[A.N]: Long chapter ahead! I didn't intend it to be this long, but it happened. Sorry, not sorry XD I hope you guys enjoy it! Many thanks to Caroline, Laurel and Anon for your reviews! Really happy you guys enjoyed Ch9, it's probably one of my favorite chapters. Thanks Caroline for commenting on every chapter, it means a lot.
Other than that, I am currently working on chapter 13 and it may take a while. After posting Ch12 new updates will come really slowly, so I advise you all to be patient.
Chapter 10 is dedicated to my friend Mesh, who has more patience with me than I do, most of the time. Hukapan, bro!
Cora was awoken by loud banging on her door. Her initial reaction was to jump out of bed and get to safety, but then she realized it was just someone knocking. It took her a minute to make out the time on her alarm clock and she let out a disgruntled groan when she saw that she had only gotten about four hours of sleep that night. It was way too early to have someone hysterically knocking, unless something really bad had happened, and she was completely unprepared to deal with that.
She groggily got up and hurried to the door, nearly tripping in the process, the sense of urgency making her completely forget that she was only dressed in skimpy sleepwear. The automatic door opened in a fluid motion to reveal Captain Cassian Andor who was looking a lot more alert than anyone should have been at that ungodly hour. Her heart started beating a little faster, and not from the adrenaline. Unfortunately for her, the butterflies seemed to be more active during the night.
"Yeah?" she croaked, her voice hoarse and shaky.
He only looked her over for half a second, his eyes eventually settling on her face. Cora knew she was way too livid from suddenly getting up to be able to physically blush, but the feeling was there as she crossed her arms over her chest for a little more coverage.
"There's been an emergency and I need your help. Here's your combat uniform," he said as he pushed a stack of clothes into her arms. "Get dressed, I'll explain on the way."
Cora reluctantly took the clothes and threw him a quizzical look. "What kind of emergency and why do I need a combat uniform?" she asked studying them, completely ignoring the "I'll explain on the way" part.
"Because we are going off-world." He said patiently, probably understanding that her brain wasn't functioning at full capacity. "Now please hurry."
Her mind kept screaming "why?" in a high pitched tone, but Cora silenced it as the Direct Action training started to kick in. Act first, ask questions later. Or better, don't ask them at all, just do what you're told. She didn't miss DA at all.
"Ok, you come in and explain to me while I get dressed," she compromised, turning her back to him and heading towards the bathroom. The sooner she understood why she had been awoken so brutally, the sooner she'll be able to fully concentrate on the task, she told herself, even though the only thing she wanted to do was go back to bed.
"No, I'd rather…"
"I thought we were in a hurry? It will take me about five minutes to get dressed, you really want to waste that?" she yelled loud enough that he could hear her from the corridor. She listened for any indication that he had stepped inside, but the door closed with a whoosh and she sighed. It was probably harder than that to get him into her bedroom, she thought and mentally slapped herself for letting her mind wander in that direction instead of concentrating on what she was doing.
"I thought you could get ready in less than three minutes," she heard him say so she poked her head through the open door enough to see him curiously looking at the improvised wiring coming out of Ben's tank. She smiled and went back to getting dressed. She hoped she hadn't left her bra hanging around in the open, but after a brief moment of thinking she realized she didn't give two shits about it. He wasn't a virgin, he knew what a bra looked like.
"New equipment. It takes a while getting used to." She was lucky the bathroom was designed with more people in mind so she could also use it as a makeshift dressing room. If you were lucky enough to get your own bathroom on one of the star destroyers it would be one of those one by one modules, where you could shower while sitting on the toilet with the sink only a few centimeters away. "So what's the emergency?"
"One of our surveillance teams got ambushed while on a mission," he started explaining. "Pirates probably. The ship is pretty damaged, but they managed to lose them and go into hiding. We have to go pick them up as quickly as possible."
"Wounded?" she asked.
"Yes. The distress message said that two of them have sustained serious injuries and require urgent medical attention."
Aha. Now she understood why he needed her on this mission. All the other combat medics were probably unavailable. "I see," she said buttoning up her shirt.
The combat uniform felt strange. It looked nothing like the imperial one she used to wear, which was basically a rather uncomfortable armour, but neither did it look like the one she currently wore in the infirmary. It was a mix of grays and tan, much like the ones she saw the other soldiers wearing, the only difference being the medkit and the insignia on her shoulder signalling that she was medical personnel. Also, the complete lack of any sort of weapon besides maybe the laser scalpel in her kit. The material was rough and the design quite ugly.
