Chapter 1

"Watch your ass, Pava." Snap shot over the radio.

Jessika smiled as she spun her X-Wing into a barrel roll, watching the green lasers zoom past her. "I've got it, I've got it!" She bit back.

The TIE rolled with her, not letting her get out of this one. Just a recon mission, she laughed to herself. Nothing was just a simple recon mission anymore. The First Order was everywhere, and Jessicka Pava had taken down her fair share of them. However, usually she was surrounded by her full squad; usually more of her squad was alive.

Focus. She told herself, erasing the memory of losing her best friend, the flames outside her cockpit as his ship collided with Starkiller Base. Casualties are inevitable in war, Jess knew this, but she never knew how haunting the memory could be.

"PAVA!" The blast shook her X-Wing and for a second she thought she might have been hit. "Be glad I covered your ass on that one." Snap spit through the radio, as the destroyed TIE burned behind her. Another zipped through, locking on Jessika's tail.

Focus.

She dropped the nose, free-falling, or as much as one could freefall in the void of space. Reversing thrusters, she spun the nose back up, into a climbing arc, before coming back to rest 180 degrees from her previous facing, the final TIE Fighter in her sights. She let loose torpedos.

Fire engulfed the cockpit as she sped through the wreckage of the exploded TIE.

"Damn, Pava, where'd you learn that maneuver?"

"Just some scrub from Cobalt Squadron." She said, voice heavy.

Silence. "...Asty'd be proud, Jess."

"Asty'd be laughing his ass off." She smiled.

"That he would, Testor, that he would."

Testor. An old nickname Jessika picked up in training, she'd tried to shake it, but like "Snap", some nicknames die hard. Thankfully, Snap only had a habit of using it when giving encouragement, making it slightly less annoying, but only slightly.

"This is where we split." He said. "Be safe out there, Testor."

"It's escort duty," Jess rolled her eyes, "I've seen worse. Still don't see why you get all of the dangerous stealth recon, and I get stuck playing bodyguard to some western reaches nobody."

"Watch yourself, Testor," Snap laughed back, "from what I've heard, that 'nobody' is our best chance against The First Order."

Jessika rolled her eyes as she typed in the coordinates for her rendezvous with the Millennium Falcon. "Our best chance against The First Order is placing our best Pilots where they are best utilized and not on busy-work diplomatic missions."

"Right now," Snap said, "our best pilots need to stay alive while we bolster our forces. We've got a lot of new pilots coming in after the destruction of the New Republic, but they'll need veterans to guide them. You're a good pilot, Testor, that's why you're being trusted on this escort mission. If it keeps you out of harm's way, then it's simply another win by the Resistance, because it's another veteran pilot, and future officer."

Jessika blushed, glad to have her red face hidden behind space and helmet. She'd never thought about her life outside of the cockpit, wasn't sure she'd even live that long. However, after the losses at Starkiller base, those who survived carried an intangible experience.

"Be safe, Snap." Jessika said before locking in the final changes for the jump.

The stars around her blurred as her X-Wing launched into hyperspace.

The waves crashed below Jessika's X-Wing as she soared above the sea beneath her. An Island in the distance market her target, causing her to bank to the right for landing. The island was small, but as she made an approach she could see a large YT-1300 Freighter, the Millennium Falcon, landed at the base of the island. Passing overhead to slow her decent, Jessika saw two figures walking down large, winding steps. An older man, and Rey, the supposed savior of the resistance. Lowering her landing gear, she swung around the island before hovering to a landing on the nearest flat-land to the Falcon. She took a breath.

Put on your nice face, Jessika thought to herself, you gotta play diplomat.

As the cockpit canopy rose above her, the clean scent of the salt water hit Jessika's face as she took in the planet's air, humid yet light.

"Dee-doop wooble reep" Her R7 astromech droid spit out.

Jessika smiled as she removed her helmet and climbed down from the cockpit. Her hair was pinned up, as it normally was for flight. "It was too, a good landing!" She protested.

"Jaboopa dooooo."

"Don't give me any of your lip, Lucks." She playful shot back, "Have you seen this jagged pile of rocks? It's not exactly a landing strip."

"Deeble dee-woop chitty dooba dooba."

