so too did a plan, forming in a flash. 'Get to the cockpit,' she told Face quickly, 'and divert all power to the shields.'

Face looked at her inquisitively, but only for a moment. Their trust, their bond, was still there, and there was no need for any more explanation. He ran as fast as he could to the cockpit. Luna looked back out, and then flinched as a bolt hit the frame next to her. 'Time to go, love!' she yelled, and Cora made a dash for the ramp, elbowing several stormtroopers out of the way, then jumping up the ramp in a single leap to land next to Luna. Luna slammed her palm on the ramp lock and looked at her lover, checking to see if she was injured, but Cora was fine. More than fine; her cheeks were flushed, her eyes alive with energy and she all but bounced on the balls of her feet. Cora reached up to grab Luna's neck and gave her a swift, passionate kiss which took Luna aback, but only for a second, smiling against her lips. She hated for the moment to end, but it had to if they were to get out of this, and she reluctantly pushed the shorter woman away. 'Come on,' she said to Cora, 'job's not finished yet,' she took her hand and led her to the cockpit.

Several of the other Nexus lined the way to the cockpit. They looked at them with odd, perhaps confused expressions, but for now Luna ignored them as they stopped to stand behind Face in the pilot's chair. He spared them a brief glance before turning his attention to the outside. He lifted the ship off of its landing pads so that the ship hovered a metre or two off the ground. 'Engines are ready, shields are full. Whatever you're going to do, better do it quick.'

Luna nodded, then turned to Cora. 'I need you to do something for me.'

'You name it,' Cora said at once, turned to her.

'I need you to go,' she paused, unsure of how to phrase it, 'over there. To the Revenge.'

Cora looked at her, her eyebrows knitting together briefly, before smoothing out in understanding. She nodded, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes.

The stormtroopers outside were shooting at the Nest, the impacts a dull cacophany, but Luna paid them no attention. The computer bleeped loudly, but she paid it no attention. All there was, was just her and Cora and, even though she couldn't feel it, there was the Force. For her, time stilled and nothing else mattered. She took both of Cora's hands in hers. 'Find that crate that your mom gave us.'

Cora nodded. Her fingers tensed in Luna's hands, and it was almost as if she was trying to reach out.

'I need you to take it to the engine room.'

A pause. Cora imagined that she was there, in the Revenge, watching a crate float out of the cargo hold in the engine room.

Cora nodded again.

'Now crush it.'

Cora's hands twitched, and outside, Rana's Revenge exploded.

The two fell to the floor as the shockwave hit, the fire hitting the shields, a bright, blinding light that threatened to overwhelm them. It didn't. Instead, as the magnetic field that protected the hangar from the vacuum of space faultered and then failed, and the fire was sucked out. As were the stormtroopers.

As was the Nest. It scraped the edge of the lip of the hangar bay as it was catapulted out, the ship rotating wildly, the inertia compensator struggling to keep up, to keep the g forces in check. Cora fought to regain her feet, scrambled up into the co-pilot's chair to try to help, but Face managed to even out the Nest's flight himself and they shot away from the star destroyer.

Unfortunately, there was another one right in front of them.

Luna looked out the window, and reached for the commlink on her belt. She depressed the button on the side, sending out the predetermined signal. She just hoped that the receiver was ready and waiting.

She had her answer within moments. The Jade Arrow appeared behind the star destroyer in a flicker of pseudomotion. A second later, more ships joined her. They were starfighters. They were X-wings.

It was Black squadron.


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