Before she left the bathroom she studied herself in the mirror for a second. She looked pretty awake now that she had had some time to adjust to being awake. Over the years her body had adapted to the erratic sleeping pattern and you couldn't really tell that she hadn't gotten enough sleep, apart from the faint shadows under her eyes.
She was surprised to notice the two pips on her rank badge. They had given her the same rank she had in the imperial army: captain. Her status as a prisoner didn't come with a demotion it seemed. It was a pleasant surprise, even though she doubted she had any real authority. Nonetheless, she was happy Cassian didn't outrank her. Not that it would make him any less bossy...
"We can go," she said, exiting the bathroom feeling ready to face whatever was awaiting her.
Cassian nodded and headed towards the door. "What's that?" he asked before leaving the room, pointing to the lichen in the tank.
"A lichen," she explained. "He's called Ben and he's my former cellmate." Cassian raised an eyebrow and Cora wondered if he really thought she was a little crazy.
"Who built the tank?"
"I did."
"Where did you get the materials from?"
"Storage."
"You asked and they just gave it to you?" he asked, eyeing her suspiciously. He was using the same tone he used in the interrogations: monotone and devoid of any emotion. She had hoped they were past all that, but apparently not.
"Well, I did ask nicely," she lied. The truth was that she had traded in a few favours. By working in the med bay she often encountered people who wanted certain "conditions" to be kept off record or they'd get in trouble. Cora helped them whenever she could, and they were more than happy to help her in return. But this wasn't something the righteous captain should hear about. "Besides, it's only scrap, not something that was useful to anyone."
"I think General Draven was right, you may sabotage us with only your pinky."
Cora laughed, but a cold shiver ran down her spine at the thought that she had done something that wasn't permitted and they'll put her back in the cell. "My abilities in this field are rather limited," she admitted.
"I didn't even know you knew engineering. It's quite impressive."
It was a compliment. An honest, impossible to misinterpret, compliment. She could go back to her cell now, her life was complete. "The tank's just child's play," she said, trying hard to not seem smug. "The needs of a lichen aren't that complex really so building something to keep it alive is very easy. You only need to control the humidity and temperature, the light and the flow of nutrients." She was rambling, but stopped herself before she bored him to death with all the little details of growing lichen in controlled environment.
"You didn't strike me as the engineering type," he said, smiling at her.
"What does an engineer even look like?" she asked, feigning indignation. "You shouldn't make assumptions about me so easily. I'm full of surprises, Captain."
"Really?"
"You should see me build a bacta tank." It felt like flirting. For some reason, talking about engineering felt a hell of a lot like flirting.
"A bacta tank?" he laughed, a disbelieving look in his eyes.
"Well, if you had continued with the interrogations you would have found out eventually that I specialized in life support technologies during med school. It's half medicine, half engineering, really. Pays a lot if you can get into a research facility. So yeah, if you give me the right materials and a generous amount of time, I can build you a bacta tank." This was outright bragging. Not that it wasn't true, she'd done it a few times in class, but she made it all sound a lot more impressive than it actually was. Most of it was just assembling parts and heavy cursing.
"Maybe I should go back to interrogating you." There was a thoughtful note in his voice but also a tiny smile on his face, so Cora couldn't figure out if he was serious about it or not.
"Then you should know that I'm a lot more talkative over coffee," she said on a whim.
Her own brain started screaming at her. Did she really just hint that he should take her out for coffee? Was it the early hour and the lack of sleep that was making her bolder than usual? Was she aware of the consequences of that proposition?
He laughed and avoided her gaze for a moment. "I'll keep that in mind." Yeah, he got the hint.
"And speaking of interrogations, how am I allowed to go off-world, Captain?" she said, bringing the topic to a more familiar territory. "Thought if I left the perimeter I'd get zapped."
"You got special permission just this time," he said, his face serious again, every hint of awkwardness gone. "You're the only doctor with combat experience that's still on base, except for Doctor Crane. They agreed to let you come with me on this mission given that you don't try to run away. The parameters of your bracelets have already been modified."
"So if I wander away from you I'll be zapped?"
"No," he said, shaking his head. "I'll shoot you."
"Alright! Glad we got that out of the way."
The hangar was quieter than usual, but even so it was pretty lively. The ships looked like sinister dark shapes looming in the distance, but to Cora their outline was a familiar sight. She glanced towards the ER. It was brightly lit, but no doctor could be seen through the glass doors or lounging on the crates in front of the med bay with a hot cup of coffee in hands like they did when they had some free time.
They were headed towards a U-Wing that Cora recognized as being the captain's ship of choice. It looked slightly battered, like pretty much all the ships that the Rebellion used. It was a pleasant change from the pristine condition in which they kept them on the star destroyer. The scratches and dents gave them some personality.
