The New Adventures of Nomi Darklighter

Chapter 102 - The Skirmish

Dash Rendar cheered as he saw the familiar ship break away from the First Order dreadnought.
"Here we go," he said, activating his comm. "Decloak and prepare to engage enemy fighters. Our primary objective is to clear an escape route for the commander."
"Copy that, leader," came the reply from all the Resistance vessels.
Draco shifted in his seat, unstrapped himself and stood up. Corran turned his head and looked at the pirate, still not trusting the man.
"It's better to man the laser cannon than to operate it from here," Draco said, moving towards the hatch that led to the midsection of the freighter, where the access to the laser cannon was located.
"But..." Corran wanted to object, but his father interrupted him.
"Let Draco be the gunner, he wants to make up for what he did," the former mercenary said as he shot at an incoming TIE and dodged its laser beams.
"If you betray us, I'll kill you myself, Draco," he shouted after the pirate.
"Understood," Draco replied and squeezed past Corran, who had blocked his way.

Meanwhile, the First Order TIEs were swarming the Aquarius to prevent the commander from jumping into hyperspace.
Draco made his way to the gunner's station, sank into the seat and strapped himself in.
"Okay, let's show these guys we mean business," he could be heard saying through the headset he had just put on.
The pirate took a firm grip on the controls, knowing it was going to be a rough ride.
"Stay sharp, Draco," Dash Rendar said as he steered the Outrider towards the thickest turmoil of the battlefield.
It didn't take long for Draco to get his first sight on an enemy fighter. He pressed the fire button and the barrage of green laser beams weakened the shield until it failed. The pilot of the enemy fighter desperately tried to escape, but it was in vain. The laser beams pierced the cockpit of the TIE and the fighter exploded in a fireball.
"Gotcha," Draco Dracon said quietly, swiveling the gunner's seat to compensate for the YT-2400's movements and firing when he had the next target in his sights.

Dash Rendar wasn't the only one who had seen the battered freighter on the run. Tasherit had also seen her mother's ship emerge from the huge First Order dreadnought and nodded to Jaden, who then rose from his seat and hurried to the Trader's Luck's gunner's station. As Tash steered her freighter towards the enemy fighters, she heard the chatter of her comrades and her father's orders.
She performed a corkscrew maneuver to avoid being hit by the enemy laser fire. At the same moment, Jaden had one of the enemy fighters in his sights and fired. The laser beam cut through the mounting of the right wing and the enemy fighter went into a spin, plummeting helplessly into the vastness of space.
"I wonder why the dreadnought isn't firing, Jaden," the young man heard his fiancée's voice in the headset as he fired at the nearest enemy fighters.
"I don't know," he replied after hitting a TIE directly in the cockpit. "Maybe they think their fighters will do the job."
Jaden fired at the next TIE after he had it in his sights, and the enemy vessel disappeared in a fireball.

Meanwhile, Nomi weaved her way away from the First Order dreadnought with the TIEs hot on her heels. The Aquarius wasn't as maneuverable as an X-wing, but the Jedi Master had an ace up her sleeve. Most of the enemy pilots, if not all of them, didn't know they were after a Jedi. She reached out with the Force and touched the minds of two pilots, causing them to fire at each other. Both TIEs exploded.
"Two less," said the experienced pilot with satisfaction in her voice, steering her ship and firing at a TIE that was unfortunate enough to cross her path. She was now heading for a jump point at full throttle.
The ships of the rescue fleet were on their way to intercept the TIEs that were after their commander. Most of the pilots were seasoned veterans of the Galactic Civil War and knew their stuff. Steering her freighter towards the Resistance fighters and freedom, Nomi fired at the TIEs trying to block her path.

Commodore Canady watched the battle on the tactical display on board his dreadnought and cursed inwardly.
"Get the turbolaser batteries ready!" He yelled into the intercom, which prompted his subordinates to hurry to obey the order.
Tash and her brothers sensed the imminent danger, as did their mother.
"Kark, we must prevent the dreadnought from firing on our mother. Father..."
Dash Rendar nodded his head before his eldest could finish the sentence and turned the Outrider, which was now heading for the First Order capital ship, followed by his daughter's freighter.
"Draco, we need to take out the turbolasers. Tash, you take care of the starboard ones, we'll take care of the port ones. The others, take care of the TIEs. Keep them out of our hair."
One by one, the Resistance pilots acknowledged the order and went into action, while Dash was already steering his freighter towards the dreadnought.
"We need to take out the shield generators first," Draco heard Dash Jr.'s voice in his headset.
"Copy that," he replied, keeping a close eye on the targeting system.
Dash Rendar flew at full throttle, dodging defensive fire from the laser batteries, while Draco took out any TIE that dared to interfere with them on their way to their target.
"We're almost there, father," Corran said as he saw on the displays that they were closing in.
Draco's finger lingered over the fire button. He was eager to take out the assigned target. Then came the signal indicating that he had it in his sights. At the same moment, he pressed the button and the laser beams hit the first shield generator.
"Gotcha!" The pirate's cheers could be heard and Dash steered the Outrider towards the second shield generator. It didn't take long for it to explode under fire from the freighter.

"Sir, the shields are down," a crew member informed Commodore Canady, who paled. The TIE fighters he had deployed were being taken out one by one, as he could see on the tactical display, and now his ship was under attack. Perhaps he had underestimated both the Jedi and the rebel scum she was leading.
He realized that he had lost, and that if he stayed on the battlefield any longer, he and everyone aboard the dreadnought would die. Canady took a deep breath before giving the order as the first turbolaser battery exploded.
"Prepare an emergency jump into hyperspace."
It hurt to do this and admit he was defeated, but the commodore was pretty sure he hadn't met the commander for the last time.

"They're preparing to jump, father," Dash Jr. said as Draco fired at the next turbolaser battery.
"Canady's trying to escape, leader," Tash's voice could be heard on the battle frequency. "The commander just made the jump and is on her way to base."
It only took Dash Rendar a split second to make his decision.
"Cease fire and let them go," he ordered and steered the Outrider away, followed by the Trader's Luck.
The First Order dreadnought made the jump shortly after.
"It's time to go home. See you back on base ... and thank you for your help," Dash said as he made his way to the jump point.
One by one, the Resistance fighters made the jump into hyperspace, leaving behind the debris of the recent battle.