Star Wars: A Resistance Story. Book 2

Chapter 25: The Battle of Crait.

"So... My calculations? Seem correct... The trajectory? Too... Fuel? Okay..."

It was the tenth time Bango was checking each point, step by step, before he should go into Light Speed. Dante and Ly'ra had told him so many horrible stories about ships that crashed into another or that were cut in half because of a wrong calculation or a tragic crash because of wrong coordinates that the young man was terrified to make just a little mistake. To be honest, he was pushing back the moment he would have to actually do it, but he knew he didn't have the choice anymore. He had to join the Resistants on Crait as quickly as possible, which was including a jump into Hyper Space.

"Come on, you can do it!"

Right now, he was cursing Ly'ra to never have taken another astromech droid after having given BB8 to Dameron. She might be gifted, but not him! He hesitated one last time before making a face, closing his eyes and activating the Light Speed. A very shrill scream both mixed with pure terror and surprise escaped his lips when the stars and the planets around him turned into light rays and as he was pushed inside his seat. His hands were still flattened on the windows of the cockpit as the young man was trying to remember how to breath. Having a panic attack right now would be the worse idea ever!

Finally, the journey was shorter than expected and Bango went back into sub-lights after less than an hour of flight. When Crait appeared, he frowned. Around him were just thousands of crevasses and snowy cliffs as far as the eye can see. Bango checked his onboard computer and corrected himself. It was actually salt and not snow. Which was explaining the aridity measured by the sensors of the Fire One. But still no base, nor Resistants. He slowed down even more and lifted the nose of the ship to fly above a mountain. When the pass was behind him, he let out a cuss.

The base was down the hill, and it actually was an ancient salt mine turned into a fortified base. Unfortunately, the Resistants already seemed in a bad situation, as the First Order was already on the planet, escorted by dozens of TIE Fighters, AT-M6 and TB-TT and by Kylo Ren's ship that was overlooking at everything. Flying above this scene, Bango could see old Ski-Speeders. They were thirteen of them that were leaving the Resistance base and started fighting against the First Order. They had no chance. The young man hesitated, not being really used to spatial fights in a X-Wing, but the Resistants were easily killed one after another, and he knew that Ly'ra and Dante would not have let this happen, they wouldn't have stepped back while their friends were down there, so Bango took a deep breath and tightened his hold around the commands of the Fire One before plunging into the fray. He flew right above the Ski-Speeders and shot several times, hitting ( luckily) the head of a TB-TT, which exploded the following second.

On the ground, the sight of the Fire One gave some hope to Poe and his men. Dameron was trying to contact the young woman aboard her Fighter but with these old engines, it was impossible. The pilot was still very happy, relieved and reassured. Ly'ra was here, alive and flying above them.

"Always here to save us! Good job my Love!"

But Poe quickly understood that something wasn't right. The young woman's flight was hesitating, and her shots were not as precise as she usually was. He frowned, keeping an eye on the Fire One and gave his orders.

"Come on, we gotta hold them till they pull up that cannon!"

Aboard, Bango was doing his best to cover the Resistants on the ground, just like the group of pilots that was trying the impossible. But all alone, his job was much more difficult. At the same time, a triple explosion made them all turned their heads. The Millenium Falcon had appeared, destroying three TIE Fighters that were after Rose. Finn let out a victory cry, while Bango sighed in relief. Chewie and Rey drew the attention of the Fighters away from the Speeders, letting a free way to attack the First Order's canon. Free from the TIEs, Bango turned around and kept covering the Resistants from the shots of the AT and the TB. But even with all his goodwill, he was still alone and a less good pilot that the owner of the X-Wing he was flying into. Dameron ended up ordering a retreat to his men, knowing perfectly that they would all be killed one after another. And as he was trying to protect a Speeder, the Fire One was hit and Bango lost the control of the ship that crashed further on the ground.