The New Adventures of Nomi Darklighter

Chapter 95 - Punishment of a Traitor

Dash Rendar stood on a crate in the main cave and looked at those gathered. All eyes were on him as he cleared his throat.
"It seems we have been betrayed by those we thought were allies!" He blurted out without mincing words. "The commander has disappeared. She was supposed to meet with the pirates, who have recently become our allies. My wife has not called us as she promised."
A murmur went through the ranks of those gathered. They were all noticeably upset.
Dash commanded silence with a gesture before continuing.
"We have no proof yet, but Tasherit is certain that Dracon is hiding something. He claims that the commander is already on her way back. But we don't believe that. That's why I need volunteers for a search party. We'll start by questioning the pirates."
He strained the word questioning and then looked expectantly into the crowd.
Many hands, paws and claws were raised by those who wanted to take part in the mission to find their leader. The retired mercenary nodded his head in approval before making his pick.
Besides his two youngest sons, he chose Tarik and two members of the former ambassador's honor guard who had joined him when he pledged allegiance to the Resistance. It was only a small strike force, but Dash was pretty sure it would be enough, since the pirates wouldn't expect them to show up.

While her husband put together his team, Nomi sat in her cell and thought about how she could escape. She was angry with herself. How could she have been so stupid and careless? She sighed. The ysalamiri seemed to be awake all the time. There was always this discomforting void in the Force.
Canady was really smart, she had to give him that. But would he be smart enough to keep her prisoner?
During the Galactic Civil War, she had even escaped Darth Vader himself, who had held her captive in his castle on Vjun. And now this commodore of the First Order believed he could do what the Dark Lord had failed to do?
The commander was thirsty, but there was no water in the cell. So she was forced to wait for whatever would be brought to her to keep her alive. She wasn't sure what time it was or how many hours she had been on board, but she could tell from the vibrations of the ship that they had made the jump into hyperspace. That was another step to make it even harder for her people to find her.
The cell door opened and a trooper came in with a tray of food and water. Without saying a word, he placed the tray on the floor, unshackled her and left. Nomi got up from the cot, took the tray and sat down to eat. She was almost certain that Canady had something else in mind than poisoning her.

Dash patted his eldest on the shoulder before entering the Outrider.
"I'm pretty sure the base is in good hands under your command, Junior."
His son winced inwardly. It seemed his father would never stop calling him that. Not even after he had given him command.
"I'll do my best, father. Show the damn bastard he picked the wrong family to mess with and bring Mama back."
His father smiled at him.
"We'll bring her back safe and sound."
He then boarded the YT-2400 with his younger sons while Tarik and the two guards climbed into Z-95 Headhunters.
Dash Jr. watched the spaceships take off and then resumed his duties.
When they reached the jump point, Dash Rendar called his comrades.
"Okay, I've entered the coordinates Draco gave the commander into your nav computers. Hopefully he's still in the area. Jump on my mark. One, two... three."
There was a flicker and then the small rescue team had entered hyperspace.

For Dash's taste, the journey took far too long before they arrived at their destination and he was very worried that they would be too late and Draco had changed his location.
But when they finally arrived and re-entered real space, Dash grinned broadly when he saw Draco's ship in front of him.
Corran rose from his seat and turned to his brother.
"C'mon, Biggs, let's get ready for the boarding."
His brother nodded his head, stood up and followed him. When they reached the midsection, Corran opened a locker and took a heavy blaster rifle from the rack. Biggs chose a different model that better suited his skills.
Meanwhile, their father called the fighters to coordinate the attack.
"I'll jam their comm traffic before you attack them. Stay alert."
As he spoke, he was already doing the calculations for the shot with the Outrider's ion cannon. The old man grinned. Apparently the pirates weren't yet aware of the imminent danger.
"Disable the shields and then go for the hyperdrive."
"Copy that," came the reply from Tarik. "You heard the commander."
His two wingmen acknowledged that they had understood and prepared for their upcoming strafing runs.
Dash waited for the signal that indicated he had his target in his sights. When it came, he pressed the button. The ion beam went straight for the Draco's Pride and hit. The former mercenary almost cheered as he saw the ion blast engulf the ship in front of him.
The Draco's Pride was easy prey now that her shields and weapons systems were down.
This was the moment the three Z-95 Headhunter pilots had been waiting for. They steered their fighters and flew towards the gunship at full throttle, laser cannons blazing.
When Draco realized that they were sitting ducks, he cursed and barked orders to his crew to get the ship's systems up and running again. But it was too late.The ship shuddered under the shelling from the Resistance fighters.
"We're under attack, captain!" shouted Rool as he fumbled with a hydrospanner at the main console.
"I know, I know," Draco replied angrily.
"We should do something!" shouted Rool with a hint of panic in his voice.
"There's nothing we can do! Send some men to the hatch! I think I know who's knocking on our door."

"Shield generator and hyperdrive down, commander," Dash heard over the comm, accompanied by Tarik's chirping laughter.
"Thanks. Boys, get ready to board," the commander ordered his two sons over the intercom. He steered the Outrider to the Draco's Pride and docked.
Draco heard the sound of the ship docking and went to the hatch, where he took cover behind a corner.
On board the Outrider, Dash left the cockpit and joined his sons, checking his blaster and loading a new ammo pack. He nodded to Biggs, who activated his lightsaber and began to cut through the sealed hatch.
Corran and Dash prepared to take covering fire if the hatch gave way.
On the other side of the hatch, the pirates lined up to defend their ship if the intruders broke through. They stared in disbelief at the melting durasteel.
The piece Biggs had cut out of the hatch fell to the ground with a loud bang, and the young Jedi jumped through the hole, deflecting the incoming blaster bolts.
Corran followed his brother without hesitation, firing at the pirates as he sought cover. Their father brought up the rear and fired with a blazing blaster at two of the pirates, hitting them dead center.
"DRACO!" shouted Dash, trying to drown out the noise of battle while his sons were still fighting. "DRACO! YOU KARKING BASTARD! SHOW YOURSELF!"

The pirates put up a fierce fight, but they couldn't withstand the two young Jedi and their father for long.
There was silence as the last defenders lay either dead or wounded on the ground, but Draco still hadn't shown himself.
"YOU HAVE A CHOICE, DRACO, COME OUT OR GO DOWN WITH YOUR SHIP!"
Finally, there was a movement at the far left side and Draco came into view with his hands clasped behind his head.
Dash nodded to Corran. The young Rendar cuffed the pirate captain and dragged him to the destroyed hatch and into the Outrider. Biggs followed them while Dash rigged explosives to the primary structures and set the timers for 10 minutes. With a grin, he left the pirate ship and entered the cockpit of the Outrider.
"Time to go," he said as he undocked.
Then the small attack team moved away from the ship to avoid being caught in the explosion.
Corran held Draco tightly and forced him to watch as his beloved ship was blown up.