K-2SO was waiting for them in front of the ship, looking just as black and expressionless as always, towering over Cora when they approached.
"I want to let you know that I think this is a bad idea," he said as Cora followed Cassian inside the ship.
"And why do you think that?" Cora couldn't help but ask, taken aback by his frankness.
"There is a high possibility that you will attack us trying to take control of the ship and escape," he said monotonously, like he was talking about the weather and not accusing her of possible treason in the near future.
"With my bare hands?" she asked, showing him that she was unarmed. "I mean I could tickle you to death, but I can't tickle two people at the same time and by the..."
"I am not ticklish," the droid stopped her rant.
Cassian snorted. "Hurry up already, I'm closing the door."
Cora noticed that he had already taken the pilot seat and was getting the ship ready for takeoff, so she put down the medkit and strapped herself securely in one of the crew chairs. K-2SO, still mumbling about something, took the co-pilot seat, and Cora had to admit she was feeling a little jealous. She missed being able to fly a ship. She hadn't done it in years, but she remembered the thrill like it was yesterday.
The ship started to vibrate as they took off and Cora felt a pleasant rush of endorphins. She was finally leaving the moon, going into space again, even if it was for a short time. She could see the stars again. She could breathe.
The ship was just as shabby on the inside as it was on the outside. It wasn't nearly as clean as she expected someone's ship to be and was already showing signs of wear. It wasn't such an old model, but it looked like it had been extensively used. The back had been modified, probably to make room for some sort of living space, and there were a lot of little things that she didn't remember to be part of the original design.
She found herself wishing this was her ship so she could clean it properly and fix it and polish it and make it look and work as it should. She decided that if they ever set her free she'd buy a ship and start a career as a smuggler. She knew jack shit about smuggling, but she was sure she'd do great. At least she'd live a short, but adventurous life.
A sudden shift in acceleration signalled that they had left the gravitation field of the moon, so Cora unclasped her safety belt and moved towards the cockpit. It would probably be a short trip so she wanted to make the most of it. She wouldn't have time to admire the view on their way back, since she'd most certainly be busy with the injured.
"What are you doing here?" Cassian looked at her over his shoulder, an irritated look on his face. "Get back to your seat."
"No."
"It's for your own safety," he tried convincing her.
"I'll hold on tightly." Cassian raised an eyebrow. "Come on, it's boring sitting alone in the back." He shook his head and switched his attention back to the controls.
"The probability of you falling over and seriously injuring yourself when we enter hyperspace is 64%" said the droid, moving his head to look at her.
"It's not that high, I'll take my chances," she said, earning another sideways glance from Cassian. "If anything happens, I know you'll patch me up. But for my sake, I seriously hope you are better at piloting than you are at emergency medical care," she mumbled.
"Suit yourself," he gave up with a frustrated sigh. "But if we fail the mission because you're unconscious on the floor, I'll let you personally explain that to General Draven."
"Ok." Hopefully she'd hit her head and die so she didn't have to explain anything to anyone, especially not to General Frown. But she was still standing, so no need to panic just yet. "Where are we going?" Cassian frowned but said nothing. "I get it, need to know basis, just make it vague. I should at least know what to expect."
"They got ambushed near a gas giant," he explained. "Luckily, it has a belt of moons and moonlets of different sizes, so they managed to evade them in the maze, but they've taken heavy fire and can't return home."
"So we'll have to fight pirates in a maze of space bodies haphazardly floating around?" Cora wasn't so thrilled about leaving the base anymore.
"Hopefully not," Cassian said, pushing a few buttons. "I'm hoping they just got bored and left."
"What are the odds of them giving up that easily?" K-2SO raised a finger, probably getting ready to state the exact numbers, but a short glare from Cassian made him shut up and go back to what he was doing.
"If they're pirates, high I'd say. It's just a small ship, it shouldn't pose any interest to them," he explained. "They usually go for the big cargo shuttles, quick kill, big payoff. They're more interested in the cargo than the ship itself, so there's no reason they'd waste too much fuel chasing it." He shrugged. "But if they're not pirates or they have a personal beef with us..." Then we're fucked, Cora thought.
"It's good to know we have a lot of friends out there…" Cora said, earning a chuckle from Cassian.
"My calculations are ready, we can enter hyperspace," the droid announced, solemnly.
Cassian turned his head towards her. "Can you please go sit down for a minute, until we make this jump?" There was a silent plea in his eyes and Cora felt compelled to listen to him. Just this time. She wasn't unreasonable in her stubbornness, at least not when he looked at her with those beautiful brown eyes.