Jessika turned, staring at the droid, face flushed. "I land perfectly fine on landing strips, perhaps if there seems to be a problem with my landing skills, you should ask yourself if you didn't jack up the landing gear in one of your repairs!"

"Beeep-boodle DIGIDIGI Boop bop beeble!"

She threw her hands in the air and walked away from the X-Wing.

"Zeedle boop!" the droid screamed behind her.

"Why did they stick me with the smart-ass droid?" She said to herself, shaking her head.

The island really was beautiful. As Jessika made the long, rocky walk from her landing spot to where the others had landed, she took in the lush green grasses, and the sheer cliffs contrasting them. It all reminded her too much of home, of Dandoran. The lush green plantlife mixed with the constant scent of the humid sea. Sure, D'Qar was nice, but Jessika learned to fly across vast bodies of water and threading between trees. Jessika grew up in the shadow of conflict, on a back-world planet controlled by Hutts. She'd seen the beauty of the universe every day, while interacting with the deep seeded underbelly. She was a realist. But nothing felt as real as the feeling of home she felt walking along a coastal cliff, grabbing on grass and rocks for support.

As Jessika came closer she saw an R2 unit rolling up next to a Wookie, as well as a woman, Rey, walking down the final steps with some old man. This is where things got awkward. Jessika was a well rounded pilot, great in the air, but she never knew how to talk to civilians, she never knew exactly what to say. The inquisitive R2 unit was the first to get to her.

"Doop-da beedoop." The astromech droid said.

Jessika kneeled down, getting at the R2 unit's level. "I'm Jessika Pava, from the Resistance. I'm here to escort you guys off the planet."

"Is something wrong?" Rey asked as she walked up.

Jessika stood up, looking at the woman up close for the first time. Her dark hair was pulled back, revealing the soft cut of her jaw. She carried a large stick, and Jessika noticed the muscles in her arms. Don't do this, Pava. Jessika scolded herself, don't you dare blush right now.

"It's more of a precaution." Jessika assured, not quite meeting Rey's eyes. "Since you've been gone the First Order has pressed forward in search of this planet. We just want to make sure you don't run into any trouble on the way back." Jessika wondered why the older man kept his hood on. Who was he?

"The resistance didn't need to do that for me." Rey looked down.

"Just want to consolidate our resources." Jessika said flatly.

"Arrrrrrrggtddddd" The wookie howled. Jessika wasn't sure what he said, but she was too nervous to ask.

Rey caught on to her confusion. "He doesn't like to be called a resource." She smiled.

Jessika looked away, yet even out of sight, she couldn't stop seeing Rey's smile. Shit.

"Beep doop wooodle."

Jessika laughed. "You'll be fine, artoo. Do you mind if I call you artoo?"

"Doop beep ba doodle."

"Well good, there was another R2 unit who simply went by Artoo. He flew with the greatest pilot in the galaxy back during the Galactic Civil War."

"Deep bo deep?"

"Luke Skywalker. I remember being a little girl and dreaming of flying through trenches like him."

Rey started laughing. Jassika's cheeks flushed.

"What's so funny about that? Haven't you ever had a hero?" Jessika bit back with more sting than she intended.

Rey suddenly held back her laughter. "I'm sorry, I really didn't mean any offense, it's just…"

"it's just what?" Jessika asked, still trying to hold back her anger. The hooded man slipped back his hood to show is long beard and unkempt hair. Something about him looked familiar to Jessika. She couldn't figure it out exactly. Did she know him?

"I am Luke Skywalker." He said.

Jessika's heart sank. She looked to the R2 unit, then the wookie, then back to him. The entire reason Jessika Pava became a pilot, the entire reason she had joined the resistance was because of the tales of Luke Skywalker. Because she'd heard that he single handedly took down the Death Star when everyone else couldn't. He was just a kid from a back-world planet like she was, nothing special. He was the offspring of the criminal underbelly and he made something of himself. Now she had made something of herself, had studied his flying techniques, and geared her style after his. Here she was, face-to-face with a legend and she hadn't even noticed.

She didn't speak.

"Beep-beep-dooble?"

"Arrrtttttttgggddd"

She didn't speak.

"...Jess?" Rey said, knocking Jessika out of her mind.