"Ok," she said and moved back to her seat, strapping in just in time to feel the sudden pull when the hyperdrive engines fired up. The stars turned into long thin lines on the dark sky before disappearing completely in the whirlwind of colours. The jump only took a few minutes and when she got up again, she could see the huge planet through the central viewport.
The beauty of space never ceased to amaze her. No matter how much she travelled there was always something new and amazing just around the corner. The gas giant was a beautiful combination of yellows and browns, with the occasional red mixed in and it almost looked like it sparkled in the sun. The rings that went around its equator were interrupted from place to place by what she figured were its many moons.
She went back to standing near the cockpit, leaning on the pilot's chair. Cassian let the ship just hover there for a moment, giving her time to really take in the view before starting up the engines and getting close to the rings. She took this opportunity to look at him too, just out of the corner of her eye, so she wouldn't get caught staring.
"What were they doing here anyway?" she asked when they entered one of the rings.
"We found a new safe hyperspace route in its vicinity," he explained, expertly dodging some floating boulders. "Some moons have a somewhat breathable atmosphere and with a bit of work we could install a permanent outpost on one of them to try and keep this route safe. Unfortunately, it seems we're not the only ones that know about it."
Small rocks were bouncing off the fuselage as they advanced. Their speed was slow and steady, the ship diligently obeying Cassian's commands. She remembered this scenario: having to get through an asteroid belt, she'd done it a few times in simulations during her stormtrooper training, but she had never done it in real life. She understood why the army was somewhat reluctant to give a ship to a rookie and sent them into an asteroid belt wishing them good luck. Not that they weren't capable of doing that, it was simply too expensive.
"K, can you try to get ahold of them on the short range com?" Cassian said, getting a blank stare from the droid.
"Why can't she do it? It's not like she's busy or anything." Cora got the feeling that the droid didn't like her very much. Or he was simply being annoyed by her intruding presence. As far as she could tell, it was usually just him and Cassian going on missions.
"She doesn't know the frequencies." He glared. "And it's not her job, it's yours."
Cora could have sworn she heard the droid sigh as he got out of the seat and moved to a device that was mounted on one of the ship's walls. She got out of his way, being certain he'd step on her and then pretend he didn't even notice, but then quickly plopped herself down on the newly vacated co-pilot's seat.
"You are not allowed to sit there!" K-2SO pointed an accusing finger at her and if it weren't for Cassian throwing him an exasperated look, he probably would have just picked her up by the hair and thrown her in the back where she belonged.
"K, we're in a hurry," Cassian urged.
"I'm not trying to take your place, K2, I'm just warming up your seat until you come back," she said, smiling sweetly. This reprogrammed droid had more personality than a lot of people she knew, and even though she was sure he disliked her, she was starting to get used to his snarky remarks. She could at least find a little comfort in the fact that he didn't seem to like anyone besides Cassian.
"I don't like a warm seat."
Cora looked at him bewildered and opened her mouth to say something, but Cassian cut her off. "Could you both please stop acting like kids?" He probably had enough of the pointless bickering. Cora knew very well that they were on a mission and people's lives depended on their efficiency, but she just couldn't help it. It was the first time she was having fun in months, and she was determined to enjoy it. Still, she did her best not to hinder Cassian.
Feeling comfortable in the co-pilot seat, Cora admired the ease with which Cassian maneuvered the ship between the obstacles. She knew the model and the manufacturers certainly didn't have swiftness and finesse on their minds when they designed it, but rather functionality and endurance. Under Cassian's command, however, it danced between the large boulders, advancing into the hostile territory.
"You're a really skilled pilot," she said, pushing one of the buttons Cassian couldn't reach, doing her job as a co-pilot.
"I'm not that good," he dismissed the compliment, but Cora could see the corners of his mouth slightly going up.
"Trust me, I come from a family of pilots, I know what I'm saying," she assured him.
"When did you learn how to fly a ship?" he asked, not taking his eyes from the viewport. Again, Cora was reminded of the interrogations but his tone of voice was different. Maybe he was just curious this time. She was aware that everything she was going to say was probably going to end up in her file anyway, but she didn't give a fuck right now. She just hoped Draven hatefully touched himself whenever the file got updated.
"I don't really remember," she started, her voice nostalgic. "Just like you don't remember your first steps or learning how to speak, that's how I don't remember my first flying lessons. My oldest memories are of me having to stand on my mother's knees to be able to reach the controls."
"How old were you even?"
"Around four, I think." She laughed at the memory. "I was six, and I remember this clearly, when I tried to land the ship for the first time without my mother guiding my hands and I completely missed the landing pad crashing into a row of TIE fighters. My dad was fuming. He just yelled and yelled at both mom and I until he couldn't speak anymore. But in the end no one got into any serious trouble. My mom was the star pilot and dad was the commander of the ship, so who was going to complain that they were teaching their kid how to fly on imperial property." She remembered those moments fondly, even the times they were angry at her. They had so little time for her that every interaction was precious. Sometimes she tried to get into trouble just to get their attention. But even that didn't earn her more than a few minutes of their time. "My landings never really improved," she laughed, trying to shake off the sad feelings.
"That's very young to start flying. You must be a great pilot."
"No, I lack the practice. I may have the talent, but there have been years in which I didn't even see the cockpit of a ship. Since my mom died no one really cared if I continued my training or not." This was something that was really hard for her to admit. She had always worshipped her mother, the pilot. Whenever they tried to shut her up and make her behave during her school years she would always state: "I'm going to be the best damn pilot in the Galaxy!" like it was her shield, her purpose. She could become someone just like her mother one day, someone that mattered. She knew she had the talent, she just needed to work hard. But the years passed, and the only times she could practice was on the short vacations when her dad came to take her away. And that was not nearly enough. "And now I see these 18 year olds flying the ships like they were born in one and I can't help but feel jealous as fuck." She stopped, pulling herself together, stopping the bottled up feeling from pouring out. "How did you learn to fly?" she asked, trying to divert the attention from her and her outburst of pettiness.
Cassian looked at her for a few moments, his expression unreadable, before going back to paying attention to what was happening outside the viewport. "I had this mentor, back on Fest," he said. "He used to let me co-pilot his ship whenever I went on missions with him. It was more of a learn on the job than him teaching me anything, but I am grateful anyway."
Cora frowned. She had expected him to say that he learned in military school or something, maybe even that he was the son of a smuggler but the idea that he learned on the job while on "missions" was new. It sounded like he had always been an intelligence operative, even on his homeworld. Maybe he was. She had no idea how long ago the Alliance was founded, or when he left Fest. "How old were you?"
"Ten or eleven."
"Ten?!" Her eyes widened. An intelligence operative at ten? That was ridiculous. "That's too young. What kind of missions were you going on anyway?"
"Says someone who crash landed a ship at six," he laughed and Cora shrugged. "It's not too young to aim and shoot a blaster, especially when no one expects you to…" There was a sadness in his voice that made her want to get up and hug him. Curiously, she had the nagging feeling that she had heard it from him before, but she couldn't remember when. They didn't really have that many heartfelt conversations before, even if you counted the one about sex.
"And they said my parents were fucked up for letting me fly a ship," she blurted out before realizing what she was saying.
"I didn't really have any parents."
She really felt for him in that moment. She always knew her life had been shit and not everyone could understand what if felt like to grow up almost abandoned by their parents, but she always knew that it could have been a lot worse. At least her dad had the money and enough affection for her to keep her safe and healthy. She realized not everyone was that lucky, and maybe Cassian was an example. No matter how much she hated her strict school that tried to forcefully mold her into a perfect lady she never had to shoot a blaster at ten.
"Not that I want to interrupt your moment of bonding, but I've managed to contact the crew." K-2SO's voice broke the silence.
"Put them through."
"Andor! Is that you?" a male voice suddenly filled the cockpit.
"Yeah. We're coming to get you, what's your location?"
"We had to do an emergency landing on Marques III because our life support system got fucked up. We've survived it, but the sun is going down so I hope you'll pick us up before we freeze to death. We're sending you the coordinates."
Once the data came through, Cassian carefully steered the ship and headed towards the crew's location.
"What's the status the injured?" Cora asked, taking advantage of the the moment of silence. "Have you managed to stabilize them somehow?"
"Are you the new doctor?"
"Yes."
"Yeah, I could tell by your accent." Cora raised an eyebrow. She didn't know she had an accent. "Well, the only one of us that has any medical training is currently unconscious and not breathing very well, but the other one can still hold a blaster without us having to tape it to his hand…" It seemed like he wanted to add something else, but the transmission ended with a "Fuck" followed by the sound of an explosion and then finally static.
"Kappehl! Kappehl!" Cassian frantically tried to get the connection back on, but neither he nor the droid could do anything about it. "Something happened, we have to hurry! Cora, move!"
Cora jumped out of the seat, allowing K2 to go back to helping Cassian. She secured herself on one of the crew chairs and waited patiently to reach the destination. There was nothing she could help them with, but the least she could do was stay out of the way and not be a burden to anyone.