"..yes? Sorry, I got lost there a bit." Jessika extended a shaky hand. "Sir, it's truly an honor." He took her hand in his mechanical hand, the metal cold against Jess' own. Then he simply smiled and walked past her towards the Millennium Falcon. Jessika stood frozen again.

A soft hand reached out and held her arm. Jessika looked up to see Rey, looking at her eyes, close. "It's ok," Rey smiled, "they're real, all of them, but they're just like us." Rey's smile encouraged Jessika, almost enough to hide her embarrassment. There was almost a goofiness to it. They'd met mere minutes before, and yet, Jessika wasn't sure she'd ever met someone more sincere.

"I just made an ass out of myself didn't I?" Jessika finally said, face red with embarrassment.

Rey laughed it off, "Remind me to tell you how dumb I looked when a certain smuggler suddenly boarded my ship."

Jessika frowned, and for a second an understanding passed between their eyes. Jessika knew what happened on StarKiller base, and knew how much it must hurt to lose someone. Tears began to well in Rey's eyes before she adjusted her gaze away. "We better get packing if we're going to get out of here soon." Rey said.

As Jessika broke the atmosphere she found herself smiling. An assignment she dreaded had turned into meeting her idol, and Rey wasn't near as drab as Jessika had anticipated. In fact, she kinda liked her, perhaps they'd make good friends or something. Jessika closed her eyes at the thought of "or something."

Don't do this, Pava!

The Millennium Falcon zoomed past her X-Wing on the right. As it passed, Jessika allowed herself the indulgence of a barrel roll.

"Deedle do boo!"

"Don't even start, Lucks, you ungrateful-"

"Berti boop!"

Jessika loudly guffawed. "Ok! I was showing off a little bit."

"Still have you with us, Blue Three?" Rey spoke over the radio.

"Don't for a second thing that antique can outrun me!" Jessika laughed back.

"That sounds like a challenge."

Jessika bit her lip, smiling. She was planning her come back when the siren went off in her cockpit. Incoming.

"Hold on, Saber girl, we've got some incoming." Jessika said.

The wings of her ship scissored open as she moved into a protective position to cover the Falcon.

An Assault Carrier burst from hyper space, immediately releasing four TIE fighters.

"Dee-bee Dooo."

"Yeah, Lucks, I'm thinking the one on the left too." She dropped left, avoiding a laser blast in her previous location.

Spinning she shot at her target, but watched as the shot barely missed. Immediately she had to spin back the other way to avoid a collision.

Shit.

She hung the nose right, feeling the ship vibrate under the pressure, Lucks complaining constantly on the back, she blocked him out, slowing everything around her. She pushed her adrenaline down, calming her heart.

Place them, Pava.

She stilled. One to the right, above, another to the left and below, and one going after the Falcon. She hoped Rey could handle herself for a bit. She couldn't place the fourth one. Where was it?

Behind her.

"You better be watching, Ello, because if I die.."

She banked towards the TIE on the right, thrusting with her engines and opening her blasters. The TIE dodged the shots with a spin, as Jessika dropped her nose, simultaneous to the TIE following her opening fire. Jessika dropping, sent his shots right into his spinning companion. The blast told Jessika her plan succeeded as blown TIE parts floating in the space around her.

"Still with me, Saber Girl?"

"She's little busy at the moment," Rey said, "can I take a message?"

Jessika smiled and spun the X-Wing in a side arc, pulling in behind the TIE that just took out their friend, and opened fire right on target. Mercy-killing the pilot's guilt, if they had guilt.

Two down.

A blast slammed into the side of her X-Wing sending sparks from her controls.

"Lucks, you with me?"

"Dweedle wee."

More shots skimmed past her. No time to figure out the diagnostic, she'd need to trust her R7 to control the electrical overloads. The cockpit was sweltering, Jessika felt the perspiration on her forehead, palms slipping on the controls. Then she saw the blast. Out of her cockpit an explosion lit the dark void of space from the Millennium Falcon. It had been hit.

No time to waste. She shot her nose up, pushing the T-70 against it's limits, spinning up and to the right, she headed towards the Falcon, watching as the interior lights flickered. It was losing power and if it went adrift the TIEs would tear it apart. The TIE that had disabled the ship had spun around for another pass. Jess flew in close to intercept.

Damn it, she thought, If I have to put myself between them and a shot I'm going to be pissed. I'll also be dead, which will make me even more pissed.