The ship was moving faster and the sudden turns meant the comfort of the passengers wasn't Cassian's priority. Nonetheless, they were never in any real danger of crashing into anything. Cora tried preparing herself mentally for whatever was to come. One unconscious and another one probably badly wounded as well. The wait and the lack of information was making her extremely anxious. She would have rather been caught in heavy fire than having to wait knowing that someone might be dying and there was nothing she could do about it. In any case, judging by how the transmission ended, they might have to go into battle anyway.
She was not prepared for that, no matter how many times she tried reminding herself that she had the training. She had no weapon and although she could do her job as a medic even if there was a fight going on around her, she would probably be forced to join in and she wasn't sure she'd be able to stay focused and not panic. There were only two of them, three if she counted the droid, but she had no idea how equipped he was for battle, so they weren't really what could be considered serious reinforcements. Their odds of winning against whoever was attacking the other crew were slim to say the least.
Through the viewport, she could see the moon getting bigger and bigger as they were closing in. It looked barren, dark grey rock formations protruding towards the sky. It was a lot smaller than Yavin IV, and it looked inhospitable, but since it had a breathable atmosphere it was still valuable.
Cassian must have gotten the exact coordinates of their location, because he didn't waste any time searching for the crashed ship once they entered the atmosphere, but speeded in what Cora assumed was the right direction. She unstrapped herself and grabbed the medkit, getting ready to jump out of the spacecraft the moment it landed.
Loud cursing coming from Cassian made her realize that the situation wasn't peachy at all. She got up and stood behind the pilot's chair, holding on tightly. She could see the Rebellion ship in a deep valley, a column of dark smoke rising steadily towards the sky. A little further from it there was a much larger ship that certainly didn't belong to them, and probably a dozen men with blasters shooting at the spot where the rebels had taken cover.
"K!" Cassian yelled, before switching the the S-foils into combat position. Cora's stomach contracted painfully. There was too little space for this ship model to be able to steer properly. Combat configuration was only meant for high altitudes or space.
They rapidly approached the enemy ship. They had the element of surprise coming from above at top speed and K-2SO's reflexes were top-notch because he managed to shoot the laser cannons and destroy the enemy ship before Cassian had to steer and gain altitude again so they didn't crash. Surveilling the area a few more times revealed that most of the pirates that had disembarked the ship had survived its explosion and were now shooting at them. The terrain was too rough and irregular, offering too many hiding spots, for K2 to be able to take them all out from above.
"Cora, can you fly this ship?" Cassian suddenly asked, making Cora's heart jump.
"Y-yes? It's pretty standard Incom design..." she babbled, not sure why that information was relevant.
"Good, you're taking command," he said, getting out of his seat and shoving Cora in his place.
"What?!" was the reaction of both the droid and herself. Instinctively she grabbed the controls, causing the ship to shake frantically before she managed to stabilize it.
"I have to get down there fast. Can you land it?" he asked, strapping her in, his face painfully close to her ear as he leaned on the side of the chair for balance.
"I am perfectly capable to land this ship, Cassian," announced K2, seeming a little offended, and Cora could only agree.
"Yes, but you can't shoot the cannon at the same time, so she'll have to do it." He turned to Cora. "You don't even have to land it, just bring it close enough to the ground so that I can jump out of it and you can fly away. Fly in wide circles above us and K2 will take them out when he gets a clear shot," he instructed. "Watch out for those narrow canyons. She can go fast but won't take any sharp turns, so be careful."
"You can't go there alone, you'll die!" Cora exclaimed, finally regaining her voice, but Cassian was already in the back putting a winter jacket on and readying his rifle.
"There's a good spot to land behind our ship. It will give us some coverage," he said, completely ignoring her remark, opening the main door and looking outside.
Cora felt like her head was spinning. Her brain still couldn't process correctly the fact that she was now piloting the ship and it was acting on autopilot, but she made an effort to concentrate on the landing, otherwise she would be responsible for the captain's death. It was a rather difficult manoeuvre, the space being very limited and her skills more than rusty, but she managed to get close enough to the ground so that Cassian could get off safely.
"I hope he doesn't die," she whispered, watching his departing figure as the ship door closed behind him.
"I hope we don't die." The droid's mechanical voice got her out of her trance and she pulled the ship up, not very gracefully.
She followed Cassian's advice, flying in circles over the battlefield, giving K-2SO as many opportunities as possible to shoot at the enemies. He was a very accurate shooter, but the ship was big and too visible to take anyone by surprise, so their efforts remained in vain. The only thing they could do was give Cassian some hints on where the enemies were hiding. Cassian, on the other hand was a lot more efficient than them. Under his command the remaining crew started advancing and gaining the upper hand in the battle. It seemed like they were winning, until the ship's radar made a loud beeping sound.