The TIE unleashed a flurry of laser blasts. Jessika intercepted, unleashing her own and forcing the TIE to back off the Falcon and focus on her. This was exactly her plan, but now meant she was facing two TIEs while simultaneously trying to distract them away from their true target. All the while, the Assault Carrier loomed closer, most likely getting ready to lock in the Falcon for boarding.

Jessika would have to be reckless. Snap was not going to be happy about it, but she didn't have backup, and she was against a corner.

"Lucks," Jess yelled, "get ready for a smokescreen."

"Beeeep-a-boooo."

"Yes, I recognize it's a terrible idea, and I too would rather not be doing it, but I don't have a choice, so just get ready to fix whatever I screw up doing it."

The smokescreen was a maneuver that she'd pulled on StarKiller base, honestly out of her ass. She'd had a TIE locked on her from behind and so she had angled her ship towards another TIE, blasted through it, and using the explosion to hide her, quickly flipped around, and fired blindly through the smoke and debris hitting the TIE that had previously been on her tail. It was stupid, and terrible for the integrity of the X-Wing, but she'd taken out two in mere seconds, and saved her ass. Snap had scolded her for the damage the maneuver did to her ship, and her R7 Astromech Droid had spent the rest of the fight trying to repair the systems, or at least hold the ship together enough to stay alive. At least if she was going to go out, she'd go out doing something really stupid.

She repositioned her X-Wing, diving towards one of the TIEs while leaving her rear open. The other TIE took the bait, everyone was in position. She pushed in, and launching her last torpedoes, headed straight into the other TIE, if she missed her target, or the explosion wasn't big enough, she could end up kamikazing into the TIE. No time to think. The torpedoes hit and the TIE exploded. She felt the proximity of the following TIE's laser blasts around her.

She yelled as her ship entered the explosion. Debris scraped across the sides of the ship. Sweat dripped down her forehead. This had to work, it had to. Blinding light faded to darkness as she came out the other side of the explosion. She didn't have time to think about how lucky she was, she pushed the ship into a Koiogran Turn. Pressure slammed against her, the cockpit rattled. Another flash of sparks popped. She couldn't see, couldn't focus, her head pounded. She saw the light ahead of her, she'd completed the turn. She jammed her thrusters and opened fire, diving deep into the explosion again. The other TIE wouldn't know what hit him. It was going to work. She'd survive this.

The light from the explosion dissipated as Jessika popped out the other side and to her chagrin, the other TIE wasn't in sight. She frantically looked around her cockpit.

"Where's he at, Lucks?!"

Behind her. The pilot had read the maneuver and flown over the wreckage, anticipating her move. She'd failed. Her back was vulnerable and her ship was still too compromised to try another Koiogran Turn. Snap was right, she was too reckless, too much like Ello Asty. She felt the explosion and knew it was over.

Except… it wasn't.

Jessika should be dead, she'd thought the blast had hit her and she was witnessing the explosion of her own ship, but it was the one behind her. She couldn't figure out what happened.

"Thought you could use some help." Rey's voice came over the radio. The Falcon. She'd had her ass saved by the ship she'd been protecting. A ship low on power, limping along in space, but a ship that still had weapons to fire.

Jessika breathed to herself.

"I'll have to thank you later, we've got more things to worry about." Jessika said, referencing the incoming Assault Carrier.

"We need to make a jump." Rey said. "Our power is spotty, but I think we can at least get out of the system."

Jessika wasn't sure how long of a jump her own ship could make. "I'll lock on to your coordinates, you make the jump first."

Jessika watched as the Falcon's engines built up, and crashed down a couple times before finally soaking up enough power to jump. She locked on and set her own to jump. Coming out of hyperspace, she felt her ship rattle. They'd only moved a couple systems over, but it was enough to avoid the Assault Carrier, however it wouldn't be far behind.

They had to repair the ships, and they found a small, mostly deserted planet and aimed to land. As they entered the atmosphere, Jessika noticed smoke pouring from the Falcon. Matching that with the putrid smell of burning rubber and wires in her own cockpit, she knew they'd be stranded for a while. As the ships came to a landing on the rocky, barren surface, Jessika laughed to herself.

It was just a simple escort mission.