"We've got company," announced K2.
"Captain," Cora called over the comlink, "we've got an unidentified ship approaching."
"Try to distract them for a while and keep them from shooting at us," he replied, then abruptly ended the call.
"Distract them?!" she yelled, taking a sharp turn towards the approaching ship. As they closed in and could see it through the viewport, she noticed it looked almost identical to the one they had wrecked a little while ago. Also they started shooting their blaster cannons almost immediately, so there was no doubt that they were hostile. "Distract them, he said!" she yelled again steering the ship away from the battlefield, the enemy ship following closely. "I have a fucking ship on my tail that's shooting at us! It's newer, better equipped, better suited for this type of terrain and I haven't flown a ship in years, let alone race one! People's lives are depending on me and I am not qualified for this!" she yelled at the droid.
"Welcome to the Rebellion!" he said matter of factly and Cora groaned.
She tried gaining altitude, but whenever they were in open sky the enemy ship was closing in dangerously fast and Cora wasn't sure how much heavy fire their shields could take, so she had to stay low and zigzag between the rock formations. Whenever she got too close to one she prayed she won't hit the wings and crash, but it seemed she was lucky.
"How much longer do you think we can keep doing this before we don't have enough fuel to get back home?" she asked K2, her hands cold and clammy on the controls.
"Less than 10 minutes."
"Can we send a distress message home?"
"Already sent an automated one."
"You're a treasure."
There wasn't enough time. They could waste all their fuel waiting for the base to sent someone to save them, but Cora was already getting tired and the other ship's pilot was starting to learn her flying pattern. With each passing second the enemies were one step closer. She knew that she couldn't dodge them forever so she had to do something fast, while she still had an advantage.
"Get ready to shoot when you get the chance," she alerted the droid who turned around to look at her.
"I would have a lot more chances to shoot if the enemy ship was in front of my cannons, Doctor. Cannons that point forward."
"Well, then hold on tight."
"I am already strapped in, what are you…" but he didn't have time to finish the sentence because Cora steered the ship straight up, making it screech and vibrate painfully.
She really prayed it would survive a loop. She had done the manoeuvre a few times with imperial military spacecraft, but she was sure this particular model wasn't built with this in mind. She didn't manage to make a complete loop, but she succeeded to point the cannons towards the enemy ship long enough for K2 to take a shot. It hit one of their S-Foils, sending them reeling into a rock. The explosion that followed made Cora lose even the precarious hold that she had on her ship, turning off the engines and making them spiral dangerously towards the ground.
This was how she was going to die, in a fucking U-wing, on a barren rock in the middle of nowhere, alongside a sarcastic reprogrammed imperial droid. Could have been worse. She only hoped that someone would come and save the others. She should have asked Cassian for a good luck kiss before he left.
She had no idea how she managed to start the engines again and stop the ship from falling. It happened much too fast for her to think it through. Somehow, her instincts took over when her brain refused to cooperate. She stabilized the spacecraft a few meters from the ground and let out a loud sigh.
"That," said the droid turning his head to look at her, "was very stupid."
"Yeah," she agreed, still not believing that she wasn't dead.
"I think we both agree that from now on it will be better if I take command…"
"I'm in the pilot's seat," she said stopping his speech, "I'm the pilot. Besides, I outrank you." She tapped her rank badge.
"Rank has nothing to do with…"
"Are you guys ok?" came Cassian's voice from the comlink, sounding at least a little worried.
"Peachy," she replied taking a deep breath.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means we're coming to get you," she said, grabbing the controls again and steering the ship towards their location. "How's your situation?"
"We're all done here. We have three wounded that require your attention, Doctor, so be quick."
"Alright," The transmission ended with a buzz. "K, take command," she said and the droid took hold of the controls. "Land it as close as possible." The droid agreed and Cora got out of her seat, grabbing the medkit that now lay thrown in the back of the ship and a portable gurney. "And thank you. You were great."
K2 landed the ship more gracefully than she would have been able to. Once the door opened she was suddenly hit by a wave of freezing cold air. Cassian was waiting for her at the bottom of the ramp, looking pretty alive and unharmed, if a little dusty. She made a mental note to strip him of his jacket to see what he was hiding underneath. Knowing him, he was hell-bent to not let anyone know that he was injured until he would collapse and she didn't need another unconscious patient to take care of.
Cassian walked up towards her and grabbed her shoulders, studying her face. "Are you ok?" he asked, his voice heavy with concern.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Where are the injured?" She looked away and tried to move past him, but his hands held her in place.
"No, look at me," he said gently, trying to get her attention. "Are you ok?" he asked slower this time.
"I'm ok," she said, lifting her gaze to look at him. "I'm okay. A little shaken and high on adrenaline, but I'm ok." She felt the urge to kiss him, she had the excuse that she had just survived being chased by angry pirates, but then remembered that she was still on the job and people were dying. It could wait. She'll get the opportunity another time, hopefully.
He studied her a little while longer, but then released her from his grip and took the gurney from her hands. "Follow me," he said, leading her towards the damaged rebellion ship.
The other ship's crew didn't look too good. They were all scratched and bruised, but they were alive. One of them, the crew's medic, she noticed, was unconscious and pretty badly beaten. She rushed them to get back to the U-wing and take off, watching them carefully.
At a closer inspection, once they all got into the ship and she pulled out the portable scanner, she found out that the medic had a cracked skull and a collapsed lung, their pilot had an ugly blaster wound to the back, and another one's leg was broken in three places.
"K," she asked the droid, "call the base and tell them to prepare an OR for a patient with a fractured skull and pneumothorax that's currently unconscious." She gave instructions for the other two patients as she inserted a long needle between the medic's ribs, sucking out the air to relieve the pressure on the lung. It was just a temporary measure, but it will help keep him alive for the time being. For his head, there was nothing she could do besides making sure that the injury didn't worsen.
She didn't have much time to spare. She finished administering painkillers and immobilizing limbs and sticking bacta patches on cuts and bruises, and when she finally looked up through the viewport they were already landing. Outside there was a small group of people, mainly doctors, already waiting for them.
"I'm glad to see you've gotten back safely," Doctor Crane greeted her, taking over.
"Glad to be back," she breathed in a sigh of relief, realizing she was finally safe. "Do you need help in the OR? I can take a quick shower and join you if…"
"No, no! I have Aidan helping me. You go get some rest!" he said, hurrying towards the building with the gurney, leaving Cora behind.
"Are you sure?" she asked, but no one heard her. She was left standing besides the ship, feeling a little lost, everyone else having headed inside. She wasn't feeling tired, the adrenaline high hadn't subsided yet, but she knew that soon enough she'll crash.
A few moments later Cassian joined her. She didn't notice he hadn't left with everyone else, but she realized he still had the ship to take care of. A ship that she had nearly crashed less than an hour ago.
"Listen," he said, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking sort of embarrassed. "I'm sorry for leaving you alone to take care of the enemy ship. Sometimes I forget that not everyone around me is is a fighter." He looked remorseful, avoiding her gaze and staring into the distance. She understood why he would feel that way, but in the end it was her fault she wasn't prepared for the job.
"I'm still military, you know," she tried reassuring him. "This is what I've been training all those years for."
"You're a doctor." He turned his head to look at her and Cora got another glimpse of that sadness that sometimes broke through his normally collected appearance.
"But I could have been a pilot. Or a stormtrooper. You don't have to feel guilty for pushing me to overcome my fears. I'm happy I got to fly a ship once again," she said, smiling at him. Truth was, she had been terrified and she never wanted to do that again, but she wasn't going to tell him that. She would let him think she was braver than she actually was. It made her feel better about herself. "I'm sorry that I nearly crashed your ship, though. And that I've shaken your droid a little."
He laughed and the butterflies stirred once again. "Don't worry about it, she's been through a lot worse. And K complains a lot, but he's pretty resilient, too." He looked his age when he smiled. The whole sense of danger that seemed to always follow him around melted away in one second, making him look surprisingly boyish. "You did a great job, thank you."
"Heyyy!" They both turned their heads to see Lewella running towards them, looking a little dishevelled. "I got your distress message," she said, panting, "but when we were about to jump into hyperspace to come and help you we got a message from base telling us you'd already left." She started grinning. "You look not dead, which is always a good thing. How did you first mission off world go?"
"Well, I guess it could have gone worse…" Cora said, shrugging.
"It could have been much, much worse," said Cassian, patting her shoulder. Cora was sure that at least one of the butterflies was trying to climb up her esophagus, so she just smiled and said nothing. "I'll go sort things out with the superiors, you get some sleep," he said before heading towards the building.
"It was still pretty bad," K-2SO let her know when he came out of the ship a second later, before following Cassian.
"I see you guys are getting along pretty well," Lewella smiled.
"Lew, I need a drink," she said, wanting to both kill the butterflies and the part of her brain that had suddenly realized that she had been much too close to dying and was now screaming frantically.
Lewella didn't ask any questions but pulled out a shiny flask from one of the pouches attached to her uniform and handed it to Cora. She took a big gulp of alcohol hoping that it was strong enough to numb her feelings, then took another one just to be sure.
She was fucked.